Can - Live In Cuxhaven 1976 (LP) - Curacao Vinyl

Can’s official live series keeps paying off, and Live In Cuxhaven 1976 might be the most revealing of the lot. Released in 2022 on Spoon/Mute, it captures the band in that odd and brilliant hinterland after Tago Mago and Future Days, with the Flow Motion era just settling in. No star frontperson here. It’s the core four, locked tight and wordless, shaping a whole night around feel and instinct. Irmin Schmidt on keys and electronics, Michael Karoli on guitar, Holger Czukay on bass and shortwave, and Jaki Liebezeit, whose pulse still sounds like the best drum machine never built.

The recording comes from the band’s own archive and, like the other sets, uses the series’ simple track naming. You get long-form pieces that swell and recede rather than song-by-song reproductions. That suits 1976 Can. They were deep into groove science by then, folding in supple funk and a light reggae sway, the same instincts that made Flow Motion such a left turn. You hear it within minutes. Jaki sits in a patient one or two bar cycle, trimming every fill until it’s just the essence of motion. Holger’s tone is thick and dubby, sometimes wobbling at the edge of the tape, sometimes sending little radio ghosts through the gaps. Karoli, so often the quiet hero, plays with a dancer’s balance, flicking between trebly stabs, liquid leads and those glassy chords that seem to hang in the air. Schmidt pours on organ and synth colour, not grandstanding, just shading the picture and nudging the band into new corners.

What makes Cuxhaven special is the way it traces a full arc without quoting the obvious hits. By late 1976 the group had a UK Top 30 single with I Want More and even made Top of the Pops, but the concert doesn’t read like business for the charts. It’s exploratory and mercurial, closer to a rite than a recital. Themes appear, threaten to become songs, then dissolve into another idea. Those who came for the heroic motorik of Vitamin C or Halleluwah get something subtler and just as hypnotic, a series of grooves that glide rather than pound. When the energy spikes, it feels earned. When it cools, you can hear the room breathe.

As with Stuttgart 1975 and Brighton 1975, the source is raw but treated with care. The restoration keeps the grit intact. There is a touch of hiss, a bit of bleed, and the sense of a specific space and night. That is part of the appeal. The drums sit forward, the bass is wonderfully present, and the keys and guitar bloom without turning to mush. You can tell this is not a polite live album assembled from multitracks in a studio. It’s a document, and it preserves the band’s conversational chemistry. If you’ve been following the series, Cuxhaven sits later on the timeline and you can hear the shift. The rhythms are looser at the hips, the harmonies a shade sunnier, the edges still sharp.

For anyone crate digging for Can vinyl, the Live In Cuxhaven 1976 vinyl edition is an easy recommendation. It slots perfectly next to the studio run while giving you the thing the albums can only hint at, that telepathic way they built a whole set from a handful of cues. If you’re looking to buy Can records online, this belongs in the cart with Ege Bamyasi and The Lost Tapes. And if you prefer browsing in person, it’s the kind of record you might find propped on the counter at a Melbourne record store, the staff ready with a grin and a needle drop on the second side. It also helps that the current pressings from Spoon/Mute have been consistent, which makes Can albums on vinyl a less nerve-racking prospect than hunting down battered originals.

Live In Cuxhaven 1976 doesn’t try to be definitive. It doesn’t need to. It shows four musicians, in Germany in 1976, with their systems set to explore and their ears wide open. You come away hearing how they carried their history into a new language and made it feel light on its feet. For those building a live shelf, or for anyone in vinyl records Australia circles wanting a set that actually earns repeat plays, this one rewards patience and curiosity. Put it on, let that first groove settle, and hear why this band’s legend has only grown with time.