WELCOME TO LPCDREISSUES
Live In Cuxhaven 1976 captures legendary German experimental rock pioneers Can during one of the most fascinating periods of their career. Recorded in Cuxhaven in 1976, the performance features Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Jaki Liebezeit and Irmin Schmidt creating the spontaneous, constantly evolving music that made Can such an extraordinary live band.
Can's concerts were never straightforward reproductions of their studio recordings. Instead, the group treated the stage as a space for collective improvisation, allowing rhythms, riffs and melodic fragments to develop organically into entirely new pieces. Familiar ideas occasionally appear within the music before dissolving again into extended grooves and exploratory passages.
Live In Cuxhaven 1976 is unusually concise compared with some of the other releases in Can's archival live series. Its four sections move through hypnotic funk-inflected rhythms, experimental rock, psychedelic improvisation and the remarkable rhythmic interplay centred around Jaki Liebezeit's unmistakable drumming.
The recording also captures Can at a transitional point in 1976, when funk, Afrobeat and increasingly fluid rhythmic influences were becoming more prominent in the group's music. Michael Karoli's guitar moves between clipped rhythmic figures and highly exploratory improvisation, while Irmin Schmidt's keyboards and Holger Czukay's bass and sonic experimentation continuously reshape the music around Liebezeit's pulse.
Originally recorded on tape, the archival performance was carefully restored under the supervision of founding member Irmin Schmidt and producer/engineer René Tinner. Live In Cuxhaven 1976 became the third instalment in the acclaimed official Can live series following Live In Stuttgart 1975 and Live In Brighton 1975.
This limited first pressing is presented on Curacao Blue vinyl and includes a large-format booklet with exclusive sleeve notes by Can author and journalist Pascal Bussy, together with a high-definition audio download code.
Track Listing:
Side A
Side B
