Premier Rock Forum

Robert G wrote:Has anyone listened to the Japanese singer Phew's album, with Holger and Jaki (and Conny Plank!?) as the backing band?My favorite record store in CLE had the Sky Station CD reissue. Pricey, but totally worth it. This album is excellent. Fans of Can would love it, I believe.Also, here's an eight minute drum solo of Jaki's from 1970:

Robert G wrote:Has anyone listened to the Japanese singer Phew's album, with Holger and Jaki (and Conny Plank!?) as the backing band?Phew is excellent. Her album Five Finger Discount is also superb. Check out Aunt Sally also.

Lost Tapes arrived today, which I am delighted about as I thought I was going to be away with work before it turned up and not be able to listen to it for about two months. About halfway through so far, pretty great, definitely worth the money. Much of it sounds incredibly familiar, interestingly. Some incredible photos of Inner Space in the book as well...

That is totally awesome packaging...the preview stream sounds amazing as well.It's times like these I hate being broke as fuck.

First impressions: substantial.

Is anyone aware of any books solely focused on Can? I know there are some decent books covering krautrock in general, but I'm wondering if there is any in-depth work just about them.

There's Pascal Bussy's The Can Book, which is out of print, but available for about $35:http://www.amazon.com/The-Can-Book-Pasc ... 0946719055I haven't read it, but I do have Bussy's book on Kraftwerk, which was great. I'd definitely read something else he wrote if I had the chance.Hth.

Bought an mp3 copy on Amazon for $18...seems like a pretty good deal. Really looking forward to absorbing the whole thing.

Angus Jung wrote:Not a great book, but worth reading.Uncannily, you were spot on.I bought the Pascal Bussy book in the early 90s, it was published in 1989 to coincide with the inaugural Spoon reissues of the classic albums and press interviews supporting their reunion release (the less said about the better) around that time.It's a strange book that's hard to recommend: essentially an annotated chronology from '68 to '79 bulked out with band member profiles, a section about their live concerts and reunion plus an extended discography. It contains a little new information, some anecdotes and pictures that aren't generally available elsewhere but it's a slim tome that could have been written by a robot. For a fan it's still worth a read but only if you can find an inexpensive copy second hand. If I get time I'll scan in a page or two so you get the idea. Bussy's later Man, Machine and Music book about Kraftwerk is a much better exploration of its subject.On a happier note, The Lost Tapes has much to recommend. All the early, stripped-back stuff with Malcolm is obviously great (think Delay or the stray pieces on Unlimited Edition which is probably the closest cousin to this hotpotch release overall) but there's further red meat scattered across the three discs. Early favourites include the collage rocker Graublau and the beautifully autumnal Private Nocturnal. There are two or three epic Damo jams in there too (Bubble Rap, Abra Cada Braxas) as well as seedling versions of album tracks from his tenure. The whole thing is a welcome surprise and better than I was expecting.(If you use it, the entire caboodle is available via Spotify)