I'm sitting here listening to Tago Mago, trying to pick a riff that's winding through Oh Yeah. I just can't put my finger on it and it's driving me nuts. No doubt it will come to me in time, but right now, no bloody go! I best think about something else entirely. Bananas or summer fashions or Shottky diodes, that usually works. When it comes back to me, I'll get back to you.
In the meantime.
Can are the Gott-Fathers of Krautrock. Percolating out of Cologne circa 1968, they are as good an instrumental band ** that ever went round in rock music. Anywhere. Not just in Germany.
** Original singer Malcolm Mooney was a frenetic performer typical of the more out-there front-men of the day. Think no further than Syd Barrett or Roky Erickson. True to that form, Mooney suffered a nervous breakdown in 1970. Rather than replace him with like-for-like, Can pulled in Munich busker Damo Suzuki who provided a whole new "mood" dynamic. This moved the band away from the standard -- Well, as far as that era's freakers were standard -- late sixties alt-rock and allowed Can to develop what is now sometimes derided as Krautrock or Prog-Rock. Instead of what it should be called; super f**kin' brilliant guitar, drums and electronic music. In Can's case, anyway.
They are everything Pink Floyd tried to be between Syd Barrett's Saucer Full Of Secrets and Meddle. Can easily outstripped pedestrian psych-outs such as Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother. Before, that is, Floyd went in a different direction with DSOTM. If you need those initials explained, you've some serious homework to do.
Traffic liked to stretch things out. So when turning Dear Mr Fantasy, Feeling Alright or Shanghai Noodle Factory into full-on rock-out jam sessions, they could have comfortably looked to Can for guidance.
It's also possible Sly Stone and Funkadelic, in their more ambitious moments, would have milked Can for inspiration.
To be fair to those four bands, who were all excellent in their own right, there's no doubt Can looked to them for pointers in return. These things work both ways.
And, of course, as is so often the case, there's The Velvets. Though their influence is more obvious on Monster Movie.
Just re-released by Spoon Records, Tago Mago (along with Monster Movie, Ego Bamyasi and Soundtracks) is a must-have album for anyone interested in what skilled craftsmanship can inject into rock music when in the right hands.
Go and get it.
Mojo
The electrified primordial ooze of Tago Mago display's Can's psych-free and disciplined sides at their most ritually balanced. It's both oppressive and liberating, and on such into-infinity tracks as Oh Yeah and Halleluhwah, shows just how levitating Jaki Liebezeit's hyper-repetetive drumming could be.
AGB Rating - High Distinction
A rather less obvious Can inspiree than the ones you list would be Johnny Rotten. He was a big fan of theirs.
Posted by: James Russell | 21 January 2005 at 18:41
A rather less obvious Can inspiree than the ones you list would be Johnny Rotten. He was a big fan of theirs.
Posted by: James Russell | 21 January 2005 at 18:41
I didn't know that, James. I do know this; he's made a lot of shit. Has he actually made anything that sounds like Can?
Posted by: Tony.T | 21 January 2005 at 18:48
There were a couple more bands similar to Can from Germany in the 70's and early 80's were'nt there ? Apparently they influenced a load of muso's in the 90's so they must have had something.
The Syd Barrett story is an intriguing one- i think the constant pressure of recording and writing, along with, of course, exsessive amounts of LSD sent him into la la land. He started behaving oddly but apparently recorded a couple of solo albums- don't know about their quality though. He lives off the royalties earned by Pink Floyd even after 35 years or so. Good luck to the bloke.
Posted by: Brett Pee | 22 January 2005 at 01:24
Kraftwerk and Neu. Neu are especially good.
Posted by: Tony.T | 23 January 2005 at 22:19
Last I heard, Syd was living in Cambridge with his mum. He had a couple of pretty good albums. Barrett and The Madcap Laughs.
http://www.pink-floyd.org/barrett/discographies.html#syd
Posted by: Tony.T | 23 January 2005 at 22:21
Is that Neu with an exclamation mark after it ? Or Not ? Electronica seems to be back in vogue now. Depeche mode are top blokes in that particular field.
Yeah, you're correct, Syd Barrett is often photgraphed biking around Cambridge with his shopping bag!! I'm attempting to get hold of P.F.'s earliest work- Piper At Gates Of Dawn and all that.
Posted by: Brett Pee | 06 February 2005 at 22:07
Are there TWO Neus? The latest DM is OK, but I would get carried away.
Posted by: Tony.T | 07 February 2005 at 21:45