Movies

When this started, I thought it sounded interesting, but it soon devolved into a bunch of unrelated sounds pieced together, which kinda did my head in. That may have been the effect that Holger was going for, but no something I'm really going to listen to again

Well, I’ll take something interesting any day. I'm not the biggest Can fan, but I liked their first two albums enough. Very well sequenced and nice to listen to. This is good too. "Cool in the Pool" is a nice little song. A good opener, and way better than you'd expect it to be based on what it is. Very like mentally stimulating. And then of course I'm a sucker for a 13-minute krautrock song so I love "Oh Lord, Give Us More Money." I mean it's so nice to listen to. Weird obviously but very nice as a little bit of background stuff, and when he starts raving about "GIVE US MOOOOORRRREEEE MONEYYYYYY!!!! HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!" I really vibed with it. I also really like the throughline of weird samples across this whole album, it gives the entire thing a nice little air of extra weirdness which really helps to transport you somewhere, which I appreciate in an album. "Persian Love" is... kinda wack honestly. I appreciate what it goes for but it's just kinda not there. The last song is fine. I think the big problem is there's just not much personal expression here. The music's awesome, but there's so little behind it. Y'know? That being said I do love parts of it.
7.2/10

This is such a weird mashup of non-sequitur noise that I don't know what to do with it. Some of it is listenable, but cool in the pool makes me want to drown

2.5

This is a great listen. Very weird, but entertaining.

4.0/5.0: Great

i didnt love track one but the other three were fantastic. very weird but enjoyable listen.

Listen, it’s interesting to hear all the samples and loops, but the music just does nothing for me really.

Really interesting and avant garde album. Had no idea where it was going next. I, for one, really enjoy that when it is coupled with a high level of musicianship. After listening it's no surprise this guy was a founding member of the band Can. Never heard of it prior but it was definitely a trip. Not sure I'll listen to it a bunch but it made my drive to work really interesting.

Pretty mid ngl, it's not BAD but idk about have to listen to before you die. Persian love is nice but maybe a bit long which really says something given that it's the 2nd shortest song on the album 2

I like it when tjis project throws up something i have never heard of and this is just that.
My initial thoughts on this album was that i didn’t mind the music, but the ‘vocals’ were just irritating. That said even the music felt a bit repetitive by the end of track 1, although there was a bot of variety in the random noises in its final minute.
Not sure if it was Apple music or the actual album, but the change of tracks was quite harsh and badly edited. Track 2 starts very slowly and as my eyes glance toward the track length …and the appearance of some synths i begin to lose all hope. It does however pick up with the introduction of the spoken samples. However, all hope is dashed again with constant fading out and then in toward the end of the track.
Track 3 was far more efor large parts until the vocals dropped off and then it was more of the same shit.
Least said about track 4 the better, with again the spoken samples (i keep referring to these bits as samples but assume they are fake samples created for the album) are ss close to highlights as you get

Track one is like a madman has been let loose in the BBC Sound Effects Archive, got over excited and tried to use at least one effect from every category of noise. It was a sensible song length, if not a sensible song, and I didn't hate it.

Track two, being over 13 minutes started slowly, before the weird vocals and dog barking sound effects reappeared. It was, to put it mildly too fucking long to be that fucking weird.

Track three, "short" at only 6:20 was also weird. But also with sort of South Asian vocals and African inspired instrumentals. I started to long for the traffic noises to return because at least then something would happen.

Finally track four, the real endurance test at over 15 minutes. It was one of those songs where every instrument sounded like it was trying to play a different track. While a wavery voice sang "to whooooooom it may concern" over the top. I got fed up with it around a quarter of the way in.

Really, really, really weird, but I didn't hate all of it, so:

2/5

what vulfpeck could have sounded like if they didnt go for the safest sound imaginable. 4.5

Better than Coldplay

I had never heard of this one and it was exactly what you would expect for an album with this cover. Super weird, kind of disjointed, really uneven. But it all kind of works for some reason. I would by no means call this a great album, maybe not even a good one, but I am happy to have heard it today. I feel like it was a very successful attempt at experimental music, especially for 1979. I listened to this twice today and though I may not ever listen to it again, if I ever see it in the wild I'll definitely pick it up just because, well, how could you not? 3.5/5

Movies is weird. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a “did that really need to be there?” way. You can absolutely hear the creativity and the forward-thinking spirit in it. The tape loops, radio snippets, drifting bass lines, and collage-style production feel genuinely experimental rather than lazy. It’s clear Czukay was pushing at the edges of what pop or rock music could be.

That said, experimentation alone doesn’t guarantee cohesion. At times the pieces don’t quite meld, and the constant vocal sampling becomes more distracting than illuminating. There are moments where the atmosphere locks in and the strangeness feels purposeful, even cool. But just as often it feels like it’s reaching a bit too far without fully landing the idea.

I respect it more than I enjoy it. I’m glad I heard it. I don’t need to hear it again.

How are two songs making up half of the length of this album? Just how? Also I find it funny that exactly those songs have the least plays.

What the actual fuck is going on? Like in all honesty. I hated his band, Can. It seems his solo career isn't any better. I don't even have anything to say about this album. Just keep it as far away from me as possible. God I hope this is the last time I have to listen to this guy or his band or anyone else involved in the making of this trash.

Robert why did you make this list? Why? Just to see us suffer? Isn't it enough that God has cast us aside and abandoned us? WHY torment us further? If there is a hell then this list is for sure played on repeat there.

Self indulgent garbage. I’m sure he had fun making it- but he was thinking about himself far more than he was thinking about his poor listener. Not for me.

I will not include the bonus instrumental version of "Cool in the Pool" in this review.

It's a good thing I went through both Can records first, because now I recognize bassist Holger Czukay and how integral he was to the group, as his recording and tape-editing skills helped define their sound. However, that didn't stop Czukay from being sidelined by the band for creative differences and his limited ability on the bass guitar. Thus, he left Can in 1977 to pursue a solo career, with Movies serving as his debut.

The best way I could describe Movies is as a sound collage, influenced by the musique concrète work of Stockhausen, whom Czukay previously studied under. The core sound is an oddball combination of electronic textures and media samples accumulated over several months of listening on the radio. In a sense, this was one of the first records to make use of sampling, with limited presence from Czukay's bass and talkative vocals, the spare layered synths he added, and the cerebral drumwork of fellow Can alum Jaki Liebezeit. I respect the intent of this record, even if I don't find myself fully gelling with it.

"Cool in the Pool" was a tad limp in the synth-heavy funk romp, only made interesting by the occasional whir of radio samples. "Oh Lord, Give Us More Money" saw other Can alums Michael Karoli and Irmin Schmidt join in the extended instrumental jam, only hampered by Czukay's occasional shouting vocals that can be headache-inducing. Probably the most realized track of the four here was "Persian Love", where I was intrigued by the pairing of the sampled Iranian vocalist with the soft guitar and synth accompaniment. Finally, "Hollywood Symphony" opted for a near-cinematic feel in the presentation with spacious synth textures and noodling guitar that does come off as a journey into the unknown, even if it is more wandering than focused.

That does lead me to my ultimate conceit with Movies, which is that it is a collection of experiments, largely foregoing compositional structure in Czukay's pursuit of forming these sound collages with gathered audio recordings. He certainly accomplished what he set out to do, and the result was that he pioneered a production technique. But little else is given to the instrumental or lyrical writing other than trying to capture an atmosphere. Sampling had to start somewhere, and I am grateful to Holger Czukay for ushering in a new era of music, even as I feel we've come a long way from this.

What a marvelously eccentric discovery! A perfect Valentine's Day gift from the generator. 💖

Originally gave this a 4, but had to give it a 5 after listening to it again. It's so delightfully strange and you never know what to expect from one moment to the next

Definitely a weird one. Hard to describe it, but I didn't like it that much.