Flow Motion

by Can

Overview

The second of Can's three Virgin albums, 1976's Flow Motion, is a divisive record in the group's canon. It was their most commercially successful album (the opening track, "I Want More," was released as a single in the U.K. and actually charted, thanks to its smoothly percolating near-disco groove, which makes it resemble a late-period Roxy Music hit), but many fans dismiss it as the group's feint toward commercial success. That fluke hit aside, the charge doesn't really hold water. There's a newfound smoothness to the group's interplay, which Holger Czukay attributes to an interest in reggae music, yet the Caribbean influence is quite subtle; only on "Cascade Waltz" and, particularly, "Laugh Till You Cry Live Till You Die" is there a noticeable reggae lilt. The two highlight tracks are "Smoke," a wild, Moroccan-styled entry in their ever-growing Ethnological Forgery Series, and the limber title track, a ten-and-a-half minute instrumental groove that recalls the best moments of earlier albums like Soon Over Babaluma. By no means one of Can's very best albums, Flow Motion deserves better than its poor reputation in some circles. ~ Stewart Mason

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2014
Label:	Mute
UPC:	0724596953716

Tracks

1. I Want More
2. Cascade Waltz
3. Laugh till You Cry, Live till You Die
4. ...and More
5. Babylonian Pearl
6. Smoke (E.F.S. No. 59)
7. Flow Motion

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Can   Primary Artist
Holger Czukay   Bass,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Irmin Schmidt   Vocals,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Jaki Liebezeit   Drums,Vocals,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Michael Karoli   Guitar,Violin,Vocals,Baglama,Slide Guitar,Violin (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Rene Tinner   Vocals
Peter Gilmour   Vocals

Technical Credits

Can   Composer,Producer,Songwriter
Simon Puxley   Producer
Holger Czukay   Editing,Composer,Engineer,Lyricist,Producer,Recording
Irmin Schmidt   Composer,Lyricist,Producer
Jaki Liebezeit   Composer,Lyricist,Producer
Michael Karoli   Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Cover Photo,Background Noise
Rene Tinner   Engineer,Recording
Manfred Schunke   Mixing
Peter Gilmour   Mixing,Composer,Lyricist
Andreas Torkler   Engineer,Remastering,Digital Remastering