I have no words to describe how much I love these two absolutely indispensable records. Ege Bamyasi was the first Can LP I bought when I was 15 years old and it completely blew me away. Never heard anything like it before (and as I can say from today's perspective there is indeed nothing really comparable to Can). "Soup" - just incredible. The unconventional sound aesthetics of "Tago Mago" are partly due to the fact that it was recorded in the Nörvenich castle where the group - and I guess especially Holger Czukay who was the main sound engineer - was not only influenced musically by the very special atmosphere of this castle (as I read in interviews) but also made a deliberate and very ingenious use of its unusual acoustics - whereas for the next albums they already had their own "Inner Space Studio" in a former cinema in Weilerswist. BTW, the story about meeting Damo Suzuki is true. He was indeed busking across Europe at the time. Some years later he joined the Jehova's Witnesses (I think he fell in love with a girl from the sect, but would have to check up on that to confirm), cut his hair and left the band because the rock lifestyle - especially of the seventies - did not fit the moral concepts of this religious group of course. And even worse, he almost died due to these beliefs as he had to undergo an operation at some time and the Jehova's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions. Thankfully he later left this sect, grew his hair again and returned to music. The concept of his music today is very similar to Can, he just improvises his singing and even a great deal of his lyrics on stage - with different musicians. Fortunately more and more of these live recordings (he does not like studios) have been published on LPs over the last years and they are all interesting - sometimes brilliant, sometimes less brilliant, but that's the nature of improvisation. Unfortunately I have never heard the first pressing of Tago Mago. I have it - as well as Ege Bamyasi - as an early Spoon pressing. So I would really like to know whether my Spoon LP is closer to the original or closer to the current reissue soundwise (which I have not heard either).
in 1972 my best friend, 2 years older than me (I was 17, he was 19) , started doing college radio in Connecticut - we found a free promo copy of Ege Bamyasi on US United Artist - we both became HUGE Can fans - in 1978 we both ended up in Berkeley Calif & started a band called The Jars - we used to do a cover of Full Moon On The Highway... we remain best friends & are still huge Can fans, as is my wife...
well i am disappointed as i have both of these albums on reissue and i love the way they sound! I cannot afford to buy originals for these, so for now i will just have to love the music without thinking they were as good as i thought! Resources matter for people. Many of us simply cannot afford to buy originals for every underground record we love! THANK YOU for comparing them Michael!
The two reviewed albums are two of the ten most important and best German Rock albums in the beginning of the seventies. German psychedelic music. Both are must have … Well done Michael
6:00 "One click. I've listened to the thing two times and there is *one* click." Cue cartoon:- Audiophile listens to LP, relaxed, mellow in armchair - - *click* Audiophile tries to ignore this and continues listening. But he can't help himself. Gets up, returns needle to beginning of track, sits down to listen again, more concentrated now. *Click!* Audiophile takes off the best glasses in the world, pinches bridge of nose, sighs deep, polishes lenses of glasses and dons glasses with a new idea. Audiophile gets up, takes off needle, cleans record diligently, returns record to turntable, starts needle at the problem track, sits down to listen on the edge of the chair as focused as an astrophysicist with a telescope. *CLICK-K!!* Now the track is snagged on a loop! *CLICK-K!!...CLICK-K!!!...CLICK-K!!!!* A CRACK opens in the floorboards. The CRACK spreads right across the floor toward the wall. *CLICK-K!!!!! ...CLICK-K!!!!!!* CRACK and *CLICK-K!!!!!!!* are synchronised, the CRACK travels all the way up the wall and across the ceiling and splits the house in half. The record plays on. *CLICK-K!!!!!!! ...CLICK-K!!!!!!!!* The CRACK travels across the street and down the road and ruptures underground pipes spouting water jets 50 feet into the air. *...CLICK-K!!!!!!!!!! ......CLICK-K!!!!!!!!!!!!* A gas main explodes. The CRACK streaks right through Dusseldorf, heading toward Cologne!
I discovered CAN about 3 years ago, my first reaction was where had this music been all my life? I now have the complete discography on CD, and 8 albums on vinyl. I have the Tago Mago current release, and lucked across an original German pressing in excellent condition at the record show in den Bosch. I was blown away as well by the repress as well, it crushes the current pressing, the CD and on-line versions.
Hi Michael. Thanks for reviewing. These are the only 2 CAN albums in my collection. People not willing to spend 750 bucks for a Tago Mago OG and not getting the current regular issue might consider the 1981 German so called 'first Spoon pressing' I own. It does not sound bad at all. Same goes for for Ege Bamyasi.
The answer is yes, invincible. I was waiting for your words on this, because Tago Mago German OG is so special and so unique in it's presentation, that it is beyond normal comprehension. I put this on for my wife's friend when we had people over this spring, and he sat there with a huge grin on his face the entire time, not even budging. It was like he was in a trance. This recording is easily in my top 5 best that I own (probably #1). I would urge anyone even remotely interested in this to seek a copy out now, before you never get one. These are historic records, so important to the development of modern music that it's worth it's weight in gold if you can find a clean copy. There will never be a reissue of this that tops it, regardless of who tries.
I have a near mint 80’s Japanese press of “Tago Mago” and it also sounds incredible. I haven’t been able to A/B it against a German or UK original but to me it sounds stunning and will do the job until the day I stumble upon another copy.
I too have original copies of these albums (UK Tago Mago) and German first pressing of Ege Bamyasi with very rare poster whi h has been framed on my living room wall for the last 30 years. Back when I was getting into Can in the late 80s their albums were so cheap to buy, no-one was interested in them in those days. I can't believe how much they sell for nowadays.
Love hearing a German’s perspective on Can. Thanks for your review!! Now I’m going to try and forget that I ever saw this video because I know I’ll never own one of those original copies 😂.
Yes, I can only confirm that and have already written it on this channel: Can first pressings are hard to beat in terms of sound. Also the Liberty stuff (monster movies, soundtracks) sounds incredibly energetic. Especially the drums! As far as I know, the Can releases are all live recordings and you can hear that (comparable to Blue Notes in the recording technology). And the Czukay things after Can are far ahead in terms of sound. My absolute reference for many years: Les Vampyrettes (Czukay-Project) But be careful: turn the volume down, the bass is gigantic. This is a 45rpm Emi special production (probably the best at the time). And totally crazy sound. And one more recommendation at the end: a good alternative to the even more expensive Can first pressings are the first 80s reissues on Spoon!
Thanks to you Michael I have been introduced to Can, Neu and Wilco. In Groove Mike got me into cool jazz so I really appreciate you guys sharing your musical collections. For a mostly classic rock lover (Beatles Stones Zep , Dead etc) it’s a mind and soul expansion.
Thank you Michael :-) I bought Tago Mago (a re-pressing) last month thanks to your earlier review of the record, and I love it. My equipment is not sophisticated enough to be able to tell one pressing from another though, but the re-pressing sounds good to my ears.
Thank you for another great video. Your anecdotes about the history of Can are great. I've loved Can for 30+ years after I discovered them from The Fall song "I Am Damo Suzuki". Tago Mago is one of my all time favourite albums, first I had it taped by a friend, then on CD, then a 2014 Mute vinyl reissue. You are teasing us with your description of the original Tago Mago pressing, I'm really interested in hearing it now.
Thank you for the video Michael, after all these (60 odd) years I am really getting into Can. They were always around back in the day but unfortunately I did not notice until now. I will one day pick up some original German first pressings when I can afford it Ha Ha.
Hi,.....CAN one of the greatest Rock Band ....far ahead of their time. Tago Mago was the last record of my huge original collection that I sold, .the very last one. ..... and it was very hard to break away from it. A MUST for all Music Lovers
I got all Can , Neu and Kraftwerk albums and never had a problem with the rivalry between Cologne and Düsseldorf (l don't speak about the beer). By the way Can found Damon Suzuki on the street in Munich.
Great band!! The first time I heard a song by this band (Vitamin C) was in a movie by film director Almodóvar. I thought it was fantastic. Since then they are essential.
I know exactly what you mean about the drums sounding like "metal". I mean what clarity and punctuality! The soundscapes embrace the soul and put you in the middle of Jackie's drum kit. The sheer bliss of listening to the sidelong Paperhouse/Mushroom Head/Oh Yeah is a journey to a place where time stops. Yes I have listened to this record many, many times and it's always magic. I do own the United Artist pressing and the Spoon 1981 reissue. The Spoon reissue from back then is also very punchy and dynamic. I purchased the colored vinyl version mainly because of the leaflet and the pretty orange vinyl. Have not even listened to it as I know damn well it is not gonna touch that 1971 pressing. Thank you for confirming. Much of the same can be said about the Amon Düül II UA pressings and Strand reissues. They sound amazing and the Purple Pyramid/Cleopatra reissues on colored vinyl don't come closer to the dynamic soundscapes of the originals. But in their defense like you said, they do bring back essential talent from 50 years ago. And to this current younger market they seem quite happy with these current reissues. They do after all give glowing reviews to these current reissues with most noting that they have never, and probably never will, hear the originals. So they are happy even though I beg to differ. Long live Can!!...and Amon Düül I &II, Faust, Neu, Kraftwerk, Guru Guru, Embryo...etc.
The characteristic attitude in the 60's and 70's. Very appreciated dear and valuable. This Art is certainly also reflected on the original. I "Can" empathize very well. The original certainly reflects the lifestyle of the same live. Even more so than the new editions. Either way. Krautrock is timeless fine art and poetry. Constant, lasting, forever. ❤️Heike Ideally. However, the original should be clean. :-)
I’ve been a huge Can fan for many years. I found this video after one of my top three best record store finds ever. I found a UA 🇩🇪 first press of Ege Bamyasi and a 🇬🇧 first press of Tago Mago in near mint condition for a very good price. Another customer and fellow Can fan was in shock and awe over my discovery. I agree the represses sound great but the original pressings take it up a notch for sure. I listened to both of them back to back and I was blow away by the originals. I’m so happy to have them and you have gained a subscriber, keep up the great work.
Wow Michael great finds Can Ege Bamyasi and Tago Mago so pristine my friend Jaki Liebezeit is the reason I dig Can he has all the Jazz influences he’s one of my favorites I knew the OG was going to win I have the UK OG in the envelope and an OG US Ege Bamyasi love them love the story you told of Can love it Michael OGs are hard to beat I truly agree take care . Lovellandrew
Hiya Michael, I recently discovered Can's 'Soon over Babaluma'. I haven't stopped playing it, it's weird and utterly wonderful. Nothing compares to it. Wonderful music!
One of the best groups of all time, many will agree. I was thrilled to locate orig pressings of these though they are not quite as clean as your copies. I can testify to how difficult that can be to find. (Though I do have that Ege Bamyasi inner). The thing that is so unique and brilliant about Can is just how communal their sound is. Each member is key yet none is more important than the others. Damo's vocals too are instrumental in the way they fit into the mix. Such an important band. Even the Malcolm Mooney Monster Movie era is incredible. Well done!
I have both originals that I bought without knowing what the band sounded like. When I was a young man I was reading the sleeve notes of Tago Mago in my local record store and was fascinated by the information The rest is history after watching this video I am going to dig out these albums
How about a video where you compare only the OGs from your 20-plus OG v. remasters. It would be interesting to get your thoughts on the sound, not the music, to see if certain OG labels have uniform levels of quality production, sound stage, etc. to each other. You now have enough to do a solid comparison. Good to excellent presentations. Your enjoyment and enthusiasm let your subs be part of your vinyl experiences.
I had never heard of Can until you mentioned them a few weeks ago. KrautRock does intrigue me so I'll stream these Albums. Can do seem a band you're passionate about.
I'd love to crate dig in Germany in hopes of finding stuff like original CAN pressings. I have an early pressing of Monster Movie but all my other CAN albums are recent represses. Originals are so soooo rare around here.
I absolutely love your content. I am a late convert to the Krautrock but I love it. CAN, NEU, Kraftwerk, AmonDuul are very important to me. Your take as a German person is incredibly enlightening.
Thanks for highlighting Can, these are truly amazing records. Hearing your review brought the question up in my mind: Could it be that the master tapes lose magnetic strength over time? This may account for some of the loss of the original's punch. Sure, it could be the remastering choices, but if they're working from a diminished source, they may never get that original sound back.
Would like to see you do a video about krautrock bands in the UK & Europe. I'm here in the USA & probably missed out on a lot of it. Only the really big bands were heard here. My fav was Nectar!
I have the 1981 German Spoon reissue of Tago Mago, which sounds incredibly good. I wonder how that compares to the original and the recent spoon remaster (2019 so must be digital?)
In most cases, I would rather have a good sounding, -new-, repress. I've found that the vast majority of original pressings are littered with scratches, pops, clicks, etc. I'd rather listen to a brand new record (as long as the pressing is good) as opposed to an original pressing littered with scratches, stains and fingerprints. And I don't have to pay 750 euros for a new repress.
I've had the Czukay Sylvian recordings forever but never really listened to Can until a few years ago and thought the cd of Tago Mago was fine. I'm sure in comparison it sounds like junk but anyway. But I did buy the live set that came out recently and it sounds great even on CD to me. It seems to go with the theme of the era, that live for some bands was more vital than the studio efforts. Down that path I also discovered Grobschnitt which I also found a live recording of and very much appreciated but seem very unknown here. They did have that odd humor sense but I found it compelling music.
Just a very minor correction. The Ege Bamyasi album you have is a first UK issue not German. However it was pressed in Germany (hence made in the UK blacked out on the label). So probably exactly the same pressing.
I have a german 2:nd press (1973)of Tago Mago. The cover is not laminated. Sounds great! I'm curious how much the soundquality differ between 1:st and 2:nd press? .... Thanks for the video!
To my mind comparisons are fun and worth to discuss. BUT in the end the original/1st or even 2nd pressing "wins". Conclusion: buy the real one and save the money for them. It looks that this is now aproofed in a way, because you strove a lot of genres, musicians, record labels and mix/mastering engineers.
I have the reissue of Tago Mago it sounds clear and well not terrible but from what your saying is maybe from another master or perhaps something is lost with the transfer to pcm or DSD. One thing I have noticed with reissues they can sound very similar to the digital hifi steam on tidal. But when comparing the stream to the OG in most cases I've found the OG nicer. This is all with a modest hifi ,rega p3 with ortofon Blue going into a Graham slee communicator preamp . Amp is Cambridge audio cxa81 ,cxn streamer, for speakers Linn ls150 helix .
Very rare Will a 70s rerelease ever sound better than an original 60s most rereleased will be better Early 80s will up to the Tascam portas The period when stereo first came in in unbeatable. Albums just recorded on simple reel to reels are fabulous. We recorded one on an cheap Akai 4000ds r2r. Never realised the quality at the time. 4 tracks was a luxury.
Considering Cologne: I would argue that Cologne was even the musical centre of the world so to speak in the fifities and sixties or at least one of the most important centres. Electronic Music was invented in Cologne in the early fifties. But most Cologners are not even aware of this and the city of Cologne does not capitalize on it at all - admittedly they have already enough tourist attractions anyway. At least a solution for the perpetuation of the legendary WDR electronic music studio has now finally been found - the WDR wanted to scrap it first, which I found absolutely incredible and ignominious.
I've got 3 different copies of the original Tago Mago. They are these special ones in a fold out sleeve with Jaki and Damo on the front. I bought them off eBay about 20 years ago for £15 each. So lucky. Thought I only had 2 copies, but recently found a third one I forgot about, which is a result. They be worth way more than this now I've noticed. Keep or sell I wonder?
Would love it if you could do a shoot out with Zappa. Original Hot Rats vs reissue for example. The original sounds unreal to me but haven’t heard the reissue, which I understand is really good
Love the channel! Can the original sound of tago mago be found on a streaming platform or RU-vid obviously won’t compare at all to vinyl but the differences you describe should be audible even streaming. So curious!
Michael, the Ege Bamyasi you showed looks to be a UK first pressing, not German. The lower corners of the front side of the cover are missing the icons.
I watched your video this morning which was interesting even although I have no Can albums. Then this afternoon while I was playing some LPs I picked on "Wild" by Erasure. As I was listening to that and reading the Mute records discography that was in with the album I found that all the Can records are listed as they were on a Mute label Spoon. Who knew? Well you probably. Anyhow I am taking this as a sign from a higher being to get some Can albums. Where do I start????
An inane comment: the Ege Bamyasi (the ‘i’ is pronounced more like an ‘uh’) album put the band name in an interesting context-‘can’ in Turkish is ‘soul’ or ‘life’ and pronounced ‘jan’. I assume they were cognizant of the double meaning.
From all Can's recent remasters/repressings, Future Days has the best sounding IMO and Tago Mago the worst. It's not terrible, but lack of some clarity and dynamics which is a little better in Ege Bamyasi. And the A1 from Tago has some distortion that drives me nuts!
A question from a novice: all of the five 1971 and 1973 german pressings of Tago Mago have the exact same matrix numbers. Does that mean that the same stampers were used?
If this were a Steely Dan video instead of Can you’d have 10x as many comments. Most audiophiles don’t know anything about Can/krautrock. These deep pockets boomers would rather jizz on their overpriced reissues and can’t get in line fast enough to shill and shell out $125 for SD one steps or uhqr of records they already own 10 different pressings of anyways. Audiophiles don’t even like listening to music-they just like to listen to their gear and wax poetic about sleek, slick recordings and fidelity.
Why not include a quick minute or so audio of the band to illustrate what your talking about? I realize we can all hear it for ourselves on RU-vid, etc. but it would be more meaningful to hear it in the context of your presentation.
