Cinema

A year after the passing of legendary German musician Holger Czukay (co-founder of krautrock pioneers Can), Grönland celebrates his 80th birthday with Cinema, an expansive five-disc box set with a 36-page booklet spanning his prolific life of experimentation. From track to track, the retrospective jumps all over the place, from light, jazzy breaths on opener “Konfigurationen” to deep dives into sound exploration on the 20-minute “Canaxis.” The better-known “Full Circle R.P.S. (No. 7)” shifts from razor-sharp flurrying horns to a meandering guitar lead, with rhythmic blips and vocals never quite rising to the surface, and a nonchalant snare cyclically shuffling throughout. Czukay’s overarching curiosity and humor pull the pieces of the aural collage together effortlessly. Even opposites like the buoyant “Hey Baba Reebop” and the more industrial and sparse “Breath Taking” feel connected by his penchant for exploration. To top it off, much of his work manages to also be catchy, especially the dark, loungey and lo-fi “La Premiere.”