All Gates Open

Rob Young

'All Gates Open' is a music book like no other. Its subject is Can, arguably the most important experimental group of the 20th century. Formed in Cologne in 1968, Can drew their influences from the avant-garde - founding members Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay both studied under Stockhausen - and jazz traditions to create a heavily rhythmic, minimal music that redefined what it meant to be a popular band. The book comprises two elements of equal weight: a biography of the group by Rob Young and a Symposium curated by Irmin Schmidt. The latter explores, in Irmin's own voice and that of his collaborators and admirers, the tentacular influence Can have had upon not just popular music, but also the visual arts, poetry and film. Can have been a direct source of inspiration for numerous genres, notably ambient, post-punk and electronica.