CANstravaganza!
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Artist:
I'm loving all the music news on MOG lately. I don't have to go searching for a gossip fix anymore. But you know i've got to keep true to my freaky musical roots, so here's a post for all you krautheads out there. This is the first post i've ever done about Can, mostly because I love them so much I can't really (and don't want to) articulate that love. Yesterday a little birdy gave me an iTunes gift certificate and I went to town. I found out that my hard drive is irrevocably dead, and my 60 GBs are forever gone. And it's okay. In addition to my analog revolution, my digital finds have been incredible.I wanted to get more familiar with current projects by Damo Suzuki, Holger Czukay and Jaki Leibezeit. I had a few of Holger's solo albums, and have been constantly hoping Damo takes his Network to the U.S. again. But I was clueless as to what my favorite drummer has been up to. It turned out that although iTunes doesn't have a single Can album available, they do have quite a few Jaki Leibezeit projects. I bought "Oblique Sessions", which features Jaki, Pierre Bastien and Pascal Comelade. Bastien invented the Mecanium, an "orchestra ensemble of musical automatons constructed from meccano parts and activated by electro-motors, that are playing on acoustic instruments from all over the world", and can create intense sound loops. This is used to great effect on the album, helping create everything from a Spaghetti Western style song to a cover of the Can track "Shikaku Maru Ten".
The Harmonium MecaniumTo get a good idea of what the Mecanium sounds like, Bastien has mp3's available on his website.Next, I scored a 9-minute song by Sixtoo with Damo Suzuki. Sixtoo is a DJ on Ninja Tune Records, and try as I might, I really didn't dig any of his other tracks. "Storm Clouds and Silver Linings" is a keeper though. Damo goes from whispers to deep frog-like growls, and the beats are heavier than anything i've heard him on so far. You can grab a copy of the song on the Press Random music blog here.
Last, I got the 1999 Holger Czukay album, Good Morning Story. In addition to snippets of short-wave radio, several songs are based on Can samples, which I wasn't sure about at first, but now am loving. You can hear the title track (my personal favorite) here. So many groundbreaking musicians have gone on to create utterly mediocre music, and although the members of Can do have their 'meh' moments, I will continue to devour their work as long as they create it.
The Harmonium MecaniumTo get a good idea of what the Mecanium sounds like, Bastien has mp3's available on his website.Next, I scored a 9-minute song by Sixtoo with Damo Suzuki. Sixtoo is a DJ on Ninja Tune Records, and try as I might, I really didn't dig any of his other tracks. "Storm Clouds and Silver Linings" is a keeper though. Damo goes from whispers to deep frog-like growls, and the beats are heavier than anything i've heard him on so far. You can grab a copy of the song on the Press Random music blog here.Last, I got the 1999 Holger Czukay album, Good Morning Story. In addition to snippets of short-wave radio, several songs are based on Can samples, which I wasn't sure about at first, but now am loving. You can hear the title track (my personal favorite) here. So many groundbreaking musicians have gone on to create utterly mediocre music, and although the members of Can do have their 'meh' moments, I will continue to devour their work as long as they create it.
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