Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Can-Soundtracks (1969)




"Thanks to Irmin Schmidt, Can recorded a great deal of music for films which enabled them to stay financially afloat; procrastinating in realising their second album, much of it was collected on the inspiringly-titled Soundtracks, including Malcolm Mooney’s last recordings with the band (he left after suffering a mental breakdown onstage), and Damo Suzuki’s first. It’s a strange beast of a record, and often overlooked in Can’s oeuvre, heading down so many paths as to appear directionless, but contains some absolutely sublime moments. The elongated guitar shapes of “Deadlock”, the subdued, beatific and refracted lounge muzak of “She Brings The Rain” (Richard Ashcroft liked these lyrics), and the awesome, repetitive-beat, 15-minute lunar-eclipse of “Mother Sky”, which basically invents any band that’s ever tried to jam in cooler-than-thou concentric circles. "

This really is under appreciated given that Can made some of the best albums through and through EVER. But this one has got moments that foreshadow that consistency even if the record comes off as a bit scattershot. "Mother Sky" is the obvious highlight with its wailing guitar, pulsating bass lines, and thumping drums but songs like "Tango Whiskeyman" hints at some later Radiohead and "Deadlock" has a low-key psychedelic moments. Definitely an underrated album worth getting.

She brings the rain

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