The stamp 'unique' is something that fans and music press like to put on artists. Often wrong, but for the German group Can it is true. While their famous contemporaries indulged themselves with blues rock (The Stones, The Who) or progressive excesses (Pink Floyd, Genesis), Can opted for trance and minimalism. This 1971 double album did not sell much, but proved to be a major influence on later
… artists. The hypnotic patterns of drummer Jaki Liebezeit and bassist / band leader Holger Czukay heralded new wave and later IDM. Japanese singer Damo Suzuki uses his voice as an extra instrument with wordless sounds. The group is at their best in the two groove marathons Oh Yeah and the eighteen-minute long hit Halleluhwah. In Aumgn and Peking O the band loses itself in free jazz-like freak. Yet Tago Mago still sounds remarkably fresh. Quite rightly so that the album will be released again forty years later. As an extra there is a live CD with recordings from 1972. (PdK)more
