Malcolm Mooney
Encyclopedia
Malcolm Mooney is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

, probably best known as the original vocalist for German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...

 band Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...

.

Biography

Mooney began singing in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

, and was a member of an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 vocal group known as the Six Fifths. He gained some fame as a sculptor in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, then moved to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 where he became a friend of Irmin Schmidt
Irmin Schmidt
Irmin Schmidt is a German keyboard player and composer, probably best known as a founding member of the band Can.-Biography:...

 and Holger Czukay
Holger Czukay
Holger Czukay is a German musician, probably best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described by critic Jason Ankeny as "successfully bridg[ing] the gap between pop and the avant-garde," Czukay is also notable for creating early important examples of ambient music, for exploring...

, who were forming a band. Mooney joined as lead vocalist. The band was originally known as "Inner Space", but Mooney came up with "The Can", which was later shortened to just Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...

.

An album of material was recorded, initially entitled Prepared To Meet Thy Pnoom
Delay 1968
-Personnel:*Holger Czukay – bass*Michael Karoli – guitar*Jaki Liebezeit – drums, percussion*Irmin Schmidt – keyboards*Malcolm Mooney – vocals...

, although no record company was willing to release it. Can made a second attempt at recording an album, which became their debut Monster Movie. It was successful in the German underground scene of the time, and combined the band's Velvet Underground-influenced rock with Mooney's mixture of paranoid ramblings and James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...

-style vocal funk. Prepared To Meet Thy Pnoom was released in 1981 as compilation album Delay 1968
Delay 1968
-Personnel:*Holger Czukay – bass*Michael Karoli – guitar*Jaki Liebezeit – drums, percussion*Irmin Schmidt – keyboards*Malcolm Mooney – vocals...

, and various other tracks that Mooney recorded with the band during this period appear on Soundtracks
Soundtracks (Can album)
Soundtracks is a soundtrack album by the Krautrock group Can. It was first released in 1970 and consists of tracks written for various films. The album marks the departure of the band's original vocalist Malcolm Mooney, who sings on two tracks, to be replaced by new member Damo Suzuki...

, and the compilation Unlimited Edition
Unlimited Edition (album)
Unlimited Edition is a compilation album by the band Can. Released in 1976 as a double album, it was an expanded version of the 1974 LP Limited Edition on United Artists Records which, as the name suggests, was a limited release of 15,000 copies...

.

Mooney left Can in 1970 on the advice of his psychiatrist, and returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 as it was believed that this would be beneficial for his mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...

.

He rejoined Can in 1986 to record a one-off reunion album, Rite Time
Rite Time
Rite Time is Can's twelfth and last studio album, considered a reunion album because of the time elapsed since the band's previous album, Can, which had been released in 1979. The album consists of sessions recorded in the South of France in late 1986, edited extensively by the band over the course...

. He also has released two albums with the San Francisco Bay Area band Tenth Planet, on the first of which, a new version of the song "Father Cannot Yell" from Monster Movie appears. For the second Tenth Planet album, a different line-up was introduced, and the album saw a limited release in Japan on the P-Vine label. Prior to its issue, the Unfortunate Miracle label issued a limited 7" picture disc single containing two early mixes from the forthcoming album.
In 2002 Mooney was invited to sing on Andy Votel's "All Ten Fingers" album - on the song "Salted Tangerines", a version of Mooney's poem of the same name.
Mooney now focuses on his visual art. In 2007 Matthew Higgs
Matthew Higgs
Matthew Higgs is a British artist, curator, writer and publisher. His contribution to UK contemporary art has included the creation of Imprint 93, a series of artists’ editions featuring the work of artists such as Martin Creed and Jeremy Deller...

 invited Mooney to exhibit a piece at New York's venerable White Columns.

Discography

Malcolm Mooney appears on the following original albums:

With Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...

:
  • Monster Movie (1969)
  • Soundtracks
    Soundtracks (Can album)
    Soundtracks is a soundtrack album by the Krautrock group Can. It was first released in 1970 and consists of tracks written for various films. The album marks the departure of the band's original vocalist Malcolm Mooney, who sings on two tracks, to be replaced by new member Damo Suzuki...

    (1970)
  • Unlimited Edition
    Unlimited Edition (album)
    Unlimited Edition is a compilation album by the band Can. Released in 1976 as a double album, it was an expanded version of the 1974 LP Limited Edition on United Artists Records which, as the name suggests, was a limited release of 15,000 copies...

    compilation, includes all the tracks on earlier Limited Edition (1976)
  • Delay 1968
    Delay 1968
    -Personnel:*Holger Czukay – bass*Michael Karoli – guitar*Jaki Liebezeit – drums, percussion*Irmin Schmidt – keyboards*Malcolm Mooney – vocals...

    compilation (1981)
  • Rite Time
    Rite Time
    Rite Time is Can's twelfth and last studio album, considered a reunion album because of the time elapsed since the band's previous album, Can, which had been released in 1979. The album consists of sessions recorded in the South of France in late 1986, edited extensively by the band over the course...

    (1989)


With Tenth Planet:
  • Malcolm Mooney and the Tenth Planet (1998)
  • Hysterica (2006)


With Andy Votel
Andy Votel
Andrew Shallcross, known by his stage name Andy Votel, is an electronic musician, DJ and record producer, co-founder of Twisted Nerve Records and the reissue label Finders Keepers Records...

:
  • All Ten Fingers (2002)
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