Can - Tago Mago
1971
CAN: communism, anarchism, nihilism.
As I put this album on to try and write about it, I feel myself slowly slipping into a trance. The feeling is familiar. How much time have I spent walking, driving, completely oblivious of my surroundings, lost in this labyrinthine music?
What is there to say about krautrock that isn't redundant? The whole scene was the focal point of so many different styles, and quickly diffracted to produce a whole lot of new ones. The synthesis of jazz, rock and minimalism was perhaps inevitable, and still repeats itself today, but very few have ever done it as well as Can. Tago Mago isn't just an intellectual exercise, it is first and foremost a devotion to music. It can be dark and apocalyptic, but it is also a doorway to another realm. It lifts the spirit from this world.
This album is a collage of studio jams, back-tracked vocals, and even music recorded between sessions, while the musicians were half-jamming unaware. The songs are improvised but tightly and meaningfully constructed; the instruments wander but coil around one another. The sound drifts in from a world that is all-encompassing and indescribable... the lyrics are foreboding yet hopeful, sung by a voice that transcends space and time. Halleluhwah is nineteen minutes long and doesn't waste a second. It's Sister Ray ascending to Heaven.
The communism/anarchism of the musical is blissfully apparent—every musician plays an essential role in the full realization of the piece. Nothing feels out of place or extraneous. Even when the album devolves into chaotic noise, it feels completely warranted. It is simply the necessary conclusion of the progression presented.
Why is it appropriate that something so universal should sound so absolutely bizarre? Maybe people are simply more comfortable with the particular, with things that fit easily into a context. This music is too different—it sits outside of time; it shrugs off interpretations. It wants you to write about it, but resists your attempts to do so. That simple realization encapsulates all my love.