The Lost Tapes (Can album)

The Lost Tapes is a compilation album of studio outtakes and live recordings by the German experimental rock band Can, which was originally released as an LP in 2012 by Spoon Records in conjunction with Mute Records. The compilation was curated by Irmin Schmidt and Daniel Miller, compiled by Irmin Schmidt and Jono Podmore, and edited by Jono Podmore.

The Lost Tapes
Compilation album by Can
Released	18 June 2012
Recorded	1968–1977
Genre	Krautrock Experimental rock Psychedelic rock
Length	195:55
Label	Spoon Records
Producer	Can
Can chronology
Sacrilege (1997) The Lost Tapes (2012) The Singles (2017)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	85/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Pitchfork	7.1/10[3]

When the Can studio in Weilerswist was sold to the German Rock N Pop Museum,[4] they bought everything, including the army mattresses that covered the walls for sound protection, and relocated it to Gronau. Whilst dismantling the studio, master tapes were found and stored in the Spoon archive. With barely legible labeling, no one was sure what was on these until Irmin Schmidt and long time collaborator Jono Podmore started to go through over 30 hours of music. They found years of archived material, not outtakes, but rather tracks which had been shelved for a variety of reasons – soundtracks to films that were never released and tracks that didn't make it onto the final versions of albums due to space. Irmin Schmidt explains "Obviously the tapes weren't really lost, but were left in the cupboards of the studio archives for so long everybody just forgot about them. Everybody except Hildegard [Schmidt, Irmin's wife], who watches over Can and its work like the dragon over the gold of the Nibelungen and doesn't allow forgetting."

The final cut of tracks, dating from 1968 to 1977, features studio material recorded at Schloss Nörvenich and Can Studio, Weilerswist with the Can line-up of Holger Czukay on bass, Michael Karoli on guitars, Jaki Liebezeit on drums and Irmin Schmidt on keyboards, and on most tracks, vocals from Malcolm Mooney or Damo Suzuki.

Track listing

CD One

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
1.	"Millionspiel"	Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Jaki Liebezeit, Irmin Schmidt	1969	5:49
2.	"Waiting for the Streetcar"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Malcolm Mooney	1968/1969	10:08
3.	"Evening All Day"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1972	6:58
4.	"Deadly Doris"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1968	3:10
5.	"Graublau"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1969	16:47
6.	"When Darkness Comes"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1969	3:48
7.	"Blind Mirror Surf"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, David Johnson	1968	8:39
8.	"Oscura Primavera"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Johnson	1968	3:19
9.	"Bubble Rap"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Damo Suzuki	1972	9:24

CD Two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
1.	"Your Friendly Neighbourhood Whore"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1969	3:43
2.	"True Story"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1968	4:30
3.	"The Agreement"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1971	0:37
4.	"Midnight Sky"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1968	2:44
5.	"Desert"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney	1969	3:20
6.	"Spoon (Live)"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	16:47
7.	"Dead Pigeon Suite"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	11:47
8.	"Abra Cada Braxas"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1973	10:12
9.	"A Swan Is Born"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	3:00
10.	"The Loop"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1974	2:33

CD Three

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recorded	Length
1.	"Godzilla Fragment"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1975	1:59
2.	"On the Way to Mother Sky"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1970	4:35
3.	"Midnight Men"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1975	7:35
4.	"Networks of Foam"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1975	12:36
5.	"Messer, Scissors, Fork and Light"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	8:24
6.	"Barnacles"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Rosko Gee	1977	7:46
7.	"E.F.S. 108"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1976	2:07
8.	"Private Nocturnal"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1975	6:49
9.	"Alice"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt	1974	1:56
10.	"Mushroom (Live)"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1972	8:18
11.	"One More Saturday Night (Live)"	Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki	1973	6:34

Personnel

• Holger Czukay – bass, engineering, editing
• Michael Karoli – guitar
• Jaki Liebezeit – drums
• Irmin Schmidt – keyboards
• Malcolm Mooney – vocals
• Damo Suzuki – vocals
• David Johnson – flute on "Millionenspiel", "Blind Mirror Surf" and "Oscura Primavera"
• Rosco Gee – bass on "Barnacles"
• Gerd Dudek – saxophone on "Millionenspiel"
• Jono Podmore — editing

References

1. "The Lost Tapes - Can". Metacritic.
2. Thomas, Fred. The Lost Tapes - Can at AllMusic. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
3. Wolk, Douglas (18 June 2012). "Can: The Lost Tapes". Album Reviews. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
4. "rock'n'popmuseum Gronau | Home". Rock-popmuseum.com. Retrieved 15 February 2013.