# Can



## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

After WWII, the Germans felt increasingly artistically orphaned, and in the underground there was a struggle to remove themselves from imported Anglo rock/pop conventions and create music that was distinctly their own. Artists from this movement like Faust, Neu, Cluster, Amon Duul II, etc. are now labeled with the generic term "krautrock", and although they were scarcely aware of each other at the time, they tended to share many similarities: an isolationist, anarchist and communal approach to making music, emphasis on group improvisation, absurdist sensibilities, an obsession with rhythm and texture over catchy hooks, etc.

It's sometimes considered a European answer to American hippie/beatnik music, but it was less of a dead-end artistically as well as less easy to pigeonhole, ultimately heavily influencing everything from punk rock, to post-rock, to electronic music, to David Bowie, to... it would be a stupidly long list. Anyway, just some brief background. It's easy enough to research.

Can are one of the most visible bands from this movement, and since they took so many cues from 20th century avant-garde and classical, maybe there are some fans here? Any favorite albums (or krautrock in general)?

They're pretty special to me. They managed to "jam" on a more cerebral and cosmic scope than any British or American peers, all without really sounding like they were jamming--they hated high-falutin' prog cliches and it shows. Everything up to their sixth or so album still feels very alive, vital and dynamic, and they were using rock instruments to make music that wasn't really rock at all decades before some journalists coined the cute term "post-rock".

Can's moments of severe, teutonic angst still strike me as much darker than the majority of metal and other music that tries to be oppressive, and their more uplifting songs are just genuinely, naively nice. As experimental as they were, they came off as completely unpretentious and honest.





As a side note, second singer Damo Suzuki's mix of Japanese, gibberish and broken English can be a bit of a deterrent, but it gets endearing.


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## Stasou (Apr 23, 2011)

Whoa, this is pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

Can are cool. Some of Czukay's work outside Can is interesting too.

I like most of the krautrock bands. My dad was into them in the 70's so he's got a load of LP's of La Dusseldorf, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Popol Vuh etc. All good.

I really like Michael Rother's early solo albums (they got a bit cheesy later on). There's nothing clever or fancy about them. Just good simple melodies on guitar and synth played over repeated electronic/sequenced chord progressions, but they hit the spot for me. Manuel Gottsching's E2-E4 is a bit less typical of the style but great nonetheless.

Check out this recent album by Prins Thomas. It's like a tribute to Krautrock.


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## rrudolph (Sep 15, 2011)

I've been a big fan on Can since I was a teenager in the '70s. If I had to pick a favorite album, it would probably be Future Days although it's not exactly a typical representation of their work.

I was (am) a big fan of Cluster, Amon Duul and Tangerine Dream (but only up to Phaedra).

Unfortunately, the only one of these bands I ever saw live was Tangerine Dream and it was in the '80s, well past the period I enjoyed. They had a (for then) high-tech laser show that was more interesting than their music or their stage presence (which was almost zero--they could have sat two mannequins at two consoles and gotten exactly the same effect!

I've seen videos of Can performing in their heyday and feel like I really missed something. Oh well....


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