Kamasutra

As another reviewer here suggests, the sound is pretty clearly CAN, despite the absence of any musician credits on the box (for some reason)... Anyway, my 5 stars gives my opinion away. It's CAN but with a bit of light-heartedness thrown in. There's even some bluesy harmonica stuff. Really enjoyable and just fun, really. It's been on in the car for a couple of weeks now.

This album is the soundtrack of the 1969 German film Kamasutra. Astoundingly, this previously well-kept secret is a whole album by Can, recorded in late 1968 before their first album, Monster Movie and, indeed, before they were even called Can - it's credited to Irmin Schmidt & Inner Space Production. If it's been issued before, it's staggeringly rare and certainly hasn't been available in the last 40 years; the discography in The Can Book mentions a single from the soundtrack but not a complete album. The sleeve design does give the impression of being from a real album of the time, however.While it was recorded at a very embryonic phase of Can's history (one during which they also recorded the stunning "Father Cannot Yell", however) it certainly has its moments. These, for me, include the lengthy "Im Tempel" - unmistakeable and intense Michael Karoli fuzz guitar explores Indian scales, initially backed just by tambura, then the rhythm section get going, albeit at a relatively slow tempo - plus the following "In Kalkutta III". Across the whole album, Karoli, bass player Holger Czukay and drummer Jaki Liebezeit are often easily recognisable, and I'm guessing the flute is played by early member David Johnson; however keyboard player Irmin Schmidt, despite getting the credit, is inaudible throughout and it's unclear if he actually plays on the album. While much of the playing is obviously Can, the music betrays its purpose as soundtrack music, mostly with an Indian theme, and much of it is not very typical of their known output. Actually a lot of the album sounds like an extended entry to their Ethnological Forgery Series, jamming on Indian scales with added flute, tambura etc., and probably the nearest parallels to this material on any other Can album are parts of the out-takes collection Unlimited Edition. In fact "In Kalkutta II" here bears a strong resemblance to "EFS No.10" from that album.Notable exceptions to the Indian theme are "There Was A Man", a short excerpt from a track which appeared in full on the Delay 1968 album as "Man Named Joe" and features vocals from the recently recruited Malcolm Mooney, and "Mundharmonika Beat", which, while quite unmistakeably Can, especially the drumming, is ... a blues jam, complete with harmonica - another EFS perhaps! "Indisches Panorama V" is another less Indian-sounding track, with some quite Lou Reed-esque restrained guitar over unmistakeable Holger Czukay bass. Only one other track, "I'm Hiding My Nightingale", features vocals, from one Margarete Juvan. This is a quite pleasant piece of late 60s exotica.Neither the sleeve nor the booklet contain any information about the recording or the musicians on the album (the latter describes the story of the film at some length) and such information as I have discovered has come from the press release and other reviews; aside from Margarete Juvan's contribution, it's unclear if any other musicians besides the current members of Can play on the album.By no stretch of the imagination is this anywhere near Can's best work, however much of it is very pleasant and it is very interesting to hear them not only at such a formative stage in their history but also playing in a style (Indian music) with which they are not usually associated. It rates 3.5 stars but not 4.File between George Harrison's Wonderwall soundtrack and Can's Unlimited Edition.

Early Can music. Fascinating stuff