FUTURE DAYS

"Future Days" is the 5th (if you count the compiled album "Soundtracks (1970)" as a full-length studio album) full-length studio album by German Krautrock/experimental rock act Can. The album was released through United Artists in August 1973. This would be the last Can album to feature Japanese vocalist Damo Suzuki as he would leave the band soon after the release of "Future Days" to marry his German girlfriend and become a Jehovah's Witness.

The music on "Future Days" is in the trademark repetitive psychadelic, jamming yet organized Can style. Strong driving rhythms, lots of experimental/psychadelic guitar and keyboard motifs and Damo Suzuki´s stoned vocal delivery on top. The music is mostly instrumental though and Damo Suzuki only pops in from time to time to deliver some melody to the proceedings or add some chants. Just listen to "Spray" where he only pops in after 6 full minutes of instrumental jamming. That´s really not that surprising as that´s how it´s more or less been since day one but "Future Days" is slightly different from it´s direct predecessors as it features a more dominant use of ambience.

The 41:04 minutes long album features 4 tracks. The two opening tracks "Future Days" and "Spray", which are both around 8 to 9 minutes long are really cool, laidback and repetitive krautrock tracks. Grat emphasis on tight rhythmic playing and experimental sounds. The former mentioned features a rather unique mood, which reeks of tropical holiday atmosphere. The third track on the album is the short and relatively mainstream oriented "Moonshake". It´s proof that Can can also produce that type of material with a successful end result. The album closes with the 20:00 minutes long jam packed "Bel Air". Another great track which fully showcase Can´s abbility to create organized and very long jams that don´t overstay their welcome.

"Future Days" is in many ways another high quality release by Can. Strong musicianship, a powerful and organic sound production, and an adventurous songwriting approach are all positives in my book. Compared to "Tago Mago (1971)" and "Ege Bamyasi (1972)" it´s just slightly less interesting, but a 4 star (80%) is still deserved.