Movies

Oh, thank god! Finally something weird. This 1001 album experiment works best for me when there's something I've never heard, or even better, never heard *of*. The layers, the sampling, the clear influences of people like Zappa, this is fantastic stuff. Instant add to my library.

I'm often a fan of experimental music but this was terrible. Experimental albums usually have their high points and their low points, this was just the latter. Just seems to be rambling, directionless, no emotion/soul behind it.

In the (technically) solo debut of the leader of the krautrock giant CAN, he follows many of the artsy electronic principles that CAN was so renowned in its innovation, but incorporates that with more accessible genres, including Bowie-esque disco in "Cool in the Pool" or world music in "Persian Love." I like how distinct each of the 4 songs is in style, but I never felt bored or tired of any of them. The jammy space rock "Oh Lord Give Us Money" was both soothing and intriguing to see which direction they'll go. "Holly Symphony", the most intense of the songs, reminded me heavily of afrobeat and disco. The most remarkable aspect is the innovation in sampling, which was still very new in 1979, and yet he spams it all over this record in a way that seems to work from my perspective, likely influencing old school hip hop like Malcolm McLaren.

Wacky

A release that sounds like what Can would have sounded like in 1979 at there best taking in more disco and fusion elements. I loved it.

Groovy

I love Holger, he was the secret sauce in Can; the engineer, the editor, the true experimenter. Here he's using samples in a way that was way ahead of its time. Before even Eno and Byrne made their acclaimed "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" (81). You know Eno listened to this and took notes.

This album must have JUST been added because as I'm writing this there is only one other person who has left a review here. How lucky for me <3 I liked Future Days a ton, and most of Tago Mago. I can see some slight similarity between Can and this guy's solo work, but of course it's not on the same level, as is usual with solo albums from members of awesome bands. I liked the two long tracks well enough. I didn't care for the two shorter ones much. Probably won't return to this one. I'm gonna go listen to some more classic krautrock now

This was a really fun listen. Pallete cleansing. Loaded with surprises and overflowing with ideas but in a digestible way. Loved this.

Track 2 is insane. This album is a trip in itself.

I liked basically everything about this recording, from the careening vibe to the great sample work. Let's get cooooool... in the pool

That was really cool

10/10 super funky, super weird, based af

Krautrock tends to cross paths with progressive rock a lot, since they take inspiration from each other at different points in time. So I’m pretty familiar with this kind of music. And Holger Czukay’s previous group Can has ventured into prog territory before, so I went into this album keeping an ear open for it. But I didn’t find much that really “popped” from the album. A lot of meandering, like uninspired jazz, permeated about the record. And while it didn’t sound bad, it didn’t really do much to sound good either. A shame, I guess. Back to “Future Days” for my kraut-prog fix then.

Movies ‘Hello!’ ‘Hello Darling!’ No idea who or what this is, but before I listened I saw the album cover had a sticker on it saying Holger Czukay from Can, so I thought it might be some atmospheric motorik driven krautrock. But although you can see the through line from Can, it feels experimental in a slightly more fun way, kind of signposting stuff that would come in the 80s, like Tom Tom Club, Malcolm McClaren et al, although with less obvious concessions to accessibility. Although my sense is that he's the type of person who thought he was making something very poppy and accessible, it just came out funny. Cool in the Pool is a part Bowie synthy disco, part Can, part Afrobeat, but with added teutonic avant garde noises and oddness, it’s great. Oh Lord, Give Us More Money is maybe the most Can sounding track, but the samples take it somewhere else, occasionally feeling like the theme from a 70s cop show, occasionally feeling like an ominous dream, but always with the insistent drumming and bass. Great track. Persian Love has a great groove and more pleasing oddness, seemingly built from the middle eastern vocal sample, but ending up as a sort of calypso-folk-funk hybrid, and it sounds a lot better than that combination would suggest. I absolutely loved Hollywood Symphony, excellent noises, synths and vocal samples, kind of unfolding itself over an unhurried 15 minutes, seeming to settle on a groove and atmosphere before squelching off into some bit of spacey weirdness. I’ve seen in a few places people say that the album laid the groundwork for My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and it’s really evident on this one, it sounds quite a lot like America is Waiting. Although each track has its own sensibility they are all underpinned by truly excellent percussion, rhythms and drumming and absolutely superb bass playing, slightly reminiscent of Jah Wobble’s playing with PiL. It's alternately groovy, melodic and propulsive, working perfectly with the drums, while all the mad shit happens around it. This was right up my straße, I loved it. It's great when the list throws up something like this that I’ve never heard of making up for all the woeful metal we get. On first listen this was an immediate 4, and it got better and better, I just kept wanting to go round again and have listened to it pretty much non stop for about 5 hours. 5 hours = 5 stars then. 🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥 Playlist submission: Hollywood Symphony

It’s kind of wild to think that Can may have acted as a force to *reign in* Holger Czukay, if the experimental madness on “Movies” is any indication of where he could have gone with them. An absolutely brilliant record.

I love this album so much. Holgar Czukay is some kind of mad scientist genius. I'm very stoked and very surprised that this is on this list. The music video for "Cool in the Pool" is one of the best videos ever made IMO as well.

Ok. Not my jam, but well done.

I didn't hate that nearly as much as I thought I was going to. Eclectic and musical enough to be intriguing throughout and not get boring.

What the hell was that?

Meh

Album #983 may be the one that broke me. 900 albums ago, I might've been able to give this more of a chance. But today I was just bored and irritated and had to keep reminding myself that my participation in this listening project is voluntary. 900 albums ago, I had points to give for "uniqueness" but I think I've heard this kind of "uniqueness" before which isn't a great feature of "uniqueness." Is music a thing I used to like? Was it ever anything but an "obligation"? I don't know anymore. Another day, another mood, and maybe I could be more generous. But not today.

Like listening to a bad movie you’ve never seen before

I love experimental music. I love silly music. But when it comes along, it needs to be pushing something truly well produced and unique. I just don't get that from these rambling and silly songs.

Interesting - I suspect drugs were involved

Dat slechte accent! ‘Koelllll in ze poelllll’.

Did he smash his head on the mixing table?

How to make "Movies" by Holger Czukay: 1. Start with a repeating backing track 2. Play every instrument at your disposal but only with your teeth. 3. Mush your face onto a soundboard as much as possible 4. Scream out in pain every once in a while for good measure 5. Enjoy

Kjell Höglund fast på Tyska. Spotify har ingen låttext :( Definitivt sämst hittills.

really interesting album. it's a bit goofy at times (get used to canned sound effects, etc.) but the musicianship here is great and the songs are so interesting to me. none of them are boring and take you every which way, which is what i loved about it.

I can’t believe this was from 1979. So inventive.

Awesome and weird

This is wild.

Where has this been all my life. Spotify kept the higs coming on a Czukay radio afterwards as well.

Weirdly awesome, and awesomely weird! Amazingly mature use of sampling for 1979 - prefigures a whole bunch of genres. The video for "Cool in the Pool" is a true oddity, and well worth seeking out. Turns out I was familiar with that track (and one other from a different album) from the "Morvern Callar" soundtrack. Loved this, and definitely need to dig through the rest of his discography! Fave track - "Cool in the Pool" for something a little poppy, "Oh Lord Give Us More Money" for feeling like a voyage.

For fans of experiment, mash up or, hell, breakcorefans taking opium. This one hell of an album, flirting with everything from pop to classical and even Arabic music.

FIRE 10/10

This album took me a few minutes to get into. To be honest I nearly switched it off for another time as I thought I wasn't in the mood. Then it grabbed me. Not knowing Holger Czukay was from Can, I started to think this was folk music take on Kraut Rock. F'ing mesmerising stuff. I was kind of upset when it ended as only about 28 minutes had passed. Felt like hours but in a good way

hell yeah that's what I'm here for

Wild vibes but sort of a groove

Czukay is weird and a genius, loved his minimal albums with David Sylvian, ant this freaky music also nice. Some songs were stolen from Life In The Bush of Ghosts (Eno/Byrne) I thought and only then found out the album is released years before! More prove this man deserve full marks

What an incredibly cool and fun album! Its so charming and has some gorgeous moments that really are just awe inspiring. Most of it is just background music, but its really chill background music that I can easily sink my teeth into, and Holger Czukay's voice is a little silly, but overall really nice, making for a really great little jam thing with bits of greatness sprinkled in; enough so that I don't have anything but praise for this record. Really surprising, but a welcome surprise nonetheless.

YAYAYAYAYYA I LOVED IT 5/5 Fave Tracks: all of them

This is why I’m doing this. Very interesting music from an interesting guy. Recommend reading the wiki about him

Cool in the Pool pour moi c'est du génie débile a la Phillipe Katerine avec une compo contemporaine super réussie a la fois groovy et super pérchée et la combinaison est explosivo-débilo. Le reste de l'album j'ai pas reussi a me concentrer dessus. Jsuis conscient que ça raconte surement quelque chose de beau et de profond mais c'est pas la musique que j'ecouterai de maniere passive. (sauf persian love qui me fait actuellement bouger mon gros boulard)

I like CAN, I like german „Krautrock“ - 5 stars from me for Holger

Loved it

like the first 3 songs, last one was hard to get through

cool

Wow! I really liked this. It's refreshingly strange and vintage-y. This dude Holger was kinda ahead of his time. This stuff evolved further in the 80's but built up that indelible 80's stank that you can't get rid of.

I was prepared to not like this album because I don't usually listen to this genre. I had heard some tracks from his former band Can and I was not impressed. Was I wrong. Every track on this album is amazing. It is the perfect marriage of experimentation and pop music.

Really enjoyed this - lighthearted and innovative at the same time. I love the idea that he was improvising scores for his amusement as he watched movies. I think "Cool in the Pool" is my new favorite song.

Good songs to vibe out to. Don't have to think too hard. Just go with the flow.

Incredible. A lot of the things I love about Radiohead—pushing it but keeping it melodic and often beautiful. Right now I’m thinking 4.2 but this is the kind of music that has room to grow.

Very fun, very cool in the pool. The drumming is impeccable on this album. I didn’t care for Oh Lord Give Us More Money.

weird but i like it :-)

Évoque parfois les débuts de la musique de jeux vidéo ; précurseur de l'électronique

A bit of a funky thing. Pretty solid listen.

Bam, first a Can album and then a Holger Czukay (strong contender for best named artist so far) right after. Movies is much more accessible than Tago Mago and equal parts more enjoyable, while being incredibly ahead of its' time. 'Cool in the Pool' might be one of the most uncool things I have ever heard - I dig.

This album is weird. But it’s also cool. It’s like a 3.5 - no real complaints. I don’t think I’ll revisit, but I probably wouldn’t mind if I had to.

Meandering in a somewhat freeing way. I'd love to know how some of these instrumentations were captured. A lot of sampling? The Brian Eno collaborations make me think so. Another product of its geopolitical position. Again wish I could do half stars

Hell, I really enjoyed this and the fact that I had no idea of where it was going next. Listened to it 4 times in total and still have no idea. Fun, experimental and just the tonic when it all gets a bit "samey"

This was great! What a fun discovery. I loved Cool In The Pool. Such a funky, jazzy, interesting little tune to start off my day. The remaining three tracks were top-notch as well. I've saved another Czukay album to listen to another day. A very solid 4 from me.

First listen through I thought it was decent, if a bit mad at times. By my second listen I was convinced this is really good and definitely worthy of a few chances. Gets better each time, especially given at first I thought there’s no way this would get released if he wasnt in Can. Persian Love and Hollywood Symphony were the highlights for me, but Cool in the Pool gets better each listen

Not really sure what it was all about, but it is albums like this that belong on the list in my opinion. Really different and creative. Not too sure I'd go back for the full album, but I was humming along to Persian Love.

If every British New Wave record on this list got replaced by a weird fucking album like this, we could have had world peace back in 2008 (the year of the green wolf). Noticed that Czukay's voice sounds awfully similar to Kevin Barnes from "Of Montreal". More CAN is always a good thing. Awesome.

A pretty interesting album but no song fully stood out.

Unique combination of traditional "rhythmic" music mixed with experimental and found sounds. Enjoyable while still being "out there" a bit.

Looking at the cover made me think this was likely some country/folk album, but then i click onto the wikipedia. "Experimental rock", the guy is from germany and it's the 70s, "his first solo album since leaving Can". Ah ok, so turns out this is going to be some super interesting weird shit instead. Delightful.

Dreamy. Proggy. Jammy. Synthy. Groovy. Edgy. Pokemony. MF-Doomy. This is just straight up cool. Spotify says 2015, but this was released in 1976, post-Can. Led me to Kraut-Rock, and I wonder which Kraut album will feature on this list. This album is fucking awesome. Made my body move in its own way. Felt like a slinky trapped in a hamster ball floating down a lazy river of rainbow water. A little tiny gem for sure. Fav track: Hollywood Symphony

Very weird clearly some strange men but I thought it was silly and enjoyable

Bizarrely enjoyable

++: Cool in the Pool +: Oh Lord, Give Us More Money, Persian Love, Hollywood Symphony 7,9/10

Incredible display of production techniques from live recordings, and sampling to electronic sounds, especially for the 70s. The genre blending was really exciting. Persian Love had me feeling like Jimmy Buffett was Under the Sea off the coasts of India. While I overall wished for a little more cohesion across the entire album and am not the biggest fan of 15 minute songs, the musicality is top notch and it's full of surprises in being able to transition from moment to moment seamlessly. Even if it feels like it doesn't fully land anywhere, the ride was enjoyable throughout. One of the more exciting discoveries of this list so far.

Started out interesting, then....

I only knew Cool in the pool, but the rest of the record is so much better!

This is pretty good, I like to be cool in the pool. Certainly interesting and fresh sounding even today.

Sehr interessantes Basiswerk der elektronischen Musik aus 1979. Experiment gelungen. Konzeptionell gutes und aus der Nachbarstadt Cologne. Wiederhören um es zu verstehen und geniessen wir empfohlen.

Right off the bat weird, melodic and beautiful. Growing increasingly weird through the album. A lot of different music styles layered, some island sounding rhythms with prog rock guitar and sound clips from tv shows or movies all playing out like you’re temporarily schizophrenic. A very unique listening experience but overall enjoyable.

Consistently interesting and the performances were great. This was a nice surprise!

For German “electronic,” this was surprisingly up there with my taste. Great background music while I was coding.

I loved this one a lot. Maybe even more than some Can.

this was... wild, weird, fun, annoying. :D

This is one of those that reminds me of why I am doing this. Never heard of it before. Never will listen to it again, but glad I have this once.

This was cool, something totally different that I'd never heard of before.

Rounding up but this album is pretty fun. Takes you all over for a nice ride.

Finally, something weird that is also entertaining. This is an album you will either love or hate, but goodness me, is it an experience. I fall into the camp of 'surprisingly enjoyed the weirdness'. It is just the most or the top krautrock I have heard so far. It is ridiculous, it is wacky, it takes you on a very confusing aural adventure, but it put a smile on my face to the point I feel like I have to give it 4 stars for both effort, and the joy it gave me.

Well... This is definitely something else entirely different. It scratches an itch I didn't know I had. Eclectic and full of possibilities.

Easy listening. Enjoyable album and would listen to again

Never heard of this artist, or this album, or any of this material, but I liked it and thought it was a good listen.

Weird but oddly great. It was like pre-techno if that makes sense. Definitely not mad that I had to listen to this.

did not expect to love this but I did! gonna have to check out can

I was a little scared at first because of the first couple lines of the first song…but I actually ended up liking this. A little short but very groovy.

Not exactly what I expected, but interesting and diverting nonetheless.

I love Can, and had no idea Holger did solo stuff. This is so delightfully weird.

You know what I enjoyed this. Saw a straight line from this to LCD Soundsystem

Very pleasantly surprised by this artist that I’ve never heard of! The music is sorta ethereal in the way that it’s very jammy and formless, with a variety of sounds in each song.

So strange! But I liked it.

Quite charming and varied, with so many different sounds at play. A great example of why this project is brilliant as now I'm excited to listen to some of Can's music whom I had never heard of prior to this. The tone jumps all over the place but always remains interesting and heartfelt oddly enough. 07/06/24

I had a good time listening to this. I was giggling so much at the zany random sounds that Tatiania would yell at me from two rooms away telling me to stop.