With the band in full artistic flower and
Damo Suzuki's sometimes moody, sometimes frenetic speak/sing/shrieking in full effect,
Can released not merely one of the best Krautrock albums of all time, but one of the best albums ever, period.
Tago Mago is that rarity of the early '70s, a double album without a wasted note, ranging from a sweetly gentle float to full-on monster grooves. "Paperhouse" starts things brilliantly, beginning with a low-key chime and beat before amping up into a rumbling roll in the midsection, then calming down again before one last blast. Both "Mushroom" and "Oh Yeah," the latter with
Irmin Schmidt filling out the quicker pace with nicely spooky keyboards, continue the fine vibe. After that, though, come the huge highlights -- three long examples of
Can at its absolute best. "Halleluwah" -- featuring the
Jaki Liebezeit/
Holger Czukay rhythm section pounding out a monster trance/funk beat;
Michael Karoli's and
Schmidt's always impressive fills and leads; and
Suzuki's slow-building ranting above everything -- is 19 minutes of pure genius. The near-rhythmless flow of "Aumgn" is equally mind-blowing, with swaths of sound from all the members floating from speaker to speaker in an ever-evolving wash, leading up to a final jam. "Peking O" continues that same sort of feeling, but with a touch more focus, throwing in everything from Chinese-inspired melodies and jazzy piano breaks to cheap organ rhythm boxes and near babbling from
Suzuki along the way. "Bring Me Coffee or Tea" wraps things up as a fine, fun little coda to a landmark record. [The 2011 reissue of the album adds an extra disc of live tracks recorded in 1972. The group does two songs from the album (a long take on "Mushroom" and a short one on "Halleluwah") as well as a half-hour run through "Spoon, " which surfaced in shorter form on the band's next album,
Ege Bamyasi.] ~ Ned Raggett