OUT OF REACH

Krautrock. I had no idea what it was and frankly, thought it was one of those made up genre's that didn't really exist, and that krautrock was really just German prog rock bands. Apparently it is psychedelic prog rock with very jazzy influences, long minimalist sections and improv. Wait, how is this not like some prog rock? OK, no more genre clerical rants from me. This is my first foray into krautrock, but maybe not since this album is apparently quite different from most of Can's work. OI!

OK, this is a pretty cool album. It has a very mellow to it. Lots of keyboard, jazzyness (mainly in the drumming) mild guitar, funky bass riffs and psychedelic sections. There is even some space rock! The guitar solos on this album are awesome. They are soulful and emotional. They are quite melodic, and range from sustains to hendrixesque trippy noodling and screaming. Some distortion thrown in there to boot.Throw on top some very soothing vocals. They are somewhat infrequent, often soft and always nice.

I mentioned the guitar solos which are maybe my favorite part of the album, but the bass riffs are truly great. Very funky. The drumming is also quite good, and ranges from simple beat keeping, to wild and jazzy. The drumming overall has a very jazz feel, (what's not to like about that?) and is again, very cool. Favorite drumming on the album is in the song "One More Day" which is a very space rock song. Then the keyboard, probably the main instrument on the album. It is quite prominent and is sometimes a nice background, sometimes high pitched and space rocky.

Overall, the songs do have a bit of an improv feel to it. Perhaps it is not as experimental and free flowing as their older work, but this is certainly not a constructed album, at least not entirely. I think it has quite a free feeling, in fact upon very first listen I thought the songs sounded a bit, everywhere and lacked cohesion. I quickly realized this is not a bad thing!

I will say, this album does have quite a pop feel to it as well. I have heard it compared to disco, and I dont know about that, (besides I was born in 1988!) but while the jam feel is present, there is some structure and organization. Given that, along with its mellow and funky feel, this album may be pretty accessible to the mainstream!

As a newcomer to Can, and krautrock in general, I can look at this album with the pre-conceived notions of Can and krautrock. A funky, spacey, mellow and somewhat psychedelic jam session album. Maybe their is too much pop or structure and not enough experimentalism but this is a good album. Especially great to relax to. "November" and "One More Day" are the best tracks on the album, but there is no real weak song.

THREE AND A HALF STARS (Bump 3)