Can: Future Days

Can: Future Days

1973

United Artists Records

Format I Own  it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Future Days  2. Spray  3. Moonshake  4. Bel Air

 
I don't know...Listening to this, I can't help but think this might be Can's finest moment...There's not a weak spot on it, but it's easy to overlook because the album is so mellow...All the aggression is gone and it's replaced by a sort of ambient world music...But the world in question isn't necessarily Earth, if that makes sense...

 
Listening to this kind of feels like a quiet summer day, spent sipping a tropical drink and staring at your lawn...

...But as you look closer at the ground, you suddenly notice a vast, bustling insect civilization...

...and then your eyes readjust and suddenly you're staring at your beautiful lawn again...

 I normally hate music that is branded ambient...The term is usually reserved for music done by musicians too lazy to write a melody and is often characterized by bland synth washes or acoustic guitars...

 But this is different...It's extremely busy...Each song is packed with independently moving parts that all click together to provide a pleasant alien vista...And this is all done with electric guitars and rock drums...There's really nothing like it...

I think one of the hardest things to get around initially was the lack of vocals...I mean, Damo Suzuki is still here, but he doesn't seem as present at first...On half the songs he doesn't come in until 5 minutes or so into the track...And he mostly sings in an unassuming swoon...None of the sudden outbursts that made their earlier albums so exciting on first listen...The only song that really jumped out at me the first go-around was the short and sweet pop tune "Moonshake" and maybe the sing-song-y vocals on the title track,  but after a few listens you'll realize it's all about the 20-minute album (and era) closer "Bel Air," which is the audio equivalent of visiting a floating city...

Oddly enough this was the first Can album I ever bought, after initially downloading "Vitamin C" and "Mushroom."  went to the local record store but all they had was "Future Days," so I went for it...It was different than I was expecting, but I grew to love it, too...

I wouldn't recommend starting here, unless chilled-out, ethereal grooves are your thing, but once you get the hang of Can, don't make the mistake of overlooking this one...After many years of owning and listening to it. it's only recently asserted itself as the go-to Can album for me...

So set aside 20 minutes and check out "Bel Air" ...(Which I just realized has almost the same vocal melody as "Sitting Around at Home" by the Buzzcocks...I guess I've never listened to them in such close proximity before...)...Enjoy...