Can are set to release their official biography as a deluxe, two-volume book.
The first volume will cover the German band's official story and will include interviews with all band members. The second volume is billed as a Can “symposium”, in which founder and keyboardist Irmin Schmidt and Electronic Beats editor-in-chief Max Dax collate a variety of pieces inspired by Can. A variety of artists will be involved in the project, as well as musicians including James Murphy, Geoff Barrow, Daniel Miller and Andrew Weatherall.
Can are regarded as one of the most influential avant garde rock groups of all time. They were at the forefront of the krautrock movement that evolved in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s, along with bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk. Can's 1969 debut Monster Movie, Tago Mago (1971) and Future Days (1973) are regarded as some of the most groundbreaking in rock history, combining psychedelia with classic pop influences and avant garde compositional methods.
Their music directly inspired major artists of the period such as David Bowie and Iggy Pop, before going on to shape everything from indie rock to electronica. Modern-day fans include The Horrors, LCD Soundsystem and Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, who has previously worked with Can's drummer Jaki Liebezeit. Gillespie said: “After all this time, Can are the one band who have kept their mystery. Their music is a truly occult sound. A real band of magicians, they destroy everybody working in music today. No one comes close.”
The Can biography will be written by Rob Young, who wrote the comprehensive history of British folk music Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music. It is to be published by Faber's music imprint Faber Social in spring 2016.
• Irmin Schmidt will be in conversation with Andrew Weatherall at the Faber Social on 29 March Saturday at House of St Barnabas, in London
