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Damo Suzuki has concerts in the can with 2012-2013 UK shows

Posted: 11 years ago
Legendary Can musician to collaborate with noise-funkers 23 Skidoo for exclusive London gig, tickets on sale now
London Jazz Festival

Despite not achieving much more than critical acclaim in the UK, Germany's bizarre jazz-rock collective Can are regarded as a primary influence on much of today's most eclectic artists with Sonic Youth, UNKLE and PiL all having name-checked the psychedelic outfit as a source of inspiration.

During what is widely considered to be their creative heyday of the early '70s, Can's frontman was one Damo Suzuki, who joined them after members Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit spotted him busking. During his tenure, Suzuki provided vocals on key albums 'Tago Mago', 'Future Days' and 'Ege Bamyesi', before discovering love (he married) and leaving music completely. He returned in the '80s with his own Damo Suzuki Network, a collaborative project that has featured live contributions from ex-Can members, as well as The Bees, Omar Rodriguez, Espers and more.

Another band inspired by Can's desire to eschew verse-chorus song structures is 23 Skidoo. Initially part of the UK post-punk and industrial scene, the outfit simply couldn't be pigeonholed, due in part to them fusing punk-funk with Gamelan and African rhythms, found-sounds and samples. Key examples of their oeuvre include albums 'Seven Songs' and 'Urban Gamelan' and the club-hit 'Coup', tastefully 'borrowed' by Chemical Brothers for their hit 'Block Rockin' Beats'.

As part of the London Jazz Festival 2012, Damo Suzuki and 23 Skidoo, along with Three Trapped Tigers, will be teaming up for one of three Suzuki shows in the coming months. The Village Underground in Shoreditch will host this one-off show on 11th November with tickets still available for £11.50.

In addition, Damo is also set to perform two further UK shows next year, starting in Gillingham on 16th March 2013 at the town's Beacon Court Tavern (£12), followed by another collaborative show with Listing Ships, this time at London's Social venue. We have Early Bird tickets for the Social show now, priced at £7.50 - very limited.

Paul Pledger