Side One:
01. In a “Pinch,”* Cologne, Germany’s Week-End Fest decided to hire the coolly insane Stephen Malkmus (of Pavement fame and Jicks, uh, acknowledgement) to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Can’s insanely cool Ege Bamyasi album by performing it in of all its entirely cool insanity. (*Boredoms were unavailable.)
02. At first, Malkmus was nervous. But before he could even so much as open his mouth to practice his vocal sibilance exercises (consisting of a bunch of tongue-twisting s-words, like “Sing Swan Song” and so on) back at his rehearsal space, members of Cologne-based band Von Spar knocked on the door, eager to join him in fleshing out the jams just right.
03. Wishing he had just “One More Night” to practice these pretty goddamn idiosyncratic songs, Malkmus’ wish was granted when he learned that the fest wasn’t scheduled to go down until November 30 - December 2. Phew!
Side Two:
04. But performing Can’s arguably most-famous album? In Cologne?? In front of a bunch of your pretty formidable peers, including Scritti Politti, Ty Segall, Deerhoof, The Field, Nite Jewel, Chris Cohen, James Yorkston, Fainting by Numbers (Justus Köhncke and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor), Naytronix (of tUnE-yArDs), Little Wings, Chain and the Gang, and others??? Big responsibility, Steve. Better rest up and take plenty of “Vitamin C,” so that you’re in top form for the gig.
05. I hear you can get lots of vitamin C from squash and pumpkin “Soup,” actually.
06. But then again, what do I know? “I’m So Green” on the subject of nutrition and the culinary arts in general. I mean, I’ll be honest here; I shouldn’t really be dispensing advice about squash soup to Stephen Malkmus. All I really know about soups is how best to eat them.
07. You know, with a “Spoon.”
• Week-End Fest: http://www.weekendfest.de
• Stephen Malkmus: http://stephenmalkmus.com
More about: Can, Stephen Malkmus
