BOX MUSIC (LIVE 1971-1977)

3.5 stars

It's odd that Can never released a live album in their 1970s heyday - this was a band famous for both rearranging existing material and 'spontaneous composition' on stage, and their performances have achieved a kind of semi legendary status over the years. This double CD was assembled from unofficial recordings for the release of a package that also contained an autobiographical book and a video - the Can Box - and features performances from 1972-1977.

Three different line ups are represented here, with the post Damo Suzuki quartet dominating the proceedings and the early version with Malcolm Mooney not featuring at all. Most of the recordings are from UK concerts, with a couple from Germany, and there is a good mix of improvisation and well known album tracks. There is also some blurring of the boundaries; the composed material is reinterpreted, sometimes quite radically, while the improvisations sometimes contain recognisable fragments of album tracks and the 37 minute Colchester Finale (the only track to feature Damo Suzuki) gradually morphs into a thunderous reading of Halleluwah.

This is really one for the fans .The sound quality is rarely better than adequate, but the performances are often incendiary, and all the elements that Can fans know and love are present and correct - Liebezeit's metronomic drumming, Czukay's minmalist bass lines, Karoli's gypsy-blues-raga guitar and Schmidt's washes of keyboard textures, with Damo Suzuki and Rosko Gee adding their own seasoning to the stew where they're featured. Vital for Krautrock afficianados, but newcomers would do better to start with one of the early studio albums.

Crammed with over two hours worth of Can performing during their peak years this selection of live cuts shows just what a dazzlingly inventive outfit the German free-form pioneers could be outside of their natural studio habitat. Like many innovative groups of the 1960's and 1970's Can live were a remarkably different beast from their studio persona, many of the tracks captured on this two-disc compilation either completely unrecognisable from their original album form or simply the result of some impromptu jams between the five members. With the sonic shackles of the studio well-and-truly disposed of, this raw and powerful approach is best exemplified by the utterly extraordinary 'Colchester Finale', a fuzzy, dizzy, relentless thirty-seven minute long abstract masterpiece that brings to mind - and also surpasses - the thunderous invention of 'Tago Mago'. Recorded at the now defunct Essex University campus during the British leg of 1972's European tour, 'Colchester Finale' is, simply put, an experience like no other, a performance which - much like the rest of album's eight tracks - manages to showcase almost everything that makes Can such a pioneering outfit. This is essential listening for any serious krautrock fan, with tracks such as 'Jynx', 'Cascade Waltz' and 'Spoon' - from the album 'Ege Bamyasi' and possibly the track which resembles it's studio version the most - revealing a dynamic new view of Can's highly expressive music. Hopefully, the future will bring much more live material from this most unique of collectives.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

Hard to believe that this was the first official release of concert performances by CAN. These are taken from concerts at various venues from February of 1972 to March of 1977. Of course the "Peel Sessions" were released four years before this but these were shows that were done specifically for John Peel's radio program between 1973 to 1975. Both of these are posthumous releases from 1995 and 1999 respectively. The sound quality here is acceptable and actually suits the music most of the time because this is raw, hypnotic and experimental stuff. We get two discs of music worth about 2 hours in total.

Disc one begins with "Jynx" an over 16 minute track from 1975. It's fairly experimental for about 2 minutes then they eventually get into this groove. Some nice guitar after 5 minutes. A calm around 11 minutes with spacey keys as they continue to jam. "Dizzy Dizzy" also from 1975 has this steady beat with the organ and guitar standing out. Vocals 3 1/2 minutes in but they are brief. "Vernal Equinox" is from the exact same concert as the previous track. Piano to start then drums take over followed by guitar. Great sound 10 minutes in as the drums pound and the guitar grinds away.

"Fizz" from 1977 is trippy but then starts to build but settles back just as fast. "Yoo Doo Right" from 1975 has some vocals from Damo but they are surprisingly brief. It does pick up and the guitar is making lots of noise. "Cascade Waltz" is easily my least favourite but it's only 5 minutes long. Recorded in 1977 this comes across as lightweight and somewhat whimsical.

Disc two has only three tracks on it including the almost 40 minute opener "Colchestor Finale" from 1972. Lots of jamming here and check out the guitar after 10 minutes. It calms down and vocals arrive before 15 minutes. Insanity late to end it. "Kata Kong" from 1975 is a trippy, underground sounding tune while the closer "Spoon" from 1972 is uptempo with a beat and vocals as the crowd cheers.

CAN was a band who flew by the seat of their pants never knowing in what direction each concert would take them as they loved to improvize and make music based on their surroundings at the time. A low 4 stars but a piece of CAN history that many a fanboy would call essential.