Holger Czukay - Movies

German Kraut-rock legend Holger Czukay's first solo album after leaving Can, Movies, does sound a bit in the post-Damo Suzuki Can vein, especially in that all of the core Can members play on this album, the main contributor being the drummer Jaki Liebezeit with his ever-reliable hypnotic grooves. While the compositions on this record occasionally drift towards incoherence (the fifteen minute "Hollywood Symphony" does seem a tad overlong), this is overall quite a bizarre and enjoyable record which manages to successfully avoid most of embarrassing pitfalls that late period Can fell into, even if it does sound just as polished in terms of production as, say Saw Delight and stylistically the music sounds proggier than the classic Can. This album does match the classic Can albums in terms of inventiveness, as the solid musicianship is combined with the employment of proto-sampling techniques, by integrating various sound bits from shortwave radio and television into the compositions. These techniques show a clear Karlheinz Stockhausen (who passed away very recently, may he rest in peace) influence, as Stockhausen was Czukay's mentor. We get everything from film dialogue to brass melodies to Middle-Eastern singing (the latter being heard on the beautiful piece called "Persian Love"). An outstanding "Cool In The Pool" combines fine pop sensibility with experimentalist tactics to an great, infectious effect. Movies is a truly unique work from the Kraut-rock master.