The Lost Tapes (Can album) - Misplaced Pages

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	85/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Blurt
Clash	7/10
Filter	90%
God is in the TV	5/5
The Independent
NME
Pitchfork	7.1/10
Uncut
Tom Hull	A−

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, they bought everything, including the army mattresses that covered the walls for sound protection, and relocated it to Gronau. While 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 , who watches over Can and its work like the dragon over the gold of the Nibelungen and doesn't allow forgetting."

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.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
1.	"Millionenspiel"	Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Jaki Liebezeit, Irmin Schmidt	1968	5:49
2.	"Waiting for the Streetcar"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Malcolm Mooney	1968/1969	10:08
3.	"Evening All Day"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1972	6:58
4.	"Deadly Doris"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1968	3:10
5.	"Graublau"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1969	16:47
6.	"When Darkness Comes"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1969	3:48
7.	"Blind Mirror Surf"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, David Johnson	1968	8:39
8.	"Oscura Primavera"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Johnson	1968	3:19
9.	"Bubble Rap"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Damo Suzuki	1972	9:24

CD Two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
1.	"Your Friendly Neighbourhood Whore"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1969	3:43
2.	"True Story"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1968	4:30
3.	"The Agreement"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1971	0:37
4.	"Midnight Sky"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1968	2:44
5.	"Desert"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1969	3:20
6.	"Spoon (Live)"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	16:47
7.	"Dead Pigeon Suite"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	11:47
8.	"Abra Cada Braxas"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1973	10:12
9.	"A Swan Is Born"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	3:00
10.	"The Loop"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1974	2:33

CD Three
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
1.	"Godzilla Fragment"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1975	1:59
2.	"On the Way to Mother Sky"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1970	4:35
3.	"Midnight Men"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1975	7:35
4.	"Networks of Foam"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1975	12:36
5.	"Messer, Scissors, Fork and Light"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	8:24
6.	"Barnacles"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Rosko Gee	1977	7:46
7.	"E.F.S. 108"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1976	2:07
8.	"Private Nocturnal"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1975	6:49
9.	"Alice"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1974	1:56
10.	"Mushroom (Live)"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	8:18
11.	"One More Saturday Night (Live)"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1973	6:34

Personnel

Holger Czukay – bass, engineering, editing
Michael Karoli – guitar
Jaki Liebezeit – drums
Irmin Schmidt – keyboards
Malcolm Mooney – vocals
Damo Suzuki – vocals
David Johnson – flute on "Millionenspiel", "Blind Mirror Surf" and "Oscura Primavera"
Rosco Gee – bass on "Barnacles"
Gerd Dudek – saxophone on "Millionenspiel"
Jono Podmore — editing

References

"The Lost Tapes – Can". Metacritic.
Thomas, Fred. The Lost Tapes – Can at AllMusic. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
"The Lost Tapes by Can on Blurt Online". July 17, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17.
Interviews, Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews &; Murray, Robin (June 18, 2012). "Can – The Lost Tapes".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
"FILTER Magazine – Reviews – Can". June 22, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22.
Valvona·Albums·, Dominic (May 31, 2012). "Can – The Lost Tapes (Mute) – God Is In The TV".
"Album: Can, The Lost Tapes 1968–1975 (Spoon/Mute)". The Independent. June 14, 2012.
"Can – 'The Lost Tapes'". NME. June 12, 2012.
Wolk, Douglas (18 June 2012). "Can: The Lost Tapes". Album Reviews. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
"Can – The Lost Tapes". June 21, 2012.
"Tom Hull: Grade List: Can". tomhull.com.
"rock'n'popmuseum Gronau | Home". Rock-popmuseum.com. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
"Can to release Lost Tapes box set". Fact Magazine. 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
Young, Rob; Schmidt, Irmin (2018). All Gates Open: The Story of Can (e-book ed.). London: Faber and Faber. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-571-31151-4. In July 1968 Irmin's film industry connections delivered the group's first commission. German public broadcaster ARD needed music for Das Millionenspiel.

v t e Can
Michael Karoli Jaki Liebezeit Irmin Schmidt Holger Czukay Malcolm Mooney David C. Johnson Damo Suzuki Rosko Gee Rebop Kwaku Baah
Albums	Monster Movie Tago Mago Ege Bamyası Future Days Soon Over Babaluma Landed Flow Motion Saw Delight Out of Reach Can Rite Time
Compilations	Soundtracks Unlimited Edition Cannibalism Delay 1968 Anthology Sacrilege Agilok & Blubbo Kamasutra: Vollendung der Liebe The Lost Tapes The Singles
Live albums	The Peel Sessions Can Live Music (Live 1971–1977) Live in Paris 1973
Songs	"Yoo Doo Right" "Mother Sky" "Mushroom" "Halleluhwah" "Vitamin C" "Spoon" "Moonshake" "I Want More"
Related articles	Discography Spoon Records All Gates Open: The Story of Can
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