[Cover photo courtesy of Spoon Records]

The latest in the Can Live series, Live in Paris 1973, has been released on vinyl, CD and digitally via Mute and Future Days (the new EU label created by Spoon Records). Live in Paris 1973 finds Can performing as recorded at L’Olympia in Paris on May 12,1973, marking the first of the live series to feature the vocalist Damo Suzuki, whose untimely death was announced earlier this month.

From 1970-73, Can’s core line up of Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit, Michael Karoli, and Holger Czukay were joined by Japanese improviser and vocalist Suzuki. They met after a chance encounter while Suzuki was busking in Munich, and several months after the Paris 1973 performance, he left the band when his wanderlust took him back on the road.

This new album in the series allows us to witness the band at a particularly important stage of their career, with two of their biggest albums, Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi (the latter feeding into the Paris performance), recently released.

The recording itself was uncovered and pieced together from recordings within the Spoon Records vaults and those sent in by helpful fans. It was brought into the 21st century by founding member Irmin Schmidt and producer/engineer René Tinner, who have compiled and edited all the albums in this series.

The new release follows Can Live in Brighton 1975, Can Live in Stuttgart 1975, and Can Live in Cuxhaven 1976. Two further releases are planned for 2024, with news to follow.

On a somber note, Damo Suzuki’s death at the age of 74 was announced earlier this month. The Cologne-based, Japanese-born singer had recently released a biography, I Am Damo Suzuki, and was the subject of a documentary, Energy: A Film About Damo Suzuki, released in 2022.