EGE BAMYASI

The German krautrock group CAN is one of my favorite forces of gutsy and imaginative innovation. On 'Ege Bamyasi', named after a food can the band found whilst touring in a foreign country, the band would again combine a few in live improvisation conceived tracks (like the opening track 'Pinch') with some more orderly composed songs (like 'Swin Swan Song', 'I'm So Green' and 'Soup'). The album is a bit more relaxing (it's just so cool..) and less disturbing than the highly experimental Tago Mago, yet it does hold CAN's craziest moment (the second part of) 'Soup'; an avant-garde piece that sounds like an occult ritual with Damo Suzuki shrieking in a made-up language. The opening track 'Pinch' is a somewhat hard to get into sounding psycho-beat track with lots of percussion and a drugged out vocal presence. This would be a hiphop man's best intro into krautrock I guess. It is followed by 'Swin Swan Song', an ethereal ballad type track that is perhaps the most beautiful thing the band ever recorded. It has a beautiful flow and a great dreamy melancholy to it - even the sung vocals are spot on. 'One More Night' is actually quite straight forward for Can, though still quite organic in its flow. It has some very nice keyboard loops by Irmin Schmidt and the bluesy guitar of Michael Karoli stands out as well. 'Vitamin C' is great rhythmical song and its progression into the first halve of 'Soup' is simply amazing with its avant-garde and post-punk attitudes. 'I'm So Green' hints at The Velvet Underground whilst 'Spoon' is the type of song only CAN could ever have made in the seventies. Short, full of original sounds, rhythmical and exciting in an oh so cool way. It is amazing how the mojo of CAN has stood the test of time so well.