Equinox 1970

Always at least three steps ahead of contemporary popular music, Can were the leading avant-garde rock group of the '70s. From their very beginning, their music didn't conform to any commonly held notions about rock & roll – not even those of the countercultures. Inspired more by 20th century classical music than Chuck Berry, their closest contemporaries were Frank Zappa or possibly the Velvet Underground. Yet their music was more serious and inaccessible than either of those artists. Instead of recording tight pop songs or satire, Can experimented with noise, synthesizers, non-traditional music, cut-and-paste techniques, and, most importantly, electronic music; each album marked a significant step forward from the previous album, investigating new territories that other rock bands weren't interested in exploring…

Friedemann made his first appearances in his native town, at the former Southwest Radio and Talentschuppen TV between 1967 and 1970. In 1979 he released his first album

Crammed with over two hours worth of Can performing during their peak years this selection of live cuts shows just what a dazzlingly inventive outfit the German free-form pioneers could be outside of their natural studio habitat. Like many innovative groups of the 1960's and 1970's Can live were a remarkably different beast from their studio persona, many of the tracks captured on this two-disc compilation either completely unrecognisable from their original album form or simply the result of some impromptu jams between the five members…