1968-June Can Schloß Nörvenich Köln, Germany Disc 1 - 29.43 1 Prehistoric Future 1 15.40 2 Prehistoric Future 2 14.03 Holger Czukay Bass, Tapes Michael Karoli Guitar Jaki Liebezeit Drums, Percussion, Flute Irmin Schmidt Piano, Organ David Johnson Flute, Tapes Manni Lohe Vocals, Percussion, Flute (Screams, Misc, Dance) Notes about this performance and lineup: The very first session, composed spontaneously at Schloss Noervenich. The very first recordings, without Malcolm Mooney, but with American flute-player David Johnson. Officially released on cassette in 1984. This LP-version must be a bootleg, I guess. Very raw and very improvised. Their first joint gig, a spectacular collage of rock music and tape samples, takes place as an improvised happening at Schloss NÀrvenich (castle NÀrvenich, near Cologne). This show is documented on the cassette 'Prehistoric Future'. It is at Schloss NÀrvenich where this musicians collective establishes its first studio, operating under the name Inner Space. David Johnson leaves the band by the end of 1968. [I think this is Manni Loehe's only involvment with Can] Along with a fifth member, flautist David Johnson, the group ensconced themselves in their egg-carton-covere d studio in Schloss Norvenich, a castle loaned to Schmidt by an art collector, and set about forging their new music. Johnson didn't last long. The same day that they decided upon the group's name, they recorded what Czukay describes as "the most anarchis tic piece which Can has ever done", a 10-minute freak-out called 'Get The Can', which featured Schmidt torturing Karoli's old violin to within an inch of its life. "It was the first time in my life I had played violin," he recalls. "And I've never played it since!" Johnson was appalled. "He's a fantastic flute player, but he has a classical sense of beauty, and 'Get The Can' violated any sense of beauty," recalls Schmidt. Reviewed by Doug Pearson: Slightly under 30 minutes of what is supposed to be Can's first-ever jam, "spontaneously composed by Can at Scholss Nörvenich, W Germany, June 1968". The core lineup of Karoli / Czukay / Schmidt / Liebezeit are joined by David Johnson (flute, tapes) and Manni Löhe (vocals, percussion, flute), this being even before Malcolm Mooney joined the group, which he would do later that year. This album is, in several ways, more extreme sounding than Can would ever later be, and the band manages to cover a large musical territory in the process. At the onset (and at points throughout the album), the influence totem Karlheinz Stockhausen is felt, at times if Stockhausen was attempting to conduct an "orchestra" of Amon Düül or Cro Magnon. Of course, Can were not exactly unskilled hippies, but it is intriguing to hear them get this loose. Even at the most out-there moments of the album, strangely familiar, almost recognizable bass pulses, guitar lines, and percussion patterns are heard, rendering the participants unmistakable. Manni Löhe obviously sounds little like Malcolm Mooney (or Damo Suzuki), and had his own style that fit as well as those two; he either wails, sounding electronic, or joins the rhythm section with rhythmic clicks and grunts, in a manner somewhat reminiscent of his successor's style. But improv parts are followed by something different... things change quite a bit of the 30 minutes, as rhythms may shift from sly and funky to ballistically pounding before you notice. Other parts are Can at their most VU-influenced, and downright heaviest. The rhythm section fills up both the temporal and harmonic space like it never would later, as they later advanced in subtlety. But here, Holger can be heard thumping away on all the beats as the entire band rocks out. Maybe a musique concrete tape next? After another dissociate introduction, side 2 quickly gets into the most overtly Can-like groove of the album, with the flute joining Leibezeit's backbeat to add a jazzy edge. Here, too, Löhe's vocals are Mooney-esquely percussive, ushering further mutations to the sound that add up to make this an excellent "spontaneous composition". The sense of evolution over the course of the album, and foreshadowing what was to come are both reason enough to listen. Originally released in France on cassette only in 1984, this is clearly an item of major interest to the Can fan or krautrock connoisseur. Rolf Semprebon, All Music Guide: Only a few days after the band formed, Can improvised live before an audience of mostly artists in June of 1968, and Prehistoric Future contains much of that recording. This is Can at its primitive roots, the bandmembers spontaneously inventing themselves from the raw elements of rock, jazz, ethnic music, and avant-garde. The music sprawls all over the map, as the group veers from one style to another and is far more unfocused -- especially compared to the razor-sharp purity of Can's later work -- but quite fascinating in its own right. Side one begins with a free-form psychedelic jam, with droning vocals from guest musician Manni Lohe as well as plenty of flutes, and then this shifts to a rhythmic piece that hints at Can's later minimalist funk beats before going into some cluttered amorphous piece with strange effects, and they add in some taped music of Renaissance choral music. This is followed by a bit of Floyd-esque space rock, and eventually ends up on a jazz groove with a funky walking bassline while guitar and keyboard pump out a vampy blues. The more focused side two begins with a slow rhythm of scraping noises, almost like early industrial music, before the group again starts rocking out with another archetypal Can beat, very precise and deceptively simple. It eventually gets denser as the rhythms pound more loudly, contrasted with the flute tooting out a simple little tune, until finally the piece ends in a stampede of drums. The album may be a little rough around the edges, but when one considers the group had only been together for a few days, this is pretty remarkable stuff. Rolf Semprebon, All Music Guide