All Gates Open presents the definitive story of arguably the most
influential and revered avant-garde band of the late twentieth century:
CAN. It consists of two books. In Book One, Rob Young gives us the
full biography of a band that emerged at the vanguard of what would come
to be called the Krautrock scene in late sixties Cologne. With Irmin
Schmidt and Holger Czukay - two classically trained students of
Stockhausen - at the heart of the band, CAN's studio and live
performances burned an incendiary trail through the decade that
followed: and left a legacy that is still reverberating today in hip
hop, post rock, ambient, and countless other genres. Rob Young's account
draws on unique interviews with all founding members of CAN, as well as
their vocalists, friends and music industry associates. And he revisits
the music, which is still deliriously innovative and unclassifiable more
than four decades on. All Gates Open is a portrait of a group who
worked with visionary intensity and belief, outside the system and
inside their own inner space. Book Two, Can Kiosk, has been assembled
by Irmin Schmidt, founding member and guiding spirit of the band, as a
collage - a technique long associated with CAN's approach to recording.
There is an oral history of the band drawing on interviews that Irmin
made with musicians who see CAN as an influence - such as Bobby
Gillespie, Geoff Barrow, Daniel Miller, and many others. There are also
interviews with artists and filmmakers like Wim Wenders and John
Malkovitch, where Schmidt reflects on more personal matters and his work
with film. Extracts of Schmidt's notebook and diaries from 2013-14 are
also reproduced as a reflection on the creative process, and the
memories, dreams, and epiphanies it entails. Can Kiosk offers further
perspectives on a band that have inspired several generations of
musicians and filmmakers in the voices of the artists themselves. CAN
were unique, and their legacy is articulated in two books in this volume
with the depth, rigour, originality, and intensity associated with the
band itself. It is illustrated throughout with previously unseen art,
photographs, and ephemera from the band's archive.
