The long-awaited release of a fan favourite, Live in Keele 1977, is the latest in Can’s series of live albums, released on Mute and Future Days. Live in Keele 1977 is the newest release in a series of live albums that have been unearthed from the Spoon Records vaults and from fan recordings, then painstakingly assembled by founding member Irmin Schmidt and producer and engineer René Tinner. This album is a dynamic document of late-period CAN. Recorded in March 1977, the core line up of Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit, Michael Karoli, and Holger Czukay is augmented by the addition of Rosko Gee (Traffic) on bass. Gee’s recent addition to the line-up meant that Holger Czukay was freed up from bass duties to perform “waveform radio and spec. sounds”, manifesting here as otherworldly sounds, samples and what one reviewer of a later show described as “moontalk to a white continental telephone.”
1977 was a difficult period for CAN; their recently released eighth studio album, Saw Delight, had been badly received and although posterity has been kinder to the album, the reviews on release were savage. Journalist, broadcaster and author Jennifer Lucy Allan’s meticulous research of the time, place and context of the performance on the accompanying sleeve notes led her to declare of the album: “On paper, unremarkable. In practice, a precious hunk of sonic material.” Before going on to remind us that “The heads know – forums and published books alike agree – that ‘76-’77 is the best of the Can live years (Keele included). A couple of the tracks from this show have been included on fan-made “best of” live bootlegs over the years. And wow, are they right”.
The album follows the release of CAN’s LIVE IN STUTTGART 1975, LIVE IN CUXHAVEN 1976, LIVE IN BRIGHTON 1975, LIVE IN PARIS 1973, and LIVE IN ASTON 1977, which have received high praise and featured heavily in Reissues of the Year.
CAN’s unprecedented and bold marriage of hypnotic grooves and avant-garde instrumental textures has made them one of the most important and innovative bands of all time, and these albums reveal a totally different perspective to the group.
