Can -

Can was a German Krautrock band that debuted with the album Monster Movie on Music Factory in 1969. After the 1970 Liberty release Soundtracks, they signed to United Artists and released the 1971–74 albums Tago Mago, Ege Bamyası, Future Days, and Soon Over Babaluma. They moved to Virgin for the 1975–77 albums Landed, Flow Motion, and Saw Delight.

Members: Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar, violin, vocals), Jaki Liebezeit (drums), Holger Czukay (bass, tapes, French horn, shortwave radio, 1968-77, 1986), Malcolm Mooney (vocals, 1968-69, 1986, 1991), David C. Johnson (flute, tapes, 1968-69), Damo Suzuki (vocals, 1970-73), Rosko Gee (bass, 1977-79), Anthony Reebop Kwaku Baah (percussion, vocals, 1977-79)

Background

Can formed in Cologne, West Germany, in June 1968 when keyboardist and conductor Irmin Schmidt—then recently returned from conducting engagements across Europe and composition studies under Karlheinz Stockhausen—invited fellow Stockhausen pupil Holger Czukay to form a group merging avant-garde techniques with electric music forms.

Czukay, a former schoolteacher and early experimenter in tape editing, shortwave radio, and non-Western music, brought along his young student Michael Karoli, a law student and self-taught guitarist whose grounding in Anglo-American rock and blues shaped the band’s stylistic framework. Jaki Liebezeit, who had performed with Manfred Schoof’s free jazz quintet, completed the core lineup, applying his background in improvisation to a newly disciplined, metronomic rhythmic style. The early formation also featured American flautist David C. Johnson and percussionist Manni Löhe.

Their first live performance, held that summer at an art gallery opening, established their improvisatory approach. A studio commission soon followed via Schmidt’s film contacts, providing the group’s first recording opportunity. In autumn 1968, they took on Malcolm Mooney, an American expatriate with a background in visual art and spontaneous vocal delivery. With Mooney, the band recorded a shelved debut titled Prepare to Meet Thy Pnoom, scored several obscure films under the name Inner Space, and ultimately adopted the name Can—drawn from multiple linguistic meanings and approved by group vote.

Monster Movie

The Can released their debut album, Monster Movie, in August 1979 on United Artists.

The album showcases the band’s foundational interplay, anchored by drummer Jaki Liebezeit’s unbroken pulse and bassist Holger Czukay’s thick, forward-driving patterns. Guitarist Michael Karoli threads brittle, fuzz-soaked lines through the minimalist repetitions of keyboardist Irmin Schmidt, who switches between Morse-like organ pulses and distended modal textures. Malcolm Mooney adds agitated, incantatory vocals, often submerged beneath the instrumental surface. The material emphasizes continuous rhythmic momentum, extended repetition, and layered dynamics shaped by in-studio tape editing.

Monster Movie opens with “Father Cannot Yell,” a relentlessly pulsing track where drummer Jaki Liebezeit locks into a high-velocity, metronomic pattern beneath a cycling bassline that pushes against Michael Karoli’s searing fuzz-toned phrases. Malcolm Mooney’s vocals stammer and rail across the surface, often retreating mid-phrase as the track gains momentum, trading narrative for charged bursts. “Mary, Mary So Contrary” moves at a slower, sturdier pace with sustained guitar tension, allowing Mooney’s hoarse timbre to draw out phrases in stretched, hypnotic pulses. The arrangement builds density until the vocal drops out midway, revealing sustained distortion and overdubbed fragments.

“Outside My Door” opens with scrappy harmonica and conversational muttering before bursting into jagged eruptions, with Karoli’s guitar shrieks matching Mooney’s erratic yelps. On side two, “Yoo Doo Right” spans over twenty minutes in alternating waves of restraint and escalation. The bass and drums trace a static undercurrent through most of the piece, creating a fulcrum around which Karoli slips in cyclical figures and scraped tonal noise. Mooney’s lines drift from whispers to chanted refrains, returning periodically as the rhythm section reasserts itself after intervals of percussive breakdown or near-silence. The album never diverges into ornamentation or dynamic contrast; it channels forward motion through subtle repetition and the friction between instability and pulse.

A1. “Father Cannot Yell” (7:01)
A2. “Mary, Mary So Contrary” (6:16)
A3. “Outside My Door” (4:11)

B. “You Doo Right” (20:20)

Can recorded Monster Movie in July 1969 at Schloss Nörvenich, a 14th-century castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, using mobile equipment adapted to their self-produced approach. The group handled all engineering and editing in-house, with final mastering overseen by Czukay at the WDR Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne.

Irmin Schmidt – organ
Jacki Liebezeit – drums, engineer
Holger Czukay – bass, engineer
Michael Karoli – guitar
Malcolm Mooney – vocals

Initial copies bore the subtitle “Made in a castle with better equipment.” The Music Factory edition featured cover art designed by Helge Bauch, described by label head Karlheinz Freynik as referencing Greek myth imagery. Liberty’s reissue replaced the artwork for broader commercial distribution.

Soundtracks

Can collected their early film music on Soundtracks, released in September 1970 on United Artists.

The album captures the band in a transitional phase between the rhythmic directness of their debut and the extended, more atmospheric forms they would develop later. Guitarist Michael Karoli layers wiry phrases against keyboardist Irmin Schmidt’s sustained organ tones and abrupt inserts. Bassist Holger Czukay and drummer Jaki Liebezeit generate a low-center fulcrum, shifting between propulsion and suspension as required by the scene. Damo Suzuki debuts on four tracks, contrasting with Malcolm Mooney’s earlier chant-style presence on two.

Soundtracks opens with “Deadlock,” where Michael Karoli threads a descending, dirge-toned guitar figure over a thick, slow-throbbing pulse. Damo Suzuki’s indistinct phrasing moves in unison with the lead line, shaping texture more than meaning. The reprise, “Deadlock (Title Music),” pares back the harmonic weight in favor of clattering percussion and subdued organ, shifting the center of gravity away from the guitar. “Tango Whiskeyman” pivots toward loose syncopation and fluid percussion, anchored by a repetitive pattern that dips in and out of restraint while Suzuki weaves clipped, off-kilter lines through the gaps. “Don’t Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone” introduces the classic Can interplay, with Holger Czukay’s cycling bass pattern locking into Liebezeit’s pared-down, trance-tightened beat. Flute trills and muted guitar textures drift behind Suzuki’s slurred vocal fragments, giving the track a weightless, glassy feel.

“Mother Sky” unspools across fourteen minutes in shifting waves of momentum. Karoli opens with a fractured guitar assault, darting across the stereo field while Czukay and Liebezeit lay down a persistent, pressure-building foundation. Suzuki joins after the first crest, spiraling through mantra-like phrases as Karoli modulates from slicing leads to shrill bursts and climbing bends. Liebezeit locks into a cross-pattern around the midpoint, dropping into skeletal hits that reframe the track’s center. The intensity peaks again with a burst of layered guitar runs before the track closes with a hollowed-out restatement of the initial vocal phrase. “Soul Desert” returns Mooney to the vocal role, shadowed by tight-lipped rhythmic phrasing and a rigid beat that cuts abruptly against the surrounding fluidity. The album ends with “She Brings the Rain,” where Karoli switches to restrained rhythm guitar beneath Mooney’s calm, incantatory lines. Sparse violin and brushed percussion create negative space around a lilting cadence that feels deliberately out of time with the rest of the album.

A1. “Deadlock” (3:27) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
A2. “Tango Whiskyman” (4:04) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
A3. “Deadlock (Titelmusik)” (1:40) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
A4. “Don’t Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone” (3:42) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
A5. “Soul Desert” (3:48) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney

B1. “Mother Sky” (14:31) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki
B2. “She Brings the Rain” (4:04) – Czukay, Karoli, Mooney

Can recorded these pieces between November 1969 and August 1970 at Schloss Nörvenich. “She Brings the Rain” was initially taped in a Zürich basement during a theatrical residency and re-recorded for A Big Grey-Blue Bird.

Irmin Schmidt – organ
Holger Czukay – bass
Jaki Liebezeit – percussion, flute
Michael Karoli – guitar
Damo Suzuki – vocals
Malcolm Mooney – vocals (A5, B2)

“Mother Sky,” edited from a longer take, accompanied a montage sequence in Jerzy Skolimowski’s Deep End, a 1970 West German–UK film about a teenage bathhouse worker’s fixation on an older colleague. Can scored multiple cues for Peter Przygodda’s Deadlock in a single overnight session; Schmidt flew to Berlin the next morning to supervise the film mix. Liberty released Soundtracks while Can were preparing Tago Mago, which the band considered their true second studio album.

Tago Mago

Can released their second studio album, Tago Mago, in August 1971 on United Artists.

The album spans two LPs and presents Can at full capacity with newly joined vocalist Damo Suzuki. Guitarist Michael Karoli alternates jagged, wah-soaked phrases with percussive strums, while keyboardist Irmin Schmidt builds tension with sustained organ drones, warping electronics, and sudden frequency shifts. Holger Czukay’s bass lines rotate around Jaki Liebezeit’s near-mechanical drum figures, which serve as the music’s pivot, whether steady or fractured by edits. Suzuki reacts intuitively, folding clipped syllables and shrieks into the surrounding momentum.

Tago Mago opens with “Paperhouse,” where piano fragments drift across a slow build that erupts into a tense rhythmic stretch shaped by Jaki Liebezeit’s hyper-articulate drumming. Michael Karoli alternates clipped attacks and fluid bends, stretching the midsection into a drawn-out plateau. Suzuki chants and mutters beneath the surface, then resurfaces in a higher register near the end as the rhythm disintegrates. “Mushroom” compresses that tension into four minutes, with abrupt vocal interjections that swing between restraint and shriek over a compact drum-bass framework. “Oh Yeah” introduces phase-shifted cymbals and reversed vocal textures before settling into a forward-moving beat layered with filtered keyboard and tangled guitar lines. Suzuki slips between phrased incantation and clipped syllables, escalating across the stereo field.

“Halleluhwah” sustains for eighteen minutes, with Liebezeit anchoring the entire span through a locked polyrhythmic cycle. Karoli weaves guitar figures that pivot from angular stabs to subdued strumming, while Irmin Schmidt introduces periodic clusters of processed keys and treated violin. Suzuki voices scattered phrases, some referencing other tracks, others dissolving into phonetic runs. Halfway through, the instrumental layers drop out and rebuild in altered configurations, cycling through stretched piano runs and distorted overlays before Suzuki returns for a final burst. “Aumgn” occupies an entire side as a fractured ritual of voice, echo, and electronics. Schmidt’s repeated vocal syllable stretches across drone swells, bowed strings, and distant percussion bursts. The sound field continually reshapes itself around disappearing rhythms, absent tonal centers, and delayed feedback loops.

“Peking O” opens with disjointed voice fragments and treated organ bursts, then slides into a percussive section anchored by warped drum machine patterns. Suzuki cycles through warped speech and nonsensical repetition, matching pace as the rhythm speeds up toward collapse. At its peak, Schmidt hammers manic clusters on electric piano beneath layers of filtered distortion and vocal cut-ins. “Bring Me Coffee or Tea” closes the album with a pared-down arrangement of sitar inflections, two-note guitar cadence, and slow, steady pulse. Suzuki’s voice returns in a lower, subdued mode, drifting over the loose framework while Schmidt colors the background with spare keyboard lines. The piece ends not with resolution, but with a quiet cessation of movement.

A1. “Paperhouse” (7:29)
A2. “Mushroom” (4:08)
A3. “Oh Yeah” (7:22)
B. “Halleluwah” (18:32)

C. “Aumgn” (17:22)
D1. “Peking O.” (11:35)
D2. “Bring Me Coffee or Tea” (6:47)

Can recorded Tago Mago between November 1970 and February 1971 at Schloss Nörvenich using a makeshift studio. Czukay engineered the sessions on two two-track recorders, often capturing 16-hour jams and later cutting them into structured forms. With no mixing board, the band adjusted their amplifier volumes and playing distance in real-time to balance levels through three shared microphones. Schmidt used oscillators in place of synthesizers on “Aumgn,” and Czukay layered in incidental sounds and pre-session fragments. The title refers to Tagomago Island off Ibiza, a name suggested by Liebezeit. Hildegard Schmidt insisted the album appear as a double LP to preserve its second disc of extended experimentation.

Kenji ‘Damo’ Suzuki – vocals
Holger Czukay – bass, engineer, editing
Michael Karoli – guitar, violin
Jaki Liebezeit – drums, double bass, piano
Irmin Schmidt – organ, electric piano

Liberty issued “Turtles Have Short Legs” as a single in 1971 with an edited version of “Halleluhwah” on the B-side. The A-side, a novelty piece from the Tago Mago sessions, remained exclusive to the single until its inclusion on Cannibalism 2 in 1992. Liberty trimmed “Halleluhwah” from over 18 minutes to under four, retaining a continuous segment from the first half of the LP version.

Ege Bamyası

Can released their third album, Ege Bamyası, in November 1972 on United Artists.

The album captures the band navigating taut, minimal textures and dense interplay within more compact song forms. Guitarist Michael Karoli alternates sharp funk accents with sustained drones while keyboardist Irmin Schmidt threads Alpha 77–filtered tones and organ figures through clipped rhythmic cycles. Bassist Holger Czukay lays down root-centered foundations or circular patterns, pivoting around Jaki Liebezeit’s locked-in, kinetic drumming. Damo Suzuki delivers clipped syllables and murmured fragments that shift in and out of the instrumental mix.

Ege Bamyası opens with “Pinch,” where Liebezeit’s quick, circular snare accents and Czukay’s low-frequency patterns hold a ten-minute sprawl together. Damo Suzuki veers between murmurs and yelps while Karoli adds clipped interference on guitar, rarely breaking above the mix. “Sing Swan Song” shifts to a slow, lulling pace, anchored by watery textures and muted piano chords, with faint acoustic guitar guiding Suzuki’s drowsy phrasing. “One More Night” rides a steadier pulse, its restrained upward keyboard inflections and softly doubled vocals skimming across a dry beat that loops into itself without climax.

“Vitamin C” pivots on abrupt drum jabs and broken phrasing. Suzuki’s clipped, foregrounded lines sit between fractured repetition and declamation, while Karoli fires quick, bright chords into the margins. The track ends with glitchy, treated electronics that bleed directly into “Soup,” which unfolds in phases: a sparse introduction, a sudden guitar-lashed burst of rhythmic density, and a long disintegration marked by processed fragments, tape-speed shifts, and Suzuki’s shredded vocal syllables, pushed further into abstraction by echo and distortion. The second half reconstructs itself with sax-like warbles, erratic percussion bursts, and sharp-edged keyboard stabs, arranged with deliberate imbalance. “I’m So Green” returns briefly to focus, with a fluid beat and abrupt tempo drops, allowing short instrumental breaks to interrupt and restart the form. “Spoon” closes with a static rhythm box pattern and restrained organ phrasing, with the band entering gradually over a five-note vamp. Suzuki’s voice appears doubled and subdued, while Schmidt’s interjections frame the track with minimal harmonic motion and faint bursts of synthetic noise.

A1. “Pinch” (9:28)
A2. “Sing Swan Song” (4:18)
A3. “One More Night” (5:35)

B1. “Vitamin C” (3:34)
B2. “Soup” (10:25)
B3. “I’m So Green” (3:03)
B4. “Spoon” (3:03)

Can recorded Ege Bamyası at their newly outfitted Inner Space Studio in Weilerswist, West Germany. The band moved into the ex-cinema space in December 1971 and outfitted it with seagrass mattresses for soundproofing. Schmidt’s new effects rack, the Alpha 77, expanded his palette. Sessions began with “Spoon,” recorded in late 1971 for the TV thriller Das Messer and completed under pressure from United Artists to follow up its success. By June 1972, with only three new tracks completed, Can assembled the album from a mix of singles, outtakes, and last-minute improvisations. “Soup” was captured spontaneously the day before the deadline with no subsequent edits.

Michael Caroli – guitar, acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar, shenai
Kenji “Damo” Suzuki – vocal
Jaki Liebezeit – percussion, flexatone
Irmin Schmidt – organ, electric piano, violin, steel guitar
Holger Czukay – electric bass, recording engineer

“Spoon” appeared as a single in early 1972 with “Shikako Maru Ten” on the B-side. Built on overlapping drum machine and live kit rhythms, it reached number six on the German charts after airing in Das Messer, selling over 300,000 copies. In response, Can performed a free concert at Cologne Sporthalle on February 3, 1972, later documented by Peter Przygodda.

“Vitamin C” followed as a second single, backed with “I’m So Green.” Can submitted it as soundtrack material for the 1973 German TV film Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street, and it became one of the band’s most recognized tracks. A related extended suite appears on The Lost Tapes. An eight-minute remix by U.N.K.L.E. was included on the 1997 remix album Sacrilege.

Future Days

Can released their fourth album, Future Days, in August 1973 on United Artists.

The album presents the band’s most atmospheric interplay, defined by subdued dynamics and seamless transitions. Guitarist Michael Karoli integrates echo-treated chords and filigree phrases into keyboardist Irmin Schmidt’s layered electric piano lines and sustained organ textures, shaped by the Alpha 77 effects unit. Bassist Holger Czukay floats through the midrange with soft harmonic grounding, balancing Jaki Liebezeit’s congas, brushed snares, and subdued cymbals that serve as the record’s low-volume anchor. Damo Suzuki adds sporadic phrases and tonal bursts that emerge and dissolve within the ambient framework.

Future Days begins with the title track, where ambient water-toned textures dissolve into a soft pulse shaped by Liebezeit’s brushed kit and Czukay’s subdued bass movements. Schmidt arcs sustained keyboard tones above the rhythm, while Karoli alternates between translucent guitar fragments and airy reverb. Suzuki’s lines surface sporadically, folded into the atmosphere more than leading it. “Spray” follows with sharper accents—percussion darting through angular snare strikes and quick bass loops—while Schmidt layers short, arcing synth bursts and Karoli threads pointillist guitar figures through the gaps. Suzuki offers only brief phrases near the halfway point, barely touching the surface of the layered instrumental flow.

“Moonshake” condenses into a three-minute interlude of sharply delineated rhythm and staggered keyboard chords, with Karoli’s clipped guitar phrases cutting between Suzuki’s short, clear vocal lines. It’s the only track here that leans on repetition for propulsion rather than dissolution. The side-long “Bel Air” returns to a stretched, suspended state, progressing in sections without reset. Karoli alternates shimmer and attack across the movement, adjusting volume and placement without breaking continuity. Schmidt slips between harmonic pads and treated textures, while Liebezeit’s rhythmic framework varies its density but never collapses. Suzuki moves in and out of the ensemble’s surface, merging syllables with instrumental phrasing and retreating between phrases. Each shift introduces a subtle recalibration—percussive intensification, harmonic thinning, fragmented phrasework—while the whole remains suspended within a single, weightless continuum.

A1. “Future Days” (9:34)
A2. “Spray” (8:28)
A3. “Moonshake” (3:02)

B1. “Bel Air” (20:00)

Can recorded Future Days between July and early September 1973 at Inner Space Studio in Weilerswist, West Germany. The sessions followed a brief tour and summer break during which each member traveled separately. “Bel Air” was recorded first, captured in a single session despite a gas leak from the heating system. Schmidt dedicated the piece to Hedy Lamarr, referencing both her cinematic and technological legacy. Czukay manipulated environmental sound sources, including cushions and outdoor birdsong, while layering tape edits and speed tricks into the final mix.

Damo Suzuki – vocals, percussion
Holger Czukay – bass, double bass
Michael Karoli – guitar, violin
Irmin Schmidt – keyboards, synthesizer
Jaki Liebezeit – drums, percussion

United Artists issued “Moonshake” backed with the title track as a double A-side single in late 1973. Built on a motorik rhythm with compact phrasing, “Moonshake” stands apart as the only non-ambient track on the album. The single circulated in Europe, but the band did not tour in support due to Suzuki’s departure shortly after recording. Can debuted the new material live at the Edinburgh International Festival in August, but abandoned plans for a live release after discovering key elements missing from the tape.

Soon Over Babaluma

Can released their fifth album, Soon Over Babaluma, in November 1974 on Spoon (Germany) and United Artists (UK).

The album expands on the ambient texture of Future Days while reintroducing more jagged rhythmic interplay. Guitarist Michael Karoli weaves violin glissandi and delayed slide figures across Irmin Schmidt’s stereo-panned organ patterns and Alpha 77–modulated effects. Holger Czukay grounds the material with centered, chromatic phrasing that flows around Jaki Liebezeit’s lightly phased percussion and variable-meter patterns, anchoring the music with circular motion and stop-start cues. Karoli and Schmidt alternate vocals, with Karoli handling most leads and Schmidt contributing spoken passages on one track.

Soon Over Babaluma opens with “Dizzy Dizzy,” where Karoli’s double-stopped violin lines waver over a restrained polyrhythmic pattern, underlaid with faint echo and distant voice fragments. Schmidt interjects occasional keyboard flourishes, but the track’s forward motion stays tethered to Liebezeit’s quiet, circular framework. “Come Sta, La Luna” layers clipped guitar figures against staggered electric piano, as processed vocal phrases slide between whispers and pitch-shifted tones. A central motif recurs, but the movement remains unstable, buoyed by brief violin interludes and dry, downward keyboard bursts.

“Splash” stretches out into a sparse improvisation, its tempo faster but no less open. Karoli’s guitar slips between muted phrases and held notes, punctuated by sharp bursts from Schmidt’s keys and rapid snare patterns that spiral but never boil over. “Chain Reaction” sustains a steady pulse beneath phased keyboard textures and distant fuzz guitar, which alternates between short bursts and delayed lines. The percussion gradually overtakes the surface until the track contracts into “Quantum Physics,” where Schmidt’s slow-moving ambient field rises beneath faint rhythmic pulses and delay-treated textures. Karoli plays in fragments, shaping quiet intervals rather than stating themes. The piece dissolves into scattered tonal decay, leaving only flickering percussion and submerged harmonics. No track builds toward climax; each holds in tension, leaning into repetition and decay with precision.

A1. “Dizzy Dizzy” (5:40) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt (lyrics: Duncan Fallowell)
A2. “Come sta, La Luna” (5:42) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt (lyrics: Schmidt)
A3. “Splash” (7:45) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt

B1. “Chain Reaction” (11:09) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt
B2. “Quantum Physics” (8:31) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt (lyrics: Duncan Fallowell)

Can recorded Soon Over Babaluma in August 1974 at Inner Space Studio, Weilerswist, using their two-track tape recorder for the final time. With Damo Suzuki departed, Karoli assumed vocal duties on most tracks, with Schmidt taking lead on “Come sta, la luna.” Lyrics were provided in part by novelist Duncan Fallowell. Schmidt and Karoli processed their voices through phasing effects to blend with the surrounding electronics. Czukay oversaw editing and final mixdown, retaining spontaneous elements such as tape hiss and non-musical sound effects from the WDR archives.

Holger Czukay – bass, engineer, editing
Michael Karoli – guitar, violin, vocals
Jaki Liebezeit – drums
Irmin Schmidt – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals

The band supported the release with a 16-date UK tour in autumn 1974, closing with a show at the Hammersmith Palais that included an extended jam on “Chain Reaction.” A BBC Maida Vale session from the tour yielded two unreleased tracks later surfaced as “Return to BB City” and “Tape Kebab.” Although no singles were issued at the time, “Quantum Physics” was revived during live sets in 1975 and later issued on the archival Live in Brighton 1975.

Limited Edition

In late 1974, Can released Limited Edition, a compilation of 1968–74 outtakes limited to 15,000 copies. Its popularity led to the 1976 general release Unlimited Edition, a double-album with six further outtakes.

The material spans the band’s full early chronology and features both vocalists, Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki, across experimental, fragmentary, and studio-manipulated sessions. Guitarist Michael Karoli shifts between atmospheric phrasing and raw outburst, interacting with keyboardist Irmin Schmidt’s schizophone filters, manipulated piano fragments, and oscillator sequences. Holger Czukay arranges many of the tracks as layered tape constructions, anchoring processed loops and cut-ups to Jaki Liebezeit’s shifting pulse—alternately steady, syncopated, or dissolved into polyrhythmic haze. Many pieces use skeletal rhythm and repetition as the backbone for abstract excursions.

A1. “Gomorrha” (December 1973, 5:41)
A2. “Doko E” (August 1973, 2:26)
A3. “LH 702 (Nairobi/München)” (March 1972, 2:11)
A4. “I’m Too Leise” (March 1972, 5:10)
A5. “Musette” (January 1970, 2:08)
A6. “Blue Bag (Inside Paper)” (October 1970, 1:16)

B1. “E.F.S. No. 27” (December 1970, 1:47)
B2. “TV Spot” (April 1971, 3:02)
B3. “E.F.S. No. 7” (September 1968, 1:05)
B4. “The Empress and the Ukraine King” (January 1969, 4:40)
B5. “E.F.S. No. 10” (January 1969, 2:01)
B6. “Mother Upduff” (May 1969, 4:28)
B7. “E.F.S. No. 36” (May 1974, 1:55)

C1. “Cutaway” (March 1969, 18:49)
C2. “Connection” (March 1969, 2:56)

D1. “Fall of Another Year” (August 1969, 3:20)
D2. “E.F.S. No. 8” (November 1968, 1:37)
D3. “Transcendental Express” (July 1975, 4:37)
D4. “Ibis” (September 1974, 9:19)

The initial Limited Edition compilation was curated by Duncan Fallowell as a stopgap release. Can expanded it to Unlimited Edition in 1976, adding material from 1974–75 recorded at Inner Space Studio with René Tinner and Czukay engineering. “Cutaway” is a spliced collage assembled from multiple sessions over a seven-year span. “Fall of Another Year” stems from Can’s 1969 Zürich stay, recorded in a basement during their Prometheus Bound scoring residency.

“Doko E,” excerpted from a 30-minute improvisation at Schloss Nörvenich, captures Suzuki’s unease with his Japanese homecoming. Several Ethnological Forgery Series entries explore non-Western timbres through invented styles, including “E.F.S. No. 36,” a rhythmic cut with drone winds and hand percussion. Trevor Key designed the cover art, using photography from the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum. No singles were issued from either edition.

Landed

Can released their sixth album, Landed, in September 1975 on Virgin.

The album shifts between structured interplay and open-form studio textures, facilitated by expanded multitrack layering. Guitarist Michael Karoli alternates tightly phrased leads with violin glissandi that blur into keyboardist Irmin Schmidt’s phased organ pulses and Alpha 77 modulations. Holger Czukay reinforces the center with close-mic’d bass lines, giving Jaki Liebezeit’s percussive clusters a constant fulcrum to pivot around. Olaf Kübler contributes twin saxophone lines on one track, creating dual foreground interplay over the rhythm section’s locked phrasing.

Landed opens with “Full Moon on the Highway,” where Karoli layers sharp, metallic guitar strikes over a compressed rhythm that leans heavily on Liebezeit’s insistent beat. The vocals, heavily processed, slip between robotic chant and clipped phrasing, with Schmidt inserting jagged bursts of organ beneath the surface. “Half Past One” slows the pace, building on low-end keyboard hum and sparse snare patterns while Karoli’s monotone voice stretches across loosely defined phrases. Guitar interjections come in dry, brittle intervals, receding quickly after each break. “Hunters and Collectors” merges a syncopated midtempo base with warped synth textures and blurred vocal delivery that hovers between chant and murmur. Karoli slips in brief flares of guitar, mostly contained to short outbursts and angular slides.

“Vernal Equinox” marks the album’s sharpest shift, with a tightly wound instrumental build driven by Liebezeit’s forward-thrusting beat and Schmidt’s repeating patterns. Karoli unleashes distorted, serrated runs across the stereo field, bending lines through delay and phase effects. The track peaks early, recedes into a blurred midsection, then surges again in the final third with a faster pulse and jagged counterpoint. “Red Hot Indians” opens with layered percussion and sparse guitar scratches, later joined by shrill sax phrases that veer in and out of alignment. Karoli delivers near-whispered vocals that stay buried under the rhythm’s surface tension. “Unfinished” closes the album with a slow, fragmented buildup of processed ambient textures, scattered piano chords, and pitch-warped guitar noise. The track dissipates structure over its duration, collapsing into scattered percussion, reversed tones, and filtered dissonance. Across its six tracks, the album tightens and distorts Can’s earlier forms into short bursts, extended patterns, or spiraled decay, never settling into one mode for long.

A1. “Full Moon on the Highway” (3:32) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Peter Gilmour
A2. “Half Past One” (4:39) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Peter Gilmour
A3. “Hunters and Collectors” (4:19) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt
A4. “Vernal Equinox” (8:48) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt

B1. “Red Hot Indians” (5:38) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt
B2. “Unfinished” (13:21) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt

Can recorded Landed between February and April 1975 at Inner Space Studio in Weilerswist. They used a new MCI JH-16 16-track recorder, which allowed for overdubbing and more complex layering, but introduced distance between the players during sessions. Czukay engineered and mixed the second side at Inner Space, while he and Toby Robinson mixed side A at Studio Dierks with assistance from René Tinner. Christine Scholl created the sleeve collage by drawing over promotional postcards featuring each member’s portrait, adding costume elements and facial modifications, then arranging them into a thirty-panel composite.

Holger Czukay – bass, vocals
Irmin Schmidt – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
Michael Karoli – guitar, violin, vocals
Jaki Liebezeit – drums, percussion, wind instruments

“Hunters and Collectors,” paired with an edited version of “Vernal Equinox,” appeared that year as a German 7″ single on Harvest. The band had performed the title track live as early as 1972. The single’s release later inspired the name of the Australian band Hunters & Collectors.

Flow Motion

Can released their seventh album, Flow Motion, in October 1976 on Virgin.

The album channels the band’s evolving rhythmic focus into layered, dance-inflected structures that incorporate reggae, disco, and hybridized meters. Guitarist Michael Karoli alternates clipped rhythmic patterns, layered overdubs, and bowed accents against keyboardist Irmin Schmidt’s processed organ and Alpha 77 electronics, which envelop the arrangements in phased shimmer. Holger Czukay’s two-note bass patterns and dub-like slides underpin Jaki Liebezeit’s rimshot-fueled backbeats, halved pulses, and triplet fills that act as a constant anchor throughout. Vocal duties rotate between Karoli and Schmidt, both supported by background harmonies from the ensemble.

Flow Motion compresses Can’s language into shorter forms and tight rhythmic loops, opening with “I Want More,” where clipped guitar stabs and terse synth pulses ride a rigid, dance-floor pulse, later mirrored by the bass-heavier reprise “…And More.” “Babylonian Pearl” keeps the tempo relaxed and steady, built around minimal harmonic movement and lounge-like vocal phrasing that drifts through the mix without taking control. “Cascade Waltz” feels deliberately unstable, stitching together lopsided meter shifts, treated keyboard color, and skewed guitar fragments that never settle into a single pattern for long.

“Laugh Till You Cry, Live Till You Die” runs on a repeating offbeat pulse with Karoli’s light vocal phrases hovering over violin accents and dry rhythm-guitar cuts. The album’s sharpest tension arrives with “Smoke (E.F.S. No. 59),” which locks into a deep, unrelenting tribal stomp punctured by metallic squalls and background-noise abrasion. The ten-minute title track stretches out over a slow three-note bass cycle, giving Karoli room to cycle through sustained tones, processed noise sheets, and wah-filtered runs while the rhythm section keeps the pattern blunt and continuous.

A1. “I Want More” (3:29) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt (lyrics: Peter Gilmour)
A2. “Cascade Waltz” (5:35) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt (lyrics: Peter Gilmour)
A3. “Laugh Till You Cry – Live Till You Die (O.R.N.)” (6:43) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt (lyrics: Peter Gilmour, Karoli)
A4. “…And More” (2:43) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt (lyrics: Peter Gilmour)

B1. “Babylonian Pearl” (3:29) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt (lyrics: Peter Gilmour)
B2. “Smoke (E.F.S. No. 59)” (5:15) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt
B3. “Flow Motion” (10:23) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt

Can recorded Flow Motion in June 1976 at Inner Space Studio, Weilerswist, using their 16-track setup. The band worked from looped rhythmic foundations and layered performances separately—a shift from their earlier group-based improvisation method. Czukay and René Tinner engineered the sessions, with Manfred Schunke handling final mixdown. Schmidt and Karoli shaped the vocal arrangements from lyrics by Peter Gilmour, their live engineer. Karoli shot the cover photo, and Simon Puxley received a production credit for “Cascade Waltz.”

Holger Czukay – bass, backing vocals, djun
Irmin Schmidt – keyboards, synthesizer, electric piano, vocals
Michael Karoli – guitar, vocals, electric violin
Jaki Liebezeit – percussion

“I Want More” appeared as a 7″ single in the UK, backed with the short reprise “…And More.” The track blends clipped disco rhythm with layered tremolo guitar and keyboard leads, and reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1976. Can promoted the single with an appearance on Top of the Pops, marking their only mainstream chart breakthrough. No other tracks from the album were issued as singles.

A1. “I Want More” (3:37)
A2. “Cascade Waltz” (5:43)
A3. “Laugh Till You Cry – Live Till You Die (O.R.N.)” (6:38)
A4. “…And More” (2:51)

B1. “Babylonian Pearl” (3:32)
B2. “Smoke (E.F.S. No. 59)” (5:20)
B3. “Flow Motion” (10:29)

Saw Delight

Can released their eighth album, Saw Delight, in March 1977 on Virgin.

The album pivots toward layered rhythmic interplay, sparked by lineup changes and a shift in recording method. Guitarist Michael Karoli weaves wah-processed chords and violin accents between keyboardist Irmin Schmidt’s phase-treated motifs and clustered voicings shaped through the Alpha 77 unit. Rosko Gee anchors the ensemble with fluid bass figures that spiral around Jaki Liebezeit’s slowed, evenly placed beats, while Reebop Kwaku Baah adds syncopated accents and ornamented percussion lines. Holger Czukay, freed from bass duties, integrates wave receivers and ambient textures into the margins, subtly altering the mix without disrupting the pulse.

Saw Delight shifts Can’s focus toward dense, interlocking rhythm, with Rosko Gee’s elastic bass lines and Reebop Kwaku Baah’s added percussion widening the pulse and softening the band’s earlier jagged edge. “Don’t Say No” rides a buoyant, offbeat pattern with Karoli’s half-spoken vocal fragments hovering above clipped guitar and drifting keyboard color. “Sunshine Day and Night” keeps the tempo midpaced but restless, building movement through layered percussion and cyclical bass figures while Schmidt sustains string-like synth chords in the background.

“Call Me” tightens the structure into a short, mechanical loop, with processed voices, stuttering rhythmic accents, and flashes of screeching violin cutting across the beat. “Animal Waves” expands into a long-form jam centered on Gee’s foregrounded bass cycle, with Liebezeit and Baah stacking cross-rhythms beneath Karoli’s treated guitar and Czukay’s shortwave interference. “Fly by Night” closes in a slower, more settled mode, with restrained vocals and soft keyboard pads pushing the album toward a muted fade-out rather than a final surge.

A1. “Don’t Say No” (6:36) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah (lyrics: Peter Gilmour)
A2. “Sunshine Day and Night” (5:52) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee
A3. “Call Me” (5:51) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee (lyrics: Rosko Gee)
B1. “Animal Waves” (15:29) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah
B2. “Fly by Night” (4:08) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee (lyrics: Peter Gilmour)

Can recorded Saw Delight in January 1977 at Inner Space Studio using their 16-track setup, then mixed the album at Delta Acoustic Studio near Hamburg with Manfred Schunke, who applied “Artificial Head” stereo for binaural effect. The sessions coincided with Czukay’s departure from the bass role, prompted by shifting priorities toward instrumental clarity. Gee and Baah joined shortly beforehand, bringing in backgrounds from Traffic. Karoli’s recent travels through central Africa also influenced the album’s polyrhythmic direction. Schmidt and Karoli developed arrangements using lyric drafts by Gilmour, selectively choosing lines to match vocal phrasing.

Holger Czukay – electronics, noise, vocals
Irmin Schmidt – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
Michael Karoli – guitar, electric violin, vocals
Rosko Gee – bass, vocals
Jaki Liebezeit – drums, vocals
Rebop Kwaku Baah – percussion, vocals

No singles were formally extracted from Saw Delight. However, “Don’t Say No” was widely promoted, borrowing melodic elements from “Moonshake” and featuring collective vocals from all six players. Can supported the album with a spring 1977 tour across the UK and Germany, their final full concert run before disbanding. Reebop did not join the tour lineup. The LP’s rear sleeve displayed a five-member formation around a mandala; Baah’s absence in the image mirrored his reduced role in live settings.

Out of Reach

Can released their ninth album, Out of Reach, in July 1978 on Harvest.

The album captures the group in transition, reshaped by a new rhythm section and fragmented recording structure. Guitarist Michael Karoli moves between sustained single-line melodies and more clipped phrases, intersecting with keyboardist Irmin Schmidt’s organ pads, atonal clusters, and synthetic fragments. Bassist Rosko Gee centers each arrangement with syncopated funk and Latin-rooted motifs, counterbalanced by percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah’s overlaid congas, shakers, and auxiliary textures. Drummer Jaki Liebezeit, less dominant than in earlier Can albums, anchors only parts of the record while yielding rhythmic space to Reebop’s denser polyrhythmic patterns.

A1. “Serpentine” (4:03) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah
A2. “Pauper’s Daughter and I” (5:57) – Gee
A3. “November” (7:37) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah
B1. “Seven Days Awake” (5:12) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah
B2. “Give Me No ‘Roses'” (5:21) – Gee
B3. “Like Inobe God” (5:51) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah
B4. “One More Day” (1:37) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah

Can recorded Out of Reach in October 1977 at Inner Space Studio in Weilerswist, following the departure of founding bassist Holger Czukay. Without a guiding producer, the band asked Conny Plank to handle the mix, but he rejected the material and reluctantly accepted credit. Czukay, no longer performing, contributed neither tape editing nor production input. With Liebezeit’s involvement partial and Schmidt increasingly withdrawn, Gee and Baah’s instrumental style assumed prominence.

Jaki Liebezeit – drums
Michael Karoli – guitars, violins (B2)
Irmin Schmidt – keyboards
Rosko Gee – bass, vocal, fender rhodes electric piano (B2), flanger
Reebop Kwaku Baah – percussion, Polymoog (B2), voice

Can

Can released their self-titled tenth and final studio album in July 1979 on Laser (UK) and Harvest (Germany).

The album introduces a more spacious mix, allowing room for layered phrasing between guitarist Michael Karoli’s modal vamps and keyboardist Irmin Schmidt’s phased synth figures and processed textures. Rosko Gee outlines each track with short-loop bass motifs and low-register lines that pivot tightly against Jaki Liebezeit’s sharpened backbeats, forming a rhythm section that grounds Reebop Kwaku Baah’s percussion details without excess density. Vocals shift between conventional delivery and vocoder-treated phrases, embedded selectively to complement the instrumental pacing.

A1. “All Gates Open” (8:23) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah
A2. “Safe” (8:37) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee, Baah
A3. “Sunday Jam” (4:35) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee

B1. “Sodom” (5:45) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt
B2. “Aspectacle” (5:53) – Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Gee
B3. “E.F.S. Nr. 99 (Can Can)” (3:12) – Offenbach, arr. Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt
B4. “Ping-Pong” (0:23) – Trad., arr. Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt
B5. “Can Be” (2:54) – Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt

Can recorded the album in February 1978 at Inner Space Studio in Weilerswist and mixed it at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin. Holger Czukay, no longer playing bass, contributed tape edits and arranged session material, most notably on “Aspectacle,” which originated as a theme for ZDF’s Aspekte and includes a rare appearance of Czukay on pan pipes. Schmidt, Karoli, and Gee developed the vocal segments from improvisations and fragments, with Schmidt and Tinner managing final layout and sequencing. The cover, designed by Werbegruppe Kochlowski, places the hexagonal band logo in the jaws of a spanner—an emblematic visual closure for the studio era.

Michael Karoli – guitar, vocals, bass
Irmin Schmidt – keyboards, synthesizer
Rosko Gee – bass
Jaki Liebezeit – drums
Reebop Kwaku Baah – percussion

“E.F.S. Nr. 99 (Can Can)” appeared as the album’s sole single, issued in 1978 as a standalone 7″. It reworks Offenbach’s “Infernal Galop” with distorted organ clusters, locked snare patterns, and comedic brass phrasing. The piece closes the long-running Ethnological Forgery Series with overt parody, processed into a brief celebratory pastiche. In later reissues, the tracklist appeared under the alternate title Inner Space, referencing the band’s studio and suggesting a retrospective summation of their studio output.

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