TAGO MAGO

Tago Mago is a monster. Two vinyl discs of Can at their weird, funky peak. I'm no fan of two disc albums, as they are usually way too much for me- in fact, I often have trouble with anything over 50 minutes, let alone 73 minutes of strange, experimental music from the ever-so-strange minds of Can.

Paperhouse is a long, jazzy song, featuring loud, sharp guitar playing and crashing drums. Mushroom is Can's best short song- a catchy, schizophrenic song that feels like insanity. The lyrics could maybe be about nuclear war, but really, you never know with Can. After that comes one of Can's best, Oh Yeah; it begins with a literal bang, and then Liebezeit's mechanical drums come charging in, as Suzuki's backwards Japanese mumbles discombobulate the brain and give the track a feeling of a man who is fully engaged in the process of losing his mind. And then... Halleluwah, the 18-minute Goliath that takes Side Two as its own. This is a long, funky, trippy, song, with stellar performances from everyone, making a krautrock classic. Aumgn is a long, experimental blob, like a musical amoeba, the swallows the world around you into itself. This isn't one of my favorites, but it's still great. Then, Peking O, one of the craziest, most insane tracks ever made- it makes a lot of Gong stuff look passive. It morphs from a mix of howling guitars, screaming, and clinking drums into a bouncy, mysterious song, spontaneous and chaotic in an orderly manner, like the broken mind of an insane man. In the middle, Liebezeit's drums become fast, aggressive, and pounding, as keyboard marches in a disorderly manner under some of the most hilariously messed-up vocals anybody has created, ever. In a high-pitched whine, the song becomes disorganized and then we come to Bring Me Coffee or Tea. This is a light, song, yet full of feeling- like our mentally distressed man being carted off to the asylum, where he is safe and taken care of. My judgment of Tago Mago is that it's one of the most stunningly unique albums ever made, from one of the most stunning and unique bands to ever exist. This is not for the faint of heart- recommended to someone with a taste for the avant-garde.