Browse by Artist: PHANTOM BAND

Artist:	PHANTOM BAND
Title:	Phantom Band
Label:	BUREAU B (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BB 045CD

Originally released in 1980 on Sky Records, Bureau B reissues the debut album by Phantom Band, a Cologne combo assembled by Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit. In spite of continuing in the vein of the last three Can albums, the Phantom Band (recording three albums themselves) remained unknown to many who would count themselves fans of Can. All of their albums are quite different from each other, even though there was just a single change in personnel: while ex-Can bass player Rosko Gee (earlier Steve Winwood's bassist in Traffic, now with the Helmut Zerlett Band) played a significant part in both the music, vocals and the production of the first, he was absent from the next. Featured heavily here is Jaki Liebezeit's inimitable monotone polyrhythmic drumming and the Phantom Band's predilection for hypnotic (Jamaican) grooves. Regular Phantom Band members alongside Jaki Liebezeit included keyboarder Helmut Zerlett, known to a wider television audience in Germany through the Harald Schmidt Show, percussionist Olek Gelba and guitarist Dominik von Senger, all drawn from the deep pool of Cologne musical talent which has given rise to so many projects over the past thirty years: Dunkelziffer, Damo Suzuki Band, Unknown Cases ("Masimba Bele"), Club Off Chaos, and Trance Groove, to name just a few. The CD booklet features comments by Jaki Liebezeit, Helmut Zerlett and Dominik von Senger, bringing to life the creation and unique chemistry of the Phantom Band. Mixed by Conny Plank, guest appearance by Holger Czukay.

Artist:	PHANTOM BAND
Title:	Freedom Of Speech
Label:	BUREAU B (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BB 046CD

Originally released in 1981 on Sky Records, Bureau B reissues the second album by Phantom Band, a Cologne combo assembled by Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit. By this point in the band's history, ex-Can bass player Rosko Gee (earlier Steve Winwood's bassist in Traffic) had left the band. The surviving quartet managed without a bass for the most part (or substituted a keyboard) and invited spoken-word performer Sheldon Ancel to step up to the microphone. And while the debut album revealed many Caribbean or African influences and a generally positive frame of mind, Freedom Of Speech is a somewhat darker avant-garde rock manifesto, interspersed with individual dub or reggae pieces. Regular Phantom Band members alongside Jaki Liebezeit included keyboarder Helmut Zerlett, known to a wider television audience in Germany through the Harald Schmidt Show, percussionist Olek Gelba and guitarist Dominik von Senger, all drawn from the deep pool of Cologne musical talent which has given rise to so many projects over the past thirty years: Dunkelziffer, Damo Suzuki Band, Unknown Cases ("Masimba Bele"), Club Off Chaos, and Trance Groove, to name just a few. The CD booklet features comments by Asmus Tietchens.

Artist:	PHANTOM BAND
Title:	Nowhere
Label:	SPOON/MUTE (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$10.00
Catalog #:	SPOON 9069CD

1998 reissue, orginally released in 1984. A combination of spacey electro-pop, dub and dark avant-rock influences, Phantom Band is one of the most authentically weird, essential and yet surprisingly overlooked organisms orbiting the Can universe. This is the third and final album from the project, masterminded by Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit, featuring Dominik von Senger (Dunkelziffer, Damo Suzuki Band/Network) on guitar, Helmut Zerlett (e.g. Dunkelziffer, Unknown Cases) on keyboards and Sheldon Ancel on vocals. Mixed and processed by Holger Czukay.

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