Soundtracks (Can album)

Soundtracks is a compilation album by the Krautrock group Can. It was first released in 1970 and consists of tracks written for various films. The album marks the departure of the band's original vocalist Malcolm Mooney, who sings on two tracks, to be replaced by new member Damo Suzuki. Stylistically, the record also documents the transition from the psychedelia-inspired jams of their earliest recordings (i.e. Monster Movie and Delay 1968) to the more meditative, electronic, and experimental mode of the studio albums that followed (such as Tago Mago and Ege Bamyası).

Soundtracks
Compilation album by
Can
ReleasedSeptember 1970
RecordedNovember 1969 – August 1970
StudioSchloss Nörvenich, Germany
GenreKrautrock
Length35:09
LabelLiberty, United Artists
ProducerCan
Can chronology
Monster Movie
(1969)		 Soundtracks
(1970)		 Tago Mago
(1971)
Singles from Soundtracks
  1. "Soul Desert" / "She Brings the Rain"
    Released: 1969

The back cover of the album states:

"CAN SOUNDTRACKS" is the second album of THE CAN but not album no. two ... Album no. two [Tago Mago] will be released in the beginning of 1971.[1]

"She Brings the Rain", originally appearing in the 1969 film Ein großer graublauer Vogel by Thomas Schamoni (brother to directors Ulrich Schamoni and Peter Schamoni), was later featured in Wim Wenders' 1994 film Lisbon Story, the 2000 Oskar Roehler film Die Unberührbare and Tran Anh Hung's film Norwegian Wood, released in 2010.

"Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone" features Damo Suzuki's first recorded performance with Can.[2]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Pitchfork7.6/10[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
Stylus MagazineB[6]

In a review in Stylus Magazine, Nick Southall called Soundtracks "a strange beast of a record" that "appear[s] directionless", but has some "absolutely sublime moments".[6] Dominique Leone wrote in Pitchfork that while many of the tracks on Soundtracks lack the "artistic reach" Can achieved on Monster Movie and other albums, they are not "throwaways".[4] Leone called "Mother Sky" the album's highlight, adding that it "has an intensity matching anything on the debut".[4]

In a review of Soundtracks in AllMusic, Jason Ankeny remarked:

The dichotomy between the two singers is readily apparent: Suzuki's odd, strangulated vocals fit far more comfortably into the group's increasingly intricate and subtle sound, allowing for greater variation than Mooney's stream-of-consciousness discourse.[3]

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Mother Sky" at number 48 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.[7]

Track listing
Side 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Deadlock" (from the film Deadlock, 1970, dir. Roland Klick)Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki3:27
2."Tango Whiskyman" (from the film Deadlock)Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki4:04
3."Deadlock (Titelmusik)" (from the film Deadlock)Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki1:40
4."Don't Turn the Light on, Leave Me Alone" (from the film Cream – Schwabing Report, 1970, dir. Leon Capetanos)Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki3:42
5."Soul Desert" (from the film Mädchen mit Gewalt, 1970, dir. Roger Fritz)Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney3:48
Side 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mother Sky" (from the film Deep End, 1971, dir. Jerzy Skolimowski)Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Suzuki14:31
2."She Brings the Rain" (from the film Ein großer graublauer Vogel, 1969, dir. Thomas Schamoni)Czukay, Karoli, Liebezeit, Schmidt, Mooney4:04
Total length:35:16

Personnel
Can

References
  1. Liberty (1970). Soundtracks (back cover). Can. Germany. LBS 83 437 I.
  2. Czukay, Holger. "A Short History of the Can – Discography". Perfect Sound Forever. furious.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2011. 'Don't Turn the Light on, Leave Me Alone' was Damo's first recording with CAN ever.
  3. Ankeny, Jason. "Can: Soundtracks > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  4. Leone, Dominique (11 November 2004). "Can: Soundtracks". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  5. Nathan Brackett; Christian David Hoard (2004). The new Rolling Stone album guide. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
  6. Southall, Nick (7 January 2005). "Can: Monster Movie / Soundtracks". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  7. "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever!". Q. London: EMAP Metro (#224). March 2005. ISSN 0955-4955. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
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