815 Can - Tago Mago (1971)

815 Can - Tago Mago (1971)

Studio Album (Double) - Psychedelic Rock




About the Act:

Can were an experimental Rock Band from Germany, part of the Krautrock scene, but more internationally successful than most. They had a block of existence from 1968-79 and then occasional short reunions since. They blended together elements of Jazz, Funk, Avant Garde, Psychedelia, Noise Rock and Music Concrete, and were hugely influential. They have created 12 studio albums.


About the Album:

This was the band's second studio album. It was the first to feature Japanese Damo Suzuki as vocalist, and was recorded in a rented castle near Cologne. It was created using two 2-track tape machines, and limited microphones, using the natural acoustics of the castle for reverb. The album was named after Illa de Tagomago, an island off the coast of Ibiza, with connections to Aleister Crowley, who was also an inspiration for the music, apparently. 


My History with this Album:

So, I have listened to Can before, but I don't remember particularly playing attention to this album. Consequently, the style was not a surprise, but I came to it fresh.


Review:

The first side is three tracks, which are more songlike than the rest. This was quite common practice at the time, to start an album with more "mainstream" work and then get down to business, especially for outfits doing long and experimental stuff like this. These songs are OK, and generally could be described as Psychedelic Rock, maybe some would find them weird, but compared to the rest of the album, they are quite pedestrian. There's still quite a lot of noise and challenge to this. Some of the vocal stylings remind me of much later Britpop/Psychedelic stuff.

The meat of the album is Halleluhwah (side 2), Aumgh (side 3) and Peking O (most of side 4). It then finishes off with Bring Me Coffee or Tea, a return to the less crazy stuff, a spacerock track.

The three long tracks are very different in feel and texture, but quite similar in approach, long, evolving, experimental and challenging. Halleluhwah is more musical, with elements of funk, and is effectively a long groove underpinning with evolving and changing stuff over it. Aumgh is more contemplative, and less musical, more based on noise than tones, but still with some occasional notes among the soundscape of noises. Unusually, the keyboard player is providing the "vocals" which are mostly not words, but growls and the sound "Aumgh". Pekin O is heavy on echo effects and mixes music and noise, and features a very early drum machine, and some truly unfettered frantic playing and screaming.

The album is thoroughly weird, and strongly experimental. It is very committed to its vision, and pushes things to extremes. There has been a lot of this stuff since (and some before). It is a mystery how some things that are weird and experimental give me much more pleasure than some others. Despite the strangeness, this has a strong feeling (for me) of being carefully crafted and deliberate. I guess in the same way that some modern art is really striking, but much seems (to me) to be random talentless splashings, this album worked for me, actually worked well. I would go so far as to say it is an exemplary noise/psychedelic album. I just really wish I could do a better job of identifying why.

Part of this puzzle may be my listening background. I have been listening to this kind of experimental stuff for years, having found my way in through early Pink Floyd. Maybe I have learned how to listen to, and appreciate this particular brand of weird. 

I want to be very careful to say that I make no judgement on people who don't like this kind of weird. Sometimes lovers of the extreme weird have a kind of intellectual superiority about it. I try really hard to avoid that.

I did really enjoy this album, though, and most of all the weirder/more noise-based parts, and the particular brand of pushing the boundaries of musical normalcy. It's my kind of weird, and one of the best-executed and engaging examples I know of. I am also blown away that this was recorded with minimal recording equipment, without even multi-track equipment. There's some skillz here!

8/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iWtrhvwOCWnHN14rqub04

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA462AF9E090AA004

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tago_Mago



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