Tago Mago

However, the real heart of Tago Mago is in the three long songs that make up sides two, three, and most of four on the original 2-record release. Side 2 is comprised of the 18 minute, 32 second "Halleluwah," a jam that is equal parts psychedelic jam, beat poetry, funk groove, and avant-garde jazz. As always, every piece of sound works together perfectly, this time with a ranting violin floating around in the mix. Damo raves, yells, wails and sputters as usual; occasional fragments of comprehensibility rise to the surface, but the dominating lyrical idea is, and I quote, "Ha-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-lu-WAH! Ha-le-le-le-le-le-le-lu-WAH!"

And then there's "Aumgn." Hard to describe. Take, if you will, the most terrifying piece of music that you've ever heard. Then subtract any discernible patterns or rules. That's "Aumgn." It's silence with frequent interruption: strange atmospheric sounds, random drum licks, a creepy guitar motif, and muffled screamings while a guttural voice moans, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGGGNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN." It's the hardest piece of the album to digest, and the probably the key to the whole thing: everything that came before it is Tago Mago's rising action, and "Aumgn" the sound of all preconceived notions of music exploding, is the climax.

That brings us to side 4: "Peking O" is the falling action, the moment wherein Can picks up the pieces of their dismantled music. It actually sounds as if they are sorting through aural debris, broken shards of sound and arrangements, and trying to identify and fit entirely disjointed bits of noise together. At one point Suzuki simply stops and screams a lightning-fast round of babble, which morphs into some kind of cosmic scat as the bass, drums, guitars, and weird noise start up in separate spheres and slowly coalesce back together into the rhythmic matrix that Can does so well. It's a perfect way to move to the final track, "Bring Me Coffee Or Tea," the resolution to the passage that Can (and we along with them) have taken. Back to melody, back to coherence in one of the most beautiful ballads that Can has ever done. The drums and bass pulse very gently together, with some light organ, tiny snatches of white noise, and delicate guitar layered along with it. The vocals are surprisingly mournful and expressive, and the whole package is simply gorgeous and actually approachable--by Can's standards anyway. The progression of ideas is breathtaking, and brilliant.

What I have just described is an ambitious, complex work, more so than anything else that Can ever attempted. As such it is very likely their masterpiece, but at the same time can be a very awkward place to start. If you've never listened to Can, you will either be absolutely astounded by the accomplishment of Tago Mago, or absolutely repelled by the weirdness of it. I would therefore recommend it, but with major reservations: such things take some serious getting used to. But no matter where else you go with Can, there is no question that Tago Mago is the one place that you absolutely MUST come back to.

'Paperhouse' builds and builds from a funky-jazzy groove (that would become more apparent on 'Ege Bamyasi'), prior to shifting to the paranoid 'Mushroom', which would be covered by The Jesus & Mary Chain and sounds not unlike recent Primal Scream, where Damo hollers "I gotta keep my distance!" (or is it "I gotta keep my despair"? - it sounds like both...). 'Oh Yeah' builds on the strange-electronic-inflected grooves previously found on records by Can & precursors like The Beatles & The White Noise, again feeling like an odd groove with backwards-looped vocals that disorient (Can voyaging to inner space...). This peaks with the epic 'Halleluwah', which is thoroughly hypnotic, stretching a simple-groove over & over & predicting things like Happy Mondays ('Hallelujah') & The Stone Roses ('Fools Gold 9.53').

'Aumgn' is more out there, a minimal electronic based piece that some find unlistenable- it sounds somewhere between Stockhausen and Japan's 'Ghosts' and would fit on a compilation between 'The Visitations' & 'Beachy Head.' Things get odder with 'Peking-O', which starts off with sinister ambient electronics, then a vocal "driving..." that reminds me of both Ian Curtis & Jim Morrison, before shifting into loops and babble that some may find hilarious. 'Peking-O' is total avant-meltdown that sounds like chaos - so it makes sense that things calm and seem to come back to circular norm with 'Bring Me Coffee or Tea.'

'Tago Mago' remains one of those difficult albums frequently considered a classic, alongside such joys as 'Trout Mask Replica', 'Electric Ladyland', 'Rock Bottom', 'Star Sailor' & 'Hex Enduction Hour.' This album and Can would also influence (or could be argued to influence)many acts afterwards - PIL, The Fall, Stereolab, Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Julian Cope, Happy Mondays, Tortoise, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, The Stone Roses, Joy Division/New Order, David Bowie, Death in Vegas, Primal Scream, (late period) Talk Talk, Spacemen 3, Suicide, Laurie Anderson etc. 'Tago Mago' is a record that rewards, and sounds better in this version than the prior Spoon-release, and one I come back to - though 'Ege Bamyasi' is probably a better introduction to the unfamiliar...

Can are recognised in not just being one of the best progenitors of the so-called Krautrock movement, but in being one of the most original rock bands per-se. "Tago Mago" is their third album and regarded as being their most ambitious. For me the trilogy of tracks which constituted the first side of the original double album is perfect. There is not a single note wrong or out of place. The compositions, arrangements, production could not be bettered. I would be hard pushed to think of another combination of tracks which deliver the goods in such perfection that "Paperhouse", "Mushroom" and "O Yeah" do. The opening, "Paperhouse" is a guitar fest, with Michael Karoli pulling out such scintillating guitar lines from out of nowhere. Even on this remastered version, there is still some distortion on his louder guitar parts throughout this track. But considering the primitive technology used during these recordings I suppose there is only so much that can be improved nowadays. "Mushroom" which follows is a wonderful apocalyptic tour-de force with Damo Suzuki at his best and explodes into "O Yeah" which then builds with shimmering keyboards over Jaki Liebezeits trademark cyclical drumming, Suzuki invoking something or another in a backward taped vocal. But it all works, beautifully. Next up is "Halleluwah" which lasts over 18 minutes and is the band at their best, stretching out a sumptuous funk beat, adding layers and layers of sound. There are no points of reference for this music, no obvious influences. It was totally of their own invention. Original and unique to this disparate collection of musicians.

If the album had ended with "Halleluwah" I would say without question "Tago Mago is one of the best albums ever. But extending the album to a double by including the more exploratory "Peking O" and "Aumgn" I think detracts from the power of the more structured early pieces and dilutes the overall brilliance of the album. Still, hearing any Can is better than no Can and these pieces at least show what a brilliant improvisatory outfit they were which on occasion reached telepathic proportions such was the beguiling interplay between each member. "Tago Mago" is a great double album, but it could have been one of the best single albums ever.

Considering the primitive recording conditions, the production techniques utilised are amazingly sophisticated and the remastering has released details and sounds not heard before. The clarity is a revelation and makes these releases definitive. The booklets in each release though not perfect but far, are superior to what was included before. Each have brief essays by David Stubbs and some nice archival photos. The CD is housed in the heavier grade "Super Jewel Box" which seems to becoming the more common format for packaging SACD discs.

Can were without doubt one of the most imaginative and innovative bands to emerge from the early 70's and now their back catalogue is being given a proper and deserved re-release on CD. Bring on "Future Days" and "Soon over Babaluma".