HOLGER CZUKAY

So, basically, we have this veteran bass guitarist/sound painter and a bunch of guys who altogether constituted a legendary experimental-jazz-avantgarde group Can. A year later the group dissipated. Then, the bassist Holger Czukay got the hang of the mid-Eastern music that used to play on his radio. What a crazy idea it is - to come up with tasty tracks that could function as soundtracks to those mid-Eastern movies. Here you have catchy songs with mind-blowing vocal performances that otherwise wouldn't work if they were just standing alone. You also have instrumental tracks that are really fun and loaded with decent melodies and textures. If you are not tired of insane, virtuous, eclectic, and innovative proggy material, get this album before it's sold out (unless you are one of those people who downloads stuff) and hear it when the mood is right. I hope you will thank me later.

1. 'Cool in the Pool' - *****

2. 'Oh, Lord, Give Us More Money' - ****

3. 'Persian Love' - *****

4. 'Hollywood Symphony' - ****

Stamp: "I like it."

This is the most 'Can' sounding of all the solo efforts by the legendary band. 'Cool in the Pool' is quite eccentric and funky, but sounds really odd with vocals that are occasionally sped up where Czukay sounds like a garden gnome on speed.

'Movies' is a colourful album with a lot going on and is very well recorded, hitting off that most difficult of tasks - making everything sound controlled and spacious amidst the variety of sounds thrust in your face.

On the down side many may find it a bit lame with a lack of tension after hearing the wild approach that 'Can' held in the early 70's. However, this is made up for with his multiple radio snippets and continually morphing non linear background effects. There's an array of eclectic sounds that just pop up out of the blue for a few seconds before disappearing for good. It's this kind of approach that makes me return to this album again and again.

A good 'sunny' album that is really quite uplifting, sometimes disjointed, but unusual at the same time.

"How Much Are They ?" opens with vocals and a beat right off of the hop. Synth and bass joins in when the vocals stop. Catchy stuff. French horn and piano later. Dual spoken words follow. "Where's The Money ?" has these almost spoken vocals with a beat. Cool song.

"Full Circle R.P.S.(No.7)" features guitar, drums and again almist spoken vocals. There's background sounds too adding depth.The vocals stop as the music continues. Vocals are back as they come and go. We get trumpet as well on this one. "Mystery R.P.S. (No.8)" opens with atmosphere and you can hear footsteps. Bass then almost spoken vocals follow then percussion and guitar. This is fairly dark. "Trench Warfare" builds and is very psychedelic. French horn after 3 minutes and some freaky sounds after 5 minutes. "Twilight World" might be my favourite tune on here. This is catchy with a beat,organ and vocals standing out.

A very good album but I still prefer "Canxis" for it's exotic and mysterious vibe. A solid 4 stars.

This first track "Boat Women Song" will make it or break it for many. It's those female Vietnamese vocal melodies that are fairly mournful, and they are anything but pretty. Of course given the title of this track they fit perfectly.The song opens with female and male vocal melodies that fade quickly but the male continues. She's back though and another female singer helps out.The male vocals continue but they are faint. What's interesting is that the male vocal melodies sound really good in contrast to the female vocal expressions that don't.The females stop but then they're back singing together in this high pitched annoying style. Hey they want off the boat. They start to fade out then the male vocal melodies return after 11 minutes. Cool. It turns spacey and atmospheric late. A very innovative track. "Canaxis" is spacey with twitters and tweaks then we get some male vocal melodies before 3 1/2 minutes. He stops before 7 minutes as it turns darker.The male vocal melodies are back before 10 minutes as it continues to be dark and spacey. An ethnic acoustic instrument of some sort comes in before 11 1/2 minutes replacing the vocal melodies.They stop as it continues spacey.The sound slowly fades as we get closer to the end of the track.

This is listed under Krautrock but this is essential for you fans of Electronic-Prog. A must for your collection in fact considering the year it was recorded.

All album's atmosphere is very airy,spacey and ambient. Holger plays all instruments himself, and it's obviously different electronic devices. Usually I hate drum machines, but there is a rare example when electronic drumming is so complex and interesting, that it doesn't destroy music, even opposite - in big part this music is based on spacey,complex electronic rhythms. Possibly, the reason is Holger uses rhythms as jazz musician, playing with sounds.

The only other artist presented on this album is singer U-She. Her vocals are influenced by Mother Gong, Bjork and Nico between others. Dreamy,psychedelic,spacey,freaky - all in one.

All album sounds similar to Bjork most electronic works, but with more experimental using of electronic rhythms and minimalistic sound. Really interesting work for fans of accessible experimental electronics,IDM, intellectual trip-hop,etc.

Cool In The Pool would almost be pop, if it wasn't for all of the odd sounds Czukay throws in. The above mentioned Oh Lord Give Us more Money is a spacy little piece. Persian Love is a pleasant little song that manages to mix Middle Eastern themes with what sounds like a Carribean inspired guitar. And Hollywood Symphony is a laid back but typically weird groovy song.

So if you're a Canatic, I'd recommend this album

Either way, these are two uneven albums from Holger Czukay. There are some very good tracks, such as "Blessed Easter", where Czukay takes some recorded pieces of a choir of nuns and the Pope from the Vatican and mixes and drops them onto a rhythm track. The result is beautiful and strange at the same time, sometimes reminding me a bit of Zappa's "Ya Hozna". "Sudetenland" is similar, but using African chants as the basis for the song.

Other good songs are "Perfect World", featuring Sheldon Ancel's urban-cool vocals, and "Michy", an eerie pice featuring Michy.

Where this album misses are the fluffy pop songs like "Hey Baba Rebop" and "Hit Hit Flop Flop", that try to be euro-dance tunes but both flop flop. "Das Massenmedium" sounds like a Kraftwerk wannabe. And any song with Czukay's hideous french horn is worth skipping over. In particular, "Der Osten Ist Rot (The East Is Red)", sounds like a march played by a poor high school band.

So there are a few listenable tracks, a few not so bad tracks, and some really bad tracks. Two stars.