IRMIN SCHIMDT LIVE

Coinciding with the dates, Mute and Spoon are pleased to announce the vinyl release of VILLA WUNDERBAR, compiling the work of Can founder Irmin Schmidt’s solo and soundtrack work. The four-piece vinyl box set, previously only available on CD, will be released on 22 November 2019 on clear vinyl, limited to 1000 copies worldwide and will include two Can remixes plus a collection of soundtrack pieces personally compiled by long-term collaborator Wim Wenders.

The first two albums in the Villa Wunderbar box set are a compilation of Irmin Schmidt’s extensive work as a solo artist over the past 30 years, whilst the second two - selected and presented by the filmmaker Wim Wenders - are an insight into Schmidt's vast work as a composer for film and television for which Wenders has written extensive sleeve notes.

The compilation includes tracks such as ‘Villa Wunderbar’, ‘Kick On The Floods’ and ‘Bohemian Step’, alongside remixes by Schmidt of two Can tracks, ‘Alice’ and ‘Last Night Sleep’ and is updated to include Schmidt’s latest work, ‘Klavierstück V’.

Listen to a selection of tracks from Villa Wunderbar HERE.

After an extensive classical education as pianist, conductor and composer, Irmin Schmidt – who studied under Stockhausen and Ligeti - established Can in the late 60s combining classic new music with rock and jazz. The band’s powerful influence has never diminished, and their indelible mark is apparent in the bands who freely acknowledge their importance - from Portishead, James Murphy, New Order, Factory Floor, Public Image Ltd, Mogwai, Kanye West (who sampled ‘Sing Swan Song’) and Radiohead - as well as across other disciplines such as visual art and literature.

After Can disbanded in the late 70s, Irmin Schmidt returned to his work as a solo artist and the result is a vast oeuvre, which includes a series of solo albums (Toy Planet (1981), Musk At Dusk (1987), Impossible Holidays (1991)), an opera (Gormenghast (2000) based on the Mervyn Peak trilogy), several releases with English composer Kumo (Masters Of Confusion (2001),

Axolotl Eyes (2008), Flies, Guys & Choirs (2008) and Cyclopean EP (2013)), a ballet (La Fermosa by Youri Vàmos) and over 100 film scores (Snowland, 2005 dir Hans W. Geissendörfer, Palermo Shooting, 2008, dir Wim Wenders), amongst others)

Schmidt's sound-trips combine what normally competes and conflicts: rock, pop, jazz, classic, electronic, ambient, drum 'n’ bass, waltz, eastern... He is a musical alchemist.

RECENT PRAISE FOR IRMIN SCHMIDT’S 5 KLAVIERSTÜCKE “… he builds a relentless, muffled rhythm Jaki Liebezeit would have admired” 8* UNCUT
“A hypnotic duel between silence and humanity” – PROG
“… zenlike in its austerity” - SPIN

Listen to a selection of tracks from Villa Wunderbar here