Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: Recorded for BBC Radio In Concert during Can's 1973 UK tour, this exceptional live performance showcases the cult favourite band at their peak. The five-piece group did their usual trick of expertly weaving together repeating themes and riffs while responding to each other in real-time. The dynamic interplay between keyboards from Schmidt, guitar from Karoli and Suzuki's vocals is driven by the powerful Czukay and Liebezeit rhythm section. Featuring comprehensive sleeve notes and full recording details, this release includes all tracks written by Can members Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt and Suzuki, all of which were captured live at The Paris Theatre, London on February 19th. A great bit of Can history.

Review: Recorded in October 1997, but lost and rediscovered two decades later by digital artist Gvoon Arthur Schmidt, GVoon: Brennung 1 is one of countless gems nestling in the sound archives of the late, great Holger Czukay. Described as a "futuristic sound meditation" by remastering engineer Dirk Dresselhaus (better known as experimental electronica producer Scheider TM), the single, expansive piece was created by Czukay at a point in time when he was happily working with German techno and electronica producers (Westbam included) while exploring the potential of digital music-making and production technology. The results are typically immersive, enveloping and off-kilter, sounding as far-sighted and ahead-of-their-time as they no doubt did when the piece was originally recorded in 1997.

Review: After a period of roughly three decades, German soundtrack artist and onetime Karlheinz Stockhausen apprentice Holger Czukay shares a surprise trove of lost tapes, which are said to have been once recorded by the artist for "free disposal" and which were presumably forgotten about at the time. Now available, all of said material is said to date back to at least the 1990s, and marks the forward thinking and "ahead of its time" (as remarked by fellow producer Schneider TM) approach to cold Kraut and experimental wave that informed Czukay as he experimented freewheelingly with beatmaking while in the company of further fellows Dr. Walker and Air Liquide. Also evolving in temporal conjunction with an experimental live show involving body tracking tech, fashioned by mixed media artist Arthur Schmidt, there are implicit themes of virtual reality and haptic sound control here. Way ahead of its time indeed.