Can - finally remastered

Nope.

Really? I only have one LP on Spoon, but the vinyl's not all that hot, especially in contrast to my original pressings of other Can LPs on United Artists and Virgin.

Oh, I thought you meant the Spoon vinyl reissues from 2003. That's what I have for Monster Movie.

xpost

well, i think they've always sounded poor... on the vinyl i've owned and the cds. i'm not that much of a vinyl junky anyway but my copy of Ege Bamyasi has seen far better days. all of the cds i've heard have low volume mastering and a thin slightly muddy sound. all of the cd issues have come from the same original cd master and the booklets haven't changed.

the last 're-issue' of these was at the time of the remix cd release and was, basically, just letting people know that they were still there.

I'd imagine that this was just the start of the re-issuing cycle, with 4 more in the next batch and so on. Let's hope they include the Tago/Ege era singles and B-Sides that are still only available on boots.

a very kind offer and very possibly true. still like cds better than vinyl overall, though.

but "Chain Reaction"/"Quantum Physics" was as good as Can got, perhaps as good as anyone got

definitely up there with the rest of the things i love best.

Are the last batch (1998) of CDs really that terrible sounding to you, or are you judging on the basis of the Restless ones that came out in the late-80s? Cuz I've always thought the '98 reissues sounded great and I don't understand these complaints of "too quiet". Future Days is supposed to be quiet.

I agree that the CDs sound crap - not enough bass is one problem, on the other hand I share Norman's concerns that they might be ruined.

However, I sure hope that "TEH LOUDNESS" button is not what this remaster is all about, just some tweaking and re-recording is all that is required. The dynamics (and therefore relative quietness) of the tracks is one of the results of the straight to tape recording technique - and is the reason the recordings sound as good as they do.

Try living in the UK. The idea of anything being sub-$20 would make most of us happy.

I think turtles are very cute, and more songs should be written about them.

I have to go to school now (even though I'm going to be late because my mom was busy ordering all the Can reissues online so I had to wait until she was done before she was ready to drive me. I hope Mr. Rossadini is nice to me when I give him the parental notice this time), but you guys should tell your favorite bands to make more turtle songs!

Sadly, it does not include the "Turtles Have Short Legs" remix disc as promised upthread.

these re-issues sound f*ing brilliant. there's no real messing around with the thrust of the original mixing - they just sound punchier, more urgent and just plain "there". and no tape hiss. great stuff sound-wise indeed.

the booklets are pretty good - lots of never before seen pics and quite lovely round-cornered jewel cases - but it seems like they've missed the chance once again to add some sort of definitive text. and they haven't included any extra studio material - the 2 wonderfull singles from the tago and ege era aren't anywhere to be seen even if they've never been properly released on cd at all.

but these are minor quibbles. i'm fairly biased as i've hardly ever gone a month in my life without playing ege bamyasi at least once but hearing these new ones makes me want to play them again and again.

I don't have the money to spend rebuying albums, so if anyone is willing to host these on sl*k I'd be eternally gratefull.

Er, not really. Yes, the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix or the PCM stereo mix which many DVD-A discs include can be played on a DVD-Video machine, but the multi-channel hi-res PCM mix (which is supposedly the point of DVD-A, just like the pure DSD-derived stereo or surround mix is the point of SACD) won't play.

I'm pretty dubious about the new formats but if their existence means remastering is taken a bit more seriously than shoving everything through a TC Finaliser with a big bass boost, then fine; if the by-product of reworking stuff for the niche SACD/DVD-A market is a really fantastic-sounding stereo PCM downmix (playable on DVD-V or CD), so be it. Of course it'll be £15.99 or something.

The Wire was fairly scathing about the artwork on these Can reissues while loving the sound. It's about time I owned Ege Bamyasi...but I'll wait for the reductions.

the images in the booklets are great - most i've never seen - but the text is pretty unenlightening. it's credited to David Stubbs, gives some small details of why the album was made and then tries to put the songs in some sort of historical context. it's all been said before and in more detail elsewhere. there is one page by Bobby Gillespie where he talks about jamming with them. and each booklet has a page of 'ads' for all the Can and related solo cds! why? what i would have preffered is something similar to the excellent text in the Henry Cow re-issues with intimate personal details. wont hold my breath then.

When, 1972?

1997

ege bamyasi : end of 'One More Night'

on the original vinyl there's an abrupt edit to end the song after a little bluesy guitar phrase : the abruptness has always sounded perfect to me and fits in with the mechanistic rhythm.

on the 1st issue of the cd a slight fade is used over the top of this guitar phrase but it still stops abruptly, even if the impact is lessened.

but on the new remaster a full fade out occurs with 6 seconds to go so that you hardly hear the guitar figure at all.

i know it's not earth shattering but it's still annoying.

me too, but can we you really imagine jaki talking about his intimate personal details?

Or do I just need to be patient and wait for the next reissue?

Don't suggest vinyl please...

Why the bafflement? The majority here realize Can were one of the greatest bands ever. It's been scientifically proven.

"Mother Sky" the Cannibalism edit is better.

I wish I was more surprised that people love Can, but I'm not. They're one of those bands who live up to any hype people throw on them, and seem more "relevant" all the time.

I don't mean that combatively at all; they're a great band and I credit Tago Mago with opening my ears to a lot of really amazing sounds, but there's just SO MUCH adulation for em here. I guess the 'problem' is that, as music dorks, we're going to like and dislike different things about their records--no agreement, no consensus on what specifically is the best Can album/track/moment, but an overall feeling of "fucking awesome band."

i'd wait if i were you but then i've already got all their releases. the spoon and mute issues you mention are one and the same.

windowwww windowwwww

Good: Gommorha; Blue Bag (Inside Paper); The Empress and the Ukraine King; Mother Upduff; Cutaway (bits of it); Connection; Fall of Another Year; Ethnological Forgery Series No. 8; Ibis

OK: Doko E; I'm Too Leise; TV Spot; Ethnological Forgery Series No. 7

Shite: LH 702 (Nairobi/Munchen); Musette; Ethnological Forgery Series No. 27; Ethnological Forgery Series No. 10; Ethnological Forgery Series No. 36; Cutaway (most of it); Transcendental Express

I suppose you could bin it - the version of "Ibis" on the CD is an edit when they could easily have edited most of "Cutaway".

Regards to you.

As a side-note, is it just me or is "Gommorha" almost an exact rip-off of another track ca. Babaluma? "Dizzy Dizzy" maybe? I can't remember exactly — but I'm guessing it's from the same sessions.

It sounds very spontaneous, you can hear everyone settling into the sequence, noodling about.

It doesn't sound anything like "Dizzy Dizzy"! However the intro section of "Cutaway" does sound like "Dizzy Dizzy" and so was obviously not recorded in May 1969, (there's another section too with synth on it that could not have come from 1969). Then again, bits of "Ibis" sound like "Dizzy Dizzy" too - tho possibly the bits edited out of the CD version as discussed above.

That's because it wasn't "Gommorah" that sounded like "Dizzy Dizzy" — upon revisiting my CD collection last night, I realized it was the last track on Unlimited Edition I was thinking about, "Ibis". If you take the keyboard sound off of it and add Michael Karoli's vocals and violin, it's virtually the exact same track — same beat, same staccato guitar licks, everything. Though it dates from Sept. '74, which seems a little late, it sounds as if it might be them finding their way into "Dizzy Dizzy"...

The dynamics sound similar.

If anything it sounds less processed than before - it's certainly less harsh and trebley than before.

My only gripe is there seems to be some kind of noise-reduction gate (or other noise reduection technique) which occasionaly gives a senation of "pumping".

Also, the vinyl remasters of the first four will be released with this batch of CDs... i mean, that's why i heard.

(though I wonder if they'll get to the oddities like "Turtle Have Short Legs" or any of the collections like Can Delay 1968)

Tim has them on cassette. Ooh. Quite the rebel! The audacity of owning Can on cassette! Or not...etc etc etc ad infinitum.

I hear a voice saying "just own them on all possible formats, then you CAN maybe get some sleep at night"

A repressing.

Well, Diggle was probably a krauthead too!

Well, for starters, Can are not a band anymore.

Won't argue against your "six month" hyperbole... except to say that I'm still going to be a sucker and get all the reissues on both formats. I'm to be pitied.

Well, Diggle was probably a krauthead too!
In fact it makes sense that it was one of his, since the more prolific Shelley might have scrupled at the cop. Maybe.

Anyone ever commented on the fact that "can" is the Turkish word for "soul" and maybe Holger has been holding out on the secret meaning of the name all this time?

Unfortunately, in case you hadn't noticed, one of them is dead

It was commented on by Irmin Schmidt (I think) and, anyway, I thought it was Malcolm Mooney who named the band, and named them as The Can to boot.

I went to half.com and their top recommendation to me was a used copy of Tago Mago for $128.09. At first I thought the Can catalog had gone out of print again, but it just looks like they gave up on SACD hybrids. Are the new versions the same, minus the SACD layer?

(OK, ignore my other can thread revive.)

budget-priced cd rereleases are coming out soon. still cheaper on amazonmp3. Dunno what differences there are.

http://www.amazon.com/Tago-Mago-Ri-Can/dp/B0011WMHRK
http://www.amazon.com/Tago-Mago/dp/B000T08AX0
etc.

There doesn't seem to be any difference whatsoever--seems like they just decided to drop the price on Tago Mago & Ege Bamyasi, maybe as a limited-time promotion...

(Mute dropped the price, that is, not any particular retailer)

It looks like the new ones aren't hybrid SACD's.