favorite All-Time tracks by Can

not sure why but i've been listening to Can a lot recently. for me Miles tried in vain with On the corner to eclipse what can had already done (of course he did eclipse it but i'm rationalising here)

1. "Cutaway" (1969)Wierd and it drags in spots but it's a conceptual masterpiece. and judging by the oddball release it ended up on they weren't even really trying with this one.
2."Paperhouse/Mushroom/Oh Yeah" (1971) Maybe cheating but: it really is the same song, the one song, once heard, you'll never forget
3. "Mother Sky" (1970) I have listened to this on acid. It's more "there" than Hendrix
4. "She Brings the Rain"(1979) One of Malcolm's greatest moments. for some reason i prefer the mix from cannibalism 1
5. "Chain Reaction/Quantum Physics"(1974) It's overlooked but stupendous
6. "Father Cannot Yell"(1969) The first can song I heard, and it was enough to hook me
7. "Peking O" (1971)some of damo's best vocals. phantasmagoric like Burrough's wildest dreams
8. "Spoon"(1972) short and to the point
9. "Bel Air"(1973) More atmospheric than symphonic, but symphonic nonetheless
10. "Connection" (1969) a v underrated Malcolm cut
11. "Outside the Door" (1969) Malcolm on acid is like Malcolm X on acid
12. "Sing Swan song"(1972) Beautiful
13. "Hunters and Collectors"(1975) Puts me in the mind of Bowie. a bit creepy and brilliant
14. "Vernal Equinox/Unfinished"(1975) alright it's cheating but listen to them in reverse order and see if you don't hear one of can's best improv'd symphonic classic works
15. Yoo Doo Right"(1969) stick with it it will eventually take you there
16. "Future Days"(1973) Whirrled music
17. "Like a New Child" the one that stuck with me from the comeback LP
18. "Halleluwah"(1971) A bit too long but it fuses Miles with prog better than anyone else

what did i miss?

this is gonna be a messy pile-on as i just remember things but i'm v fond of fall of another year - & a bunch of the other mooney stuff, so yeah connection, & the empress & the ukraine king - on unlimited edition.

i like that weird holger tape loop strings piece with some sorta maybe vietnamese choral singing that's like 20 minutes long & released separately (not can), is it called cannaxis or something?, i forget. that, too. as a curio.

Search for "Aspectacle" es; it's an outloud classic

i like that weird holger tape loop strings piece with some sorta maybe vietnamese choral singing that's like 20 minutes long & released separately (not can), is it called cannaxis or something?, i forget. that, too. as a curio.

boat woman song off of canaxis

yes!, ty. i haven't heard it for years. i feel like i heard the vocal loop that goes around separately, at some point, but that might not be true. i used to walk to school listening to it.

yeah i think its one of those things that you have your moment in the sun with. i was completely hypnotised by it for a full summer, on a loop, but once it wore off it wore off. its still very beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1KiMoNG_84

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSUEFdXXoQ4

love this song, poor Malcolm relegated to tambourine until the last few seconds in this clip though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR4tra9Nyq8

"Oh Yeah" is my favorite Can tune. I feel like when this band (and NEU! as well) really get rolling that it's impossible not to move around a little bit. In "Oh Yeah" it's like two minutes in. Some awesome guitar soloing too. Obviously "Halleluwah" and "Mother Sky" are excellent but as far as more "underrated" stuff goes, here are my picks

"Aspecticle" - as mentioned
"Sunshine Day and Night" - from Saw Delight. Has a neat late-period Talking Heads feel. Doesn't really sound like Can but it's got such a pleasant groove to it.
"Pauper's Daughter and I" - this album suffers from so much but this is a pretty good cut
"Like a New Child" - very pretty and IMO the best thing from the reunion
"Turtles Have a Short Legs" - really fun pop tune with some very confounding lyrics. Not an album track but it's not hard to find.
"Mighty Girl" - from the Peel Sessions. Pretty much a straight Irmin piano jam with some guitar. I think this eventually got recorded on Out of Reach or something but it's much better here.
"Half Past One" - I actually kinda liked Karoli as a vocalist. This one has such a great groove to it.
"Vernal Equinox" - probably the last great "true jam" the boys ever did
"Connection" - maybe one of Mooney's best vocals?
"I Want More" - hard to call it "underrated" since it was their only charting single, but what a great single it is.

"Spoon" made number one in the German pop charts, but yeah.

just want to second "Bel Air". I love the repeated, sustained bass note that holds things together for much of the song, but it's pretty much ruined my own improvised playing because now i have this catastrophic idea that i can just play a single sustained note every once in a while, off-rhythm, and it might sound good. turns out it only sounds good when the rest of Can is playing with you, i guess!

"Spoon" made number one in the German pop charts, but yeah.

lol oh yeah, I forgot about that. still I think the tune get unnecessary flack because it was more or less their "sell out" single

what, "I want more" ?

I dunno, I thought it great then, and still do.

In any case, "Turtles" I always thought as the "single, from the "Tago Mago" sessions", and is a perfect one for kiddies parties. Specificlally, musical bumps.

Turtles have short legs, not for the walking,
Turtles have short legs, not for the walking,
But we can find it out, but we can find it out,
But we can find it out, but we can find it out.
Want to have a cigarette, not for the choking,
Want to have a cigarette, just king-sized,
Well, we can find it out, well, we can find it out,
Well, we can find it out, well, we can find it out,
Well, we can find it out, well, we can find it out,
Well, we can find it out, well, we can find it out.

no dance party complete until

aspectacle gang for life