Holger Czukay

Aaahh….good ol’ Holger Czukay. Wonderful musician who is probably most well known as the bass player and founding member of Germany’s krautrock heroes Can. But some of his best work resides in his solo albums. He has released numerous solo albums since he left Can in the late 70′s, and two of my fav’s are Movies and On the Way to the Peak of Normal. The album Movies was released in 1979, while On the Way to the Peak of Normal is from 1981. Movies pretty much sounds like a kick ass Can record with Holger on vocal duties. Another cool thing about Movies is that Holger used short wave radio sounds and spliced magnetic tapes (early form of sampling), while the other album (On the Way..) is a more laid back but with beautifully warped melodies and crazy vocal effects. There is no shortage of amazing studio experiments on either of these records, which is no surprise since Holger Czukay was a student of electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Come see about Holger…

Here they are:
Holger Czukay – Movies (1979)

Holger Czukay – On the Way to the Peak of Normal (1981)

And some vids for a sneak peek…
Ode to Perfume is on On the Way to the Peak of Normal

Oh Lord, Give Us More Money is on Movies

dAMO sUZUKI + CAN

Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking, during which time he would only have been a teenager.

When Malcolm Mooney left Can after recording their first album Monster Movie, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit encountered Suzuki singing on a street in Munich, Germany whilst the two were sitting outside at a street café. They invited him to join the group, and he did, performing with them that evening.

Suzuki was with Can from 1970 to 1973, recording a number of well-regarded albums such as Tago Mago, Future Days and Ege Bamyasi. Suzuki’s first vocal performance with Can was “Don’t Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone” from Soundtracks His freeform, often improvised lyrics, sung in no one particular language gelled with Can’s rolling, psychedelic sound.

Suzuki converted to the Jehovah’s Witness faith when he married his German girlfriend, who was also a Jehovah’s Witness, after the release of the album Future Days, and retired from music in 1974.

He returned to music in 1983, and currently leads what is known as Damo Suzuki’s Network – as he tours, he performs live improvisational music with various local musicians (so-called “Sound Carriers”) from around the world, thus building up a ‘network’ of musicians with whom he collaborates. As far as more recent recorded material is concerned, Damo is featured on electronic/hip-hop producer Sixtoo’s album, “Chewing on Glass and Other Miracle Cures” (Ninja Tune, 2004).

WKIPEDIA