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German group Can's music was so forward thinking it's hard to believe. They mingled world music, Velvets extremism, jazzy chops, and avant-garde flavoring--such as live manipulation of tapes and short-wave radios, strange nonsense singing, dissonant synthesizer textures--all within the framework of a constant groove. Sonic Youth, PIL, Stereolab, Carl Craig, and others bow at their feet. Can were machinelike and off kilter, but always funky: James Brown by way of Steve Reich. Drummer Jaki Liebezeit had a stunning, prototechno sensibility, like he was some living, breathing, flexible drum loop. Assembled almost in time for the group's 30th anniversary, Can Box is a lovingly compiled, limited-edition multimedia package packed with surprises: two live CDs stuffed with newly released material from '72 to '75, a 478-page book, and a 2-hour VHS-format video. The exceptionally produced video is the highlight, with campy, relevatory television appearances and variously spliced-together documentaries. The real meat of the video is the film Can Free Concert (made by Peter Przygodda and Robby Muller, collaborators on Wim Wenders's movies), which was shot on February 3, 1972, with singer Damo Suzuki in full flail form and the musicians in telepathic trance-rock connection. It is far more engaging than any concert documentary has a right to be. The book, a selection of essays, lengthy interviews, and articles, holds many secrets for the Can freak, but it is difficult to navigate, as three languages do not readily fit into four columns of text. The music was taken from bootleg tapes and is the live Can as only concert goers ever experienced them: massive yet nimble at the same time, constantly improvising. Check the first track, "Jynx," an unexploded Hindenburg of a song recorded in 1975. The piece briefly features the bass line to "Mother Sky," but is an "instant composition" never named until selected for this set 20-plus years later. The funky "Dizzy Dizzy" is hugely enjoyable as well: the delirious snaking guitar lines, hypnotic minimalist keyboard riffs, Afro-funkish bass, and inhuman drum-kit pulsations sound as crazily inventive as ever. --Mike McGonigal