TAGO MAGO

Can's 'Tago Mago' might just pop up in those 'best records ever made' lists. It has, like their other early seventies records, a cult classic image and it is easy to see why. In stead of experimenting with ever more complicated arrangements and harmonic structures this band finds completely new atmospheres and styles by jamming a lot together. The style of the band is often referred to as 'psycho beat' because of the extremely rhythm steady style of Jaki Liebezeit (who is one of my favorite drummers) and the oddly hypnotic bass-lines of Holger Czukay - who would also contribute a lot to the song-writing of the band. Tago Mago was released after 'Soundtracks', but is stylistically a continuation of what the band would play on 'Monstermovie'. 'Tago Mago' is actually a rather bleak psychedelic krautrock album. The band's heavy garage / underground sound combined with that sort of proto-hiphip vocals by the new vocalist Damo Suzuki create a unique mix, but rather dark and even a bit depressing at times. The first record, which I would refer to as 'the album' has a perfect first side with three of Can's best and most innovative and genre defining songs. Can found a way to record music that sounds like it could still be released as today's newest meaty underground record. The second side is filled with 'Halleluhwah', which is an exploration of a single backstreet style funk-rock theme. It develops into space rock territory at times, but nothing like how English space rock would sound. The second vinyl opens with the sidelong 'Aumgn', which is basically an imaginative avant-garde piece that should scare the hell out of you. It is a great display of originality, but a hard listen as well. On the fourth side 'Peking O' continues in avant-garde fashion, this time with little succes in my opinion. 'Bring Me Coffee Or Tea' closes the album with a rather pleasant psychedelic vibe that would really have contributed to an even stronger first record, but now gets lost in the strangeness of the second vinyl. This album by Can is an essential progressive rock listen, but I must admit it isn't my favorite of Can's classic because of its heavy atmospheres.