Damo Suzuki Band

Damo Suzuki Band - V.E.R.N.I.S.S.A.G.E - 1998 - Damo's Net Work

Despite the fact that two-thirds of Damo Suzuki's lyrics are incomprehensible, the power of Suzuki's delivery makes it okay. Vernissage, released in 1998, features the sprawling songs that guarantee Damo Suzuki Band will never get airplay on the local station (the shortest song on this record is over 8 minutes, the longest an epochal 26:39). Ever since Damo Suzuki added his primal vocal power to Krautrock pioneers Can, he has been exploding conceptions of what constitutes how rock is done. Take for example the fact that, beginning with Vernissage, his band apparently intend only to release live albums — some of which are seven CDs long (P.R.O.M.I.S.E.). Listeners will recognize in Vernissage what could be described as the Police meets Pink Floyd as interpreted by Can. Here you have former Can drummer Jaki Leibezeit's trademark rhythms holding down occasional bursts of '80s-style keyboard and David Gilmore-esque arpeggios, while Suzuki's howls swell and shrink as the obvious impresario sees fit. If you have the head space to drift in and out of your own thoughts during a 20-plus-minute song, then Vernissage might provide a comforting aural landscape in which to do it. © Sean Hurley © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kpfrxqy0ldfe

Recorded live in Linz, Austria on 11.1.90, "V.E.R.N.I.S.S.A.G.E" is arguably more rooted in basic rock than the unique, primal, angular rhythmic progressive sound of Can. There are good extensive rock improvisations, often lightweight and simple, but overall, quite effective. Dominik von Senger's great guitar work, Jaki Liebezeit's drumming and Damo Suzuki's amazing "gibberistic" vocals contribute greatly to the album. (Craig Johnson brilliantly described Damo's vocal style by saying "His sometimes serene, other times terrifying spontaneous vocal delivery and the drugged funk, space-age gothic repetition of the band (Can) carved a significant notch onto the draft of modern music". [from "Damo Suzuki : HollyAris : I Am Damo Suzuki".] © http://www.spikemagazine.com/0205damosuzuki.php). But sometimes the keyboard bass work by Mathias Keul lacks originality and excitement. A little more originality and innovation by Mathias Keul would have improved the album. "Halleluwah" and "Mushroom" may be the album's best tracks. However for fans of Can, Damo Suzuki, Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt, or Jaki Liebezeit, "V.E.R.N.I.S.S.A.G.E" is a worthwhile addition to your collection. Try and listen to the Damo Suzuki Band's "Seattle [live]" album. Listen to Can's brilliant "Tago Mago", and "Ege Bamyasi" albums. Dunkelziffer's "Live" album is @ DUNKELZ/LIVE Check this blog for more Can and Irmin Schmidt releases

TRACKS

1 Date Line Today / Yesterday 13:20
2 Ballad Of Diver 8:30
3 Don't Forget Ya Job, Halleluwah, Mushroom, Day Lily 26:39
4 Weekend Paradise 13:53

All tracks played and composed by Damo Suzuki, Mathias Keul, Dominik von Senger, and Jaki Liebezeit except Halleluwah, and Mushroom by Can

BAND

Damo Suzuki - Vocals [ex-Can, Dunkelziffer]
Dominik von Senger - Guitar [Dunkelziffer]
Mathias Keul - Keyboards [Dunkelziffer]
Jaki Liebezeit - Drums [ex-Can, Phantom Band]

DAMO SUZUKI BIO

The longtime lead vocalist for Krautrock pioneers Can, Kenji "Damo" Suzuki was born in Japan on January 16, 1950. An expatriate street poet inspired by Jack Kerouac's On the Road, he spent the better part of the late 1960s wandering through Europe, and while busking outside a cafe in Munich in May of 1970 was discovered by Can members Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit; asked to replace the group's former frontman Malcolm Mooney, Suzuki joined them onstage that very night, making his recorded debut later that same year on the LP Soundtracks. With Suzuki in the lineup, Can produced its most enduring and innovative work, including classic LPs like 1971's Tago Mago, 1972's Ege Bamayasi and 1973's Future Days; however, upon completing work on the latter, he left the band to become a Jehovah's Witness. Absent from music for a decade, in 1983 Suzuki began showing up unannounced to perform at shows by the band Dunkelziffer, eventually joining the group full-time and recording a pair of LPs; in 1986, he formed the Damo Suzuki Band with fellow Can alum Liebezeit on drums, Dominik von Senger on guitar, and Matthias Keul on keyboards. Four years later the group mutated to become Damo Suzuki and Friends, its loose-knit lineup playing in and around the Cologne area on a weekly basis; in 1998, he founded the Damo's Network label, issuing a series of live recordings including V.E.R.N.I.S.S.A.G.E., Seattle and the seven-CD box set P.R.O.M.I.S.E.. © Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

Kenji Suzuki Suzuki Kenji?, born 16 January 1950, in Japan), universally known as Damo Suzuki, is a singer best known for his membership in the German krautrock group Can. As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking. When Malcolm Mooney left Can after recording their first album Monster Movie, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit encountered Suzuki singing on a street in Munich, Germany whilst the two were sitting outside at a street café. They invited him to join the group, and he did, performing with them that evening. Suzuki was with Can from 1970 to 1973, recording a number of well-regarded albums such as Tago Mago, Future Days and Ege Bamyasi. Suzuki's first vocal performance with Can was "Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone" from Soundtracks. His freeform, often improvised lyrics, sung in no particular language gelled with Can's rolling, psychedelic sound. Suzuki converted to the Jehovah's Witness faith when he married his German girlfriend, who was also a Jehovah's Witness, after the release of the album Future Days, and retired from music in 1974. He returned to music in 1983, and currently leads what is known as Damo Suzuki's Network - as he tours, he performs live improvisational music with various local musicians (so-called "Sound Carriers") from around the world, thus building up a 'network' of musicians with whom he collaborates. As far as more recent recorded material is concerned, Damo is featured on electronic/hip-hop producer Sixtoo's album, "Chewing on Glass and Other Miracle Cures" (Ninja Tune, 2004). Among the musicians in his live shows have been Michael Karoli and Jaki Liebezeit of Can, Mani Neumeier of Guru Guru, Dustin Donaldson of I Am Spoonbender, Cul De Sac, Passierzettel, The Early Years, The Bees, Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene, Airiel, Acid Mothers Temple, The Holy Soul, The Sandells, the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet (with whom he has recorded the 2007 EP Please Heat This Eventually), The Skull Defekts, AIDS Wolf, Edmondo Ammendola and Dave Williams of Augie March, Gordon J Watson & Simon Doling of Terminal Cheesecake, Stephen Mcbean from black mountain, The Prestidigitators, Gary Jeff of God, Calamalka, Karl Asa of J>A>W>, Hamish Black, tynder and many, many others. Suzuki has been recognised by name by at least three different bands. The Fall's 1985 album This Nation's Saving Grace features a song "I Am Damo Suzuki," inspired by and dedicated to the singer. The rock band The Mooney Suzuki takes its name from Damo Suzuki and Can's earlier vocalist Malcolm Mooney. And most recently UK based psych/prog rockers Dudes Of Neptune have dedicated an entire album "Jamming For Damo" to Suzuki.