Can

Selection

07/03/2005

I was recently introduced to a band that had been suggested to me by Jose Horn. Can, were a band that I have never heard, or even heard mentioned by any music lover I know. After a little research I found that Can were a leading avant-garde rock band of the Seventies and were more influenced by 20th Century classical music than the likes of Chuck Berry or Bob Dylan.

 Featuring several different vocalists during their career, the core band members remained keyboardist Irmin Schmidt, drummer Jaki Leibezeit, guitarist Michael Karoli, and bassist Holger Czukav. During the Seventies they were extremely prolific, recording as many as three albums a year at the height of their career. Apart from a surprise UK Top 30 hit with ?I Want More?, they were never much more than a cult band.

The first track on this ?Can ? Selection? album is called ?Doko E?, and is an experimental attempt at crossing tribal grooves with bluegrass, and sounds like it?s been recorded in the shed at the bottom of the garden. A very strange track to open up the album I have to say. The second track ?Fall of Another Year? is instantly more appealing and sounds very modern, in the vain of Radiohead and the new Chilli Pepper?s vibe mixed with an acid-jazz flavour. ?Halleluwah?, is a twenty-minute ride that has a funky break beat kinda thing going on with a vocal line straight out of The Happy Mondays. I think it?s a bit weird that I?m listening to this album and hearing a host of modern bands and musicians trying to recreate this kind of sound and groove. Names like Beck, Dj Shadow, and the bands already mentioned, can all be heard here. These guys certainly like to experiment and avant-garde is definitely the word of description. ?Mushroom? is another one of those very modern sounding tracks that are on this album.

The aforementioned Beck, Primal Scream and bands like The Hives could be well into this stuff. The album is full of little jazzy breaks and terrific beats ? certainly a delight for a drummer like myself. ?She Bring The Rain? is a traditional jazz standard with walking bass and crooner vocals singing about tripping on magic mushrooms.

?Tango Whiskeyman? has a similar sound to that of The Doors and in particular, Bread, in terms of song structure and textures. The final track, ?Vitamin C?, is almost like James Brown but with a dark, disturbing touch to it. So, if anyone out there is into the kind of bands that I?ve mentioned, you?ll probably like Can. Although there isn?t a lot of variety in the tracks on this album, they do have a certain sound about them ? a very modern sound, which I still feel kinda weird about. Can Selection ? worth a listen just to hear the similarities that are used in today?s music.