Irmin Schmidt & Kumo - Axolotl Eyes

Can fans alert, another monster!

Having masterminded the impossibly-influential Can 40 years ago, Irmin Schmidt could be forgiven for mellowing with age, but this latest collaboration with British electronic music pioneer Jono Podmore shows his ever-questing spirit alive and joyfully kicking. Using the old Can technique of recording for hours then editing down, the pair have created a rich, vibrant, often jaw-dropping collision between man and machine; some achievement in this age of faceless technological one-upmanship.

Kick On The Floods announces that this no ordinary album, kicking up a hallucinogenic space-funk shuffle laced, like several tracks, with Ian Dixon’s ghostly trumpet and Paul Frederick’s whispery vocals over a gamut of unearthly melodies and textures from Irmin’s synthesizers. However, some of the most breathtaking moments come from his piano, whether spilling avant-jazz flurries on Drifting Days, Crime Pays or reconstructing classical themes on the glorious Etrurian Waltz. Umbilicus Clear invokes the beatless electronic drone-scapes of Tago Mago, but the most exciting excursions for Can fans will be the incandescent title track and stunningly complex Meteor Infected, which sound like nothing on this planet. This monumental addition to the Can-related sonic armoury comes with bonus DVD of the Flies, Guys & Choirs sound installation conceived for London’s Barbican Centre in 2001.

Mute | CDSPOON 48

Reviewed by Kris Needs
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