FUTURE DAYS

Wow. After Ege Bamyasi perfected "schizophrenic" Can, they went in a very different direction for Future Days- while Ege Bamyasi was tense and nervous, drums skittering about and bass hanging on as Suzuki mumbled garbled words over it, Future Days is relaxed and warm, like a summer's day on a warm beach, just sitting, watching, and thinking, as waves roll, seagulls cry, and the mind wanders. Future Days, the title track, starts with some ambient noise before becoming locked into a shaky Indian-sounding percussion groove, as bass occasionally rumbles and quiet guitars form a calm, subdued atmosphere. However, the shocking thing is Suzuki's voice- on earlier albums, it was the forefront, a worried, nervous stream of words. Here, it is just more background noise, and instead of creating a strained feeling, it's loose and lost in the drums. At the end, it becomes a distorted yell, still dominated by drums and wavering guitar noises, and soon the Indian percussion returns for a few seconds, before fading into nothingness, reminiscent of the end of Oh Yeah from Tago Mago. Spray is a long, improvised piece, with more African-sounding percussion, coming off like a slightly less happy version of the title track. Moonshake is a relatively good song, and though it contrasts with the mood by going back to the style of Ege Bamyasi, with a mechanical drum rhythm, pulsing bass, and various sound effects skittering around with Suzuki's vocals, somewhere between the new and old style. And then... the centerpiece, Bel Air. Twenty minutes of ambient Can-jam, like a more developed Future Days. But does it work? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Though there's not much to say in words, I can say that it feels relaxing, like being on the beach and just lying in the sun. There are two minor "orgasmic" parts; at 4:42 when bass and drums line up with Damo's elated whines, and about 9 and a half minutes in, where the music dies in bird cries, and slowly comes back. So, this album is a true great of ambient music, krautrock, whatever you call it, it's amazing. Recommended to fans of Can, light, airy ambient music, and all things relaxing. This has recently become one of my favorite albums ever, and certainly deserves five stars.