Inner Spaces

Can - Can (a.k.a. Inner Space)

Ripped from a vinyl album released on Laser Records (LASL 2) in 1978 to high resolution 24-bit lossless flac audio. This album was a no-brainer to follow In The Garden. Can (or Inner Space as known on later releases) oozes cool as it saunters through jazz, blues and lazy psychedelic soul with a style and swagger which only these German masters could muster. This album should have been a much revered classic but Can do take things beyond the peripherals of silliness with the tracks which close out side two. I ripped this from an immaculate copy tucked away in the penguinflight archive and it sounds fantastic.

A1 All Gates Open
A2 Safe
A3 Sunday Jam
B1 Sodom
B2 A Spectacle
B3 E.F.S. Nr. 99 ("Can Can")
B4 Ping Pong
B5 Can Be

Trench Coat Warfare

Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit, Holger Czukay - How Much Are They?

Ripped from a 12" vinyl EP released on Island Records (12WIP 6701) in 1981 to high resolution 24-bit lossless flac audio.

A1 How Much Are They?
A2 Where's The Money?
B1 Trench Warfare
B2 Twilight World

Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit - Full Circle

Originally released as a vinyl album on Virgin Records Germany (205 866) in 1982. Ripped here from a 1992 compact disc to high quality lossless flac audio.

1 How Much Are They?
2 Where's The Money?
3 Full Circle R.P.S. (No. 7)
4 Mystery R.P.S. (No. 8)
5 Trench Warfare
6 Twilight World

Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay ‎– Snake Charmer

Ripped from a vinyl album released on Island Records (IMA 1) in 1983 to high quality lossless flac audio.

A1 Snake Charmer
A2 Hold On To Your Dreams
B1 It Was A Camel
B2 Sleazy
B3 Snake Charmer (Reprise)

The bonding of dub and bass collaborator-at-large, Jah Wobble and the ex-members of Can was a stroke of genius. Here is a nice rip of the UK 12" on Island, the UK reissue compact disc featuring all of those tracks plus others from the sessions. I've also included an old rip of the smooth yet funky Snake Charmer mini album made with François Kevorkian, Steven Street, Paul "Groucho" Smykle, The Edge and Jah's Invaders of The Heart. Just a quick request to see if anybody out there can contribute a lossless rip of the first 1983 Invaders Of The Heart 12"?

Spare A Light?

Can - Future Days

I have always considered Can to be one of those bands you can dip in and out of, find bits of interest and discard what doesn't appeal to you. I love the heavy sound of sixties psychedelic-era tracks like Mary Mary So Contrary and Little Star Of Bethlehem, but also the commercial funk sound of I Want More from 1976's Flow Motion.

Future Days stands it's ground in the middle because it clearly had an effect on some the bands I grew up with nearly ten years after its release. Lazy percussive jazz rhythms, tape loops, treated guitars. mixed down vocals and bass harmonics can be heard in middle period works by 23 Skidoo and A Certain Ratio among others from the eighties, but also nineties and upward chill-out bands such as Ultramarine, The Avalanches and Zero 7. Don't take my word for this. The Can catelogue is vast and it will take you some considerable time to work through it and find the parts which appeal to you.

Ripped from a vinyl album released on United Artists Records (UAS 29505) in 1973 to high quality lossless flac audio.

A1. Future Days
A2. Spray
A3. Moonshake
B. Bel Air

Schlager Nicht

Krautrock - The Rebirth Of Germany

Here's a nice quality capture of the excellent BBC4 documentary looking at the roots and development of the German music phenomena (it's not a genre after all), from the early days of Amon Düüll (and dubious Baader Meinhoff links), Can and Faust, through to early Kraftwerk, Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia and later Kraftwerk. It  includes fascinating chats with a few main players including Michael Rother, Holger Czukay,  Dieter Moebius, and Wolfgang Flür. There is an impromptu performance by Faust, and a few interjections from Iggy Pop (whilst drilling a coconut!). The documentary ends with a look at Krautrock's influence on subsequent music and quite rightly exposes Brian Eno, who clearly should have given Harmonia a great deal more credit in the development of his own solo career, and also Bowie's transition from glam to über-cool euro-rock. The video is in the mastroka (MKV) format which will playback nicely in 720P on most media drives, or on desktop freeware such as VLC. Enjoy!