I just found a guy with a few MP3s on Soulseek.
I see what you mean, COLA. I can't tell whether this is the encode or the actual sound of the material, but everything has an oddly "metallic" sheen. Hiss seems to pump with Damo's voice. "One More Night" is particularly egregious, as Jaki's hi-hat work is suddenly very loud, very trebly, and very up-front.
If they are the VBR mp3s on Soulseek, I know who did those. He did an excellent job, encoding with LAME. I heard those files before I heard the actual discs, but, as Krabapple said, I wasn't about to judge on the basis of an mp3.
Sad to say, those mp3s are very faithful to the discs. That "pumping" sound you hear on the vocals is there throughout, and it's especially noticeable all over Ege Bamyasi. I concur with your analysis of "One More Night". What was once perhaps the most seductive and sensuous of Can songs now sounds harsh and almost aggressive. I'd call this a travesty, really.
They should've left well enough alone. Notice that Jaki's name isn't mentioned for the remastering. I especially like that video on the Can DVD in which they play Jaki a Can 5.1 surround mix in the studio. He seems far from impressed and says something like, "I guess if people want 5 channels now, whatever. I'd just as well go with everything mono - I couldn't care less!"
A wise man, Jaki.