Flow Motion

Last updated
Flow Motion
Can-Flow Motion (album cover).jpg
Studio album by
Can
Released3 October 1976
RecordedJune 1976
StudioInner Space Studio, Weilerswist, near Cologne
Genre
Length37:37
Label Harvest, Virgin, Spoon, Mute
Producer Can
Can chronology
Unlimited Edition
(1976)
Flow Motion
(1976)
Saw Delight
(1977)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Flow Motion is the seventh studio album by German rock band Can. It was released in October 1976 and features the UK hit single "I Want More".

Contents

Recording and production

Recording sessions for what would become Flow Motion began at Can's Inner Space Studio in Cologne in the spring of 1976. Since their previous album Landed , the band had been recording on a state-of-the-art 16-track machine, which had changed the dynamics of the group and the way they recorded. Instead of playing everything live together, different members could now record their parts separately. This, and their embracing of rhythms (especially disco) on Flow Motion that were unpopular with rock music fans, is probably why the album was not as well received by fans and critics when it first appeared. [4]

Flow Motion was mixed using "Artificial Head" binaural stereo. [5]

The cover features a photograph taken by band member Michael Karoli.

Music

Throughout their career, Can had always experimented with a number of different rhythms. With Flow Motion, the band became more playful, adding disco and reggae to this list. [6] Apart from the new rhythms, the influence of recording with 16 tracks meant there are multiple guitar lines from Michael Karoli, and Irmin Schmidt's keyboards also come to the fore, providing much of the shimmering and shiny atmosphere that is found throughout the album.

A disco vibe dominates the opening track "I Want More", which is short, catchy and danceable. The song was released as a single and became a hit, reaching number 26 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1976. [7] The band even appeared on Top of the Pops to perform the song. [8]

Reggae infuses most of the rest of the album, although Can experiments with rhythm and instrumentation, rather than playing it straight. This is exemplified on "Cascade Waltz", which combines a reggae beat with a waltz, and on "Laugh Till You Cry - Live Till You Die (O.R.N.)", which features guitarist Karoli playing the Turkic bağlama.

After the reprise of the opening track "...And More", which finished side one of the original vinyl album, side two opens with "Babylonian Pearl", which is evocative of "Come Sta, La Luna" on Soon Over Babaluma . The song's vocals are handled by Irmin Schmidt, and speak about a girl who "comes from a land where woman is man". This, and all of the other lyrics on this album, were written by Peter Gilmour, the band's live sound engineer.

The next song, the gloomy-sounding "Smoke (E.F.S. No. 59)", is more experimental, with Jaki Liebezeit's intense ethnic tom-tom beat driving the song forward.

Another experimental track, the lengthy and unrestrained "Flow Motion", closes the album.

Reception and influence

The more accessible nature of Flow Motion, and its flirtation with disco, meant this album was not well received at the time of its release. Many took affront to seeing the band playing disco, lip-synching and dancing to Top of the Pops, especially as rock fans generally hated disco in the 1970s. [9]

Flow Motion, however, has subsequently been re-assessed, with Magnet Magazine labelling it a "hidden gem" in 2012. [10]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."I Want More"Peter GilmourCzukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt3:29
2."Cascade Waltz"Peter GilmourCzukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt5:35
3."Laugh Till You Cry - Live Till You Die (O.R.N.)"Peter GilmourCzukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt6:43
4."...And More"noneCzukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt2:43
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
5."Babylonian Pearl"Peter GilmourCzukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt3:29
6."Smoke (E.F.S. No. 59)"noneCzukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt5:15
7."Flow Motion"noneCzukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt10:23

Personnel

Can

Produced by Can. "Cascade Waltz" was produced by Can and Simon Puxley.

The album was recorded at Inner Space Studio, Weilerswist, near Cologne by Holger Czukay and René Tinner and was mixed by Manfred Schunke at Delta Acoustic Studio, Wilster, Germany.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can (band)</span> German experimental rock band

Can were a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne in 1968 by Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). They featured several vocalists, including the American Malcolm Mooney (1968–70) and the Japanese Damo Suzuki (1970–73). They have been hailed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene.

Michael Karoli was a German guitarist, violinist and composer. He was a founding member of the influential krautrock band Can.

<i>Monster Movie</i> (Can album) 1969 studio album by Can

Monster Movie is the debut studio album by German rock band Can, released in August 1969 by Music Factory and Liberty Records.

<i>Tago Mago</i> 1971 studio album by Can

Tago Mago is the second studio album by the German krautrock band Can, originally released as a double LP in August 1971 on the United Artists label. It was the band's first full studio album to feature Damo Suzuki after the 1970 departure of previous vocalist Malcolm Mooney, though Suzuki had been featured on most tracks on the compilation album Soundtracks the prior year. Recorded at Schloss Nörvenich, a medieval castle near Cologne, the album features long-form experimental tracks blending rock and jazz improvisation, funk rhythms, and musique concrète tape editing techniques.

<i>Ege Bamyasi</i> 1972 studio album by Can

Ege Bamyası is the third studio album by German krautrock band Can, originally released as an LP in 1972 by United Artists. The album contains the single "Spoon", which charted in the Top 10 in Germany owing its use as the theme of German TV thriller mini-series Das Messer. The success of the single allowed Can to move to a better studio in Weilerswist, where they recorded the rest of the album.

<i>Future Days</i> 1973 studio album by Can

Future Days is the fourth studio album by the German experimental rock group Can, released on 1 August 1973 by United Artists. It was the group's final album to feature vocalist Damo Suzuki, who subsequently left the band to become a Jehovah's Witness, and explores a more atmospheric sound than their previous releases.

<i>Flux + Mutability</i> 1989 studio album by David Sylvian and Holger Czukay

Flux + Mutability is the second collaboration between David Sylvian and Holger Czukay. It was released in September 1989. The music consists of two instrumental tracks improvised by the participants.

<i>Soon Over Babaluma</i> 1974 studio album by Can

Soon Over Babaluma is the fifth studio album by the rock music group Can. This is the band's first album following the departure of Damo Suzuki in 1973. The vocals are provided by guitarist Michael Karoli and keyboardist Irmin Schmidt. It is also their last album that was created using a two-track tape recorder.

<i>Saw Delight</i> 1977 studio album by Can

Saw Delight is an album by the German rock band Can. It features two new band members who were ex-members of the band Traffic, Rosko Gee and Rebop Kwaku Baah, with Can's bassist Holger Czukay giving up the bass in favour of experimental effects.

<i>Out of Reach</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Can

Out of Reach is the ninth studio album by the German krautrock band Can, released as an LP in 1978 on Harvest Records. It is their tenth official studio album, discounting compilations such as Unlimited Edition.

<i>Rite Time</i> 1989 studio album by Can

Rite Time is the eleventh and final studio album by the German rock band Can. Though Can had not yet split up, it is considered a reunion album because of the time elapsed since the band's previous album, Can, was released in 1979. The album consists of sessions recorded in the South of France in late 1986, edited extensively by the band over the course of subsequent years. Rite Time features the vocals of the band's original singer, Malcolm Mooney, who had left the group in 1970 after their debut album Monster Movie. Upon the album's initial release, "In the Distance Lies the Future" only appeared on the CD version, but it was included on the 2014 vinyl reissue.

<i>Delay 1968</i> 1981 compilation album by Can

Delay 1968 is a compilation album by the German experimental rock band Can released in 1981. It comprises previously unreleased work recorded for Can's rejected debut album, Prepared to Meet Thy Pnoom, recorded with the singer Malcolm Mooney.

<i>Can Live Music (Live 1971–1977)</i> 1999 live album by Can

Can Live Music is a double live album by the band Can, released in 1999 and recorded in the UK and West Germany between 1972 and 1977. It was originally included in the now out-of-print Can box set, Can Box.

<i>Can</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Can

Can, also known as Inner Space, is the tenth studio album by experimental rock band Can, released in 1979. Former bassist Holger Czukay's involvement with this album was limited to tape editing. It was Can's last album before the reunion album Rite Time, ten years later, and was released after the band's break-up.

"Mother Sky" is a song by the krautrock group Can, written by members Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, Michael Karoli, Irmin Schmidt, and Damo Suzuki. Lasting fourteen and a half minutes, it was recorded in July 1970 for the soundtrack of Jerzy Skolimowski's film Deep End and released in 1970 on Can's Soundtracks album. It opens in mid guitar solo before settling down into a familiar Can groove as singer Damo Suzuki mulls the relative merits of madness and "Mother Sky".

<i>The Peel Sessions</i> (Can album) 1995 compilation album by Can

The Peel Sessions is a compilation album by the German experimental rock band Can. Released in November 1995, it contains songs from four sessions recorded for John Peel's Radio 1 show. The sessions took place in February 1973, January 1974, October 1974, and May 1975. The songs are mostly unreleased improvisations. "Geheim" is released as "Half Past One" on Landed and "Mighty Girl" as "November" on Out of Reach.

<i>Unlimited Edition</i> (album) 1976 compilation album by Can

Unlimited Edition is a compilation album by the band Can. Released in 1976 as a double album, it was an expanded version of the 1974 LP Limited Edition on United Artists Records which, as the name suggests, was a limited release of 15,000 copies. The album collects unreleased music from throughout the band's history from 1968 until 1976, and both the band's major singers are featured. The cover photos were taken among the Elgin Marbles in the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum.

<i>The Lost Tapes</i> (Can album) 2012 compilation album by Can

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.

<i>Movies</i> (Holger Czukay album) 1979 studio album by Holger Czukay

Movies is the second album by Holger Czukay, released in 1979 through Electrola.

<i>Live in Paris 1973</i> 2024 live album by Can

Live in Paris 1973 is a live double-album by German krautrock band Can, recorded at a performance of the band at L'Olympia in Paris, France. It was released on vinyl and CD by Spoon Records on 23 February 2024, two weeks after the death of Can member Damo Suzuki on 9 February 2024.

References

  1. Mason, Stewart. "Can: Flow Motion > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  2. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Can". Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0857125958.
  3. Nathan Brackett; Christian David Hoard (2004). The new Rolling Stone album guide . New York: Simon & Schuster. p.  134. ISBN   978-0-7432-0169-8.
  4. "Magnet Magazine". Magnet Magazine. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  5. Flow Motion (CD back cover). Can. discogs.com. 1993. SPOON CD26. Retrieved 2016-07-19.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. "Magnet Magazine". Magnet Magazine. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  7. EveryHit.com
  8. "Can - I want more / ...and more (TOTP, Sept. 30,1976)". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  9. "Why Did 70s Rock Music Hate Disco So Much?". Noisey. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  10. "Magnet Magazine". Magnet Magazine. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 2017-02-19.