Can - The Lost Tapes

which time!?

i like the early music arrangement of the first minute --> when the percussion comes in around 1:11 or so and then also that OOOOW somewhere in the middle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dDmmrpyVnk

the vitamin c segment is OUT OF CONTROL

yeah the part where Damo kind of comes out of nowhere is my favorite

My actual physical copy of this should be arriving at the record store today! I was a good person and bought it locally. Excited!

Also, LL being a Can fan makes me happy

Lindsay Lohan?

She knows all about the Can

You should be excited! I waited (so chaste!) until I could listen to my very own copy and it was worth it. The book is fun too.

Lene Lovich.

Jamming this this morning and my 2 1/2 year-old was jumping around gleefully during "streetcar"... "WHAT IS HE SAYYYYYING?!!"

Gonna show some of my friends the Can Free Concert film.
Can fever all over again.

I know people talk about how great Jaki is all the time but I kinda feel sometimes that this boxset is just one big testament to him

I know people talk about how great Jaki is all the time but I kinda feel sometimes that this boxset band is just one big testament to him

xp Lucky friends! I've never seen that.

You should.

Ha...my girlfriend can't stand "Streetcar", "It just keeps going and going!"

Me: "That's the point!"

Also read this sold 2k in Wk1 of release.

More than anything, this box, to me, shows how important Malcolm Mooney was to Can.

they were all pretty good

Yay, at last Malcolm is getting his due

yeah if you just go through the actual albums you'd get the impression that Malcolm was just a crazy vocalist that got kicked out halfway through the 2nd album (and replaced with an even crazier one)

Damo was not crazier. I liked Rosko Gee, so I'm not the most subjective here.

Certainly they all play crucial roles in the band. Just reading Irmin's thoughts about the early days made me realize that Malcolm provided that difference they needed, and his chants gave something for Jaki to anchor to.

I would think Damo was probably a more stable person in general but his vocals definitely were a lot freakier

The Can Book by Pascal Bussy isn't likely to finally see a reissue anytime soon is it? I got caught out by the Book Depositary saying it was imminently being reissued about 4 or 5 years ago, ordered it and it never appeared. Would love to read it, or any new bio of the band in book form.

Would think with their international popularity there would be at least a couple of bios around. There was the book that came with the original can Box Set but that isn't very long or in depth.

Did anyone else notice how "Streetcar" has the "Go go power rangers!" melody in it halfway through

lol, almost as great as Parappa the Rapper having a direct rip of "Turtles Have Short Legs" in it

I noticed that too!! But I thought it was kind of silly to assume that the creators of the game had heard some obscure Can B-side, so I figured the melody itself was pretty common. I didn't think anyone else would make the connection.

ilx has noticed it many times

I suppose so. I dunno what other message board would.

Anyway, I'm starting to really appreciate Malcolm now - I really wish they'd gotten more stuff like "Midnight Sky" on record

It's funny you say that because Midnight Sky sounds a whole lot like "Little Star of Bethlehem" imo.

I *like* "Little Star" on Radio Waves; the version on Delay kind of got on my nerves. I think it's actually Damo on the Radio Waves one though. Also "Midnight Sky" is a lot more intense. But I'll have to give Delay another listen; outside of "Uphill" I don't remember much of it.

Also read this sold 2k in Wk1 of release.

I'm so clueless I don't know if that's good or bad. I mean, in the mind of the sort of person for whom Can really are "bigger than the Beatles," it sound incredibly low. But maybe not?

I can't imagine how all the great reissues happening over the last decade are making a living for anyone, if Can sells 2k copies of their first unreleased music in 25 years. . .

outside of "Uphill" I don't remember much of it.

Struggling to understand how anyone could not remember "Butterfly" or "Thief" tbh

So this may be too nerdy even for ILM, but I got to thinking--as much as I like this as a box set, it seemed like the music might make more sense in the context of the albums of the same eras of creation. Basically, as "bonus tracks" to the albums proper. And I figured, why not do the same with 'Unlimited Edition' since I've always felt like there's good stuff there, but it never did it for me as an album.

So, these are the bonus tracks I added to the albums:

Delay 1968 (1968) [59:22]
08. Deadly Doris
09. Midnight Sky
10. Connection
11. True Story
12. Waiting for the Streetcar

This one is a no-brainer. Material is clearly on par, just makes it a double LP.

Monster Movie (1969) [71:34]
05. Blind Mirror Surf
06. E.F.S. #7
07. The Empress and the Ukraine King
08. E.F.S. #10
09. Your Friendly Neighbourhood Whore
10. Mother Upduff
11. E.F.S. #8
12. When Darkness Comes
13. Fall of Another Year

Less essential, but still adds nicely to the picture of Can, 1969. "Fall of Another Year" would be one of the best bonus tracks ever.

Soundtracks (1970) [69:02]
08. Desert
09. On the Way to Mother Sky
10. Millionspiel
11. Oscura Primavera
12. Graublau

Again, mostly context-providing, but high-quality listening, not just "interesting".

Tago Mago (1971) [88:10]
08. Musette
09. Blue Bag
10. Turtles Have Short Legs
11. E.F.S. #27
12. Shikaku Maru Ten
13. TV Spot

Nothing here from 'Lost Tapes,' and not the strongest material from 'Unlimited Edition,' but surely at least "Shikaku" and "Turtles" deserve a proper home. I think maybe "TV Spot" would be a hidden track, since "Shikaku" is a great bonus-track closer proper.

Ege Bamyasi (1972) [79:38]
08. Evening All Day
09. Bubble Rap
10. Messer, Scissors, Fork & Light
11. A Swan is Born
12. Dead Pigeon Suite

Maybe some of the strongest material from the 'Lost Tapes'. You could argue "Messer. . ." and "Dead Pigeon Suite" belong on 'Soundtracks,' since they were soundtracks, but they came after that album, plus it's just awesome to hear "Dead Pigeon Suite" in context with "Vitamin C".

Future Days (1973) [58:28]
05. Alice
06. LH 702
07. Doko E
08. I'm Too Leise
09. Gomorrha

This is the album I'd want a 30 second gap between the album proper and the bonus tracks. But the stuff is mostly strong, and very much of a piece stylistically (except maybe "Doko E"). "Gomorrha" is given a chance to shine in context.

Soon of Babulama (1975) [65:01]
06. The Loop
07. Ibis
08. Private Nocturnal
09. Midnight Men

This surprised me, but I think this album benefits most from expansion as an album, because the bonus material is of equal strength to the album and has the exact same DNA. "Midnight Men" is a stronger closer than "Quantum Physics".

Flow motion doesn't get anything added.

Saw Delight (1977) [45:43]
06. Barnacles

Perfect one-track addition, still works as an LP. I like late-era Can better than most, so I would've loved to see a 4th disc on 'Lost Tapes' of stuff from the Rosko Gee era, maybe some more Disco-Can. But that's just me.

What I could find online for Unlimited Edition listed "Cutaway" (from U.E.) as being from 1969, but it sounds much later to me--the opening sounds most like 'Flow Motion,' but that's 7 years later. What do you guys think? It's no "Aumgn," but I like it as one of their very abstract, shape-shifting long-form pieces.

On the whole, I think the "bonus track" approach helps me to appreciate the music from 'Lost Tapes' and 'Unlimited Edition' more than I do as box set/compilation. All of the music benefits from context--and while rarely improving the albums as albums, it made me realize that Can really did put out an album whenever they entered a new creative phase--every period distinct from the others, such that even without dates for the music, it would've been fairly clear how to redistribute the tracks.

of = over, of course.

Ha, and 'Babaluma'. I always do that, for some reason.

To be even more nerdy, "Delay 68" is actually from 1969, much of it recorded after "Monster Movie"

Yeah. Added the tracks that had the fully raw quality it has, and slightly less raw stuff to 'Monster Movie,' even though the dates are sometimes backwards.

"Cutaway" is obv. some sort of collage from various eras, I assume Czukay assembled it (and not very well in my opinion!) for "Unlimited Edition", Malcolm Mooney's voice is on there but then so's Damo (I think) and some of the music is obviously from 1973-75 (there's definitely a synth or two)

There's also 'Transcendental Express' from "Unlimited Edition"

Yeah, didn't think that one made the cut. Also all the live stuff from 'Lost Tapes' makes a nice 'Can Live' LP, maybe add "Bakerloo" from the BBC stuff.

I wonder who the sneery English guy is on "Cutaway"? The guy trying to explain how to use a ring modulator to (I assume) Malcolm Mooney...

Fine work, Soundslike!

The "recent" remasters came in those round-edge cd boxes that can take two cds easy.

So, might add these tracks as CD2 editions, along with "Sacrilege" tracks. Or would that be, um,..

Nah, never too nerdy. . . ; )

really nice work, Soundslike! thank you!

No work involved--just putting tracks with the right years, mostly. Fellow nerds should definitely try it, though--not like I needed a new incentive to listen to Can's albums, but it's been really fun hearing this unheard stuff (and underheard) with what I've loved so well.

I would like to second that, good work Soundslike. I only go on ILM for the nerdy stuff!

yeah that is excellent; not that I really want to hear all these albums this way, but now I can make a chronological 10 hour long Can playlist

"Dead Pigeon Suite" is fantastic; exactly the music I want to hear at the moment.

the part where Damo kind of comes out of nowhere is my favorite

^^^ Oh, and this.