Future Days [Remastered] [Hybrid SACD] - Can > Reviews > Can I Have a Sauerkraut Moonshake

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Not applicable
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Superb Chilled Out Krautrock
Disadvantages:	Ever so slightly self indulgent

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Krautrock is a generic and somewhat derogitary name for the experimental bands who appeared in Germany in the early 1970s. Of these bands Can were at the forefront of the genre along with bands such as Kraftwerk, Faust, NEU! and Tangerene Dream.

Can were formed in 1968 and described themselves as an anarchist community. Their music was based around improvisation and editing, and they were known to be able to Jam for hours on end without stopping. Their infulence on subsiquent generations of musicians has been noted and written about, with everyone from Julian Cope to John Lydon and even Blur citing their influence. Due to the experemental nature of the music they never really achieved any comercial success and have only achieved critical success in recent years, but then I don't think they really set out to achieve either.

The line up on this album was Michael Karoli : Guitar, Damo Suzuki : Vocal, Jaki Liebezeit : Drums, Irmin Schmit : Keyboards and Holger Czukay: Bass.

Can began the recording of Future Days in 1972 in Cologne (Köln to those of you who are rather pedantic about this), and by all accounts this was a rather balmy summer. The band had just returned from a holiday and the musical differences within the group had been examined and made workable, what ever that meant. Can were one of those bands that seemed to thrive when the creative differences within the group were at their highest, besides bands should never be mutual admiration societies, when that happens the result is U2 or worse still Genesis from the late 70's onwards.

Upon listening to the album you get a definite feel that the inclement weather of the Köln summer of 1972 had a major effect on the proceedings within the studio. The songs have a definite summery feel.

The first two tracks Future Days and Spray highlight this, what with Jaki Liebezeit's Latin polyrythms and light touches on the drums, mixed with Karoli's airy almost ethereal guitar work. This is compounded by Damo Suzuki's vocals which are light, breezy, and it is highly unusual for a rock singer to have his voice treated like this. The keyboards and bass of Schmit and Czukay burble and swoop in an effortless fashion all adding to a highly chilled out feel.

The album then shifts gear slightly with Moonshake, a laid back number with a funky / jazzy beat and more Latin polyrythmns adding to this is a funky bass line and some jazzy guitar. Whilst Suzuki chants a laid back mantra of something or other on top of it. Additional percussive and strange noises add a slightly quirky feel to what is as close to pop music that Can ever got to.

The highlight of the album has to be the final opus on it clocking in at nearly 20 minutes long Bel Air is a stunning piece of music. It never seems to reach a climax rather it shifts through relaxing musical themes. It is filled full of more Latin polyrhythms laid back drumming, guitar chops and great keyboard sounds and more relaxed mantras by Damo Suzuki. It is near to indescribable how it works but it does and work well it does, as each member solos but not soloing at the same time. Imagine if you can a psychedelic flower floating on a psychedelic lake under a psychedelic sky in a psychedelic world and you will become close to being there but not quite.

Cans output could be highly variable in general goodness, but it was never short of brilliance. As a result of this their back catalog should be approached with caution for the uninitiated. Futures Days is one of their finest and most accessible works, so for anyone with an interest in real psychedelic music and the weirder fringes of prog rock then this one comes highly recommended.

This remastered edition comes in as hybrid SACD so that folk with Super audio CD players can enjoy the aural experience to its fullest, and those without can enjoy it without. It also has a fantastic booklet with a write-up about the album and lots of photos which made the £13-99 I paid for it from Piccadilly Records in Manchester much easier to part with.