Reviews (page 7 of 8)
It's a bit repetitive, but it's pretty cool to know this new stuff on the list.
Enjoyably weird multi genre space funk with great bass
I don’t know what to say about this, definitely WEIRD and experimental. Never heard of this artist before. I enjoyed “Lord give us more money” as background music but there is so much going on it got a bit disjointed and fatiguing for my taste. I enjoyed the more laid-back vibe of ‘Persian Love’ and ‘Hollywood Symphony’. Maybe a jazz background, certainly playing with sampling. Enjoyed hearing something new
Strange different and influential, ticks a lot of boxes for an album to be included on this list.
fave track: cool in the pool final thoughts: love it, so good, funky asf
tbh i didn't really enjoy this album a lot, it really annoyed me at times. the second track dragged on for ages and i feel like a lot of production choices didn't make sense. i only liked the third track, i loved the electronic take on traditional music, it was really good. i can appreciate the experiment-ability of this whole album, electronic and traditional wise, blending the two together... but i ultimately wasn't a fan :/
very artsy
Unusual!
I tried to give it a fair shake. This was bad.
Know and love Can, know zero about any solo projects. Not really sure why this is in the list, but then it's also the weird shit that I'm in this for, at least partially. First track was weird in a goofy 70s way that I'm not altogether on board with. Second track was loads better as it developed. Persian Love was pretty good to be fair if a little dated sounding.
Not my style at all.
Wacky
I liked the first song. It kind of wandered around and I didn't find the vocals added anything beyond that. A cool listen. Not a favourite. I'll relisten to that first song.
Fun, cheeky, interesting. Didn't hate it. Would be surprised if I remember it in a month.
Starts off as a German disco. Then the rest is just synthesizer music. It is not good. I will graciously round up.
Holger Czukay n'a pas volé sa place dans la liste si l'on se fie à son statut de rockstar. Un de ses morceaux comptabilise plus de deux millions d'écoutes, c'est tout simplement phénoménal. Chapeau l'artiste.
J'ai écouté cette daube la semaine dernière, et suis bien incapable de vous en toucher deux mots.
Good lord, this sounds so amateur. Like a child bought an instrument for Christmas
couldn't handle it
progressiv ja, aber instrumentalisierung, stimme, akzent: lieber nicht.
Gut, ist dass Album nicht zu lang...
Ein Album das halt heute etwas schwierig ist mit den zwei langen Songs, den verschiedenen Samples und atonalen Passagen. Aber war sicher aufwändig in der Zeit so etwas aufzunehmen. Doch für mich zuviel Kunstwerk.
Ngl woni mich letschtmal über es album beschwert han hani nonig gwüsst das das da existiert. Ehrlichgseit tönt das Album nochem schiefgangene Art project us de schuel. Oder viellicht bin ich eifach z dumm zums verstah, who knows, aber ich chan absolut garnüt mit dem afange.
Okay interesting ahfang… weiss ned wie ich zum gsang stahne im moment😂mal luege aber susch d musig vibed scho… Let‘s get cool in the pool hett mi grad so gnoh omg wo bin ich hahahhahaah. Oke ich finds schwierig, chas ned wük ernst neh… so avant garde findi das etz au ned tbh Ach neee ich gsehs iwie gar ned.. das album isch all over the place und ich cha iwie nüt gschiids demit ahfah
ok de shit isch nöd uf qobuz. dütsche wo uf englisch musig macht mit vieeel akzent. cool in the pool irgendwie horny. isch bitz funky aber au afoch weird. er samplet glaub stuff? huere früe für da. ah und er het underem stockhausen studiert da heisst avant garde time. zweite song chli meh ambient. kei ahnig waner do samplet aber i guess film? tönt meh wie es experiment eig. de groove unedra isch recht geil. s wird immer wieder luut und lislig. d DI gitarre gfallt mer zimli. FUCKK WISO MACHTER REGGAE TIME im dritte lied. persian love??? oke wenigstens samplet er so persische gsang und so. oke er chan glaub au no cool. aber finds sehr jo i probier mol us und hau es paar samples ine. aber etz die letste paar minute vom album sind geili synths schöni melodie und knackigi trocheni gitarre. plus de drummer isch en geile siech macht afoch wiiter.
mega funny er macht eifach sache muss sege die restliche lieder sind okkkkk gsi aber nöd meh aber cool in the pool hani mega gliebt hahahahah er het eifach e gueti ziit, drum es solids 3
Wtf is this garbage
Meh
Interesting combination of sounds. I like the first song, but not so much the others...
Weird Music, but I kind of like it ... 3 stars
Pionnier du sampling. Mélange de pop et d'avant-garde. ça s'écoute bien, mais drôle d'album. 4 chansons dont 1 de 13 et 1 de 15 min. Good vibes.
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 didn’t like this album.
Its a weird one today. A fusion of jazz, funk, psychadelic rock, afrobeat, and other world music. Holger is apparently one of the founding members of the krautrock band Can. This album doesn't really have any direction. It just kind of ambles about and doesn't really achieve anything. The ideas he had were solid, but he just didn't stick the landing. Favourite songs: Cool in the Pool Least favourite songs: Hollywood Symphony 2/5
I like CAN, I like german „Krautrock“ - 5 stars from me for Holger
It was not a genre that I enjoy, so I can’t tell you if it was good within that genre. I didn’t hate it, so I listened to the whole album, but I didn’t really enjoy it.
I quite like Can, but I wasn’t sure what to expect from a Czukay solo album. I ended up liking it quite a bit. It’s a bit kosmische, a bit spacey, and even a bit post-punk. Not bad at all.
too weird to be ignored and left in the background, too repeditive to listen actively to. physically painful
I don't if this is bad or if I'm just a cretin
cool in the pool 100% sommernummer! fedt og underligt album!!
Wow et deep cut, men et af dem jeg værdsætter at have hørt! Selvom det sgu var ret mærkeligt. Ved ikke helt hvad jeg skal tænke om det, men jeg var i hvert fald ikke helt overbevist. Ville ha været bedre med Damo Suzuki
Spøjs plade, lyder relativt moderne for en plade fra 79.
I like Can, and Cool In The Pool scratched an itch to be propositioned by a camp sounding German accented man which I didn’t knownI had. I haven’t laughed so much at a song in ages. Oh Lord, Give Is More Money and Hollywood Symphony were both good, the former often sounding like an interesting funk jam, Persian Love on the other hand was mostly forgettable. I liked this album fine, but it didn’t have the same sort of relentless experimentation that made Can’s work so groundbreaking. It was a fun, gentle, sort of proto-synth record.
It most certainly was eclectic. It falls in the category of albums that I might like if I listened to it a dozen times. After a couple of listens it's stuck in the middle.
I love “Persian Love”. The sampling would have been fairly progressive for 1979. The vocals/lyrics on “Cool in the Pool” and “Oh Lord give us more Money” are chuckle-worthy, as I think they were meant to be, but the latter is a bit hard to bear at times. The longer tracks have some nice passages, though I’m not a fan of the sudden interruptions, tempo changes, added noises, shifts in volume or Holgar's shrill voice. I suppose it’s harder to be musical than experimental.
I'm not sure what this has to do with "Movies", but this is much more accessible than his work with Can. Props to him for forging a path with World Music and sampling, but I think he overdid the vocal samples in Hollywood Symphony. The most enjoyable and playful track for me was Persian Love with its blend of funky/afrobeat/world music.
Holger, my man! I did not dislike this as much I thought I would. Cool in the Pool is a very good, funky song. The rest of the album was different, but it did not have that annoying, electronic same beat over and over again. There were parts of Hollywood Symphony i thought were pretty good too. Did I hear the Boston Red Sox announce in there? Anyway, this is not really my kind of music, but there were parts I thought were decent and I really did like Cool in Pool. 2.5
2 As goofy as it was, I really didn’t hate the opening track, Cool in the Pool. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t have a sense of charm and catch to it, but unfortunately, it just kind of gets weirder from there. And not weird in a particularly remarkable sort of way, more weird in an “Oh, okay, I guess this is what we’re doing now” sense. I don’t know if I’m missing some context as someone unfamiliar with Can (the acclaimed krautrock band this guy supposedly hails from), but to me, this just kind of felt like a bunch of sound. I definitely wouldn’t describe it as bad (I’ve heard much worse on this list), but I don’t think I could describe this really as anything more than just “music” - it’s not the kind that strikes you in any particular way, but it’s certainly music alright. I suppose if I had to take a more analytical look, I could see how this could described as bridging the gap between pop and experimental, but for me, this is one of those instances where it feels more like a watered down version of each instead of a perfect fusion, and as a result, the two 10+ minute songs here (aka 70% of the album’s runtime), feel like slogs. The usage of samples here is also noteworthy I suppose in that it predates the technique being used in hip hop music, but even still, it’s a reminder that just because you did it first doesn’t automatically mean you did it the best. When summertime rolls back around, I may revisit Cool in the Pool when I feel like being cool in the pool, but outside of that, not sure this one is going to get another listen out of me. Sorry, Holger - maybe I’ll check out your group Can one day.
Zielloser Experimental Rock.
#83. Funky weird jazz rock something. I'm honestly not entirely sure. 3/5: What is happening? Song added to playlist: Cool In The Pool I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link
I was wondering if there were any albums in the list that I could only rate with one star, and the answer is yes. "Cool in the Pool" boys and girls.
I'm a Can fan but never heard this, cool stuff! Can see the influence on the Eno/Byrne record but this is more musically successful
Interesting stuff. Clearly influential
i do enjoy going into an unknown artist and album because i can never anticipate how the album will turn out. happily, this is a situation where the album is not a dud! i mean, it's certainly off the beaten path. it's full of experimental music, but it isn't quite as electronic and outer space-y as other artists exploring this area were around 1979. if i had to describe this album in a word, i'd use the word cinematic. this is partly due to the album name, but also i felt such highs and lows in listening to this album. holgar czukay's movies is strongest when the songs are instrumentals. i can't say the vocals did much for me, except when they were samples (or what i suspect were samples). regardless, the album was more interesting when focusing on the instruments. 3.5
What an odd, but pleasant album! It's relatively short (4 tracks totaling in at roughly 40 minutes) and each song is incredibly different from the next. I didn't think the vocals added anything of value; but the instrumentals were particularly noteworthy. The parts without the vocals really allowed the weird but beautiful music to shine. "Persian Love", in particular, sets such a beautiful and ambient scene.
Nah
Artisti ja levy, josta en ole koskaan kuullut? Levyllä näyttää olevan neljä biisiä ja kesto kuitenkin lähes 40 min eli vahva epäilys jazz-levystä, joka romuttuu heti alkutahdeilla. Hyvin vaikeasti lokeroitavaa ja ymmärrettävää musiikkia. Kokellista tiluliluleitä? Ensimmäisessä biisissä oli jotain järkeä ja sitten lähti ihan sivuraiteille. Vähän liian outo kokonaisuus, ei jatkoon.
Rating: 6.5/10 Good experimental album. Really enjoyed the instrumentation, weird but not too much, Holger Czukay incorporated a lot of interest sounds without it ever being too overwhelming. I wish this whole album was instrumental, the singing is awful and what prevents it from being rated much higher. Favorite songs: Parts of Oh Lord, Persian Love, Hollywood Symphony. Worst song: Cool in the Pool.
El baixista de Can fent la seva primera incursió en solitari amb un disc igual d'imprenetrable que els de la seva exbanda. Quatre mini bandes sonores de pelis imaginàries amb multitud d'efectes, samplers, loops.... very arty tot plegat
It’s a strange album and really not anything special. At times it sounded like an amateur messing around with a synthesizer. The last song was chaotic without direction.
Funky, better than expected
The fuck is this? Unsettling amount of weirdos giving this 5 stars, it doesn’t make you interesting to pretend to like this unlistenable shite, just means you belong on a watchlist
I’m like the last frame of that Vince McMahon meme when they’re doing Peter Lorre voices on that last track
I liked some of the songs but overall it was just too long.
Mad, mad and not for me today. Maybe another day it may stick, but I got to the barking and rolled my eyes
Uhhh.... Nah
Loved it
All over the map. Should be sold w a bong. Need to listen a couple more times, i think.
Music for people on drugs.
Cool album. I'm slowly learning about Can and they are really interesting. I can't imagine anyone sounding the way hey did at that time. But this is not a Can review. Movies starts out great and continues to intrigue if not dazzle. The last song I find a bit boring but the album as a whole is worth a few listens to digest. 3.5 stars that could get higher with more listens.
This is an album that exists, and now I know that.
What an interesting & weird album. I'm a fan of Can, so this is pretty close to what I was expecting. 3.5 stars.
Just too weird for my blood today.
like the first 3 songs, last one was hard to get through
4 tracks and hardly sany information about the album on wikipedia. Ok! Cool In The Pool is an extended funk vamp with various instruments coming in and out. Oh Lord, Give Us More Money is a journey, though I am not sure where to. Persian Love is super cool, but Hollywood Symphony is super out there to start. And stays out there. W/e I had a fun time with this one.
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.
This sounds like me with my Casio keyboard circa 1990. Nothing more to add, this dude added more than enough bells and whistles and button pushes himself.
very experimental. a hodgepodge of genres all thrown together to form songs. not necessarily a bad listen, but definitely a weird listen.
This was super weird. It's not bad, but I don't like it.
Als Kölner Urgestein ist mir Holger Czukay natürlich ein Begriff, da nicht zuletzt sein Grab nur wenige Meter Luftlinie zu meiner alten Wohnung in Köln liegt. Seinen Ruhm hat er bekanntlich seinem Bass-Spiel in der Band "Can" zu verdanken. Seine musikalischen Ergüsse aus dem in 1979 erschienenen Werk "Movies" sind ein Paradebeispiel dafür, wie man Helge Schneider musikalisch und textlich inspirieren kann. Experimentell, Chaotisch, innovativ & viel wichtiger: außerhalb jeglicher Norm. Was Holger Czukay - oder "Schnüri" (Rufname in Köln) - an Kreativität in sich getragen hat, lässt die Musiker der heutigen Generation verblüfft zurück. "Get cool now Hey, don't get cool Let's get cool Cool together And leave it cool Cool together Let's get cool" Wen diese Zeilen "kalt" lassen, der hat Holger nie geliebt. Danke für dieses Werk! Anhören werde ich es mir sicherlich nie wieder. 2 von 5. LG
- Ich habs mir komplett gegeben - Bin nicht stolz drauf - Ich kann nichts, wirklich GAR NICHTS daran finden - Man soll Toten ja nicht schlecht nachreden, und Holger mag echt n netter Kerl gewesen, aber das war einfach grauenvoll Meine ersten 0 Punkte. (Nervig, dass man nicht einfach 0 Sterne vergeben kann). Rating: 0/5
- Einige ganz witzige Part - Ich fands erstaunlicher weise ziemlich einfach, es durchzuhören. Es ist jedoch irgendwie kein positiver Gesamteindruck hängen geblieben - Gesamtheitlich mir zu wirr, unstrukturiert und wahllos, ohne diese Elemente aber auf einer Meta-Ebene in irgendeiner Form zu verknüpfen 1,5/5
- das gibt mir mal wieder so gar nichts - nervige Songs, die dann auch noch dermaßen in die Länge gezogen wurden - k, thx, bye Rating: 0/5
Cool in the Pool is good, the rest is just a nice listen....
Neat and unexpected little historical artifact. Fun listen. But nothing beyond that.
A little unconventional but not interesting to me
cool
Really liked this
Ahh yes, every funky track needs random dog barking and laser noises... Honestly, I don't know what to make of this album. I found myself enjoying the funky music often, but the entire album was just so... weird... that I can't see myself listening to this ever again. This is my second Krautrock album that this site has recommended me and I think I've learned that the genre is too... avant garde? For me? I mean, I like strange music if it makes sense, this just sounded like someone snuck into the mixing room after the track was finalized and started messing around with the sound effects board on the piano. "YES! MORE LASER NOISES! MORE THUNDER NOISES! DID I ADD A CATS MEOW IN HERE? NO? WELL HERE YOU GO" Idk, I enjoyed it somewhat. 2.5/5 but I'll bump it up to a 3 since it was catchy.
The songs is a bit goofy some times but overall good
Strange in all the right ways…
Sick. Weird. Long and strange. I’m down.
I like weird, but this was meandering, weird for the sake of weird, weird
Garbage. Take Revolution 9 and make it an album. Take one of those Yamaha keyboards and randomly dick around on different settings hitting random keys for 40 minutes. Performance art in music form. This is no one’s favorite album.
This has to be a joke with some of the squeals and goofy riffs.
Slightly nuts, but really cool in places
One finds themselves thinking just because something is different or odd doesn't automatically mean it's also creative or unique. I had an absolutely groundbreaking and brilliant take about this album an hour ago and now I completely forgot what it was. And I for one blam this album. It's already rotted my brain when I wanted it to be expanded. All a brother wants is to feel a little enlightened. Now I'm going to right that wrong while grabbing my wife's scrumptious and voluptuous breasts. Those things have become a magnet that pulls my hands in their direction. I hope she never learns I lost time from my life listening to this album. I hope I would never make an album that rots listener's brains.
Was not what i was expecting but good.
trash did not care for it
Started fun, then got weird but not good weird sadly.
Horrible opening song but does improve somewhat. Seems like a lesser ancestor of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.
Nu tā norauti mazliet. xD Bet absolūti nav mans.
I doubt that I will listen to it again
When I noticed that it's 4 songs in 44 mins I was scaptical and thought I won't enjoy it. Cool in the pool was cool and surprised me. And oh lord, give us money was even cooler. Overall I rate this album COOL!
While I will admit that the early ideas of sampling made some of the pieces more interesting, I still scratched my head a bit at this. The longer songs were an experiment where "you just had to be there, man." But the shorter songs felt more constructed and deliberate. Those worked better. I can't wholly recommend the album as it was just a bit too meandering for me, but there were some bits I liked, and other times I was like "skip a bit, please..."
It was a little unusual at first but this album grew on me. I didn't love Can either (Czukay's band before he went solo) but also didn't hate them and found their work innovative. Same here. I guess hew as most known for being one of the first to introduce sampling and that is here in spades. I think if anything, it's a bit manic and sometimes used unnecessarily. But at other times the clips he inserts are spot on. And then coupled with his funky beats, it can be quite interesting - the last half of Hollywood Symphony I thought was his best work on this album. Maybe the last half of Oh Lord, Give Us More Money too. Almost had a bit of a Talking Heads feel with the frantic beats and sampling (at least later TH or David Byrne efforts). All in all, a bit too strange? I found myself reaching for a 4 but couldn't quite do it.
Maybe it’s because I’m a guitar player but boy the guitar in this record is lacking. Eclectic is a great way to put this record, fun and interesting, but doesn’t really say much. If the instrumental aspects were other worldly I could love this, but it feels like a lesser, shitier version of funk jazz fusion, without the savant musicians.
I haven't gotten into any of Czukay's other projects besides CAN, but this was pretty good. Has a nice krautrock vibe, while also being experimental post rock. The samples are used sparingly, which I liked.
I dunno about this. I played it in the background and I didn't hate it but nothing stood out as remarkably wonderful or remarkably terrible. I vaguely recall some interesting chord progressions and odd orchestrations, but is innovative synonymous with essential?
Interesting instrumental album. Pleasant music, but the movements were longer than I’d like. 3/5
Experimental.
Weird in a good way
After blazing a trail with one of the most influential and consequential rock groups of all time, Holger Cuzkay decided that it was once again time to go solo and Movies is a rather apt descriptor for what he was aiming to accomplish. Apart from Hollywood Symphony, there is very little in the way of noodling instrumentation and dizzying composition; keeping things on the short and sweet side whilst venturing on the weirdo trek that serves him well. Overall, one of Holger's finer outings and a nice step out into a new terrain. Favorites: Cool in the Pool, Hollywood Symphony.
Música un tanto instrumental en la que no destaca nada especialmente. Al principio parecía que iba a ser más interesante, pero se ha quedado en un disco pasable, sin más
weird and interesting. 3 stars.
It's albums like this that made me want to do thus. What a strange album. A massive collage of sounds and styles. Very cool. Weird listenable. Moments reminded me of "my life in a bush of ghosts". Honestly wish it was longer.
Niet te doen
Cool. Strange. Out there.
Groovy
1.5
First song is a keeper
did not enjoy this one. Too "out there" for me.
I love Can, but this one didn't really do it for me. "Persian Love" is the highlight. This seems like it would have been more fun to make than to listen to.
Very strange album. Some parts good as ambient music. Can hear some influences from other bands here and there. Cool in the Pool is very weird!
I like this challenge because I get to discover new stuff but then can’t help to feel a bit ignorant for not knowing so many! Never heard of this artist before and found the record very experimental in a quirky and good way.
This was pretty great. Looking forward to the Can albums after this one and will def check out more Czukay solo albums.
This album is alright but is just not really my thing. It's a little too all over the place most of the time for my ADD but there are definitely some good moments on it. I don't see myself coming back to it for a full listen but not upset I experienced it this time. Standout Tracks: Cool In the Pool, Persian Love
unusual, but ok
5/10
This is bizarre in excellent ways...! Never heard this name before but read that he was a co-founder of Can which makes sense why I loveeeee it. I also read that he was talking about world music before that was really a term and I love hearing that in this solo album. Persian Love is such a nice appreciation for a different style of music. I'm confused and impressed about how the sitar/banjo sounds were made without the instruments themselves and I guess that's synthesisers and electronic sounds but I find that so baffling and impressive... Unless there's some info missing from Wikipedia haha! Cool in the Pool is a really fun track and I love that they include the organ. The last track is super chaotic and I don't like it as much.
I was quite bemused by this one! I did want to get Cool in the Pool. I found this hard to place and on reflection I do think I appreciate what it was and thought it was good fun.. and slightly mad.
Well this was fascinating, can't say I loved and would listen regularly but it was very interesting to hear. Never heard of this guy.
Parts of it were interesting and it was fun, but probably not going to listen again
I’m not sure what this is but I like it. 4/5 a little too avant garde 3/5
While undoubtedly an important part of music history, it's a real struggle to get through. I'm sure if you can get through the noise and random sounds (samples of car alarms, dogs barking, what I'm assuming was a running faucet), there's something to be gain. Getting through that noise though is a juggernaut of a task.
Never heard of Holger Czukay before this. The first track, Cool in the Pool, was pure cringe. Second track, Oh Lord, Give Us More Money (at least the first part), must have inspired Ross Geller to write Interplanetary Courtship Ritual, with the random cat meow, dog bark, explosion, etc. sound effects thrown in. Maybe that was revolutionary back in 1979? Persian Love was the only decent track for me. Hollywood Symphony was just a long, dull track that never goes anywhere, with more random sound effects and movie dialog(?)
God bless Can and Can alums
Cool in the pool
I do not like free form jazz but this was kind of OK. Still sucked, but not as terrible as I originally thought.
Dont even know what to say.
Too weird
There's a solid album in here, bits and pieces here and there are really good. 8:00 - 11:00 ish of Hollywood Symphony was really good. Persian Love was probably my favorite song on the album and one I added to my playlist separately. The voiceovers and melody really worked in tandem. For every other song, the voiceovers felt more out of place and didn't add much of anything to the overall instrumentation. This album was produced by Frank Zappa, and if you like his body of work you may enjoy this album. I have not dabbled as much into Zappa (though I like and appreciate Captain Beefheart). Maybe that is taking away from my enjoyment, but overall from an outsider's perspective this album is 1/5, or 20/100 (20 points for Persian Love, great song). Without the voiceovers, I'd give it an even 50/100, as the instrumentation really was very good, but when the voiceovers don't work or add to the song as a whole besides being something the artist wanted to include, the listener loses out on the experience.
Cat: the music is really good and very cool, but HOLY FUCK IS THIS WEIRD AJ: 👎😐
Super long songs, this felt like just a general jam album. Good to have in the background but I didn't need to pay much attention. "Oh Lord, Give Us More Money" was unhinged but entertaining.
This is very chaotic late-70s pop music. It gives a lot of MF Doom vibes with the different samples and sound effects from different things like movies cartoons and TV. Sometimes it's pretty cool and good, other times it's not and kind of samey and boring. It definitely has a lot of aspects that were ahead of their time. Sometimes it sounds like this guy is emulating Santana (who I am surprised we haven't seen) A solid 3/5
Rating: 6/10
Interesting Album. Glad I tried it, but it's a kind of esoteric that I don't care for.
Good god that was horrible.
КУЛ ИН ЗЭ ПУЛ 6/10
What the heck
Whacky kraut pop, very NTS daytime show
Interesting to listen to - a proper mixed bag of some fantastisch parts and some pure dross, but probably not something I'd ever revisit.
I don't get the hate. It was nice and different.
Fun funk.
I was very worried about this album when I read the wiki description but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I'd put in the same category as oxygene (but not quite that good) of late 70s proto electronica/ambient music. I think it comes down to the fact that this avant grade experimental album actually turned out to be good.
Amazing! Loved this
I just did not get into this one.
Way better than I thought it would be. I don't know that I will ever listen to it again but it was a fun album to listen to while I was on a drive. Cool in the Pool and Hollywood Symphony stand out to me. Persian Love, however, is like the sonic equivalent of salty garbage. Without that song, it would be 4 stars.
Double digit songs are bad but this has some good parts
Not what I expected at all! Great experimental album.
You know how they say that you can't judge a book by its cover? Well I guess that's why they didn't say the same for an album by it's cover. One look at that artwork and I knew this was going to suck and guess what... I was right! Just bad all around. 2/10.
Track 2 is insane. This album is a trip in itself.
Interesting guitar, not quite like anything I familiar with. Wouldn't seek it out, but didnt hate it. Had a Caribbean vibe to it, but says its Persian/Krautrock
Strange one here. 4 track album, including one at 13 minutes and one at 15 minutes. Reminds me of the "This is What it Sounds Like" book that I'm reading that talks about authenticity. This one is certainly authentic because it's got some really weird, "out there" components. Not really my style.
Not to my taste tbh. Too many styles colliding
I enjoyed this more than I thought I may. I was dreading going into this with what I assumed to be mostly instrumentals and they turned out to be my favorite part of the album. It's so weird with beeps and bloops and what seems like an entire sampling board being throw into a song. If this book wants to include all kinds of music, this weird avant-garde shit has to be in there too. I don't necessarily connect with the music, but it's interesting to listen to.
Persian Love is weird but good.
Was expecting a “noodling” CAN/ELP/YES-style escapade and it was better than expected, but still a bit weird. First song was fairly funky, but I’m not going to be listening again. 2.5 stars.
More of a soundtrack vibe than an album vibe. It started out strong and continued to have strong parts throughout, but also a couple rather annoying sections such as the Hawaiian bar sounds (?) on Persian Love. Overall, not a horrible experience, but not something I really needed to hear either.
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.
How did I fail, nearly two years ago, to write a review about Holger Czukay's "Movies?" And particularly about "Cool in the Pool?" Well, at least it gave me a chance to revisit this strange little album. Is there German music that isn't strange? If so, the 1001 didn't do a very good job of exposing us to it. Though Czukay is from Can, so he's responsible for like 1/2 the German music on the list. This 4-song album is all over the place, with a song that melds Arab and Caribbean sounds, a weird industrial "symphony," and of course, "Cool in the Pool." Which could not help but to evoke laughter and perhaps inadvertently images of "Horton Hears a Who" and "Seussical." We'll have to go searching for Czukay's cool pool somewhere deep in the jungles of Nool.
I am not a fan of krautrock. I am a fan of my pre-K daughter's song about being cool in the pool (to the tune of "do your ears hang low"): I will stay real cool in my little swimming pool On a sunny summer day, I will splash around and play When I wear my bathing suit, I will be cool and cute In my swimming pooooool!
That first song was amazingly strange. I loved it. After that there wasn’t much I was excited about.
Pros: weird. Cons: noodly.
3.5 - I can see why this record would have impressed other artists with its colorful display of electronic ambience and sampledelia. It sounds like Czukay intentionally kept these compositions rough, noodling between sour notes on guitar and smatterings of synth sounds that don't layer so much as slosh around. Moby would take these ideas decades later and add a professional sheen on "Play", effectively sanitizing this record's more shaggy/human elements. For me, this project is a mixed bag. I admire its playfulness but find it overall pretty goofy, with the exception of "Persian Love", which is a stunning reinterpretation of traditional folk music that blends Persian and African influences as well as novel electronics.
Crazy sampling album. No idea who Holger was prior to listening to this. I'll check out his other works.
El segundo álbum del cofundador de la banda de Krautrock, Can, es una recopilación sorprendente de sampleos y extractos teatrales que construyen paisajes exóticos y envolventes, adelantándose al género del ambient y el de la “música global”. Sin duda, un indispensable del catálogo de los 1001 álbumes.
Imagine you are a musician with formal training. Now, imagine someone gave you a $40,000 Moog Synthesizer in the late 70s and told you to learn how to use it. So, you spent a few days with it and decided to record what you learned down in your Mom’s basement. Then you dubbed it some guitars, bass and drums. And you invited some friends over to contribute to your recordings. And everyone just played whatever they wanted with little regard for melody, harmony, or rhythm. Then, just for fun, you’d lift some sounds of people talking and splice that in. Okay, I admit the part about Mom’s basement was unnecessary but if you did the rest of that, you’d have this album. And you’d be considered avant-garde and a pioneer for sampling.
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.
I've nver heard of Holger Czukay before and nothing on the album Movies was familiar to me. There is a chance I might come back to this album because I don't quite know what to do with it. The opening track "Cool in the Pool" was a little silly, but did not completely distract from the overall listening experience. I don't know how to classify what I've heard. With the various clips of dialog laced throughout the album, I was reminded a little of Friends of Mr. Cairo (Jon and Vangelis), but not entirely in that category either. I do like longer tracks in general, because of the opportunities for the musicians to experiment and explore. I liked the longer tracks here. I'm rounding up to 4 stars.
Another mystery to me how this made the list
It was so weird, but also kinda vibey
Interessante, instrumental, meio oriental as referências
Odd and (to these ears/brain) pointless music.
The move in and out of contemporary classical via Persian inflection was interesting. Everything else was kraut-scented experimentation, rote and blown up from EP to LP length.
Nice to hear something new
Turhake, lähentelee kuninkuusluokkaa.
Aika lame ja paikoin ärsyttävä
Bewildering and funny. Great musicianship and some nice melodies amongst the chaos.
It was okay but I’m not sure what it was supposed to be.
I'll take two of whatever this eejit is on
This is super weird in the best way. It holds together really well and holds up despite being from the 70s. Probably won't listen again, but this was good.
interesting. Not my everyday style
Odd, but not offputting. Interesting to see that the 5ish minute long tracks have a couple million listens while the 10 minute plus tracks have a few tens of thousands. Same opinion for me; I prefer the 2 shorter tracks.
I never hard this one before but I'm a causal fan of CAN, so this wasn't completely novel for me. I rather enjoyed it not as much as the early CAN records. Though more than likely in 6 months I probably won't recall listening to it.
Except for being way too long, I got a strange enjoy from this record. Never heard it before, never heard of Holger Czukay before, but I’ve already listed through the record twice. My very first reaction was “what IS this weirdness?” That continues to be my reaction. But I guess I kind of like that weirdness.
He was definitely trying for something. No idea what.
This was very strange. Like really really out there weird. But there is something compelling in it, I didn't hate the thing. I'm not planning on listening to it anytime soon, but there is just something about it.
This album is certainly one of the most experimental things I’ve ever heard, and I really don’t shy away from old psychedelic stuff. The weird samples and horn solos throughout “Cool in the Pool” actually fit together quite nicely and I think I would like the song more if not for the annoying cool and hot callouts, which sucked in jazz and suck in krautrock too. This song is intriguing and I can see how it might have influenced the new age electric sounds and sampling styles, but by todays standards it’s frankly not that good. “Oh Lord Give Us More Money,” on the other hand, is great. The bass line is super engaging for such a busy song, which I feel like you don’t see too much. And the synth is used very effectively for a song old enough that there probably weren’t too many good synth examples out there yet. This song (again with awful vocals) is the high point of the album. Tl;dr: interesting, experimental, clearly influenced some more techno-style artists later than him. But not that good and probably won’t listen again. If I’m lucky I’ll get a trivia question about this album right some day at least.
When I saw we got an album called Movies by a guy named Holger Czukay, I figured the worst thing it could be is cringey elevator music. Boy, did I expect too much. There’s no possible way to take “Cool in the Pool” seriously, and maybe it’s not supposed to be taken seriously. Either way, the overly German nature of it somehow makes it even worse than it would be otherwise. When I hear “Oh Lord, Give Us More Money” I think oh Lord, give us more mercy. The third and fourth tracks are no better than the first two, and as the album nears its end, I consider a drive to the local lobotomy clinic. A coked up cat could attempt the Charleston on a keyboard and give us something better than this. After the album was over (half of which I’d skipped) I felt cheated out of remotely decent music (or music at all) so I put on another far-out record not included in this list to stand in for the day. I owe the Grateful Dead and their From the Mars Hotel a word of thanks for my little remaining sanity.
Present day Holger Czukay: https://youtu.be/T7f9xTPI9eo I didn't like it but think it's at least interesting.
Innovative and exuberantly weird. Nicely crafted blend of the pleasing and the dissonant, with a good dose of whimsy. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Cool in the Pool; Persian Love; Oh Lord, Give Us More Money; Hollywood Symphony
Really weird, yet I still liked it.
Whatever the hell this is, I love it. This is what I love about this album. Here I was, not expecting to hear 70's funk cowboy porn music but this is how I round out my week. 4/5.
4.5
Мешанина
tähän aikaan ei älyluureja ollutkaan! Alistaa meikäpojan.. pakko antaa respect.. avantgarde.. viimeine kapale uskomaton.. konsanaan.. dumbass bitchass sanoisi noin heh viimeinen kappale OLI OK... MUU PASKAA... hollywood symphony
Alistaa meikäpojan.. pakko antaa respect.. avantgarde.. viimeine kapale uskomaton.. konsanaan..
Niet mijn ding
Niet slecht, maar ook niet persé zeer goed
wonderfully batshit. like captain beefheart refined by some berlin bowie.
I remember one time I was doing so much cocaine with Holger Czukay, that I forgot that I was fucking his daughter and showed him a bunch of dirty pictures of her on my phone. He punched me in the mouth.
Not as good as Holger Badstuber
Huh. I don't know what to make of it, but I like it. Four tracks of bizarre samples and jazz, but pleasant listening. Oh it's from a Can man. Makes sense.
First of all - terrible vocal, really off-putting. But otherwise, it's a nice combination of songs on this album. We're starting with a nice and short funky track, then we move into some psychedelic territories (best song in "Movies" by far). Later on we have more experimental electronic stuff, which is not my favourite, but thanks to solid start sounded quite nicely. Good album, a positive surprise.
It's some pretty alright experimental, but it's a far cry from CAN
Great Experimental avant type stuff, but may be lacking a special something to drag me back.
Jeezus Murphy that was awful.
Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: No, not my thing Favourite song: didn’t have one
Rubbish
I thought I hadn’t heard of Holger Czukay, but a bit of googling shows that he was one of the founders of Can. I have listened to a Can album, and I remember it being quite unusual. If I remember correctly, it was interesting but a bit too zany for my taste. Let’s see how this compares. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Cool In The Pool Similarly to the Can album I’ve heard, this is an album of normal length, but containing only four songs. Two of these are fairly typical length, while two are much longer. I found Cool In The Pool to be the easiest one to listen to, and was fun to sing along to mimicking Holger’s very German accent. Beyond this, the music was very interestingly put together, but was just a little too far into the weird rather than the wonderful for me. Like some paintings, I can appreciate it as an art form, but I don’t particularly want it in my home.
It could have been worse. Having had Einstürzende Neubauten's "Kollaps" yesterday, I now know the depths to which "gernan art music" can sink. Luckily THIS is not THAT. Unfortunately, this is also not great. It's weird and eclectic and disjointed. It feels a bit like a Frankenstein's monster of an album. A bunch of disparate parts sewn together and zapped with electricity in the hopes of creating some semblance of an album. All that to say, I didn't enjoy it. But it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Cool fusion album, in the format of classic jazz works. It was a good listen, but nothing I would necessarily go back to.
Got weirder as it progressed but still not so weird or bad to rate it down
Did not enjoy
Ummm. I think I need to hear that again. Kind of like Frank Zappa (in a way....). 2.5
I liked basically everything about this recording, from the careening vibe to the great sample work. Let's get cooooool... in the pool
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.
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.
Feels like a national progression for a member of Can, but skirts into early fascinations with world music which feel quite meh today. Lots of neat ideas but it doesn't really coalesce into something I'd frequently want to hear.
Really weird. But…… I kinda liked it?
This was an interesting album. The music itself was just okay and never really excited me. The sun over of people speaking was interesting as I’ve mainly only heard it like that in rap music, specifically madvillany. This wasn’t anything too impressive but I never felt the need to skip any songs which is a plus. Overall I doubt I’d revisit it but it was interesting to hear a few times. 4.1/10
krautrock. Popurrí instrumental. Ni fu ni fa.
Instumental, como de honololú, pero moderno. Un rollo.
Tää oli hämy eikä oikeen pudonnut meikälle! Liian öö jotenkin levällään. 2/5
Täähän oli upea! Ihan Canin veroista. Pihtaan vielä vitosta, mutta saattaisi joskus noustakin.
Mukava nähdä hauskojakin levyjä tällä listalla taas, ja varsinkin kun on musikaalisesti mielenkiintoinen myös! Varsinainen kollaasi. 4/5
Bad
Aimless and goofy. I did appreciate the weirdness of it, but not enough of it landed and it felt like a clash of sounds rather than a coherent layering. Ultimately it was just too fucking goofy to really lean into the experimental nature of it, goofy to the point of great annoyance. Fav Track: Hollywood Symphony (most of this song I enjoyed a decent amount, but it still had it's grating moments. 2/5
I did not like this album No I did not It needled my brain While I ate my brot Maybe it is good This I do not know But I am sick of noodles Stupid guitar bro I like that it was weird But mostly weird bad That mad me sad And a little bit mad Fave track: I truly don't remember
Some interesting and at times pretty entertaining experimentation here, but overall maybe a little lacklustre for me. If the opening track comes on at a party though it’ll be hard not to go mental. Fave track: Cool in the Pool
A bit weird
i don’t think i enjoyed it
It's some music alright. Good for a single listen since the songs just meander into different shapes and forms, but not much to bring me back to it. 5/10
Pretty good
I was prepared to shoot this album down. But as I listened to each track, I found "Movies" to be light and inventive. You can write the whole thing off as an experimental prog-rock cut-and-paste job, I suppose; instead, try to get in a playful mood and have fun with it.
In some ways, I liked this more than Future Days. The variety of music really showed off where the music could be taken, this is definitely my favorite experimental album so far (it's also the most pop-y). Each track has at least one interesting part. Persian Love is beautiful, the middle to end of Hollywood symphony is great, Oh Lord Give Us More Money is insane and Cool in the Pool is generally fun. Someday, I may get this kind of music.
Never heard of him, uneven listening
Lidt cool men meget weird
This solo album of Holger Czukay from Can is a sort of experiment with electronica and tape loops. Sometimes experiments work out great, this one does not. It sounds outdated and is rather boring.
No. This is just bad. Shame on whoever put this on the list for other people to listen to. May fleas infest your armpits.
That was... something I've not heard anything quite like before.
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.
interesting more than good but defo a 3
Meh. investing and I love what it started but I just want feeling it
Weird, experimental, kinda goofy at times.
Not my style.
Very experimental, preferred the shorter tracks to the 10+ minute ones
Weird experimental music that sometimes hits the marks and other times misses it completely.
Was a bit bumpy and melancholy for me.
Quirky and unusual, but infinitely more approachable than the Can album we previously experienced. Though Cool in the Pool is mostly weird on the first listen, it did grow on me a bit. Persian Love seems the best of the rest, though overall reasonably interesting.
Gillade första låten men i övrigt var det inte särskilt bra.
Nope
Very interesting and playful. I enjoy the backstory of the album and can really see it reflected in the sound. I'm not sure it's something I'd seek out often but it's a really unique vibe that I can definitely see myself returning to someday.
kinda cool actually its like a predecessor to prog rock with a bunch of electronics and rock mixed
This was an enjoyable listen. I had not heard of the artist or heard any of his music, and given the year in which it was released, I can hear how it was at the forefront of a few popular trends to come. Very talented composer, arranger, and performer.
I have no words this was something else and not in a good way 😂😭
This album didn't sound horrible but at the same time there was absolutely no purpose or direction whatsoever. It sounded like the artist was playing with random sounds. And the songs were so long for no reason.
What a great album. Not an aficionado of Can, maybe I should dig deeper. Can hear elements of Zappa in this.
I don’t have the right drugs for this album.
Usually you're in for a bad time when all Wikipedia can tell you is that it's "art rock," but this wasn't terrible. Best track: Hollywood Symphony
Anyone who can try to make experimental music more accessible deserves commendation. But many of the most interesting nuggets of ideas are lost among aimless noodling.
I thought this was going to suck. I kinda dug it. A little out there, but not too far out there. I probably would've liked this in my early 20's when I was into anything remotely "weird". I'll give it a 4. It's about a 3 for personal enjoyment but the overall score so far is too harsh.
A very mixed bag but 'Hollywood Symphony' is an absolute gem.
Gets off to quite the light-hearted start for being so Teutonic, no? But the larky, novelty-act effect is gone after a few songs -- "Persian Love" continues is deeper and more interesting fare in a slightly exotic vein and "Hollywood Symphony" sprawling and cool. Overall, this is weird and wonderful-ish particularly if one hears in the right mood/context.
i like movies
Ugh.
When I was browsing the Wikipedia page for this album as I do when time permits, I was wondering why all the players' name links showed I'd visited them already. Then figured out this was pretty much just more CAN. Which there was already plenty of on this list. Try as I might I can't get into it. Too much of it just seems silly and affected.
That was really cool
avant guard, fun
first time listening
I’ve got one thing to say about this one. “LETS GET COOOL, IN THA POOOOL”
I came into “Movies” as a cautious fan of Holger Czukay’s work as the co-founder, bassist and visionary engineer of Can. Those delicious, neverending grooves in “Halleluhwah”, “I’m So Green”, “Mother Sky” and many more, as well as the widescreen, immersive soundscapes of “Aumgn”, “Peking O”, “Bel Air”… they were mostly down to Czukay. Reading that he went on to become a prominent early force in sampling, becoming a big influence on Eno among others, I was expecting a proto “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” to sink my teeth into. I was not- repeat, NOT- expecting “Cool in the Pool”: a blissed out funk jam that treads an uncomfortable line between the ridiculous and the sublime. Interspersing crystal clear funk rhythm guitar with bursts of abrasive synth, brass and various vocal tics shouldn’t work… but it somehow does, right up until the jarring “cutaway” ending. At first baffling, on subsequent listens it’s got under my skin. Credit to Czukay: placing material like this alongside the rest of the tracks here is how to truly confound an audience. The remaining three pieces are much more expansive, moving through a bucketload of moods and motifs like a five year old with a pick n mix. Speech samples are woven throughout, alongside distracted vocal hooks or instrumental lead parts. Every time we appear to be grounded in a primary chorus or hook, the idea is abandoned and we’re off somewhere else. It’s a restless, sometimes frustrating album which also starts to really sag somewhere in the middle. “Oh Lord, Give Us More Money” peters out towards the end, lacking a satisfying climax, while “Hollywood Symphony” rarely sticks with a groove for long enough to sink in, going all over the map with little sense of purpose. “Persian Love”- supposedly exemplifying Czukay’s interest in the music of other cultures- is a pleasant diversion and groove, but nothing otherworldly. “Movies” may not feel as groundbreaking or “out there” as I would have expected- particularly in the context of Czukay’s earlier career with Can- but it’s mostly an intriguing listen, a sonic journey where you have to get out and walk a little way for the best views. Perhaps further listens will bring it up in the ranks, but for now it strikes me as a middling effort from a singular mind.
It’s a bit ridiculous, but a little fun too. I was leaning toward a 2 initially but it charmed me to a 3.
This was a silly album that didn't make much impression, but the first song was so ridiculous and entertaining I listened twice and that's gotta be worth an extra star
I just... didn't enjoy this.
Interesting, but not entirely for me Fav track: Cool in the Pool
Parts of this I thought it was going to rule but other parts I had to pause and ask aloud wtf I was listening to
This gets at least 2 stars just because of his bitching mustache. The music itself is fine, good even! I think I liked this better than the actually Can album on the list (Future Days). Wouldn't turn off if it came up on a playlist, but also probably wouldn't personally put it on a playlist. THREE IS MY JUDGEMENT
German Frank Zappa?
Boring. Plus, putting random sound effects and movie clips over some drums makes it 'experimental' but not 'good.'
Not much I can say about this. I am confused but not displeased
Cool in the Pool was sort of fun. And even though the rest of it didn't hold my attention, what I did hear was interesting. But there's not much to come back to for me.
A dopey song about a swimming pool followed by three largely shapeless, tuneless longform tracks that veer between sublime, boring and eccentric? Honestly, quite the chad move.
I mean, that song about the pool was fantastic. Put that in a movie right now, please. The rest? Eh. But I’m all for more EPs on this list.
It is now time to dance on sprockets. 1/5
Four songs for 40 minutes, not bad except I remember I skipped two of the songs so this album felt really quick. I liked Persian Love but more so for the samples than the actual song. I can kind of see how this one snuck on this list but it makes me want Sabbath again.
Whoa, this was a cool album! Very early, proto-electronica type stuff. Never heard of this guy, but I'm impressed. The opening track reminded me of that silly Autobahn song by Kraftwerk, aside from that I found myself digging all the other (three) tracks on the album. I appreciate an album with a few, long tracks like this. A lot of strange instrumental sounds and textures, just like a mad scientist goofing around in his lab. There's cool stuff all over this. Shout out to Holger man, this was a pleasant surprise. Favorite tracks: Persian Love, Oh Lord Give Us More Money, Hollywood Symphony. Album art: I take it that's Holger himself, and he seems to be looking at a tv screen from inches away. It's really weird, but I really like it. His handlebar mustache and slicked back hair is giving me comfort, reminding me that this space-age stuff is coming from the '70s. 4/5
1. 2 songs in and can't listen to them anymore. Seems a bit cheesy and silly to me.
This was inventive and interesting and at the same time weird.