CAN

Via the first two "Future Days" and "Spray", we can hear slight Krautrock essence really ... some bubbled vibes or distorted sound interplay, repetitive hypnotic bottom line, complicated rhythmic basis ... every tonic phenomenon can express their essential Krautrock initiative. On the other hand, some artistic sound unification we cannot avoid. Yes so refined and so polished enough to confuse us. The shortest track "Moonshake" is filled with ethnic beats and heartwarming melodies. Damo's danceable percussive voices remind us of oldie goodie German psychedelia. Ermm, afraid we could not make our mind and feeling clearer and finally would rush into the last music courtesy.

Regardless of above mentioned, however, "Bel Air" should be called as their masterpiece without any suspicion. Upon synthesizer-based slow and smooth waterflow, dry and fruity guitar chops plus light drumming of comfort slip through. Damo's inspired and a tad philosophical voices can be hear like the last tragic phrases before the giant flies away. Inevitably wondering where such a mad hippie like Damo went for. Their performance upon this track might be not strict not harmonized in perfect manner (especially Damo's voices sound like an octopus sorry), but the gem merged, crystallized, and constructed with every talented play should get apotheosed really. 20 minutes? Very short for us. Time must not be absolute, I would say.

In conclusion, well understood what a lonely crazy guy pissing over the rainbow shouted. Not attractive as Krautrock but every progressive rock fan loves this creation. And my favourite one. That's the truth.

Haha, why on earth am I starting here reviewing Can? Because I like to write things that are not already in lots of other peoples' reviews. Nobody has reviewed this single yet so I do it. I like the band anyway, despite this being forgettable.

I mean, get this, this is the record in which Can, deficient of Damo's vitamin c though they are, manage to pip the ska-punks and practically invent trance.

Do I have your attention?

The gist of "Soon Over Babaluma" is that the band built off of "Future Days"'s ethereal soundscapes by essentially reunifying them with the grooviness of "Ege Bamyasi", if not in a necessarily immediately recognisable form. Rather than achieve most of that funk with Liebezeit's drums, as the band had usually done, he continues to drum mostly in the vein of "Future Days" while instead Karoli's guitar and violin and especially Schmidt's keys abide by the groove. The results? Ambient house and ambient techno have to owe backrent to this LP. "Dizzy Dizzy" manages to get a violin to jam right out of the gate. "Come Sta, La Luna" sounds like an angelic flamenco band engaging in ska and dub revival. "Splash" and "Quantum Physics" are just plain mind blowing. And then there's "Chain Reaction", as outstanding as the tracks directly surrounding it, but here, in the interplay between Schmidt and Liebezeit, is the spark that birthed trance music. We expected nothing less of The Can, now didn't we? Even Karoli and Schmidt's vocals are up to task. This is the dress rehearsal for "The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld", nothing less, probably something more on top of that. Again, truly outstanding.

On Future Days the sound of Can was at its fullest reach creating music that's like a living, breathing organism. I guess this is my favourite era of Can and this album always places me within a sun-kissed Idyll, a Balearic arbour, the music dancing like sunlight on surf. Future Days forever, on and on.

Well, it's been several years, I forgot about, (then rediscovered) this magnificent band and while I love them much as I always did...to my surprise I fell in love with this album.

Call it growing older, but I appreciate the more subdued and mellow nature of this album, something I thought was lacking back then and missed the abrasive, over the top elements that I thought made Can what it was. However, "Future Days" is a beautiful album that maintains the Can essentials: chill, psychedelic atmosphere, drifting songs, arty guitar and Jaki's superb drumming with all the fixings: jazzy, driving, monotonous yet cerebral. However, on "Future Days" some other Can sounds are greatly subdued, if not removed entirely: the, (often harsh), noisy bits, over the top whackiness, blatant avant garde endeavors and most notably Damo's vocals.

Famous for his wild, I'd say insane, vocals singing a mish mosh of languages and sometimes not any at all, here Damo is majorly subdued and mellow. To be honest, while I love Damo, I can't say this change is unwelcomed. It not only fits the more atmospheric nature of this album, but I was a little perturbed by fans of experimental music who lament the artist experimenting or changing it up.

The unquestioned winner of this album is the 20 minute "Bel Air" which is a brilliant microcosm of the album itself: Relaxing, beautiful, minimalist, hypnotic and warm. In a style that could be called "post rock" the song dips into a brief interlude devoid of music and simply consists of birds chirping and bugs buzzing, makes me want to sit on a beach with a nice drink, before the music picks back up and gently builds to a powerful climax.

A beautiful album that should satisfy any fan of Can, (though one may be underwhelmed if they must have the older, more avant garde style) but I think can satisfy fans of most prog rock. A wonderful album that I'd dare say is Can's best.

FIVE STARS

I've never been a huge fan of krautrock- most of what I've heard is pretty disjointed, most likely because of me listening to things like Organisation which I absolutely abhor-, but Can was my introduction and still to this day reigns as my favorite from the genre. My largest highlight of their consecutive releases is obviously Can's 1969 Monster Movie. Everything about it is great, at least on the first side of the LP.

Many people make points about how Monster Movie has large amounts of early punk elements. I mean sure, I suppose, but really the seven minute opener epic 'Father Cannot Yell' is most likely the most connected to the genre, but overall this album pioneers flowing, almost hypnotic riffs that early krautrock bands were doing. The band largely relies on improvisation to get through the longer tracks, not unlike jam bands such as the Grateful Dead. In fact, 'You Doo Right' was originally a whopping six hour long jam until it was compressed into twenty minutes. Most of the songs on here have at least some iota of Can's later atmospheric hypno-rock, with in this case a style that paved the way not only for the band but also for other krautrock bands.

The opener 'Father Cannot Yell' as said before it is a speeding, punk-influenced song that starts off the album. Although it was a strange way to set off this particularly slow album, it is quite enjoyable as a casual listen. 'Outside My Door' is a shorter, even more punk-ish track that uses more repetitive drumming as well as some cool guitar riffs.

'Mary, Mary So Contrary' is the best song on the album and perhaps my favorite song from it's genre as well as the band. It uses very different mesmerizing tones with lyrics based off of a children's rhyme. The guitar work, although seems to be pretty standard, sounds absolutely epic in the light of it's overall atmosphere. Mooney's vocals are absolutely outstanding, using a tired, almost scratchy feel to give his voice that needed effect.

Ah, 'You Doo Right'. Probably one of the most boring, repetitive songs I've encountered in my progressive wanderings. Even when the song is three times as long as it should be, it's still boring and retains the same sound throughout listening. It uses massive repetition, and although I can say that I like when Can does it on their other songs, here it's just pointless. Absolutely mediocre and not enjoyable to sit down and listen to.

Even in the light of the second side, Can's Monster Movie still gets a 4.5/5 from me. It introduced me to the genre, and I still love it with all my heart to this day. In the light of me liking it so much, I've rounded the rating to a full five rating. Absolutely fantastic.

"Tago Mago" is a concept album. There is a method to Damo's madness. The concept? Nuclear armageddon. Starting off with "Paperhouse", we get one of the best ever pieces of standard psychkraut, which as it happens is the world before midnight. This is also a musical launching pad, as familiar as your home neighbourhood. After seven minutes of hippie life, the music suddenly slows, the kick drums enter... "Mushroom", the day of reckoning. Damo describes the "mushroom head" and the horrors it wrought the only we he can, simply and emotionally. The track ends with with one of the weapons hitting, and then black, fallout stained rain falls to welcome "Oh Yeah". The band's way of depicting the post- apocalyptic wasteland is to just follow a man - Damo - going mad from the horrors, chaos, and loneliness. With "Oh Yeah", Damo can only react with gibberish of various shades - English, Japanese, forwards, backwards. By the time of "Aumgn" and "Peking O", Damo has gone completely mad, and his thoughts turn to dark places truly reflective of the burnt wastes. His madness, though, eventually leads him to just retreat into his mind, and take a seat at the Mad Hatter's tea party or somesuch - "Bring Me Coffee or Tea", a repreivingly beautiful and calm end for us as well.

Some of this album's influences have been stated here before: post-punk's debt to Can is well known and documented, and Russellk has mentioned how The Orb and other of the more experimental and progressive groups of EDM's '90's heyday namecheck these krautrockers as well. Probably the most sweeping influence that this record specifically has wrought, however, is in essentially founding industrial music via "Aumgn" and "Peking O". White Noise, Kluster, and Suicide are fellow pioneers of a style they had no idea they were actually minting, but, as evidenced by John Lydon naming Can the supreme influence for Public Image Ltd., it is clear what the cornerstone of the genre is. This connection is the reason why the conclusion that industrial is a twisted descendant of psychedelia is as correct as the more general conclusion that industrial is essentially just the breakaway dark side of electronica. As well, Can hangs majorly over most pronk bands, mainly This Heat and Cardiacs, with particularly strong connections to the former, by way of This Heat cutting "Deceit", their own concept album about the bomb.

But most importantly, "Tago Mago" is simply a masterpiece. Can just broke so many barriers here in all the best ways, and for it are krautrock's most named, loved, and influential band. The playing - especially Liebizeit's drums and Damo's vocals - are top notch. This is one of krautrock's quintessential albums due to its wide range of experimentation and unique quality, though as such it is not in any way by the books as far as the genre is concerned - those who got turned off the genre due to this record shouldn't be so disheartened. But for the adventurous among us, this is a required listen, and a pinnacle of all experimental and art music, and all prog.

At the start, we have "Paperhouse", with it's mellow guitar chords and steady drumming. The vocalist here, Damo Suzuki, is less of a lead singer and more like an improvisational speaker. "Mushroom" showcases more excellent percussion by Jaki Liebezeit, and pairs it with a droning guitar. "Oh Yeah" starts off with an explosion and features some backwards vocals and a small part of Damo singing in Japanese, instead of English.

One of the greatest songs by Can, "Halleluhwah" is an 18 minute funk jam with many overdubs. The rhythm remains constant throughout, which may seem like a downside since it does get repetitive, but it doesn't really bother me because it is hypnotic. There is a lot of experimentation with keyboards, guitar, and strings, while Damo continues chanting. Apparently the piece was edited together by bassist Holger Czukay from an hour long session that the band had recorded. Lots of songs by the band were created this way.

"Aumgn" sounds like early Dark Ambient and Industrial music. At about 12 minutes in, there is tribal drumming and screams, with an eerie synthesizer and lots of noises added in, which continues until the end. The truth is, this track is much scarier than many horror movies. "Aumgn" is very spooky and definitely ahead of its time. "Peking O" is the weirdest song here, and seems to not have any structure. If the last song was difficult, then this is even more so. Damo continues rambling incoherently while what sounds like an early drum machine adds percussion. Closing the album, is the track "Bring Me Coffee or Tea", which returns to the instrumentation of the album's first half, and is a very eastern-influenced track. A fitting end to the LP.

This is one record that requires time to grow on you. If you have an open mind and stick with it, you just might be pleasantly surprised.

The title track, "Future Days", starts off the album with sound effects and the tune slowly picks up into a mellow funk groove. After this, vocals are introduced with repeated lines such as "save the money for a rainy day, for the sake of future days". A very good opener that sets the mood for the rest of the music to come. The next track "Spray" is a more frantic composition, with some of the best drumming on a Can record. After about five minutes it slows down and sounds quite similar to "Paperhouse" off Tago Mago. If this record had any single, it would probably be "Moonshake". This is a fun three minute track with a mid-song breakdown featuring many percussive instruments and even a slide whistle.

"Bel Air" is this album's side-long track, and it's a good one. The composition sounds like it's pieced together from different recordings like "Halleluhwah", but it serves a different goal. That goal is to be calming and ethereal, and at that it succeeds. The song may drag on a bit. I usually have to be in the mood to hear it. I find side one to be slightly more satisfying. It may sound like I dislike this track, but that's only comparing it to the other three on the album that are immediately more enjoyable.

Many reviewers have observed that Future Days is Can's "summer" album, and I would have to agree. For example, track three ("Moonshake"), is the type of music I would imagine playing at a beach party. At least it's the ideal beach music. The rest of the songs have a soothing ocean-side atmosphere to them.

Just a quick observation but this album is structured exactly like Monster Movie, their debut album. I don't know if that was intentional. There isn't much else I can say about Future Days, other than it's a blissful forty minutes. Listen to it however you can and try to forget about life's troubles, if only for a short period of time.

4 Stars, Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection.