ILM Artist Poll No. 77 · CAN · Voting Thread [Ends 07/24/16]

http://i.imgur.com/arPiarA.jpg

Songs: Top 20. Ranked. Remixes, demos and collaborations allowed. Non-optional.
Normal Scoring: 1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26, 7:25, 8:24, 9:23, 10:22, 11:21, 12:20, 13:19, 14:18, 15:17, 16:16, 17:15, 18:14, 19:13, 20:12
Albums: Top 5. Ranked. Remixes and collaborations allowed. Optional.
Ballots: ilmcanpoll (at) gmail dot com
Ends: 07/24/16

Damn second poll where I copy-paste wrong. It should read as:

Albums: Top 5. Ranked. EPs and compilations allowed. Optional.

... and more ... and more ...

There are remix and collaboration album too.

Ok, EPs, Compilation, Remixes and Collaboration albums allowed.

Post-Can Solo work allowed? Yay or Nay?

i'm excited for this :)

Fuck yeah. Feels like the perfect time to revisit everything they ever did.

I uploaded all Can that I have digitally available last week in preparation for this poll. Shuffling through it while commuting, taking mental notes to come up with a thoroughly thougt & listened through ballot. Deleted the early albums yesterday to give later songs an opportunity to reveal themselves for potential inclusion.

I say No to solo material btw. While interesting and awesome I feel we should restrict ourselves to THE CAN.

Aw man, rollout will be during my summer vacation :-/

http://eil.com/images/main/Can+Monster+Movie+-+1st+-+VG+593203b.jpg

This is the one I've been waiting for.

Aw man, rollout will be during my summer vacation :-/

― willem, Tuesday, July 12, 2016 11:26 AM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can-cel it! :-/

https://soundcloud.com/finderskeepersrecords/finders-keepers-radio-show-krautrock-special

There's a mighty interview with Malcolm Mooney on this podcast.

Nice. Malc on good form.

Aw man, rollout will be during my summer vacation :-/

― willem, Tuesday, July 12, 2016 11:26 AM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can-cel it! :-/

I CAN't!

Thanks for the link to that podcast, Mark G! (love the Finders Keepers label, wasn't aware of their radio show)

ok so now I guess it's time to figure out where the Lost Tapes stuff really ranks amongst all this - "Dead Pigeon Suite" definitely gonna be top 5. well, probably. maybe. I don't know

yeah, this is gonna take some heavy listening ((((((((((d(-_-)b))))))))))

I was just looking at a Can Top 20 i did years ago, I don't think my eventual Top 20 will be much different tbh.

\o/

Can poll has a short span, not for lagging
Can poll has a short span, not for lagging
BUT WE GO ON AND ON

i plan to participate in this poll but man do i have a lot of listening to get through

^^ same, and have just started! Checked their discography and while I own all studio albums, there's such a vast amount of rarities, outtakes etc I don't know, I hope this poll will school me on that.

Real Can-heads, don't hesitate to drop YT's or links of lesser known Can beauties,

Real Can-heads, don't hesitate to drop YT's or links of lesser known Can beauties,

I like this track called "Halleluwah" a lot!

I'll manage some sort of ballot if only to give 40 points to my alltime fave (it's on Unlimited Edition).

hi

This will be tough, so many choices. I have a lot of affection for their post-Damon Suzuki albums, which I suspect won't get the love they deserve

i was listening to the lost tapes today and this immediately jumped out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_q5ZS2IeN0

beerfart england at least preferable to cockroach

can doesn't have a lot of super great deep cuts (though they have a lot of great bootlegs). their last album is super underrated. they got a couple good 7" only tracks (turtles have short legs and shikaku maru ten). here's an outtake from the _soon over babaluma_ era that came out on their deeply uneven 2lp studio outtakes collection _unlimited edition_.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUEJvkZWYq0

i guess by "last album" i should say i mean "can" from 1979 and not "rite time" which i still haven't ever felt the need to hear.

agreed on both counts. And let me say that Soon Over is a great record -- really unlike anything else in their catalog. Much will be represented on my ballot.

I'm sure all of you already know Turtles Have Short Legs but it never fails to make me happy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxGaC4wzt50

And here's Julian Cope's review of the single:

This was Can’s third single, issued at the time of release of their colossal double LP, “Tago Mago.” Its A-side, “Turtles Have Short Legs” was unavailable on album until it appeared years later on the “Cannibalism 2” compilation. It’s unlike any Damo-era Can piece ever, appropriating an absurd Teutonic toy town piano phrase that winds up subverting it in waves into a slow, untrammeled monster. There are no lyrics although Damo IS singing -- but even then the most discernable lines are easily misheard. But for all its joviality, this confounding track manages to gradually turn over in its sleep into a dense thicket of instruments galloping at a loping pace. All other instruments fall away at two separate clearings with only Damo and the drums to continue alone unfettered only to wind up as a succession of drum rolls and barking vocal pronouncements. The guitar-dominated coda, sees Michael Karoli playing around the edges of all the unpeeled paint upon the walls of Schloss Norvenich with extra sensory mojo and feeling at top volume as circling drums just continue pressing onward and upwards; drummer Jaki Liebezeit soon hitting his cymbals not with sticks but carefully aimed and stamina-directed tree trunks, beating the piece to rest.

From the “Tago Mago” album comes the B-side, “Halleluwah.” A heavily truncated excerpt of an already exquisitely edited and performed prehistoric, grooved sex-out, it featuring Liebezeit’s non-changing pace of drumming effortlessness is completely locked into Czukay’s Jaguar bass which provide a broad and free canvas for Karoli to break in with partially erased pencil strokes rendered with trebly and filigree explorations as Irmin Schmidt is content to submit small clusters of Farfisa chopping at will. Can muster a steady, rocking groove on “Halleluwah” that gathers a strength and momentum from its propulsive drive with endurance for any length of time. But it was necessary to whittle the original “Halleluwah” down from its original 18:32 minute length to fit the mastering constraints of a 45rpm single, so from the hands of Can bassist and sound editor Holger Czukay came a re-creation of the cleansing experience of the original, full-length track’s sexually epic qualities by drawing together separate excerpts and then reassembling it seamlessly out of order. And as a final touch, it was fashioned to run at exactly the same length of time as “Turtles” on side A: 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

- Julian Cope, The Book of Seth: Turtles Have Short Legs

I am stoked.

Just so I am clear: do tracks from solo records count?

of course there's the playstation rhythm game parappa the rapper which has this little tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TsqCNy6UU0

I was listening to "The Lost Tapes" today and "Graublau" is indeed awesome. I have a problem with some of the other tracks on this release though, particularly some of the 'suites', I wish Holger Czukay had edited the tracks and not Jono Podmore because, with all due respect to Jono Podmore, who is Jono Podmore? There's something too cute and neat about the way a lot of the material has been edited together - though it is undeniably highly entertaining - I don't know, is it just me?

No tracks from solo projects! Focus on Can!

who is Jono Podmore?

Currently on my sixth spin of Soon Over Babaluma of the day (it flies by!), helps to get stuff done. It's all great but side 2's amaaazing.

Assumed that was a rhetorical question.

Connection is straight out of the Delay '68 book and a banger.

In a way I feel like the top 20 (or top 10 at least) is going to be quite obvious and justified. If I do a ballot there will probably be some tactical votes for slightly deeper cuts. Most of the best stuff really is right there on the LPs.

Maybe I'm underestimating the heterogeneity of Can appreciation.

Rhetorical question, yes.

Currently on my sixth spin of /Soon Over Babaluma/ of the day (it flies by!), helps to get stuff done. It's all great but side 2's amaaazing.

Future Days and Babaluma feel very much of a piece to me notwithstanding Damo's departure before the latter. There's a ton of texture to both—even more on the contemporaneous tracks on the awesome Unlimited Edition (sometimes my favorite Can album)—and Karoli does an admirable job handling the vocals on the latter.

Also worth noting: the awesome closer on Unlimited Edition, "Ibis," has always felt to me like a bit like a warmup for "Dizzy Dizzy," the opener on Babaluma.

there's no way i can keep up with this thread but i will definitely vote
can is probably the band i have played on repeat more than any other in my adult life
lost tapes is treasure trove, do not miss

<3 <3<3 jaki <3 <3<3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2k00LBzZf4

this is a great little piece from Holger on Jaki
http://www.czukay.de/can/comments/images/jaki_ho.jpg
Apparently he plays piano like he plays the drums: "during the recordings of "the east is red" he played piano for hours, always the same type of sequence."
And I love Holger's POV on his bass playing (when he started doing it in Can): "my feeling for rhythm was a bit like someone running around in an earthquake not knowing where to escape."

Exc lesser-known Malcom Mooney joint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIKOpfuFcd0

Malcolm ugh still waking up

Wow I have never heard "Turtles Have Short Legs"! It is good!

I love the way the song-suites are edited fwiw. Never seemed "cute" or saccharine but lighthearted maybe. Nothin wrong w that.

I didn't know turtles was on a 7" with the halleluwah edit. I had it as the b side of a 12" of Moonshake. First can record I was ever able to find in the mid 80s.

I was floored when I realized the melody to "Turtles" was later borrowed wholesale for the car level in Parappa the Rapper

I was too! Is Turtles available on Spotify anywhere?

One thing that may get some legit representation in my ballot: stuff from the mid-70s records, Landed, Flow Motion and Saw Delight. Maybe not stone cold amazing like the records up thru Babaluma, but a number of great pop songs and weird, 15 minute tape edit freak outs.

Also, would be fun to poll the Ethnomusicological Forgery Series.

Currently on my sixth spin of Soon Over Babaluma of the day (it flies by!), helps to get stuff done. It's all great but side 2's amaaazing.

― willem, woensdag 13 juli 2016 14:43 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've done this today and man, I forgot just how great it is (and indeed it seems to speed up time! ;)). Difficult to pick a cut from it though, it's such a cohesive record.

Xpost the album version of animal waves is gonna be on my ballot for sure

Exactly. Don't sleep on those lesser known records. If anything I have work to do w the Mooney era.

Also X post, Ethnological

Yeah there are a number of tracks from those albums I'm gonna have to put on. "Half Past One" always pops into my head, such a great jam. And Saw Delight rules, it's kinda weird as a Can album, but it's so much fun.

Luckily Can albums only have like 4-7 tunes on them, so this'll be easier than say the Devo ballot was.

I've got a decent MP3 of Turtles that I could email out if anyone wanted it?

I didn't know turtles was on a 7" with the halleluwah edit. I had it as the b side of a 12" of Moonshake. First can record I was ever able to find in the mid 80s.

Got that 12" too! I love Can's pop side, could fill and entire Top 20 with pop tracks, I reckon. I am desperately trying to squeeze their version of "Silent Night" into my ballot, I love it so much.

Looks like Turtles is on Spotify -- on some Cherry Red singles comp of all places. Oddly, it is kind of one of the definitive Can tracks, with Damo's crazy vocal on the verse, the amazing Irmin piano part and, of course, Jaki absolutely killing it on the tom toms.

Another thing worth polling/contemplating/discussing is the Can razor blade epics -- not just Tago Mago but also things like Cutaway, Animal Waves, Unfinished, etc.

I am desperately trying to squeeze their version of "Silent Night" into my ballot, I love it so much.

Looks like Turtles is on Spotify -- on some Cherry Red singles comp of all places.

The 12" single mentioned above was on Cherry Red.

Has anyone seen any of the films served by Soundtracks? Are they grainy color stock of Baader Meinhof-resembling youth wandering listlessly through Ruhr housing tracts intercut with solarized closeups of eyeballs?

Saw "Deep End" years ago, before I knew who Can were.

... though I was probably about 11 or 12 at the time, so can't really be blamed for that.

Has anyone seen any of the films served by Soundtracks? Are they grainy color stock of Baader Meinhof-resembling youth wandering listlessly through Ruhr housing tracts intercut with solarized closeups of eyeballs?

― juggulo for the complete klvtz (bendy)

nah they're early '70s german cop shows, sort of the equivalent of quinn martin shows.

After many years in limbo, Deep End was re-released on a handsome looking BFI DVD/BluRay a few years ago. Film is pretty close to being a masterpiece, imho - Skolimowski collaborated w/ Polanski on Knife in the Water, and Deep End has a lot of the same combo of black comedy and creeping psychological menace. Mother Sky is the icing on the cake.

One of the all-time great film posters, too

https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/92/MPW-46169

can i just complain here about there being nowhere on the net to buy repros of those crazy communist eastern european versions of film posters? i would totally hang a polish weekend at bernie's poster on my wall but i'd have to buy an original, and ain't nobody got money for that.

One of my favorite lesser Can songs
This video always makes me happy even though Michael Karoli isn't in it
And in case anyone wondered how many "and more"s there are in that one part, there are 20

https://youtu.be/E0nfjguTclg

sorry that was "i want more"

This "Vernal Equinox" on the Old Grey Whistle Test has 1) awesome Irmin Schmidt dancing and attire 2) Karoli looking a lot like Chris Gaines/Garth Brooks and 3) clear view of Jaki going bananas

https://youtu.be/I4nHr44vE9I

yes, that Vernal Equinox clip is a personal favorite

who is the guy playing guitar in the I Want More video? didn't Karoli play on the album?

youtube commenters seem to think it's tim hardin but idk?!
karoli is on flow motion, i just looked

"I Want More" is such a great stupid song.

also, the drum groove on Vernal Equinox is bonkers. That and Animal Waves are my 2 favorite Jaki beats.

I've always felt that Yoo Doo Right was somewhat underrated. I think I prefer it to Sister Ray, which is probably the closest competition, and am also always struck by how much it resembles a slowed down Immigrant Song.

"I Want More" is Top 10 Can for me. Don't know who the guy in TOTP clip is, looks more like Lou Reed than Tim Hardin. Maybe it's Peter Gilmour?

LIVE Yoo Doo Right is top 3 for me; the original isn't nearly as good imo. Ugh the live version is SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD

Tim Hardin!?!?

xp which live version??? I LOVE the studio version

also, the Geraldine Fibbers cover of that is so great

xpost which live version?

btw this is a good time to apologize for sitting on this poll for a long time. i don't know why i signed up for it and then did nothing. it's true that i've been too busy this summer to run it (wedding, honeymoon, and now moving) but i should have at least said why i was busy and set up a good time to do this fall. i suck, sorry, but glad it's in good hands now and really looking forward to results!

The studio version is live anyway. In the studio, that is.

(xp) Tim Hardin sang at a few concerts with them in 1976, when they were still looking for a new lead singer.

The Yoo Doo Right from Live 71-77 -- fewer words, heavy groove, applause at the end that I can pretend is for me.

If there's another live one I need to hear it!!

that's the one I assumed but I don't know if I've ever heard it!

I assume all version of a song would be totaled together as usual, yes?

Gonna try to vote in this! And I don't know how many Rite Time tracks I will include but surely "On the Beautiful Side of a Romance."

Pretty decent sounding 1974 show up for live show available for download here:

http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=2961

The Yoo Doo Right from Live 71-77 -- fewer words, heavy groove, applause at the end that I can pretend is for me.

If there's another live one I need to hear it!!

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera)

i got a bootleg from volkshalle 1971 with damo singing it (he's not on the 71-77 version, right?). it's pretty good.

that birmingham '74 show is a great one, them at their peak imo.

It's probably not likely to place, but: is the Inner Space material eligible?

I expect to be voting for a number of tracks from Landed (and Flow Motion) and hope others do too, especially "Red Hot Indians," which has that wonderful quality where two different sonic universes seem to run on converging lanes. That album seems generally underrated. I don't know Can history much but it's interesting that this really feels like a "driving" album (apart from "Unfinished") and it came out not long after Autobahn, where (despite moments of tension) the car drives itself along more or less peacefully. On Landed we seem to be in the presence of a very aggressive driver who insists on making the car a rocketship.

The first Can I heard was "Babylonian Pearl" on this Virgin Value CD3 sampler, whose purchase sent my dad and I driving to electronics stores to find an adapter so it would load in the CD player. I did eventually buy all the parent albums sampled, too. Well done, Virgin Records.

https://img.discogs.com/Ab-e4YuaHUyRN8R33ryB-fQnUvw=/fit-in/500x438/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1851158-1247957817.jpeg.jpg

Two ballots so far.

Plenty of time :)

Started listening through in chronological order today and realized this was going to be even harder than I thought.

I might have to add more songs from Landed

"Half Past One" will be top five for me, I think. A remarkable creation.

i had never heard landed. it's great! flow motion not as much, though i dig "i want more".

Three now!

By the way I forgot to add please send your ilm usernames with your ballots!

The Can (Inner Space) album is obviously a bit inconsistent but I think I'll have to consider at least 'All Gates Open' or more likely 'Safe' for the ballot. The remaster sounds super hi-fi as well IIRC.

No way of listening so can't really vote but glad to see so much love for the s/t record.

THIEF

post-Suzuki Can is still fantastic but it's all getting blown off my ballot

http://www.czukay.de/can/comments/index1.html

Can wasn't sure yet which way musically to go till Malcolm jumped one day to the microphone and pushed us into A RHYTHM. Before we actually had started recording in Schloss Norvenich, the owner had invited the most important gallerists for a Picasso exhibition I think and we were invited to contribute as a music group without a name. We played about 3 hours and this was for the first time ever we played together. There was this big staircase in the castle and Malcolm started singing "upstairs-downstairs-upstairs-downstairs..." going on for at least one hour. In front of the microphone he really was walking upstairs/downstairs all the time. This was the way how he turned us on in getting tuned into a rhythm.

wish i could hear a recording of this

i feel bad for leaving the "peel sessions" record off my ballot entirely. it's a good album!

mighty good!

Froggy froggy
Toady toady
Tangerine seeds
ONE BY ONE

Up on the moon you really don't need to hang your coat up
Because you know it's gonna go down

Good alternate take of that on the Radio Waves bootleg odds & ends thing.

here's the full 12-min version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--0kT_v13xs

and yeah that radio waves boot is awesome. 36 minute version of "up the bakerloo" is can's finest improv with damo, i'd say.

Will seek radio waves tonight

it has a totally killer live version of "Entropy", recommended

^^yes! unfortunately the lp version just has a ten minute extract of up the bakerloo at the end of the second side, don't know that i've heard it in its entirety.

great track from the Inner Space LP : "A Spectacle"

defnintely.
i wish paperhouse/mushroom/oh yeah could somehow just take one place on a ballot. they're kind of of a piece

everything on the inner space lp is great until the last six minutes.

i wish paperhouse/mushroom/oh yeah could somehow just take one place on a ballot. they're kind of of a piece

I'd love to be able to vote for Side 2 of "Soon Over Babaluma" as one piece.

5 ballots, 35 songs and 8 albums voted for so far.

What the fuck is going on with the drums on Pinch!? It's been years since I revisited it and my mind is being blown.

There's a particular moment from 7:00 to 7:05 after the ambient keyboards which is just too much. Is this the best track to showcase Jaki's drumming? It sounds like it, he carries the whole song.

Did a helluva lot of carrying did Jaki!

"Pinch" was the first Can song I heard...instantly hooked thanks to Jaki. Still a total fave.

Not seeing enough people mention "Future Days" - both the album and the song. Transcendent.

Currently, I'm tempted to vote Future Days and all tracks from it atop all else. This January I pretty much listened to it and nothing else for two weeks straight. Never got old.

Never understood the Julian Cope hate for Future Days. Has everything I love about Can.

Never understood the Julian Cope hate for Future Days. Has everything I love about Can.

fixed

i voted

Never understood the Julian Cope hate for Future Days. Has everything I love about Can.

Don't think he hated it, he just didn't like "Bel Air". Personally speaking, title track is in the running to be my No. 1, "Moonshake" probably top 10, the rest of the album I can live without.

Yeah Future Days' title track is the most organic piece of band music I can think of, the ideas just spill out of each other and it creates its own structure. I've listened to it so many times that it feels inevitable, but it's an incredible achievement requiring five musicians in total sync with each other.

bel air is one of their most underrated songs imo, it will be a top 5 candidate for me

never understood why people like Julian Cope's music or any of his fucking books or opinions full stop tbh. I remember walking a 15 mile round journey from Cottingley to purchase Future Days from Jumbo Records in Leeds due to lack of train fare. I haven't listened to it in years but it is a fucking great album and easily up there with Can's best.

Of the Damo albums I the Ege Bamyasi/Future Days were my absolute favourites.

The timing of this poll is so good. Everything I've listened to this week sounds so fresh, even stuff I'd kind of dismissed before.

Yeah I rate Ege Bamyasi and Future Days above Tago Mago which is the general favorite but it has too much noodling for my taste (although can noodles are the best noodles in all of prog).

Ege might be their most 'pop' and accesible and the Future Days song might be the most trascendent jam session ever recorded.

http://i.imgur.com/343N2qy.jpg

I was listening to Monster Movie, the original Spoon label cd and the sacd remaster back to back, and just noticed on the sacd three of the four songs are 5-8 secs longer. I can't actually hear why though?

On remasters: how do we feel about those anyway? I started listening to Can on 70s pressed lp's (an uncle introduced me to them). I got most 90s cd's, and in 2004 (?) I bought the Future Days' sacd, which sounded amazing to my ears. Because of that I bought the sacd of Ege Bamyasi as well: it's absolutely terrible. Drenched in a treble bath. Unlistenable (for me). All in all sticking with the 90s Spoon cd's and old vinyl.

Also putting in a word for Delay. I think it may just come down to liking a voice, but I love so much of the Mooney stuff. Thief in particular being a great one. I think of this album as being along the same lines of Velvet Underground's VU comps, in the sense that it's not just leftovers and crap, but songs that probably could have been released at the time. Actually the delay between recording and official release is about the same for both of those, I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1NR7lrmE50

tago mago is the best to listen to on psychedelics

The few CD reissues I have heard sounded too compressed to me compared to the original Spoon CDs.

However, I have the vinyl reissues of everything up to Saw Delight (except Flow Motion - already had a UK 1980s reissue of that) + Delay 1968 and I think they sound awesome. I think they used the same digital transfers as the CDs but perhaps with less compression in the mastering stage...?

Delay is amazing and Uphill'd be a contender for my #1 if I ws voting.

Why not vote?

xp OTM, "Uphill" is amazing

and yeah, vote!

Cos it'd all be from memory, and when I did that w The Smiths poll I turned out the most generic list ever. I like Can a lot more than them tho, I might give it a go.

Thief is another Malcolm one with a longer original mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAiYRCpvC2c

Does anyone rate Out of Reach? I threw the first track on and thought it felt an awful lot more consistent with their mid-70s stuff than its reputation.

Also, this little sunkissed, Moonshake-inflected ditty with Holger jamming almost offstage on the shortwave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZkex5jHvuI&feature=youtu.be

From the same performance, this pretty unbelievable rendition of what is ostensibly Babaluma's Dizzy Dizzy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOfWKzMgeac&feature=youtu.be

"Tango Whiskyman" is such a pretty piece!

In defence of "Don't Say No", if I had written "Moonshake" I would pretty much want every song after it to be "Moonshake" as well.

Did someone post the longer (mono?) version of Uphill? Same recording, just more of it. Can't see it on YouTube but it used to knock around slsk.

I like Don't Say No, especially Saw Delight version. Maybe I would have liked it less if I had heard Moonshake first.

I suspect others are spending a lot of time on things like Lost Tapes. For my part, I'm finding myself probably giving way too much rope to the 74-79 material – in large part because I am fascinated by the idea of Can trying to shoehorn themselves into shorter forms and pop structures. Notwithstanding the reduced frequency of heavenly Jaki grooves, I find the majority of these records texturally fascinating and really easy on the ears.

I didn't spend very long on my ballot, because (as is rarely the case with these polls), I knew off hand what were my favorites -- and the vast majority is from the classic albums (of which I include Soon Over Babaluma). I do have some tracks on there from albums after that too (my pet "underrated Can album" is Flow Motion), but my main issue with late 70s Can is that they stopped being a studio-centric, tape-edit jam band, and became just a regular jam band.

Also, let me thank the poll runners for limiting this thing to 20 tracks and 5 albums! Nothing like not having to worry what my 37th favorite Can song is.

Yes, I found a Top 20 Can tracks list I'd compiled years ago and I don't think I'll be deviating from it very much, if at all. Ditto my favourite Can albums haven't changed over the years.

I can't get into any of their albums after Soon After Babaluma. There's one or two tracks per album and several moments I enjoy but they somehow sound more like a Can tribute band than the real thing.

Soon Over Babaluma*

Even in SOB a track like 'Come Sta La Lua' they sound like a more timid, domesticated band. Was Damo such a driving force to the band? He always seemed to me like the perfect fit but the weakest link in the band.

What sounds like 'Come Sta La Luna'? I wish more music did!

Oh I'm not sure what does just saying it sounds like a more timid band.

9 ballots one week to vote!

Not gonna argue that the band don't sound "more timid" on the post-Damo albums but there is lots of good music on them. I put off listening to those records for years because of their reputation but nowadays they are what I go to when I want to hear Can.

The intensity of something like "Father Cannot Yell" is not there anymore on the Virgin-era albums, but it's not there on Future Days either. They always had mellow songs.

my main issue with late 70s Can is that they stopped being a studio-centric, tape-edit jam band, and became just a regular jam band.

I'm not sure I agree. Surely, something like "Half Past One" is as tape-edit oriented as the early records, right? I think "I Want More" and "All Gates Open" and stuff on Rite Time might be as well.

"All Gates Open" is so good. That's Can for me as much as Monster Movie is.

I love All Gates Open, will definitely be near the top of my ballot. The chorus sounds like it was recorded in some kind of cosmic beer hall.

I don't mean every track is a jam track. I Want More is a straight up pop song! It's classic, but there way too many jams that don't really go anywhere on those later Can albums. All Gates Open is a great track (I voted for it), but pretty easily my favorite from that record. It also says something that my second favorite track is the Can Can thing (or Can Be). This isn't the otherworldly, beyond-genre music they were making on Tago Mago or Ege Bamyasi, it's basically Euro free-fusion, which *can* work when everyone is hitting (and probably when they made the right edit) -- or can be kind of nondescript and bland, which is how a lot of that era feels to me.

am I the only one that loves 'Augmmal to bits?

Xpost: they weren't particularly ahead of time and when they were it was accidentaly so. They were following trends in the 60's and they were still doing it in the 70's. Problem there is late 60's/early 70's were mindblowingly good and late 70s not so much. I guess we shouldn't blame Can for keeping up with the times but Western civilization.

"Father Cannot Yell" feels outside of time to me. Like a seven-minute long No New York track from 1969.

It seems Can's rep doesn't carry the same cachet with my friends who are into the more electronic side of krautrock, like Kraftwerk, Cluster (and to a lesser degree, Neu). Still, I think they were ahead of the curve in the early days, in the same way a band like Faust was -- mostly to do with how they constructed and produced music. In a totally different vein, they were ahead of the curve in emphasizing James Brown beats, and just by virtue of Jaki wanting to play like a machine, conceptually they're linked to Kraftwerk and Neu.

There was definitely something in the air, and Can were not only part of it, but (among its) leaders. However, I do think they became a bit one-of-many by the late 70s. Maybe that's related to Holger Czukay's lack of involvement.

am I the only one that loves 'Augmmal to bits?

― Mark G, Monday, July 18, 2016 4:04 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

If you mean Augmn, then no, because that song would be very high on my ballot if I somehow find enough time to vote on this thing

Also really like Peking O. I remember making my then 3 year old son laugh by doing my best imitating the vocals on that song.

Basically if I voted on this, my ballot would be almost exclusively Damo Suzuki tracks. I like some stuff both pre and post Suzuki, but he is such an important element to what appeals to me with this band that the rest of the stuff can't really reach the same level.

It seems Can's rep doesn't carry the same cachet with my friends who are into the more electronic side of krautrock, like Kraftwerk, Cluster (and to a lesser degree, Neu).

That's weird to me because, much as I love all those other bands, Can and Kraftwerk are the undisputed kings to me.

i always figured the reason their later studio albums sound so much less interesting is because they abandoned their earlier recording process of just recording everything to two-track and razor-blading it into "songs" and started messing around with, like, overdubs and stuff. especially since they started sounding even better live during this period.

That's pretty much what they admitted happened, well, Jaki did, and he is generally very unforgiving of the band's faults. Possibly Holger said the same, not sure.

I think they did overdubs all along. Maybe more in the later years, that could be.

Listening to "Mother Sky" now – I never had Soundtracks so didn't know this and always assumed it was a Mooney track. Really good stuff – some of Karoli's best early playing it seems.

Speaking of overdubs, there are definitely some in Mother Sky aka the best all-around Can song. In fact, I tried to recreate the drum part at ~4:30 with 2 live drummers. And it worked!

^^^ glad to see the love, probably in my top 5 as well, guitar work actually worthy of being called "searing" and yeah the rolling drums are great.

I really need some more of those recent vinyl remasters, I have a couple and they sound incredible

It would be cool to discuss some of Holger's more innovative tape editing examples. Not all of it is "Cutaway"-style stuff -- and I would agree that some of it is probably covered a bit with some overdubbing.

BTW, "Spray" is marching its way up my ballot. Wasn't even on the first iteration -- is approaching top 5 for me right now.

I love Mother Sky, sounds like if Roxy Music actually made the beginning part of "Mother of Pearl" into a full song. Of course, "Mother Sky" came three years before "Mother of Pearl"

>I think they did overdubs all along.

The main distinction is that up to Soon Over Babaluma, most of the tracks were played as a band and mixed live to stereo. Those tracks were further manipulated /overdubbed, EQ'd, varispeeded, layered (you can hear this a lot on Future Days), but their mixing options were limited, giving Czukay most of the control. From Landed onward, they had a 16-channel deck, allowing them to track and perfect their own parts in isolation, and giving the rest of the band more of a vote in the mixing stage. The sound got a lot smoother once Czukay started getting outvoted.

The best example is comparing Can's attempt at a single 'Hunters and Collectors' to what Czukay did with the same source jam for 'Oh Lord Give Us More Money'.

Wow, I had never noticed those were the same tracks! And while I think I am generally a bigger fan of Holger's jump cuts, I may actually prefer "Hunters and Collectors" in this instance.

my interests skew towards the edits. if solo tracks were allowed in poll, half of mine would have been Czukay 79-86 (would have thrown in Schmidt's 'Man On Fire' too)

Ha, yes. Is there a good interview with Holger on the subject of tape editing and mixing? I feel like I read one in Option magazine or something about 20 years ago but can't remember.

"Hunters and Collectors" is definitely in my ballot. The first sides of both "Landed" and "Flowmotion" are great, second sides not so good.

From Landed onward, they had a 16-channel deck, allowing them to track and perfect their own parts in isolation

We're still talking about overdubs, right? I assume so, given that we're still referring to the "source jam" for a track like "Hunters and Collectors." I'm still not sure that there's a significant distinction between the overdubs on Landed and the overdubs on Soundtracks, other than the fact that there might be more of them. Overdubs are seemingly, usually done in isolation.

BTW, to yank the conversation back for a moment, the live version of "Mushroom" on the 40th anniversary of Tago Mago is a revelation -- only about four minutes in does Jaki finally play one of his patented moebius strip beats. To that point, the song is comprised mostly of this sludgy, grinding drone, with Irmin playing atonal horror runs on the organ. Karoli seems to spend much of the song just standing in front of his feedbacking amp. And yet ... it's still "Mushroom." Pretty amazing.

UPDATE:

11 BALLOTS RECEIVED

67 SONGS VOTED FOR SO FAR

11 ALBUMS VOTED FOR SO FAR

Compared to the Stereolab poll - which had a massive song selection - Can is a band with few songs and albums no idea how to do the rollout. Top 40 songs and Top 8 albums?

12 ballots.

13 now!

Btw if you do not get a received confirmation email from me it means I didn't get it. Please check.

Damn, considering updating my vote to include this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRfI7P0R3ao

"Cutaway" surging up my ballot as well – everything I love about Can wrapped into a about 18 minutes: glorious studio texture, shifting rhythms, sneaky melodies and a healthy dose of whimsy. Probably Holger's finest moment in Can from a tape collage standpoint.

Incredible to think that this was 1969, tho I do wonder whether there was some overdubbing in the second or third part as Irmin's keyboards sound suspiciously like the string synths he was using around the time of Future Days and Babaluma.

Yeah, it's definitely not all from 1969, most of the first part sounds like it's from ca. 1974 - the sort of loping reggae bit and the whole section with sped up bass and string synths.

... maybe not the first part, I'm working from memory here.

The funny accordion part that leads off the track may date from an earlier period. I think my favorite bit tho is the conversation between Rene Tinner(?) and Michael Karoli about needing to tune to the ring modulator. When I first heard this as a 17 y/o, I can't overstate how formative this track was -- demonstrating to me how fragments of sound, melody and rhythm could not only be "music" per se but consistently interesting and engaging.

I think my favorite bit tho is the conversation between Rene Tinner(?) and Michael Karoli about needing to tune to the ring modulator.

I don't know, isn't that Malcolm Mooney and some slightly snotty Englishman?

What, I thought that was Irmin and Holger. Although it's funny that Holger would (have to) be told to tune the ring modulator to the track.

Talking of English ppl and Can, I once met Duncan Fallowell and almost immediately asked him about working w/ them, he said (in a bemused rather than annoyed way) "That's all people ever ask me about!!"

Pretty sure Mooney's not there -- I had always thought it was Irmin, but as I was listening to it this am it sounded like they were talking about tuning the guitar to the ring modulator. Either way, the conversation is hilarious -- and yes, whoever the Brit is is acting like he runs the place. I also love that Irmin/Karoli/Holger is having the whole conversation thru the ring modulator.

Trying to draft up a ballot tonight, and apart from like five stone cold classics, I'm finding it very hard to single out songs and rank them, taking them out of their album context. As in: extremely hard. I've noticed I tend to 'see' Can's music in movements, parts of albums not necessarily defined by single tracks or side A or B. I warm most to how Babaluma crosses over from Splash into Chain Reaction, parts of songs like 'Mary' or 'Aughm'. Making voting in this really, really hard. As I don't break down Can's music in separate tracks per se. A Wonderful challenge nonetheless, but this poll made me realise this like nothing before.

this is so fuckin difficult

kinda want to put all of babaluma and future days on my ballot

do it

I think my favorite bit tho is the conversation between Rene Tinner(?) and Michael Karoli about needing to tune to the ring modulator.

I don't know, isn't that Malcolm Mooney and some slightly snotty Englishman?

― 24 Hour Sex Ban Man (Tom D.), Wednesday, July 20, 2016 11:11 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

maybe it's this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_C._Johnson

You can hear his voice on "Hymnen", speaking German though. There's definitely an American voice on "Cutaway" and I've always though it was Malcolm. Still no idea who the English guy is.

Played Mushroom Head for my drum students today <3

also bc of this poll i've discovered i really love the s/t!

Rite Time is even better!

I heard Mushroom Head first via J&MC. It's odd how seminal, UK, punkish bands were always in thrall to Can (see also John Lydon). It's hard to imagine, say, New York Dolls or Ramones doing a Can cover. I think I like the J&MC version and the original about equally, in different ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O5Wh74ZXfo

i don't have much use for the e.f.s.s but "smoke" is a jammmm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF7zJTYFfz4

The first sides of both "Landed" and "Flowmotion" are great, second sides not so good.

btw this is a wild opinion that i completely disagree with

this is the hardest poll yet

like i'm listening to my current #25 and still thinking "this is the greatest piece of music ever recorded"

It's odd how seminal, UK, punkish bands were always in thrall to Can (see also John Lydon).

Pete Shelley did the sleevenotes to the Cannibalism compilation in 1978.

"Chain Reaction" = acid house in 1974

I heard Mushroom Head first via J&MC

Yeah, me too: at the Hammersmith Palais, we all decided we liked their new song, and decided it was called "Keep your distance"

yeah I can't believe how difficult this was, Can albums have like 5-6 songs each

The first sides of both "Landed" and "Flowmotion" are great, second sides not so good.

btw this is a wild opinion that i completely disagree with

yeah smoke > flow motion are both fantastic.

out of reach is super fun, confused about its reputation. rite time meanwhile is so dense that idk if I was enjoying as much as enduring it. super weird tho

Probably doesn't help that nobody in Can likes "Out of Reach".

rite time just hit me with beauty the last time i played it like it never before has. always loved a few songs, but the /way/ it sounds is so freakin' lovely
xpost

imo "november" and "seven days awake" are highlights of the can discography

Only album without no Holger involvement too. Couple of songs credited to Rosko Gee and not the band as a whole - I like both of them though.

'without no'? 'with no'!

LAST WEEKEND TO VOTE!
15 BALLOTS COUNTED SO FAR
LAST WEEKEND TO VOTE!

Also if you didn't get a received email back from me it means I didn't get your ballot, I doubt anyone had any trouble with that but just in case.

Anyone shared this performance of vernal equinox yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=390Nz5Gm8Hw

they sound like such a mindblowing band to see live, I haven't seen any video in youtube to make me think otherwise... I don't understand how they didn't take over the whole world back then.

Also this Dont Say No performance from 1977 with Mooney on bass?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3VdIDxMg74

Oh no wait hahaha that's Rosko Gee and it's actually Moonshake?

Got thrown off by the top hat.

"Don't Say No" pretty much is "Moonshake".

anybody voting for "last night sleep"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aginmlvkXlA

Rosko Gee is Jamaican for Ricky Fatar

Re "Mushroom" - it's funny how the menace and atmosphere of the JAMC cover is carried by Jim moaning "I gotta keep my distance", but they got the lyric wrong. Damo sings "I'm gonna keep my despair" in the original. Love the JAMC's arrangement too, despite Jaki's drum ouroboros being my favourite part of the CAN track.

Moka, what constitutes collab albums? Full Circle, Phew? I'd quite like to give Flux & Mutability or Canaxis a shout in the albums, I'm thinking.

and I've risked the wrath of Moka by asking to update my vote. I had thought I would dislike the self titled album, but then this knocked me out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Es5W-f_2E

"all gates open" kicks fucking ass

Is that on cannibalism 2cd? I feel like it is

Bliss. Secret Jaki disco;

https://youtu.be/bhIegjbvBlA

Can I make that embed?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhIegjbvBlA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNI35VMBrzI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=8Igz8sLPs5s

Since we're talking about collabs now, this album is one of the best, Jaki & Holger going absolutely nuts in a way they often did live with Can but not so often in the studio:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FKoBOhAxxLU/VomXp8KUXyI/AAAAAAAAHvs/43NOw4FWA6w/s1600/R-2200845-1269529330.jpeg.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMqoJedwGB8

Is "Kamera Song" eligible for this poll?

and I've risked the wrath of Moka by asking to update my vote. I had thought I would dislike the self titled album, but then this knocked me out.

― MatthewK

http://i.imgur.com/rJ9OHYJ.jpg

Moka, what constitutes collab albums? Full Circle, Phew? I'd quite like to give Flux & Mutability or Canaxis a shout in the albums, I'm thinking.

― Noel Emits

It's open I guess, if ILM approves.

o no STARE OF DAMO

I'm gonna vote I promise

Same, we still have a couple days yes?

i argue that everyone should vote for "tape kebab"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o03XDZdu5Yo

I gotta put in a shout got Tango Whiskyman before it's too late to influence anyone. Tango Whiskyman!

gave up and sent in my ballot. got so excited by the stuff i had heard recently that i ended up prioritizing it, but it still felt kinda weird not to vote for "halleluwah"

today it occurred to me that rite time is the sound of can scoring a michael mann film

Ha ha – he did use Kraftwerk in Thief.

Voted!

(xp) Tangerine Dream surely?

There is some other stuff tracked into Thief - I know there's at least one cue by Craig Safan, didn't know about Can?

Sorry meant kraftwerk not can

Voted. Ballot is skewed by me not really being familiar with the post-Landed material, so is a bit 'Now That's What I Call Can' - but basically I couldn't miss this one.

Seeing as people are posting favourite ewetube live clips, may as well -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLoxgETP0Y8

voted from memory, didn't overthink it, "All Gates Open" is pretty good but it's no "Vernal Equinox" and even that got cut.

Lost Tapes did quite well

I mean fuck I had to cut "Pinch"! that's a hard poll.

Doing my last pass through the catalog today.

Holy shit my bad, yes T. Dream. Mostly from Force Majure. My brain must've been fried by the sun.

So I am a bit confused about the rules: collaborations by members are allowed but solo records aren't? So, no songs from, say, Movies but Phantom Band is ok?

Part of why I'm asking is that I'm not totally sure why Movies wouldn't count but Canaxis would.

ballot sent

voted!

voted very superficially on personal favorites, hoping to find some major Can jams i have been previously unaware of because the more the better
and more
and more
and more
and more

sending my ballot Sunday night

actually I got a chance to put the e-mail together earlier than I expected, so I just sent my ballot in! :)

voted. this was really difficult even without digging as deeply as i'd hoped to

voted. this was really difficult even without digging as deeply as i'd hoped to

same and same

Just quit messing around and sent a ballot. I think I voted for every track on Soundtracks

Now that the ballot is done, I've started listening to the first Secret Rhythms album by Jaki and Burnt Friedman -- really enjoying it.

1st 2 Pluramon albums also have excellent Jaki drumming, fwiw

Also recommend Cyclopean w Jaki, Friedman, Irmin & Podmore from 2013 as well as the Oblique Sessions w/Jaki & a bunch of others I don't remember

So I am a bit confused about the rules: collaborations by members are allowed but solo records aren't?

Anyone? About ready to send along ...

Ballot sent!

Fuck it, voted!

Threw together a ballot and sent in!

this is that Oblique Sessions thing I mentioned above -- this is a weird reimagined version of Shikaku Maru Ten and I love it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJYqwHssduo

Also I have a question: who plays guitar like Michael Karoli these days?

34 ballots! Is anyone else sending one at the last minute or do I start counting?

Just stabbing out an email if you can bear with me a few minutes!

Done. Genuinely ranking these is almost impossible but very much looking forward to the results!

Is there an unranked/even distribution of points ballot option? There's no way I can throw a ranked one together but unranked I could do

If unranked I'd give 22 points per track. It should be 22.6 but I hate decimals in polls.

aw c'mon, round up to 23!!

Bump it down to 18 for not doing the work!

wait, yours was ranked wasn't it sleeve?

Ok everything is counted, I need to readjust MattK's ballot only and I got a final one by zach. Stop sending ballots! Poll is officially closed!

yes, mine was ranked :)

I'm truly sorry Moka. It's not my fault they made a late period gem I couldn't overlook.

just realised I can listen to spotify at work now..

I would have been all over this poll if I had known that..

tried to listen at home but bared managed an album every couple of days.

Mute is putting out a Can singles comp in June, including "Turtles Have Short Legs" https://youtu.be/my8T7hB992k

going ahead and posting the info from the youtube description:

Can - The Singles
Released 16th June 2017

Pre-order now:
Buy: http://smarturl.it/CanTheSinglesBuy
Stream: http://smarturl.it/CanTheSinglesStream

This unique document is the first time the singles have been presented together and shows the breadth of their influential career, from well loved tracks like Halleluwah, Vitamin C and I Want More to more obscure singles such as Silent Night and Turtles Have Short Legs.
The tracks are all presented in their original single version, many of which have been unavailable for many years and not presented outside of the original 7" release.

The triple vinyl comes packaged in a trifold sleeve, decorated with a beautiful spot gloss lamination, and is designed by the award winning Julian House from Intro, a long time design collaborator of Can's.

CAN - THE SINGLES - TRACKLISTING:
Soul Desert
She Brings The Rain
Spoon
Shikako Maru Ten
Turtles Have Short Legs
Halleluwah (Edit)
Vitamin C
I’m So Green
Mushroom
Moonshake
Future Days (Edit)
Dizzy Dizzy (Edit)
Splash (Edit)
Hunters And Collectors (Edit)
Vernal Equinox (Edit)
I Want More
...And More
Silent Night
Cascade Waltz
Don’t Say No (Edit)
Return
Can Can
Hoolah Hoolah (Edit)

https://mute.com
https://spoonrecords.com
https://irminschmidt.com
https://gormenghastopera.com

i never really think of can as a singles band, but ok!

is this on CD?

I love Silent Night.

I've got "Spoon" and "I'm so green", and "I want more" obv.

Been after that Halleluwah for ages, but the prices are silly.

So.. Yeah!

years ago (like at least 9 years ago?) i downloaded someone's homemade can singles comp and it was 2 discs -- it has rattled around in my car ever since and i have always wondered where it came from

same tracklisting iirc, at least through halleluwah
on the one i downloaded there was a tiny bit of vinyl noise so i always figured it was a european release that never saw the light of day in the US but ?

Well,they're all in the right order, so.

Also this is where I learned about Can "Can Can" which is horrible to google even if you add "band" to Can

Future Days (Edit)

im guessing this just chops off the long intro and outro which are the best things about it?

Dunno, I remember "Soup" (edit) on the Antholog, which lopped out all but the 'noise' bits..

I love that this exists:

Which CAN album are you?

I‘m 'Soon Over Babaluma' - primal, impressionistic, a dance floor shaman, what are you?

I did three different tests changing answers and I got Babaluma the three times... is it broken?

I just tried again for testing purposes with deliberately different answers and got Future Days, and I know a friend got Tago Mago

Nice: I‘m Can - a real joker who is always the life and soul of the party

ah I love this rubbish, I‘m 'Flow Motion' - a shimmering, lively joy with a slight tropical vibe - only slight tho!

I‘m 'Ege Bamyasi' - focused, you do justice to your ideas and endure past creation

I‘m 'Rite Time' - a welcome surprise (and not a minute too late); funky, funny, and abstract

... me too.

ha, I‘m 'Can' - a real joker who is always the life and soul of the party
not true but i wonder what you have to answer to be tago mago?!

Yesssss

I‘m 'Soundtracks' - straight forward, but veering towards left of centre

My only accomplishment today may be to test out as the can record which contains my favorite can song

I also got Rite Time, which is funny because it is probably the Can album I'm least familiar with.

jon you are the only person i know who has scored Soundtracks!!

Tago Mago.

I'm an unusual fellow

huh, i got soundtracks too

i don't know what my favorite can song is though. "bel air" maybe.

I got Soundtracks too

jon you are the only person i know who has scored Soundtracks!!

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, July 21, 2017 6:45 PM (yesterday) Bookmark

this turned out to be false -- i remembered another person. i really wanted to be tago mago or soundtracks but i guess i am so much fun that i had to be 'can'
i do find it amusing how difficult it is to search Can's "Can Can" from Can without the word "band" or another word distinguishing it from an endless stream of can can can can

Rosko Gee is Jamaican for Ricky Fatar

I keep forgetting that one of my friends is a Facebook friend of Rosko Gee - I noticed he replied to a post on Trump (don't worry, he's agin him).