But Of Course

Yesterday's Guardian featured a heartwarming feature on Irmin Schmidt, at 81 the last man standing of krautrockers supreme Can. Wonderful anecdote: "By all accounts a brilliant musician from an early age, he was already a professional classical pianist when he signed up to study under Stockhausen at Cologne’s Rheinische Musikschule. Czukay was a fellow pupil, and Schmidt is rather proud of the fact that, when Stockhausen was later played a selection of experimental German rock tracks, he dismissed all of them except Can’s 1971 track Aumgn. When he found out who had made it, he said: ‘Well, of course it’s good – these were my students.’”

Can - Aumgn

Lovely Times

Just got the sad news that Jaki Liebezeit has passed away. The highly inventive drummer of seminal krautrock formation Can was 78. Miss him.

Can - Millionenspiel
Can - Shikaku Maru Ten
Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit - How Much Are They?

Wild Weekend Vol. 50

Welcome to Wild Weekend #50, the Golden Jubilee edition, yessir. Me oh my, how the time does fly and all that. Yassassin! This week we´ve got a fine oldie from Gillian Welch for you, a cool countryrock re-release, a postpunk krautrocker, and that´s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of course.

We´ll start off this milestone edition with the Thin White Duke, if only because Yassassin means ´long live´ in Turkish. A groovy immigrant song from Lodger, Bowie´s last really great album and part three of his Berlin trilogy, it always makes me happy somehow. "Don't want to leave, or drift away..." Gillian Welch hasn´t released any new music since 2003, apparently because of a writer´s block. Shame, as the rootsy singer´s talents are many. Just try on the touching Elvis Presley Blues for size, from the fine Time (The Revelator) album with David Rawlings as always on guitar, and join me in hoping that her inspiration will return soon.

David Bowie - Yassassin MP3

Gillian Welch - Elvis Presley Blues MP3

I managed to miss last years re-release of Grandma´s Roadhouse by Riley somehow, but all that has been corrected now, and I´m glad. Because we´re talking about a cool, very obscure countryrock album from 1970 here, which originally came out on vinyl in a vanity pressing of only 500 copies. And yes, that´s the mighty Gary Stewart, no stranger to these pages, guesting on vocals on the faintly Band-like Drinkin´ Them Squeezins. Wonder if he ever performed a song which didn´t mention drinking... You may know Jah Wobble as the bassist for his mate Johnny Lydon´s Public Image Ltd., and Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit as prominent members of pioneering krautrockers Can. But did you know they briefly played together, too? The result? Excellent, dubby postpunk with a groove.

Riley - Drinkin´ Them Squeezins MP3

Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit - How Much Are They? MP3

Ever tried you hand at flamenco clapping? I did, and it´s far from easy believe me. Great fun though. Here´s an excellent opportunity to practice your skills: a classic performance by famous gypsy singer Antonia Gilabert Vargas (1925-1975), better known as La Perla De Cádiz. And last but certainly not least, we move to the windy city once again. If you would ask me for my fave electric blues song ever, I´d probably come up with Reap What You Sow by lefthander Otis Rush. Soulful perfection from Chicago´s West Side. Just check it out and have a wild one.

La Perla De Cádiz - Ganas Me Dan De Volverme MP3

Otis Rush - Reap What You Sow MP3

Yes We Can

Enjoyed one of the best games of football I´ve ever seen last night. My beloved FC Barcelona met Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarter finals at home in Camp Nou and totally outclassed the opposition. Ninety thousand plus spectators (me among them of course) could hardly believe their eyes as the most lethal forward line in Europe (Messi, Henri and Eto´o) secured a 4-0 win in grand style, which makes next Tuesday´s return more or less a formality. We played many a great match this season already, but this was definitely football from another planet. As they say in Catalan: Ser del Barça es, el millor que hi ha... The semis await.

To rub it in a bit more, here are some tracks from my fave krautrock ensemble, the mighty Can. Father Cannot Yell stems from the ´69 debut Monster Movie, when Malcolm Mooney was still their vocalist. Nice, but only the beginning. By ´71 the wild Japanese Damo Suzuki took over behind the microphone, and Can really found its form. Tago Mago´s Mushroom shows exactly why Can has a reputation for originality and rhythmic cunning. "I´m gonna keep my distance!"

Follow-up Ege Bamyasi (´72), with that beautiful album cover of a can of yummy ladyfingers, is just as good, as the dreamlike Sing Swan Song proves. Next year´s Future Days is probably my favourite Can album though. Ambient avant-la-lettre? Something like that. The hypnotic Dizzy Dizzy from their nearly-as-perfect ´74 effort Soon Over Babaluma finds guitarist Michael Karoli on whispery vocals. "Don´t throw ashtrays at me..."

And as a bonus track, here´s the exotic Persian Love from Can bassist and producer Holger Czukay´s highly original solo album Movies (´79). Auf wiedersehen!

Can - Father Cannot Yell MP3

Can - Mushroom MP3

Can - Sing Swan Song MP3

Can - Future Days MP3

Can - Dizzy Dizzy MP3

Holger Czukay - Persian Love MP3