On November 22 the sixth installment of the official series of CAN live bootleg recordings Live In Keele 1977 will be released on via Spoon Records (2LP, CD, digital) and distributed via Mute. It captures the band in transistion, with Rosko Gee as the new guy on bass. The German inventors were keen improvisers and during concerts by the Krautrock ensemble anything could happen.
This album is a dynamic document of late-period CAN. Recorded in March 1977, the core line up of Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit, Michael Karoli, and Holger Czukay is augmented by the addition of Rosko Gee (Traffic) on bass. Gee’s recent addition to the line-up meant that Holger Czukay was freed up from bass duties to perform “waveform radio and spec. sounds”, manifesting here as otherworldly sounds, samples and what one reviewer of a later show described as “moontalk to a white continental telephone.”
1977 was a difficult period for CAN; their recently released eighth studio album, Saw Delight, had been badly received and although posterity has been kinder to the album, the reviews on release were savage. Journalist, broadcaster and author Jennifer Lucy Allan’s meticulous research of the time, place and context of the performance on the accompanying sleeve notes led her to declare of the album: “On paper, unremarkable. In practice, a precious hunk of sonic material.” Before going on to remind us that “The heads know – forums and published books alike agree – that ‘76-’77 is the best of the Can live years (Keele included). A couple of the tracks from this show have been included on fan-made “best of” live bootlegs over the years. And wow, are they right”.
Keep In Keele 1977 is available for pre-order via the US store and the UK Store and the band's own label, Spoon Records.
Tracks:- Keele 1977 Eins
- Keele 1977 Zwei
- Keele 1977 Drei
- Keele 1977 Fier
- Keele 1977 F端nf
