As a primer for those unfamiliar with the work of CAN, the remastered Anthology is a thoughtful, thoroughly curated document of the group’s myriad eras and incarnations, with particular attention given to late-early period albums Tago Mago (1971), Ege Bamyasi (1972) and Future Days (1973), and for good reason: it was on these three records that CAN crystallized the slippery, sublime funk-concrete that became the hallmark of their best work. The Cologne-based CAN, arguably more successfully than any other group, wedded academic sensibility to improvisatory, hallucinatory vibration, and in so doing created a breathtaking syncretic musical universe in which Terry Riley’s ticklish drones and Karlheinz Stockhausen’s fluttering tape splices cohabitated with the earthy, swinging polyrhythms of James Brown and Sly and The Family Stone, and the slash-and-burn theatrics of Jimi Hendrix and The Velvet Underground. Credit (and no small measure of respect) is due drummer Jaki Liebezeit, whose pulsing, metronomic grooves drove the best of CAN’s work (check the hypnotic “Halleluwah” and drum and tape delay duet of “Dizzy Dizzy”).
For those unfamiliar with the band, Anthology remains the definitive entry point. However, most CAN devotees would probably agree that any compilation is a poor substitute for the full and complete albums. CAN made records; to experience their true shamanic power is to experience the sublime musical peaks and valleys in their natural habitats. CAN was compelling for the ways in which they continually reinvented and recontextualized themselves, and any anthology, regardless of how expertly compiled, would give this aspect of the group short shrift. Furthermore, there is a certain degree of chronological fuckery over the course of the two-disc set that misrepresents the development of the group; for musical goons and geeks (such as myself), this might be a problem. Small complaints all.
My suggestion? If you haven’t heard CAN, purchase Anthology. If you like what you hear, by all means (please) pick up the full and complete records, beginning with Tago Mago or Ege Bamyasi (or even Future Days and Soon Over Babaluma, for Gawd’s sake). There’s a good chance, a very good chance, they’ll make a believer out of you.
More on CAN here: www.spoonrecords.com
“Mushroom” from Tago Mago
