FILMMUSIK VOL. II

This could be seen as another lost Can album, as Jaki Liebezeit drums on all tracks, and we have also Michael Karoli, Holger Czukay, and Rosko Gee present, although much of this is written by Irmin (Michael has co-composer credits for the opener).

For a second time Irmin puts together music for three films (with three somewhat different line-ups) on an album. This offering is much stronger than the first one, with all instrumental music that can stand very well on its own. Endstation Freiheit has a very strong later Can jamming out feel with Jaki's typical infectious rhythms. The other two films (but also Loony's Walk) showcase a more experimental avantgarde side of Irmin's work with much emphasis on sound and a more subtle and understated use of rhythm on Flaechenbrand (where the melancholic accordion gives the title track a quite intimate feeling). Excellent jazzer Manfred Schoof adds insistent trumpets, jazzy and dreamy on the title track, but dominant and dark on Lurk.

The almost 15 minutes of Man on Fire are the central piece of the bunch, dark, threatening, and tense. The heart is beating and we feel that something is going on even if we can't see it. In fact the film is not needed to get the feeling across. The main motif stays but the rhythm changes, we're getting very nervous. In a change of scenes we get a piano waltz interplay reminding a bit of what Can did in Oh Yeah; once more we can create our own film to this if we don't watch the original one. Afterwards the rhythm becomes more intense and we get a rather unique take on how to work with a simple motif throughout a long track. Much violin here, too.

This one scratches at 5 stars although as a collection of soundtracks it doesn't quite have enough cohesion. Hardly any of this needs the film to work, rather it inspires the listener to create their own film in their head. Ultimately this is a great album that I recommend for sure to the Can fan, but also to any lover of adventurous cinematographic music. Irmin is listed as prog-related but some of his albums including this one are about as prog as it gets, eclectic in style between Kraut, psychedelic, and RIO. 4.4 stars.

PS: Almost all of this is available on Filmmusik Anthology 1, 2 & 3 these days.