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 Mecanium
To 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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BIG THUMBS UP :-D
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glad you got the courage to post then! thanks for the post.
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we all need some CAN... wish i still had "future days"...
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I looked into CAN when my favorite New Prog Act 'TOOL' , qouted them as an influence many moons ago....the guys started shit and now you can feel it in Bands like TOOL and Royscopp...
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Hurray for musical obsessions, CAN and otherwise. Long may they hog our time and bank accounts...sorry about your hard drive, though, that stinks. Nice post, makes me want to do some hard listening.
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It seems my month old son is into Can. That stuff puts him straight into a quiet daze, especially "Mushroom" which is one of Jaki's best performances. Damn right.
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A house without Can is a house with a hole in it. If you go to Pirate Bay you can find a complete Can library - not just the albums but radio shows and a couple of live events as well.I would not condone this, but these days it's impossible to find more than a smattering of their output.
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Blasting from the past and into the future! It's CAN! (And my old Holger Czukay albums ain't too shabby, either.) Good to have them brought back from the archive and into my consciousness, Kate.
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Create Anarchistic Noise It isn't my consummate love for CAN that leads me to give you the nod here Kate, it is that you seem to profess such a love for them. I am amazed when I meet somebody who has even heard of them. Hats off to you! I must admit to only owning both Cannibalism 1&2. A question about Oblique Sessions............Brian Eno had worked up a deck of cards and considered them part of his Oblique _Strategies_ if he would get in a fix during a recording session, he would refer to these cards which if I understand them right, were really like the most cleaver Magic 8 Ball ever imagined. I will check out Oblique Sessions..thanks so very much!
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Online Oblique Strategies at: http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/Consult.html
You can buy decks or ask it online. The first card said: Ignore the normal rules.
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I'd never seen Eno's Oblique Strategies cards before- what an inspiring concept. One that can be applied to all types of art, not just music making. Here is the first thing I stumbled upon from them:
"Abandon normal instruments
Accept advice
Accretion
A line has two sides
Allow an easement (an easement is the abandonment of a stricture)
Are there sections? Consider transitions
Ask people to work against their better judgement
Ask your body"
Right on.
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I sense an Oblique Strategies post coming....At the time he created the deck I was seeing Eno quite a lot as he was dating a friend of mine. He told us a story about Robert Wyatt phoning him as Wyatt was stuck on a song he was writing and wanted a card reading. (Sounds like Tarot doesn't it?) The card said, Turn off the lights. Robert did so and immediately forgot the lyrics.
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All this is fascinating. Now I need the cards. It seems to me that Eno's ideas are at least as exciting as his music. The same could be said for John Cage. I'm now going to have to start reading both of them more.
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Good stuff...never heard it before. MOG constantly humbles me. I had no clue about CAN, but I will be checking out a lot more by them. Thanks!
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Can left an indelible mark on my psyche when a friend put on an album after a beer landed on the turntable and trashed the Henry Cow side we were digging. From then on I always knew that the Holger, Malcolm and crew would be a part of my life. Currently, I'm waiting for a Holger/David Sylvian reunion that incorporates some Derek Baily tapes in the mix. Would Malcolm sound good singing Willie Dixon, I wonder?
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Oh man, you are putting great dreams in my head. Imagine the possibilities: Damo covering Sigur Ros (both excel at made up languages), Malcolm doing a blues album a la Marvin Pontiac, Holger touring with Bjork....
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The Abhayamudra album by Damo and Cul de Sac is worthwhile too - it's a series of live recordings from a few years ago. Recording quality is excellent, hardly sounds live.
Also, if'n you're a Mac OS X user (Tiger), the Oblique Strategies cards are available as a free dashboard widget here. It's not as swanky as having your own boxed set, but it's free and still pretty cool.
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I caught Damo Suzuki in Portland at Satyricon a few years back. He was great. The evening seemed pretty much in the spirit of his CAN years. Unfortunately, there was no Michael Karoli who had been part of the band when they played in Seattle a couple of years earlier (unbeknownst to me at the time), as I believe he was probably too ill at this point.
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You lucky guy! I wish Damo would play in the U.S. more often.
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It's a point of eternal sadness for me that I moved to Seattle just after that legendary show. When I first arrived, I had a neighbor who spoke of that show as a revelation.
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On the side of the wall I paint BLUE... how bout' u?