Can (band)
Can were a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne in 1968 by Holger Czukay (bass, tape editing), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). They featured several vocalists, including the American Malcolm Mooney (1968–70) and the Japanese Damo Suzuki (1970–73).[8] They have been hailed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene.[8][9]
This article is about the German band. For the South Korean duo, see Can (duo).
Can
The founding members of Can came from backgrounds in avant-garde music and jazz. They blended elements of psychedelic rock, funk, and musique concrète on influential albums such as Tago Mago (1971), Ege Bamyasi (1972) and Future Days (1973).[8][10] Can also had commercial success with singles such as "Spoon" (1971) and "I Want More" (1976) reaching national singles charts. Their work has influenced rock, post-punk, and ambient acts.[11]
History[edit]
1960s[edit]
Can was formed in Cologne, Germany, 1968 by Holger Czukay (bass), Irmin Schmidt (keyboard), Jaki Liebezeit (drums) and Michael Karoli (guitar).[12][13] Czukay and Schmidt were from academic backgrounds, students of the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, and were fascinated by the possibilities of rock and roll.[13] The band initially used the name Inner Space.[12]
In late 1968, the band enlisted the American vocalist Malcolm Mooney.[14] They recorded an album, Prepare to Meet Thy Pnoom, but could not find a recording company to release it.[15] They appeared briefly in the 1969 film Kamasutra: Vollendung der Liebe backing the singer Margarete Juvan.
At Mooney's suggestion, the band changed their name to Can.[12] Mooney suggested the name for its positive meanings in various languages.[13] Liebezeit later suggested the backronym "communism, anarchism, nihilism", after an English magazine claimed this was the intended meaning.[16]
Can accepted an invitation from a friend to move into his castle, Schloss Nörvenich, and use it as a recording studio.[13] There, they recorded their debut album, Monster Movie (1969). It contained new versions of two songs previously recorded for Prepared to Meet Thy Pnoom, "Father Cannot Yell" and "Outside My Door". Monster Movie received acclaim.[13]
During one live performance, Mooney suffered a mental breakdown, shouting "upstairs, downstairs" for three hours, even after Can had stopped playing.[12] On his psychiatrist's advice, he left Can and returned to the US at the end of 1969.[12] Mooney made his last recordings with Can that December.[17] He was replaced in 1970 by a young Japanese traveller, Damo Suzuki, whom Czukay and Liebezeit found busking outside a Munich café and invited to join their performance that night.[18]
Archive releases[edit]
Can released a compilation album Limited Edition in 1974, and expanded it to a double album Unlimited Edition in 1976 from their unreleased studio recordings. Delay 1968, released in 1981, was a compilation of unreleased 1968–1969 recordings. Cannibalism 2, a compilation album of album and single material, also included one unreleased song, "Melting Away", from the 1960s.
In 1995 The Peel Sessions was released, a compilation of Can recordings at the BBC. In 1999 Can Box was released, with a Can video documentary, a concert recording from 1972 and a double live CD compiled by Michael Karoli and later released separately as Can Live Music (Live 1971–1977). Unreleased live music of Can have been also released on the 40th Anniversary Edition of Tago Mago in 2011 and 17 LP collection box Can in 2014.
The Lost Tapes, released in 2012, was overseen by Irmin Schmidt and Daniel Miller, compiled by Schmidt and Jono Podmore, and edited by Podmore.
Legacy and influence[edit]
In the late 1970s, Can influenced major artists working in the post-punk genre such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Fall, Public Image Ltd and Joy Division.[39] In the 1980s, Can were referenced by British new wave acts such as Pete Shelley, Gary Numan, Ultravox, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream.[40] The Lumerians[41] and Happy Mondays[42] have cited Can as an influence. Critic Simon Reynolds wrote that "Can's pan-global avant-funk anticipated many of the moves made by sampladelic dance genres like trip hop, ethnotechno and ambient jungle."[5] Brian Eno made a short film in tribute to Can, while John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers appeared at the Echo Awards ceremony, at which Can were awarded the most prestigious music award in Germany.[43]
Radiohead cited Can as an influence on their albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001). Inspired by Can, they constructed their own studio and worked by recording jams and then editing the recordings.[44][45] Radiohead covered "The Thief" in live performances in the early 2000s.[46] Mark E. Smith of the Fall paid tribute to Suzuki with the track "I Am Damo Suzuki" on the 1985 album This Nation's Saving Grace. The Jesus and Mary Chain covered "Mushroom" live in the mid-1980s. Mark Hollis of Talk Talk had mentioned Can several times as an influence for their later albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock.
At least five notable bands have named themselves in tribute to Can: the Mooney Suzuki for Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki; the indie rock band Spoon after the hit "Spoon"; the electronic band Egebamyasi, formed by Scottish musician Mr Egg in 1984, after Can's album Ege Bamyasi; Hunters & Collectors after a song on the Landed album; and Moonshake, named for a track on Future Days, and formed by ex-Wolfhounds frontman David Callahan. The Scottish writer Alan Warner has written two novels in tribute to two different Can members (Morvern Callar to Holger Czukay and The Man Who Walks to Michael Karoli respectively). The Sacrilege remix album features remixes of Can tracks by artists who were influenced by Can, including Sonic Youth and U.N.K.L.E.[47] Their ethnomusicological tendencies pre-date the craze for world music in the 1980s. While not nearly as influential on electronic music as Kraftwerk, they were important early pioneers of ambient music, along with Tangerine Dream and the aforementioned band. Many groups working in the post-rock genre can look to Can as an influence as part of the larger krautrock scene, as can New Prog bands such as The Mars Volta. Rolling Stone called the group a "pioneering space rock band".[48] Kanye West has sampled "Sing Swan Song" on his song "Drunk & Hot Girls" from his 2007 album Graduation. The UK band Loop was deeply influenced by Can for their repetitive polyrhythmic style, covering Can's "Mother Sky" on their Black Sun EP.[49] The Yugoslav progressive/psychedelic rock band Igra Staklenih Perli, heavily influenced by Can, on their self-titled debut album released the song "Pečurka" ("Mushroom") as a tribute to Can.[50]
The band is name-checked as a formative influence in LCD Soundsystem's debut single "Losing My Edge".[51] Oasis' 2008 single "The Shock of the Lightning" was inspired by Can and Neu!.[52]