Best Songs from Can's Tago Mago
Tago Mago is the third album by the German krautrock band Can, originally released as a double LP in 1971. It was the band's second studio album and the first to feature Damo Suzuki after the 1970 departure of previous vocalist Malcolm Mooney. Recorded in a rented castle near Cologne, the album features long-form experimental tracks blending funk rhythms, avant-garde noise, jazz improvisation, and electronic tape editing techniques. Tago Mago has been described as Can's best and most extreme record in sound and structure.The album has received much critical acclaim since its release and has been cited as an influence by various artists. Drowned in Sound called it "arguably the most influential rock album ever recorded.
The melody is really nice, and I find the way that the vocals keep fading throughout the mix and then comes back in, while the twanging of the guitar can be very clearly heard. Suzuki's vocals are expressive, and the song produces an almost dreamy effect, accentuated by the relative repetitive nature of the song.
I wouldn't have believed you if you told me that I'd find an 18 minute song with a single repetitive drum groove and only a couple of riffs to be something I'd enjoy, yet here we are. The drumming is absolutely on point the entire way through, producing a hypnotic groove that is more or less unbeatable in music, as I can listen to what is essentially an extended jam over repetitive grooves for 18 minutes, and still want more. I really love the parts where Suzuki starts yelling out the title of the song repeatedly as well, as it's just extremely fun. Another thing that really stands out is how perfectly the bass complements the overall soundscape being made throughout.
I really love the drumming here, being more fast paced and constant, as the bass further keeps pace. I find it really strange how the first section of the song has the vocals backwards, but I can't deny that it's honestly pretty cool and interesting here. The guitar solo is really great, and the increase in tempo after that point was also neat. I find this song to be quite trippy in general.
I love how groovy this song is, with a really catchy, repetitive hook that worms its way into your head and just stays there for ages. The drumming is quite fun, and the bassline helps give the song even more enjoyablility. I can almost see this being a more psychedelic version of something by Damon Albarn in terms of the way it sounds.
This sounds quite similar to Paperhouse, although somewhat less interesting. I do find the last few minutes to significantly improve the song however, being quite interesting in the kind of soundscapes being made, and finding the increasing speed to be cool.
Despite Aumgn being extremely weird and experimental, this one outdoes it by an extremely large factor. The song is full of strange soundscapes and some extremely fun, groovy elements, both making it another worthy song on the album. The part that really gets me though is when the drumming starts becoming a blast beat and the vocals go so far off the rails. Even after listening to this song about 15 times, this one particular section still amuses me in terms of just how insane it is.
Essentially take the improvisation from King Crimson's Moonchild, and then experiment a lot more with random noise, along with have it sound much stranger in general, and you'll get something similar to this. I must admit that I'm not as keen on this song as the rest of the album due to this extremely bizarre structure, but I still find it to be quite a compelling listen, despite it's length.