Movies

Love that Holger was always taking musical risks whether in solo work or with CAN. It doesn’t always land, but it’s always innovative and different.

The artist's name is vaguely familiar but I'm not recognizing anything else. So I'm basically going into this blind. This is just weird. And I've been known to enjoy some weird music, but I don't think I enjoy this. One nice thing I can say about this: it really sounds ahead of its time. I'm glad I listened to this, but I don't think I need to hear it again.

I think I could go up on this in time but for now I’ll put it right in the middle.

Okay. This was a hell of a thing. Not sure exactly what kind of thing, but was a hell of one. Interesting as all get out, not sure I ever need to hear it again tho.

a mi me ha gustado es rarete

Holger Czukay, the former Can bassist, takes fragments of live funk, musical and non musical samples, and early electronic instruments, and compiles a meandering, improvisatory collage which is celebratory and delicate. Sure, it's self-indulgent but there's a sense of joy and groove throughout. It's music about dance music - this is not for the dancefloor. I'd heard enjoyed "Cool In The Pool" before, a daft avant-funk classic in which Czukay's clipped German accent offering to get cool in the pool sounds ridiculous and analytical rather than sleazy. The deconstructed funk jam of "Oh Lord, Give Us More Money" also has some lovely Duran Duran-esque guitar on it - but it's like looking at it under the microscope, shorn of context. Drummer Jaki Liebezeit is in a restrained mood, playing gentle understated grooves rather than the familiar motoric drive of the earlier Can records. Musically he's more inventive than ever (what is going on with the hihats in "Hollywood Symphony" - are those quintuplet quavers?!) and it pulls the disparate elements together as fragments of songs come and go. Perhaps the highlight of the album is "Persian Love", which weaves a song around the eastern vocal sample, first as an ambient soundscape, then later easing into a gentle groove with Congolese guitar. You can see the joins, and compared to later world music fusion it's a bit clunky, but the joy shines through.

I can appreciate this as well made; clever and interesting music. But i can’t imagine ever wanting to listen to it other than as quirky background music. No soul, no groove, no balls. 5/10

I'm not entirely sure why this is here, but alright. It's an OK krautrock album that features a lot of electronic experimentation and very few vocals. It lacks the grooviness of Can, making it worse in comparison in my opinion. However, it's not completely terrible and is actually pretty interesting at points, so it gets points for not being another Britpop album.

Might be useful for sampling, but not very memorable

In the review of Duck Rock, I said there was no need for that record on the list, when My Life in the Bush of Ghosts had already got there and did it with "more depth and less smirk." Well, it turns out someone got there before Byrne and Eno too. Czukay is smirking all the while, however, as only a German born in 1938 can. I don't know that this is better than My Life in the Bush of Ghost for sample-laden meandering, but it is less worthy. Which is a positive. I think it is better than Duck Rock, although I can't say it is really any smarter or less irritating. Although vastly different in many regards, my reaction is similar to my reaction to Czukay's other project that we've listened to here, Can. While I find it hard to focus on the thing for its entire span, when I do occasionally tune in, I enjoy what I hear: it's cheeky, silly, and groovy. But nobody expects you to enjoy it from start to finish. I suppose, if one just randomly taping sounds off the radio, then the record will have the quality of radio - or, at least, in this case, one of those stations that isn't all the hits all the time. 2 There is too much farting around here. Too much bass grooving, too many arbitrary lines being picked out on the guitar or the keyboard, and too much taping the radio. It could have done with much more of Holger‘s voice and lyrics - the only memorable things present. 1.5/5

interesting first song very party like

3/10 Muy raro. Es como la música turca, no me copo nada

*1979. German electronica. *Experimental and disjointed, but not terrible. *Just when you're finding a sound you enjoy, it suddenly changes, like a DJ who won't just let the audience enjoy a song for a few minutes. *Some really pretty instruments in Persian Love (although the vocals detract), and then the next song is like a spooky Halloween track... *Totally fine background music. It's interesting enough for active listening, but it's just all over the place. RATING - 6/10

Good

A journey into the insane mind of this man... Not sure if I would ever listen to any of this again, but I had a decent enough time

Some really really cool moments here, I think this one might grow on me. Just a few too many dry spots but that’s what happens when you’re just experimenting and going for it like this guy is!

Bear with me; but this album is kind of like that person that thinks they're charming and cute enough to you that they think they don't need to ask when they do something like take your fries, take a sip from your drink, bum a cigarette from your pack, crash at your place, touch your stuff and invade your personal space all the while you don't really your relationship to be close enough where they're allowed to do that, and you're not really sure you want to give them the chance to get close because of that personality trait? Since this album is kind of like that. It's cute and charming at times, but from a first listen it's not enough to win me over through the weird bits when it's taking my damn french fries without asking.

Let's get cool in za pool, ja I actually kind of hated this at first but it grew on me.

Weird in the best way.

This was weird, quirky and fun

Who wants to get cool in the pool?

First listen

Very much an album of its time, lots of things about this scream 1970s - especially Cool in the Pool, which is so of its time it hurts. Once again prickles my dislike for excessively long tracks, the whole thing doesn't outstay its welcome but I didn't particularly enjoy my time with it. Not sure it really deserves to endure.

Another interesting and unique album, not as listenable though as the Penguin Cafe stuff, but definitely as unusual.

I got nothing from this album. No enjoyment, no mental stimulation (maybe the first song a little bit), just a desire for it to end and for me to move on with my day.

I will admit it took several listenings before I connected with this one. Each track is lengthy and got some it seemed to me that it took a bit of time for him to get to the groove he was looking for. So I tended to like the ends of the songs on the earlier listen, and then have to go back to appreciate it more from the start once I kind of knew where he was heading. The Can album on this list is one of my very favorite finds, so I had high hopes. This didn’t quite meet that level but the more I listen the more I enjoy this.

Yeah no

Not sure what to make out of this. The whole thing is more of a collage than an album. Sounds choppy, with songs having many different sections glued together, interrupted by weird samples and spoken word passages. That being said, it's really interesting and unique. The album has this almost schizophrenic feel to it. It's disorienting and strange, but in a way that lured me in. I'm getting glimpses of Zappa, Silver Apples, Faust and so on. Still not sure what this is but it definitely scratches the right part of my brain.

4 songs, experimental music, confusing instrumentation and not my thing. No hits, no hooks, nothing compelling. The people around me were like "WTF are you listening to". 2 stars

Always good to come across something new (to me) and completely wild. I don’t really know when or why anyone would ever listen to this though. It scrambled my brain in a not great way. So, points for uniqueness. Points detracted for being annoying in its uniqueness.

Weird. First song was super cool

Another one that has broken me, time for another rest.

Dirge

:thumbs up:

It's experimental and weird but not in a totally bad way. I can't say I loved it, but it was certainly interesting.

5 or gtfo

holger's stuff is truly even weirder than his amazing work in can. this can probably sound like a complete mess. it probably is. but it is a beautiful mess. there's a direct line between czukay's solo stuff and something like the avalanches ~25 years later

Favourite Songs: Oh Lord, Give Us More Money Hollywood Symphony

Wow, this was a revelation. Looking back at my reviews, I quite liked Can but this is a step forward for me. Will relisten.

Funky, trippy, complex, but never boring. This was a neat little trip and it was pretty short on top of that. Favorite track is Persian Love.

A mad professor’s mixtape that gets in your head after a handful of listens.

Holger Czukay’s solo record after leaving Can is some interesting shit. It goes on a little too long at times but the foundational concepts and at times funky fun are well worth a listen.3.5 stars

Una cosa rara que para mí ha sido interesante. Descubro que es uno de los fundadores del grupo Can, curiosamente el anterior álbum de la lista fue "Virgin Suicides" que precisamente me recordaba a ellos. Interesante el disco y corto. No me guardo nada, pero Persian Love y Hollywood Symphony suenan bien y en su momento debieron ser innovadoras en esa mezcla éctnica, electrónica y rock.

Okay, der hat bei Stockhausen studiert und hat offensichtlich Spaß mit was auch immer das hier ist. Gut für ihn. Gut für mich, dass es irgendwie mitnimmt - das Album hätte aber Musik heißen müssen, denn hier ist weit und breit kein Celluloid in Sicht

Sounds modern and different from what I know from Can, I like Persian Love a lot and Hollywood Symphony is a messy but very interesting ride

I’m a decent fan of Can and this was ok but wasn’t all there for me. One of first tracks sounded like Yoko Ono at the end. This has some rhythm and can be interesting. It’s a hard one to rate but I’ll go 2.5 but round to a 3 because I do think something is here

This was wild. I don't know how I feel about this album. It came completely out of left field

Strange album.

lmfao weird trippy and strange music. big fan of cool in the pool. half of this could easily turn into a vocal stim if i listened long enough. definitely not a casual listen and more of a tripped out sitting in the grass along blasting this music and doing nothing else.

After reading more about this, it seems like it was very innovative and influential for the time. Now it just seems like I've heard it done a lot better. It was tough to get through. 1/5

It’s fine. RYM: N Saved a song: N

Really odd samples. Like how they sit in the rhythm rather than just sounding random.

why

Hey this sucks Best Song: Cool in the Pool Rating: 2.0/10 Stars: 1

It was mediocre and no song really stood out to me. Other than I thought the songs went on way too long, even the shortest one.

I liked the cool in the pool song

Late 70's electronica and eclectic sampling and layering. This is influential to experimental artists like David Byrne and Brian Eno, but today lacks the inventiveness and uniqueness it once held. Pitchfork: 8.0 (2016 reissue review) Rolling Stone: n/a

loved it, really weird but quite fun

Favourite discovery I've made through this. Love it. Need to explore the Caniverse more

When picking up my kids from nursery, I wish I was asked on the street by a music influencer: "Hey what are you listening to on our headphones?" Then I'd be able to say: Holger Czukay, the guy from German pioneering group Can and they would be like, WOOOW that's awesome.

I'm struggling with this one. It's like Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, but without anyone with 1/10th of Bowie's talent at the helm. It's almost 3 stars but I can't realistically give more than 2.

hard pass, I think my music taste buds have not acclimatised enough to overly experimental music like this

The best parts were when Czukay was silent.

Sample based music can be interesting if employed properly. This is good and another reason why I’m glad I started this project. I’m not sure if I would listen again but I did enjoy the music. It’s not overly amazing but it’s worth hearing and adventurous

You know, I've been playing things way too safe with my scores on this website. Like, wow, I gave OK Computer a 5? How basic, am I right? I need to start taking some chances with this shit. I'm almost done, okay? I need to live a little! I actually really like this album! I'm kind of surprised that there aren't more people who really like this album. I mean, even people who love Can seem to not talk about this album much. Oh yeah, I should probably mention that Holger Czukay here was previously a member of the band Can, who I've heard two albums from for this project. I really liked both of those albums, and while I didn't enjoy Movies as much as them, I still enjoyed it. It's not like this is THAT different from the Can albums. It's still experimental Krautrock with some nice ambience to it. Is this album really that different from Future Days? They both even have 4 songs each! Okay, there are differences, mostly differences that lead to Movies being a slightly weaker album. The writing is a bit more experimental, and the sounds have less of a focus on ambience. The opener "Cool in the Pool" has this sort of playful satire to it and it's kinda fun. It's not my favorite, but it has its merits. There are some samples on the album, particularly on the closer "Hollywood Symphony." It's definitely interesting. I don't think Holger's voice is as good as Damo Suzuki's, but it's not bad. This is a pretty cool krautrock album, okay? I like it. It has enough of Can's good elements for me to call this a good solo work. Low 4/5.

*general confusion*

I'm feeling this. I see where this is going, but it's a lot. The first half is stronger than the second. I'm glad I now know this record exists. 2 keepers in 4 (50%). 3 stars.

What kind of vocal technique is that

Interesting for its production and experimentation, but as a listening experience it didn’t do much for me. Mostly sharp synths, odd radio clips, and very little I actually wanted to come back to. But I’m glad I got to experience this, that’s the whole point of this project.

I initially liked this album, but it simply got strange.

Fun and smooth! Pleasantly surprised with that one, not sure what else to say but an elegant time. Standouts are the whole thing but especially Oh Lord.

What the duck?!? Is this a musical spoof? A joke? If so then I don't get it. Zero points from me.

When I saw "Can" and "Stockhausen" in the Wikipedia entry, I knew I was in for a tricky listen. This didn't disappoint on that front. Parts of it, especially "Persian Love", reminded me a lot of "Tubular Bells". Direct influence is unlikely, but the two for sure share some common influences (e.g. use of the recording studio as an instrument) Is this album Important? Sure. Do I want it in my ears again? Probably not.

No está mal, un disco con pocas canciones pero que duran bastante, ritmo bueno con letras tontas

Fun, jazzy, rocky, experimental album. Never heard of him and only vaguely familiar with CAN. Nice pleasant surprise

I applaud the weirdness here, and some of it makes for good background music, but it's a bit bipolar in nature, because you'll go from smooth synthy yacht rock to punky afro-kraut-rock in an instant, and it's a little jarring and borderline "jumpscare-y".

another very different album. i enjoyed it tho

Pretty weird, I don't know if I enjoyed it or not. I listened to the whole thing and never felt the urge to stop, whatever that means. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I can't imagine every listing to it again.

Decent listen. Different.

lets get cool.... in the pool..... what a weird little album this is. i'm picking up what czukay was putting down tho i think. it's interesting to hear such an early example of sampling, especially when it's as well executed as this. the tracks themselves can be a bit, rambling? at times? but they have a fun texture to em so it's not such a bad thing, and there's a lot of old synth flavour here too which i enjoyed as always. overall pretty good. kinda stuck between a 3 and 4 for this one but it's short and experimental enough for me to lean higher for this one. even if it does mean i've given out like 6 4 star ratings in a row at this point....

That was a wild ride and I'm not sure what happened during it but not in a bad way?

Mad Science.

Far out man. Using the studio as an instrument to lay down some seriously kooky, funky, right on grooves and augment them with all manner of odd touches that keep this extremely interesting. In the hands of a lesser artist this would be overly obnoxious, sterile or jarring. Fortunately for the listener it never loses it's heart or it's dancing shoes.

sounds like a bad joke turned into music just to confuse people. someone really wants to show that he can use a Synthesizer and instruments.

As soon as I found out that this album was made by a member of CAN, I knew I'd like it. It is still that weird and slightly random krautrock that I really enjoy, but it also had a great groove underlying it all, making it a bit more coherent. Felt almost King Crimson-esque at times. Definitely an album I'll save and remember.

Right now, well this is a thing isn't it. I rather liked this really, but the annoying thing is. If I were to listen to this another couple of times I can see myself absolutely raving about it. The problem is, I don't know that I can be bothered to do that. Now whether that is because of me or the music I just don't know. But on one listen it was good (ish). But with that potential I don't feel that I could only give it a 3, oh sod it im feeling generous 4.

Bat shit bonkers, but I really liked it. Got me grooving.

A man from Can. Can! I did not know what to expect from this, but I had a feeling it would be left-of-centre experimentation. It was. This must have been one of the first, if not the first record to be made out of samples. Its is terrific! There was some Germanic geeky humour with 'Cool by the Pool, some great ambient dance sequences throughout - did Holger the man with the unpronounceable surname invented the genre twenty years early with this record? It seems so, even if he didn't get credit for it like Brian Eno did. I loved it, hypnotic, as well as jarring with the way he had arranged his samples of brass instruments etc. If you like The Young Gods, then you will love this.

Persian love is interesting. Motifs are good but the completion is not. Its more on the fun and let’s try and see side rather than let’s plan design think and deliver piece of art.

interesting, and inoffensive. not something i would probably go back to, but there was enough variety between the tracks and the samples that kept me interested.

Definitely unique and deserving of a place on the list, and even has some grooves, it just doesn’t have a lot of replay in it.

I feel like Holger knows how to make good music but is refusing to do so.

It was more fun than Faust

# Album Name: Movies # Artist: Holger Czukay # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Fuck no # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? Fuck no

Is it electro funk with yacht rock? Genre bending and super interesting

I spent time listening to this. Yes I did. 2.5/5 ⭐️ 240/1089

What an unexpected treat. Movies the debut solo album by one of the founders of Can. I only have passing familiarity with them, but I like what I’ve heard and this is no exception. The sampling and layering is top notch. I see a lot of reviews calling it super weird and wacky, but I thought it was fairly accessible and a pretty chill listening experience. Cool In The Pool is the best song here.

Is he him? The godfather of hip hop sampling? The samples add a “surround sound” type quality like we’re hearing the soundtrack to some diegetic music. “Movies” is zany but it does meander with the longer songs. It’s been a while since I trained my music muscle to hear a 16 minute track (3-3.5).

This is not for me, but was one of the most interesting albums on the list. Glad to have listened to it.

I cannot see how this album is rated so high.... due to the sheer craziness of it I bump it +1 Hope I never come across it again 967