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Title: Can – Rite Time (1989) [2006 Remaster]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

An unexpected reunion from Can (made even more unexpected by the presence of original singer Malcolm Mooney, who left the band in 1969), 1989’s Rite Time is in large part a return to form for the group, especially when one considers how weak Can’s last few ’70s albums were. Wisely, the quintet doesn’t try to replicate the sound they created over two decades before on albums like Monster Movie. Instead, Mooney and company make Rite Time a document of where they’re at musically at the time. In short, it’s funkier (“Give the Drummer Some”), funnier (“Hoolah Hoolah,” which takes that old schoolyard rhyme about how they don’t wear pants on the other side of France as the jumping-off point for its melody and lyrics), and more abstractly ambient (the elliptical closer “In the Distance Lies the Future”) than before. Rite Time doesn’t have the rubbery, polyrhythmic intensity of classic Can albums like Ege Bamyasi or Future Days, but it’s a solidly listenable album that, unlike the majority of reunion albums, doesn’t soil the memory of the band.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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Title: Can – Delay 1968 (1981) [2006 Remaster]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Although recorded in the late ’60s, the material included on Can’s Delay…1968 did not appear commercially until 1981. A collection of cuts featuring early vocalist Malcolm Mooney, these seven songs are among the very first Can tunes ever recorded; while nowhere near as intricate or assured as the group’s later work, the visceral energy of tracks like the deranged “Uphill” and “Butterfly” is undeniable.

hraudio | discogs

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Title: Can – CAN (1979) [2006 Remaster]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

The final studio effort from the first decade run of Can signifies not only a changing of the guard for the progressive Krautrock icons, but a nod to the shifting tastes of the times. Losing the great bassist Holger Czukay as a bandmember who moved into the production/editing room had a telling effect, but his replacement Rosko Gee was more than adequate. Percussionist Rebop Kwaku Baah and Gee (both coming off stints with Traffic) buoyed the band and modified Can’s sound as they collectively continued exploring amplified and processed experimentation. Electric guitarist Michael Karoli continued expanding his horizons and sound palette, Irmin Schmidt dug deeper into keyboard sounds running parallel to fellow countrymen from the bands Passport, Cluster, and Kraftwerk, while Jaki Liebezeit, simply put, remained one of the more consistent and steady rock drummers of the era. But disco beats, on the way out in 1979, remained a part of Can’s appeal, and a precursor for the acid jazz dance music to come. At their best, “All Gates Open” whips space blues harmonica, buried vocals, and Robert Fripp-inspired guitar into a clean and simple jam. The exotic influence of African music infused into the instrumental “Sunday Jam” suggests strains of the famous jazz standard “Caravan.” The purely electric “Sodom” resonates along the lines of Cluster welded to Jimi Hendrix-style inferences, while also plodding. A campy take of the can can “Ethnological Forger Series #99” parallels the Love Sculpture/Dave Edmunds adaptation of “Sabre Dance.” Of the more dance-oriented tracks, “A Spectacle” is relevant from a contemporary standpoint with Karoli’s spiky, choppy wah-wah sound, while “Safe” is completely spaced out. A scintillating attempt at R&B fusion, “Can Be” veers into epic big hair arena corpo-rock territory, held together by Karoli’s excellent playing. While Can emerged in ensuing years with different lineups and further sub-developments, this last vestige of the initial band holds firm in resolve, and is at the least an intriguing aside to their more potent earlier albums.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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Title: Can – Saw Delight (1977) [2006 Remaster]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Bearing bar none the worst title pun of any Can album — and with titles like Cannibalism, that’s saying something — 1977’s Saw Delight was the German progressive group’s farewell. Clearly, the core quartet had found themselves in a rut by the recording of this album, bringing in percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah and bassist Rosko Gee from a late-era lineup of Traffic to add a sort of Afro-Cuban jazz feel to their sound. What’s frustrating is that this idea could have worked brilliantly, but the execution is all wrong. Instead of the polyrhythmic fireworks expected from a drum duel between Baah and the African-influenced Jaki Liebezeit, Can’s senior drummer basically rolls over, keeping time with simple beats while the percussionist takes on the hard work. Similarly, Rosko Gee’s handling of the bass duties (which he performs superbly throughout, adding an almost Mingus-like rhythmic intensity to even the loosest songs) frees Holger Czukay to add electronics and sound effects to the proceedings, an opportunity he doesn’t make much of. On the up side, the opening “Don’t Say No” recalls the controlled fury of earlier tunes like “Moonshake,” and side two, consisting of Gee’s lengthy, jazz-based composition “Animal Waves” and the lovely instrumental “Fly by Night,” is largely excellent, but the two lengthy tracks that close side one are melodically and rhythmically pale in comparison, and there’s a tired, somewhat dispirited vibe to the whole album that makes it an unsatisfying send-off to Can’s career.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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Title: Can – Flow Motion (1976) [2006 Remaster]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

The second of Can’s three Virgin albums, 1976’s Flow Motion, is a divisive record in the group’s canon. It was their most commercially successful album (the opening track, “I Want More,” was released as a single in the U.K. and actually charted, thanks to its smoothly percolating near-disco groove, which makes it resemble a late-period Roxy Music hit), but many fans dismiss it as the group’s feint toward commercial success. That fluke hit aside, the charge doesn’t really hold water. There’s a newfound smoothness to the group’s interplay, which Holger Czukay attributes to an interest in reggae music, yet the Caribbean influence is quite subtle; only on “Cascade Waltz” and, particularly, “Laugh Till You Cry Live Till You Die” is there a noticeable reggae lilt. The two highlight tracks are “Smoke,” a wild, Moroccan-styled entry in their ever-growing Ethnological Forgery Series, and the limber title track, a ten-and-a-half minute instrumental groove that recalls the best moments of earlier albums like Soon Over Babaluma. By no means one of Can’s very best albums, Flow Motion deserves better than its poor reputation in some circles.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

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