Holger Czukay – Cool In The Pool forever…
While I never considered myself a fan, I always admired Krautrock band Can for their persistent driving rhythms and dashes of psychedelia – and thus I was sad to learn of the death earlier this week of Holger Czukay, the band’s bassist, electronics guru, radio frequency saboteur and all round spark of creativity…
However, while there was much about Czukay’s work that is admirable, I have always had a soft spot for Cool In The Pool, a quirky, avant-garde single off his 1979 Movies album (which crept into Sounds magazine’s ’All Time Top 100 Albums’ back in 1985, in 98th position), as well as the accompanying video, which is suitably bonkers.
Derek’s Music Blog notes that while the Movies album marked ‘the next chapter in Holger’s musical career’, the one track ‘that everyone agreed was a minor masterpiece was Cool In The Pool. It was Movies’ Magnus Opus. Holger’s decision to embark upon a solo career had been vindicated.’
Reflecting on his life and work, Pitchfork magazine noted that Cool in the Pool garners genre tags of ‘Krautrock, Comedy, Avantgarde, Disco’ on Discogs, and it’s a testament to Czukay’s genius: Who else could pull off all of the above in four minutes?’
RIP Holger, you moustachioed maestro…
[Thanks to groenlandrecords for the upload]
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