Can - Soundtracks (Kraut-Rock 1970)

Soundtracks is a soundtrack album by the Krautrock group Can. It was first released in 1970 and consists of tracks written for various films. The album marks the departure of the band's original vocalist Malcolm Mooney, who sings on two tracks, to be replaced by new member Damo Suzuki. Stylistically, the record also documents the transition from the psychedelia-inspired jams of their first recordings (i.e., Monster Movie and Delay 1968) to the more meditative, electronic, and experimental mode of the studio albums that followed (such as Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi).

Malcolm Mooney passes the baton to Damo Suzuki for Soundtracks, a collection of film music featuring contributions from both vocalists. The dichotomy between the two singers is readily apparent: Suzuki's odd, strangulated vocals fit far more comfortably into the group's increasingly intricate and subtle sound, allowing for greater variation than that allowed by Mooney's stream-of-consciousness discourse.

01."Deadlock" - 3:27 (from the film Deadlock, 1970, dir. Roland Klick)
02."Tango Whiskyman" - 4:04 (from the film Deadlock, 1970, dir. Roland Klick)
03."Deadlock (Titelmusik)" - 1:40 (from the film Deadlock, 1970, dir. Roland Klick)
04."Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone" - 3:42 (from the film Cream)
05."Soul Desert" - 3:48 (from the film Madchen... nur mit Gewalt, 1970, dir. Roger Fritz. Cited on album sleeve as "Madchen mit Gewalt")
06."Mother Sky" - 14:31 (from the film Deep End, 1971, dir. Jerzy Skolimowski)
07."She Brings the Rain" - 4:04 (from the film Bottom - Ein grofler graublauer Vogel 1971, dir. Thomas Schamoni)

Post by ChrisGoesRock

Can - Ege Bamyasi Okgraschoten (Excellent Kraut Rock 1972)

The follow-up to Tago Mago is only lesser in terms of being shorter; otherwise the Can collective delivers its expected musical recombination act with the usual power and ability. Liebezeit, at once minimalist and utterly funky, provides another base of key beat action for everyone to go off on — from the buried, lengthy solos by Karoli on "Pinch" to the rhythm box/keyboard action on "Spoon." The latter song, which closes the album, is particularly fine, its sound hinting at an influence on everything from early Ultravox songs like "Hiroshima Mon Amour" to the hollower rhythms on many of Gary Numan's first efforts. Liebezeit and Czukay's groove on "One More Night," calling to mind a particularly cool nightclub at the end of the evening, shows that Stereolab didn't just take the brain-melting crunch side of Can as inspiration. The longest track, "Soup," lets the band take off on another one of its trademark lengthy rhythm explorations, though not without some tweaks to the expected sound. About four minutes in, nearly everything drops away, with Schmidt and Liebezeit doing the most prominent work; after that, it shifts into some wonderfully grating and crumbling keyboards combined with Suzuki's strange pronouncements, before ending with a series of random interjections from all the members. Playfulness abounds as much as skill: Slide whistles trade off with Suzuki on "Pinch"; squiggly keyboards end "Vitamin C"; and rollicking guitar highlights "I'm So Green." The underrated and equally intriguing sense of drift that the band brings to its recordings continues as always. "Sing Swan Song" is particularly fine, a gentle float with Schmidt's keyboards and Czukay's bass taking the fore to support Suzuki's sing-song vocal.

AMG Review by Ned Raggett