The Lost Tapes
Compilation album by
Can
Released18 June 2012
Recorded1968–1977
Genre
Length195:55
LabelSpoon Records
ProducerCan
Can chronology
Sacrilege
(1997) 		The Lost Tapes
(2012) 		The Singles
(2017)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blurt[3]
Clash7/10[4]
Filter90%[5]
God is in the TV5/5[6]
The Independent[7]
NME[8]
Pitchfork7.1/10[9]
Uncut[10]
Tom HullA−[11]

The Lost Tapes is a compilation album of studio outtakes and live recordings by the German experimental rock band Can, which was originally released as an LP in 2012 by Spoon Records in conjunction with Mute Records. The compilation was curated by Irmin Schmidt and Daniel Miller, compiled by Irmin Schmidt and Jono Podmore, and edited by Jono Podmore.

Relocation of studio and finding of material

When the Can studio in Weilerswist was sold to the German Rock N Pop Museum,[12] they bought everything, including the army mattresses that covered the walls for sound protection, and relocated it to Gronau. Whilst dismantling the studio, master tapes were found and stored in the Spoon archive. With barely legible labeling, no one was sure what was on these until Irmin Schmidt and long time collaborator Jono Podmore started to go through over 30 hours of music. They found years of archived material, not outtakes, but rather tracks which had been shelved for a variety of reasons – soundtracks to films that were never released and tracks that didn't make it onto the final versions of albums due to space. Irmin Schmidt explains "Obviously the tapes weren't really lost, but were left in the cupboards of the studio archives for so long everybody just forgot about them. Everybody except Hildegard [Schmidt, Irmin's wife], who watches over Can and its work like the dragon over the gold of the Nibelungen and doesn't allow forgetting."[13]

Final cut and reception

The final cut of tracks, dating from 1968 to 1977, features studio material recorded at Schloss Nörvenich and Can Studio, Weilerswist with the Can line-up of Holger Czukay on bass, Michael Karoli on guitars, Jaki Liebezeit on drums and Irmin Schmidt on keyboards, and on most tracks, vocals from Malcolm Mooney or Damo Suzuki.

Alongside its critical acclaim, the album was also very successful in UK based independent record shops, in which it entered the Official Record Store Chart at No.1.

Track listing

CD One
No.TitleWriter(s)RecordedLength
1."Millionenspiel"Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Jaki Liebezeit, Irmin Schmidt19695:49
2."Waiting for the Streetcar"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Malcolm Mooney1968/196910:08
3."Evening All Day"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt19726:58
4."Deadly Doris"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney19683:10
5."Graublau"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt196916:47
6."When Darkness Comes"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney19693:48
7."Blind Mirror Surf"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, David Johnson19688:39
8."Oscura Primavera"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Johnson19683:19
9."Bubble Rap"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Damo Suzuki19729:24
CD Two
No.TitleWriter(s)RecordedLength
1."Your Friendly Neighbourhood Whore"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney19693:43
2."True Story"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney19684:30
3."The Agreement"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney19710:37
4."Midnight Sky"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney19682:44
5."Desert"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney19693:20
6."Spoon (Live)"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki197216:47
7."Dead Pigeon Suite"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki197211:47
8."Abra Cada Braxas"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki197310:12
9."A Swan Is Born"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki19723:00
10."The Loop"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt19742:33
CD Three
No.TitleWriter(s)RecordedLength
1."Godzilla Fragment"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt19751:59
2."On the Way to Mother Sky"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt19704:35
3."Midnight Men"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt19757:35
4."Networks of Foam"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt197512:36
5."Messer, Scissors, Fork and Light"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki19728:24
6."Barnacles"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Rosko Gee19777:46
7."E.F.S. 108"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt19762:07
8."Private Nocturnal"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt19756:49
9."Alice"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt19741:56
10."Mushroom (Live)"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki19728:18
11."One More Saturday Night (Live)"Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki19736:34

Personnel

References

  1. ^ "The Lost Tapes - Can". Metacritic.
  2. ^ Thomas, Fred. The Lost Tapes - Can at AllMusic. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  3. ^ "The Lost Tapes by Can on Blurt Online". July 17, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17.
  4. ^ Interviews, Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews &; Murray, Robin (June 18, 2012). "Can - The Lost Tapes".((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "FILTER Magazine - Reviews - Can". June 22, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22.
  6. ^ Valvona·Albums·, Dominic (May 31, 2012). "Can - The Lost Tapes (Mute) - God Is In The TV".
  7. ^ "Album: Can, The Lost Tapes 1968-1975 (Spoon/Mute)". The Independent. June 14, 2012.
  8. ^ "Can - 'The Lost Tapes'". NME. June 12, 2012.
  9. ^ Wolk, Douglas (18 June 2012). "Can: The Lost Tapes". Album Reviews. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Can - The Lost Tapes". June 21, 2012.
  11. ^ "Tom Hull: Grade List: Can". tomhull.com.
  12. ^ "rock'n'popmuseum Gronau | Home". Rock-popmuseum.com. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  13. ^ "Can to release Lost Tapes box set". Fact Magazine. 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
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