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New Desert Island Challenge!



CAUTION BIG MAIL!!!

I think the listing of our fave records is a great thing, cos it shows what
a diverse bunch we are, but with the occasional suprising simerlarities,
(the my life in the bush of ghosts album turns up quite a bit...should have
been on my list too, many others!)

Some records I have never heard of and am interested to hear WHY so, if
anyones interested or has the time, a new challenge...

So you have your nine favorite records, but on the island is a tribe of
cannibals and they take your records in exchange for NOT eating you, but
they agree that you may keep ONE! But you have to say WHY!!!
Where did you hear it first.
What you like about it.
What it sounds like (for those of us that dont know)
AND (to keep it relevant to the list) in what way it pertains to looping!
However obscure!

So I'll get the ball rolling.

As this idea was inspired by...

> And Mark Francombe is correct, Can's "Tago Mago" IS the best album, ever.
> Discuss.

"Tago Mago" By Can, It is then!

The first thing is that its one of those records that when you play it to
someone else they go "When was it recorded?" and you go 1971 and they go
"WHAT???" Its like it has no references from music of the era. Its so
restrained in one way, not a show-off musician among them and yet, they let
rip, rock out and freak out at the same time. Its inpired SO many musicians
from varous different genres, from techno artists to punks! John Lydon
(Pistols), Sean Rider (Happy Mondays) Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)many 
DJ's.
I first heard it in Art Class at school, around 1976, we were all listening
to Clash, Buzcocks, and a bit of Dub Reggae, when this hippy girl put it
on... I freaked and went to buy EVERYTHING by them, she also suggested Gong
tho!, which was a big mistake!
I like that it can be a late night chillin' ambient record, but if you turn
it up or play it at a club it becomes different somehow, more dancey,
summery, groovy, funky!
What does it sound like? Well its best to remember that it was originally a
double album (CD Version Spoon CD 006/7 is squished onto one CD) and the
first album was the er... songs and the second album was the weird stuff.
Basically its all improvised and editted down by the bass player Holger
Czukay. Each band member has a sound that is unique and inspiring that
...well... just seem to go together so well! Holgers bass is simple, funky,
But not too funky, a real groove, tad reggae. Michael Karolis guitar is all
over the place, changing from subtle finger picking, choppy rythymic chords
to screeching distortion in a second. Irmin Schmits keys are the most
ambient thing there, they wash over the music, massivly effected organs, 
you
dont even realise he's there most of the time, except when there is a 
sudden
spike of ring modulated noise digging you in the guts when you least expect
it. Damo Suzuki is a genius vocalist, not lyricist I must point out, his
rambling surreal sentances weave in and out of the album, some lines
reappear in other songs, he shuts up when needed and lets the band get on
with it, jumps back in and gets them back on track. then on album two, he
takes some drug or other and becomes... oh god!!!! Monks chanting, crazed
lunatics babbling, speaking in tongues, Islamic chants, murmering priests 
in
confessional...OK enough! AND the whole thing is driven by the utterly
fantastic drumming of Jaki Liebezeit. He combines burundi drummers with 
Drum
and Bass with funky drummer. His beats are like two trains racing, their
rythums interlinking then polyrythmic. So tight, he keeps the whole band in
order, but allows spaces for them to add beats and stabs.
Looping wise, there is no specific looping technology going on here, but it
was the first really expressive use of delay feedback which is used many
times on the album, sometimes for effect swooshes somtimes for doubling the
rhythum parts. More than that though, the whole album is a looper album, it
deals with repetition and trance-states, and almost Mantra like grooves.
Its starts with...
"Paperhouse", which is like an intro song really, this is what you can
expect from the whole album in one short song.
"Mushroom" follows, slow, weirder, spiky laid back for a while, then Bang!
screech!! then back to laid back slow fade and BOOOM! an atomic bomb goes
off!!! As the dust is settling...
"Oh Yeah" slowly fades in fom the background, a psychedelic journey into 
the
sun, backwards vocals, ambient pads over the repetitous groove from bass 
and
drums. Then comes the master opus...
"Halleluwah" which took one whole side of vinyl on the original.
Unexpainable, BUY IT! And then to the weird shit...
"Augmn" is freaky and really out there... the first half is like they are
trying out stuff which all comes together in one crazed moment when a dog
barks and an oscillator swoops and the tribal drumming kicks in! Maybe the
dog was barking cos the tone was in its hearing range and not ours but over
the next few minutes the tone slowly swoops back up again the only
accomaniment to the drumming!
"Peking O" is another experiment, its echoed beginning building to free 
jazz
and suddenly crashing as a stupid, almost silly bossa nova thing comes in
and everyone in the room laughs and relaxes after wondering whether or not
to say something for a few moments during the weirdness. The album finishes
with...
"Bring me Coffee or Tea" which is just sweet, lazy. The freakyness of the
second album over you can relax and enjoy youself, its like the final jam
the band have after the album is finished and they should really pack up
their gear and go home, a bit of a mess, but hey, you can hear the smiles 
on
the faces of the band as they come to the end.
I'm smiling too!

Sorry this ended up being quite an essay, I'm on holiday lying on the beach
in Phuket, listening to "Can" on my minidisk while I write! My girlfriend
just handed me something so I'll stop.
If anyone else is up to the challenge, please dont feel you have to write 
as
much, just a few lines, but be personal please,

Mark


PS: Whens the repeater coming out?  ... DOH!! Sorry!

Mark Francombe Red
mark.francombe@mogul.com
http://www.8day.com/redweb/
ICQ: 4531031

(Please dont send .exe files (zip them 1st) my mail server bites them chews
them up and sends me a rude message!)