Yes I Can

I have found my latest musical obsession, and it is the experimental, Krautrock band Can. They were one of those bands that had minimal mainstream success, but who greatly influenced a ton of people. Artists who have claimed to have been influenced by Can include David Bowie, Radiohead, Talking Heads, The Fall, Joy Division, Public Image Ltd. and Brian Eno, to name just a few. How to describe Can's music? Wikipedia lists the following genres in their entry: "Krautrock, Experimental Rock, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Ambient, Avant-Garde, Electronic Music." That's about right. And if you listen to their first couple of albums, you could also add punk to that genre list.

I have heard of Can for years, but only recently actually tried listening to them. For about a week now, I have not wanted to hear anything else. It is Can all the time. I was playing it in class this last week of school, and I was pleased that at least five different students (all male, all musicians) approached me and asked me what we were listening to, and wanted to learn more. Can lecture followed.


ABOVE: 1973's Future Days is a landmark ambient album, but never boring like so much ambient music can be

They formed in the late 60's with their core of West German musicians who were influenced by the avant-garde art movement in New York (Warhol and Velvet Underground especially). Their first couple of records were good and very interesting, but their flat out brilliant releases came between 1971-74. They recorded throughout the 70's and reunited briefly in the late 80's, but the early 70's is the peak with four groundbreaking albums: Tago Mago (1971), Ege Bamyasi (1972), Future Days (1973) and Soon Over Babaluma (1974). It is these four records that I have been listening to incessantly for almost a week now. My daughter is starting to dig them as well, especially Future Days. While all of those genres previously mentioned are present in some fashion, I would most directly compare this stuff to what Miles Davis was doing around the same time, but more rhythmic and melodic and less jarring that Miles's most challenging fusion stuff.

Can worked in what they called "spontaneous composition," which is slightly different than straight improvisation. They would improvise and collectively compose on the spot just by playing together a lot. Sometimes an improvisation would go on for hours at a time, and then later they would strip away elements and edit the improvisations in the mixing room to make the "songs" for their albums (which is exactly how Miles Davis worked during the same period. Davis and his bands would play for hours at a time, and then producer Teo Maceo would take the results and edit them for albums). One legendary Can concert in Berlin featured improvisations that went on for over 6 hours. Now that, my friends, is getting your money's worth! It was so intense working in Can that original vocalist Malcolm Mooney left, supposedly, in part because his therapist told him that working with Can was driving him insane.


ABOVE: Tago Mago features bold, epic, experimental jams

While guitarist Michael Karoli is outstanding and quite versatile, and while vocalists Mooney and later Damo Suzuki broke ground vocally (Suzuki never wrote down his lyrics, treating the vocals as another improvising instrument and making them up on the spot. Suzuki would sometimes sing in English, sometimes Japanese, and sometimes in pure jibberish. Check him out especially on Future Days, where his spare vocals are mixed deep in the sound and fade in and out without pattern. It is brilliant stuff), and founder/keyboardist Irmin Schmidt should be considered a founding father of experimental electronic music...what makes Can so great to me are bassist/effects engineer Holger Czukay and drummer Jaki Liebeziet. The percussion can be minimalist at times, yet quite subtle and intricate at other times. It is the interplay between Czukay and Liebeziet that makes 20 minute tunes like "Halleluwah" (from Tago Mago) so mesmerizing and even hypnotic.

Tago Mago is long, intense and often grooves madly. Ege Bamyasi is shorter, but no less intense, and may even groove deeper. Future Days is simply gorgeous and a landmark in ambient music, and clearly influenced Bowie and Eno in their Berlin Trilogy. Soon Over Babaluma steps up the electronic experiments, yet also maintains the ever important groove.

For something a little different, open up some Can.