The best Can album, according to Damo Suzuki
Though the term was initially disliked by the artists it attempted to describe, Krautrock remains one of the coolest subgenres spawned by the alternative sphere. Borrowing from electronic and psych in equal measure, it encompassed sprawling works of sonic experimentation, each of them well and truly living up to their cosmic description. At the forefront of the genre were the Cologne-born band Can.
The group formed as Inner Space in the late 1960s, and Malcolm Mooney took on the lead vocalist role, but by 1970, he was struggling with his mental health. As a result, Mooney left the outfit, and Japanese busker Damo Suzuki would replace him. Suzuki would front a series of Can’s most well-known and well-loved albums, including 1971’s Tago Mago and 1972’s Ege Bamyasi, which would spawn their biggest hit, ‘Vitamin C’.
But Suzuki’s favourite full-length project with Can came in 1973 with Future Days. A calmer version of their cosmic sound, the fourth Can album experimented with ambience and texture. It featured a funky pop single titled ‘Moonshake’ and closed with the breezy ‘Bel Air’, a track with a duration just shy of 20 minutes.
For Suzuki, the album represented the culmination of his efforts with Can, which is why it takes the title for his favourite release with them. “Future Days is for me the best album I made with Can,” he told Terrascope, “Because it was very easy to quit from Can after that album. I wanted nothing from them after that.”
Though this might, at first, sound like an insult to the band or the record, Suzuki’s words are actually full of praise and pride. He wanted nothing more from Can because he was so happy with and fulfilled by what they had achieved together on Future Days. “Musically I was very satisfied,” he explained, “It was a really good time to begin a new life.”
“I like Future Days,” Suzuki summarised, “Nobody else arrived at such a space. It’s just a new dimension. With that album I was really free, it was no longer necessary to make music after. I was not really at the front with Future Days. This time I was right in the music landscape. It was pure magic.”
The record certainly was pure magic, a masterpiece in ambience and kraut all at once, and the perfect new beginning for Suzuki. He went on to release with Dunkelziffer, Damo Suzuki’s Network, and more, even recently performing with Black Midi at Brixton’s beloved Windmill. Still, Future Days remains a highlight of his catalogue.
Revisit the record below.
