SOUNDTRACKS

The second CAN album is a collection of tracks originally composed for several independent movies, but make no mistake - this is not a usual "soundtrack" album. It contains 7 quite different and distinct compositions so that one could wonder whether it is the same band all the time. Probably because this was my first encounter with CAN music, I am still very much in love with "Soundtrakcs" and can hardly find any weak moment. A true magnum opus of CAN catalogue is present here - 14 and half minutes trance of "Mother Sky". Starting with a Karoli's freak-out guitar solo out of nowhere, augmented by Czukay's bass stomping rhythm yet with melodic lines and probably the most "natural" sounding drum beats ever heard courtesy of Liebezeit (he is one of the forgotten heroes of the instrument; you can literally hear his palm skin touching and beating the drum skin as in a jungle-tribal ceremony), "Mother Sky" remains one of the most addictive and dance-inducing songs ever written. You simply cannot stay calm with it, you must move, jump, dance, rock, roll, swing and skip, even hum the mantra "mother sky" along with Suzuki - you can even do physical exercises and pilates with it. This is like an early precursor of techno-trance dance music of the 1990s, with difference being you don't need bloody illicit substances to stay in form, the sound itself does it for you. Remeber, we are still talking about 1970! No synths! Other songs are excellent as well - from Karoli's wonderful guitar solo in "Deadlock" through the ending notes of jazzy Mooney-sung "She Brings the Rain". This album is a remarkable work and if it cannot be strictly pronounced a masterpiece, it is still one of the defining moments of experimental and avant rock music. For me and myself, "Mother Sky" alone merits 5 billion stars of the universe of sound and rhythm.