Guest blogger Raphael Gouin Loubert gives a track by track rundown of an album very close to my own heart, CAN's Tago Mago.
Want to know how I first discovered Krautrock?
Tago Mago by CAN. A monumental piece of Krautrock, with each musician at their peak, playing very tightly from beginning to end.
The successive CAN albums Tago Mago/Ege Bamyasi/Future Days are the holy trinity for me, but Tago stands out as the greatest. I know this album by heart, even the timeless Aumgn, and Halleluwah is probably the song I have listened to the most in my life.
Paperhouse
The album starts with sounds sampled from the beginning of Aumgn, then beautiful modulated guitar chords lead the song with nice subtle keyboard backing. Then the drums accelerate and the groove starts with an awesome solo from Karoli. A pretty psych and catchy song!
Mushroom
Paperhouse ends and Mushroom immediately starts. Drums lead this song, it sounds distant but so trashy and precise. This is probably Can’s most strange/eerie song since Monster Movie’s Father Cannot Yell, but nothing compared to what is to come.
Oh Yeah
The song starts with what sounds like an atomic explosion! Then another amazing tight groove kicks in, with keyboard chords floating behind it all. This one is different from Paperhouse as it sounds so mysterious, out of this world, and hypnotic.
Halleluwah
In my opinion the best Krautrock song ever made. A nice long jam led by Czukay’s bass and Liebezeit’s drums. Interesting how the drummer uses silence to lock the beat (just after he hits the hi-hat). Everything goes crazy in the last 3 minutes or so with sounds reminding me of a mental breakdown!
Aumgn
Aumgn starts with what sounds like guitar paired with tape echo, then some weird chords (violin I think), until a strange voice starts mumbling "augmn". It goes on for several minutes with some electronic effects and a bit of percussion. Around half way the drums enter slowly until the climax where again the track goes wild and fast until the end.
Peking O
The beginning and end of the song is very nice, but the middle section is plain psych/random speaking and jamming, it’s a bit hard to listen to. It's the weakest title of the album because of that, but you can see that the band set no limits when they recorded this album.
Bring Me Coffee Or Tea
The album closes with a nice, warm ballad with (finally) a bit of acoustic guitar that reminds me of the song I’m Too Leise. Everyone is jamming on their own in this song but they complete themselves so well! Past half way the song accelerates and Karoli brings out the electric guitar, with the song closing in a wave of cymbals.
Every Krautrock initiate should start with this album; it’s more conventional than Faust, less electronic than Tangerine Dream and so different from the US/British rock/prog of that era. Tago Mago is definitely in my top 3 Krautrock albums along with Popol Vuh - In Den Garten Pharaos and Tangerine Dream - Zeit.
Raphael Gouin Loubert
More album reviews from Raphael >>
Radiohead's Amnesiac
Eddy's full rundown of Can albums >>
Can Albums Ranked From Worst To Best
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