CAN you pick only one?: The CAN albums poll

tago mago, easy. hafta think this has been done before

BEST CAN ALBUM! (POLL Closes 4th May)

Post-Babaluma Can Poll

CAN: TAGO MAGO VS. EGE BAMYASI POLL

THE CAN EPICS POLL

Yep great first time poll question. Glad we are finally doing this.

Sorry - it's a buggeringly hard band to search. I went through about 30 pages of results like "Can fat people rock?" and "Where can I find a copy of ..."

suggest ban.

Oh look!

Times change, so do opinions.

Were any of the polls as long in their options?

Still, there's only seven that will get votes, right?

lol @ "can fat people rock"

D. Boone - never forget.

Now come come, Irmin Schmidt's not that fat

You know what bugs me? Isn't the plural of Bamya = Bamyalar, not Bamyasi?

Still, I think that's my favourite. Yet again. I know I'm in the minority here.

LOL, it won the Best Can Album poll!

Did it? But it lost Ege Bamyasi vs. Tago Mago. HOW CAN IT BE?

Transferrable votes? I'd vote "Babaluma" these days.

Ege Bamyasi.

I appreciate another poll.

Maybe we need a "say something BORING about Can" thread. ;-)

Vote for the comps.

Another Can thread = not a bad thing at all. Voted for Future Days.

Via "everything2.com" re: Ege Bamyasi:

Can is a Krautrock band from Germany and Ege Bamyasi is Can's 4th album which was published in 1972. It's one of the best albums by Can. You will find experimental rock in this album.

But what does Ege Bamyasi mean?

Ege Bamyasi is a term in Turkish. It means a kind of okra, "Aegean Okra". Aegean is a geographical region in Turkey.

Can members saw and ate this tinned food on a holiday in Turkey and it became this album's title. You can see this tinned food on album's front cover: Ege Bamyasi.

Voting Ege, again.

Shoulda saved that for the "say something BORING about Can" thread (xp) Not voting in this poll, silly to have another one.

not voting as there is no 'all of above' option.

BUT IT'S BAMYALAR!!!! THE PLURAL OF BAMYA IS BAMYALAR!

suggest can

Take it up with Holger, shoot.

Google "bamyasi" and see if you get anything but the Can album.

Then google "bamyalar" and see all the tasty tasty ÖM NÖM NÖM NÖM okra goodness.

voting Soundtracks, again.

Or just not give a damn one way or the other?

Hello, take a look around you. You are on ILX. Have you never seen a grammar nazi here before? My goodness! What a sheltered ILX existence you have led.

let's ruin humour with pedantry!

DELETE THREAD

What I wanna know is how do you folks say 'Ege'. Is it egger or eej or edgy or eager or edge or ee-gee or what?

I say "egger"

dave eggers bamyasi

ay-gay

I am trying to improve my Turkish pronunciation so that the dudes at the MFC don't laugh at me so much when I go to buy my pide and my ajvar and my Anatolian Breakfast.

Lots of Ege love here, but I'm a Monster Movie guy. Galactus 4 ever!

Soon Over, still. Ege next, then tago mago. But not only is Soon Over the most underrated Can album, it really doesn't even sound like any of the others, *and* it contains my favorite Can tracks "Chain Reaction"/"Quantum Physics". Also, now that I'm thinking of it, imo this is the record that "Future Days" hinted at, rather than the rest of the Future Days LP.

I like Monster Movie more and more as time goes by.

I did right and voted for MM.

Soon Over, still. Ege next, then tago mago. But not only is Soon Over the most underrated Can album, it really doesn't even sound like any of the others, *and* it contains my favorite Can tracks "Chain Reaction"/"Quantum Physics". Also, now that I'm thinking of it, imo this is the record that "Future Days" hinted at, rather than the rest of the Future Days LP.

^ listen to what the man said

delay 1968, and no foolin'.

i voted for future days but it's really close with soon over babaluma to me, I could have easily picked that. in fact, I never even listen to the other Can albums

I've still never heard Delay 1968. I guess I should.

I have it but have only played it once. Not really that impressed but maybe I should try again.

It's definitely a partner to "Monster Movie"

Monster Movie is great though

lol @ "can fat people rock"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCrQ3ixSTNc

Might be of interest to those reading/voting in this thread--I made a mix of extra- and post-Can stuff (1977-1984) with tracks from 17 different side projects, guest appearances, collaborations, etc. A lot of really great stuff, often (in my opinion) stronger than later Can stuff (which is often underrated itself):

Can – ‘The Church of Latter-Day Can, Book Two’
(Beyond Can, 1977-1984)

01 Michael Rother (with Liebezeit & Plank) – “Karussell” (Edit) – ['Flammende Herzen,' 1977] (3:22)
02 Michael Rother (with Liebezeit & Plank) – “Zeni” (Edit) – ['Flammende Herzen,' 1977] (3:38)
03 Czukay (with Liebezeit & Rebop Baah) – Cool in the Pool” – ['Movies,' 1979] (5:03)
04 Phantom Band (with Liebezeit) – “Without Desire” – ['Phantom Band,' 1980] (2:38)
05 Phantom Band (with Liebezeit & Rosko Gee) – “You Inspired Me” – ['Phantom Band,' 1980] (4:00)
06 Eurythmics (with Liebezeit) – “Take Me To Your Heart” – ['In The Garden,' 1981] (3:35)
07 Eurythmics (with Czukay & Liebezeit) – “Never Gonna Cry Again” – ['In The Garden,' 1981] (3:05)
08 Les Vampyrettes (Czukay & Plank) – “Biomutanten” (Edit) – ['Biomutanten' EP, 1981] (3:32)
09 Phantom Band (with Liebezeit) – “Experiments” – ['Freedom of Speech,' 1981] (3:34)
10 Liebezeit, Czukay & Jah Wobble – Trench Warfare” – ['How Much Are They?' EP, 1981] (4:50)
11 Czukay (with Liebezeit) – “Fragrance” – ['On the Way to the Peak of Normal,' 1981] (4:13)
12 Phew (with Liebezeit & Czukay) – “Fragment” – ['Phew,' 1981] (3:59)
13 Schmidt (with Bruno Spoerri) – “Toy Planet” – ['Toy Planet,' 1981] (3:04)
14 Schmidt (with Liebezeit, Karoli & Gee) – “Endstation Freiheit” – ['Filmmuzik Vol. 2,' 1981] (3:37)
15 Dunkelziffer (with Liebezeit) – “Strom” (Edit) – ['Stil Der Neuen Zeit' EP, 1982] (3:03)
16 Czukay, Jah Wobble, The Edge & Francois Kevorkian – “Snake Charmer” – ['Snake Charmer' EP, 1983] (4:07)
17 Gabi Delgado (with Liebezeit) – “Victim” – ['Mistress,' 1983] (3:30)
18 Phantom Band (with Liebezeit) – “The Party” – ['Nowhere,' 1984] (1:31)
19 Phantom Band (with Liebezeit) – “Loading Zone” – ['Nowhere,' 1984] (3:50)
20 Dunkelziffer (with Suzuki) – “Watch On My Head” – ['In The Night,' 1984] (2:52)
21 Karoli & Polly Eltes (with Liebezeit) – “Yours & Mine” – ['Deluge,' 1984] (4:28)
22 Karoli & Polly Eltes – “Watch On My Head” (Edit) – ['Deluge,' 1984] (3:47)

[Total Time: 78:37]

If you don't know Liebezeit's Phantom Band, it's worth grabbing this just for an introduction to them (their first album is also up in full at my blog). Get the mix at Musicophilia and the Phantom Band's 1980 s/t LP here.

if you don't want this. you have no business being on ILM.

it also means I don't have to buy that Eurythmics reissue to satisfy my curiosity. thanks.

That mix looks like a lot of fun. Roughly know the first half but hardly anything from the second half. God I love Flammende Herzen.

awesome, thanks.

Echoing thanks.

Still Monster Movie for me.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

that post can mix looks awes. i've heard (and love) 80% of that stuff, but will grab to hear the rest. here are a few things u should also track down. stuff w/Reebop Kwaku Baah and/or Rosco Gee (does that make me blasphemous?)

http://www.discogs.com/Unknown-Cases-Masimba-Bele/release/28572
(afro cosmic)

http://www.discogs.com/Zahara-Flight-Of-The-Spirit/release/1358534
(sorta jammy jazzy with fretless bass)

Jaxon--

Thanks for the recommended LPs--far from blasphemous as far as I'm concerned, I love the contributions of Baah and Gee (though especially on that first Phantom Band record). That Unknown Cases album looks exciting!

Hamildan--

I'd like to think you're right--but given that even later Can stuff is generally trashed even by respectable geeks, I have to operate from the assumption that I'm slightly crazy to think everyone who sleeps on this stuff is slightly crazy ; ) But! Please don't let a mix of mine prevent you from making a purchase to support an artist! I'll admit I favor the Liebezeit-centric tracks on that Eurythmics album, but it's definitely an album worth hearing if you like that era generally. I didn't know there was a reissue, wonder if it's got any outtakes or b-sides or whatever. . .

Willem, Pfunkboy, Trip Maker--

I hope you dig it--no guarantees!

here's the unknown cases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V7XaCpi05k

and here's a track from the zahara album.
http://www.robotsinheat.com/temp/TotalDune.mp3

i've been meaning to start a rosko/reebop s/d thread forever. maybe tomorrow.

o, apparently Unknown Cases is ex members of Dunkelziffer

Soundslike - Dont worry. I dig on the Can so much, I'll eventually buy the solo CDs. just working thought getting all the SACDs right now.

The best thing about late era Can is that you are always presently surprised, rather than disappointed. All gates are open has a classic Can groove.

also Holgers' gig at the roundhouse has made me venture further into solo can than just movies & Cannaxis.

The best thing about late era Can is that you are always presently surprised, rather than disappointed. All gates are open has a classic Can groove

On the money. I voted for 'Can' (1979) as I'm enjoying it so much at the moment. I can't understand the bad rep this recd has - surely anyone who really rates, say, Future Days, would love this album?

kneejerk prog disdain in julian cope's krautrocksampler has cast a long shadow over the later stuff

"Can" doesn't have a bad reputation, "Out of Reach" does. Most people agree "Can" was a return to some sort of form.

I don't think any of their albums are particularly hated, apart from "Out of the Reach"... and, even then, hated by the band themselves mostly

Oh Ok, maybe I'm mistaken. But the sleevenotes for the SACD version refer to it not being liked much by Canfans - haven't got it to hand, but I'll check later. I'm gonna have to go up to Fopp later and get Rite Time, I think!

Who wrote the sleevenotes? I suppose, in 1979, no-one was very interested in a new Can album.

Yeah I like "Can" better than Out Of Reach, Saw Delight or Flow Motion FWIW

It's good, but then it's got that "Can Can" crap at the end, that ruins it a bit

I love Can Can. I'd rate Can and Saw Delight as the best 'late period' albums and Flow Motion probably the worst (although obv 'I Want More' is great). I haven't heard Out of Reach though - did that make it to SACD? I've never seen it.

No, the band don't want it re-released. It's not too good, but it's not terrible either.

'Can' would be top four Can albums for me, as long as you lop off the closing--I have to agree, "Can Can" is a pretty sad way to go out. But "Safe," that track is fantastic--especially the ominous swarm-of-locusts sound that slowly sneaks up through the track.

Speaking of late-Can, for any who're curious but haven't looked past 'Babaluma' (because of Julian Cope or whatever reason)--I also did a late-Can comp a while back, from the last 5 albums including 'Out of Reach' (which is almost as odd in its being-maligned-by-the-band as Kraftwerk re: their first several albums--just silly to be kept out of print, and definitely on par with at least 'Saw Delight' and 'Flow Motion'.)

Can – The Church of Latter-Day Can, Book One (1975-1979)

01. Can – Red Hot Indians [Landed, 1975] (5:38)
02. Can – Half Past One [Landed, 1975] (4:39)
03. Can – Smoke [Flow Motion, 1976] (5:20)
04. Can – I Want More [Flow Motion, 1976] (3:34)
05. Can – Animal Waves [Saw Delight, 1977] (15:30)
06. Can – Sunshine Day And Night [Saw Delight, 1977] (5:51)
07. Can – Give Me No Roses [Out of Reach, 1978] (5:21)
08. Can – One More Day [Out of Reach, 1978] (1:37)
09. Can – Serpentine [Out of Reach, 1978] (4:03)
10. Can – All Gates Open [Can, 1979] (8:19)
11. Can – Aspectacle [Can, 1979] (5:52)
12. Can – Safe [Can, 1979] (8:36)

[Total Time: 74:20]

I think on the whole I prefer the post-Can compilation, but there's a lot of great stuff on this one. [b]Get it here at Musicophilia[b]. (Both have streamable samples if you are too skittish to even download ; )

Love "Give Me No Roses"!

ACR totally ripped off that bassline from Aspectacle for one of their early-ish tracks. Can't bloody remember exactly which one though - Waterline possibly, or something off Sextet?

Hey Soundslike, thx for those Church of Latter-Day Can mixes, had missed those the first time around. I'm definitely in the "don't know much beyond Babaluma" camp, so I'm looking forward to checking them out.

I gave another listen to Rite Time last night. It's not bad--Mooney makes the album, everybody else is pretty restrained.

I haven't actually heard Out Of Reach in full or 'Can'. Must rectify that.
is it ok to post links to Can bootlegs i found on a blog?

I agree, I prefer Can to Saw Delight and Flow Motion.

Have yet to track down the Rite Time remaster, though.

I quite like Saw Delight,Animal Waves is a track ive always liked.
Im playing Out Of Reach now and quite enjoying it.

Another vote for Delay 1968 here! Gonna spin it now!

Mooney >>>>>>>>> Suzuki!

I AM MALCOLM MOONEY!

there hasnt been a malcolm vs damo poll has there?

There's no need for one. It's obvious, ain't it?

its obvious who would win

i vote damo

The Can Live 71-77 set is pretty excellent-- I haven't heard it discussed too much for whatever reason.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

lotsa votes again

it's tago mago, if you add the previous poll

http://i27.tinypic.com/m3uxc.jpgvshttp://i27.tinypic.com/24326hd.jpg

http://i27.tinypic.com/m3uxc.jpghttp://i27.tinypic.com/24326hd.jpg

damn double post

tago nago 78
furure days 76
ege bamyasi 71

ege bamyasi voters switched to future days this time it seems

Soon Over Babaluma increased it's votes over last time along with Monster Movie and Soundtracks.

wonder if the 11 who didnt like Can changed their mind :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8RzLdf34Ow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0nfjguTclg

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2007/12/can-outtake-edition-complete-demo.html

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2007/12/bunch-of-can.html

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2007/12/its-raining-can-bootlegs.html

I would not have guessed such a big swing--wonder what accounts for the virtual switch of 'Ege Bamyasi' (still my overall fave) and 'Future Days' (still a top 100 favorites album)? I wouldn't have any clue as to what's considered the zeitgeist of today, musically, but does 'Future Days' somehow better relate to it?

Hey Soundslike, thx for those Church of Latter-Day Can mixes, had missed those the first time around. I'm definitely in the "don't know much beyond Babaluma" camp, so I'm looking forward to checking them out.

Hope you like them, Tyler. Hopefully it'll spurn a couple new purchases (my constant nefarious motive) : )

Who voted "Sacrilege" ?

"Halleluhwah" may well be one of the best tracks of all time. "Furure Days" is the better album though. totally second the result.

I keep checking to see if the pollstarter called it "Furure Days"

Whoops, spur, that is. Not spurn : )

Thank you tons for these awesome mixes Soundslike, really enjoying Book 2 at the moment. Is that John Malkovich on "Loading Zone" by Phantom Band? Really, really sounds like him!

Yes, Latter Day Can mix is great, played a few songs off it on my radio show last night (Karussell and the Eurythmics "never gonna cry" which was an accident but it sounded great on the air, thankfully).

I think I went from Ege to MM.

and for all tom d's moaning on the previous poll he still didn't vote for Unlimited Edition

Nick what made you change your vote this time? I'm surprised at the fall off in votes for Ege Bamyasi.

i feel bad for Landed and Saw Delight. I love those albums.

i actually like sacrilege a lot, though i voted for future days....

i DJed a song from future days tonight. should have voted that.

i'll never get the cult of Future Days

ugh, i meant i voted future days, but played a track from flow motion tonight. drunk

i get the love for future days, but i would've gone for ege bamyasi if i hadn't forgotten to vote.

Future days seems to me like the Can 'white album'. It's an album that gets more and more kudos from fans of the band whilst not being in any way representative of what an outsideers view of the music of can would be.

put simply, its the albums the fans listen to but you probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who wanted to know " whats this Can sound I keep hearing about (on ILM)?"

as more and more people listen to all the other albums, then keep returning to future, it climbs steadily up the poll.

Future days seems to me like the Can 'white album'. It's an album that gets more and more kudos from fans of the band whilst not being in any way representative of what an outsideers view of the music of can would be.

put simply, its the albums the fans listen to but you probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who wanted to know " whats this Can sound I keep hearing about (on ILM)?"

I couldn't agree less, "Future Days" seems like the Can album non-Can fans like, I don't think it's a particular favourite of "Can fans" and I'd say "Soon Over Babaluma" fits your "White Album" analogy far better! Anyway, it comes and goes, now Neil Young's best album is "On the Beach" and Can's is "Future Days" etc, it'll no doubt change in a while.

and you still wont vote Unlimited Edition ;)

I didn't vote at all in this poll, but at least I had the chance to vote for "Unlimited Edition" in this one, eh?

yeah I was about to say. Future Days was the 1st Can album I heard, and all the others seem way more "difficult". Please forever stop with the blanket reductive theorizing about all of the fans of a particular album.

First one I heard was "Babaluma", which is a weird one to start with!

Future Days to me is the album people like because...it has "Future Days" on it. Remove that song, and the album stock plummets, probably to about the same level as Unltd Edition (which i do think is underrated!). Maybe Ege is the "fan" record, in that to my ears, it's Can at their best, even if it's not necessarily Can at their prettiest or easiest on the ears. Tago Mago splits the difference so nicely, it's probably the one I would recommend as "here is Can doing most of what they do".

x-post
Babaluma also the first I heard!

When it comes to Can, I usually seem to agree with Dominque, it's, uhhhh, uncanny... but "Future Days" also has "Moonshake" on it, so there we disagree... the deal breaker is "Bel Air", which a lot of people love but which I can't bear

^^ otm. "bel air" is why future days is my least fave of the big ones.

"Moonshake" is my Can mixtape jam. I feel like its a song everyone should love.

x-post

I like Moonshake! I'm just saying, a Can record comprised of Spray, Moonshake and Bel Air would probably be well regarded by fans, but hardly the "go-to" record.

"moonshake" is a mixtape staple for sure. to harp on "bel air" a little more, i think one of the bigger reasons i dislike it is that it sounds SO composed and plotted out, which is like the exact opposite thing of i want from my can epics.

It's all a bit "prog" <------- kill the punk rocker

I voted Unltd Edition just to be contrary, but someone else did too!

It was the first Can record I bought (and the only one I've got original pressing vinyl of) and tbh, it put me off. Going back to it after getting into Tago Mago, Ege Bam Yesi, and Future Days, though, it's got some great moments, esp the Empress and the Ukraine King. But some rubbish.

Anyway, yes Moonshake and Future Days are amazing, but it feels a bit slight as an album if you don't dig Bel Air.

If I were to vote for real, it would probably be Ege Bam Yesi, although Soundtracks would be close for the Mother Sky/She Brings The Rain close.

Here's my Can Spotify playlist (POXIV) again, if anyone is interested.
http://open.spotify.com/user/smarmy/playlist/7jxLDfXHXwquWhzJbtvgq0

a bit behind here, but thx for the links above to the Mutant Sounds Can bootlegs posts ... that blog is a fucking gift from god.

Bel Air is great

if only cause it's not marred by some idiot yelling

Thank you tons for these awesome mixes Soundslike, really enjoying Book 2 at the moment. Is that John Malkovich on "Loading Zone" by Phantom Band? Really, really sounds like him!

You're welcome. I'd be sort of surprised if it were John Malkovich, ha! I like the idea, though.

Kind of messed up that the Phantom Band isn't better known. And that the first two albums are so very out of print. Come on, somebody--put them in print, slap a big "by the Drummer of Can" sticker on the front, and let the money come rolling in!

just wait til coldplay says Can are the big influence on their new album :)

just wait til coldplay says Can are the big influence on their new album :)

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, July 18, 2009 11:05 PM

Hey, if it gets more people to hear Can. . .

It would probably get a few of them to quit listening to Coldplay, too.

Kind of messed up that the Phantom Band isn't better known.
yeah, I'm liking this stuff a lot on that Book of Can mix, really lovely sounds ... out of print, eh? i'll have to dig around for the albums.

Can are an incredibly difficult band to search the archives for the latest / most current thread! This one is 10 years old, but I've no idea where a more current one is.

Anyway, a friend of mine recently went to the Rock’n’popmuseum Gronau, where a section of Inner Space studio is effectively archived, and took a load of photos to show me. Thought this might interest some of the other Can obsessives on the board!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yiilpkegv6vaojh/AAAc0zWjYyRbhXDhxW6mTHrJa?dl=0

You'd sure be pressed to find it, and I'm not sure if it's the most recent thread, but we had a Can poll three years ago! ILM Artist Poll No. 77 · CAN · Results Thread

The photos are magnificent!

Sick photos. I'd love to go check that out.

yeah very cool, thanks for sharing! have been mainlining Future Days the last few days after finding a nice clean 70s pressing last week

I had an original Future Days LP for a while (Mexican pressing!) and it really did sound incredible despite being on very flimsy vinyl.

I struggled for a while with the most recent remaster as it sounds very different but have decided it's actually great. The percussion is much more hard hitting.

I can't believe Landed only got a vote.

Must say I don't often get the urge to listen to Landed. Saw Delight is much better IMO, although Animal Waves is let down by a rather dull bassline that doesn't really gel with the rest of the track. That said I got to dig Landed out soon. The later ones definitely do sound great remastered.

"Landed" is great.

First side is awesome.

also had original future days/tago mago pressings. polls results otm. my housemate is playing drums with damo in a fortnight. i ought to go...

all the annoying handwringing upthread about "bamyasi"'s meaning crucially misses that it is not an "i" but a dotless "i" in Turkish: bamyası

...but can't fault the anglophones for not picking up on that subtle nuance though.

Top 3 vote-getters are in my contention for desert island discs with order fluctuating between Ege/Tago at the top, Future Days is a step lower but still god-tier.

Life just got more complicated:
Can’s Live Shows Will Be Heard at Last, Thanks to a Bootlegger in Big Pants
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/arts/music/can-live-albums.html?campaign_id=53&emc=edit_ms_20210514&instance_id=30896&nl=louder®i_id=81891736&segment_id=58137&te=1&user_id=f8fdcfc45acdadaba09de99d8bc20460

POLLS just got more complicated

Pants just got bigger

Absolutely love that they're on Bandcamp now because I never did get around to getting the remastered CDs from a decade back -- so I bought them through the site and now I have them both that way and properly streaming. (And per their Bandcamp page a few of those CDs were down to the last copies of whatever Mute US had around so hey.)

hopefully the quality is alright. I have the Live Box and it kicks ass but the recording is so grainy that I barely listen to it. hearing that the guy was walking around in some sort of Nathan Fielder-esque bootleg suit doesn't inspire confidence but they work a lotta magic with mastering these days...should be better than any of the boots out there I hope

it sounds great — genuinely surprised it's an amateur recording. maybe not exactly high definition, but it really puts you in the hall. Liebezeit is amazing on this, no surprise. unstoppable.

there's a clip, it sounds good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da6bXpkbwzs

And speaking of their Bandcamp: the remaining albums are now all up as of today, including Unlimited Edition and the 40th anniversary Tago Mago:

https://canofficial.bandcamp.com/music