Happy birthday Can: Tago Mago (United Artists, 1971)

More consistent than Monster Movie or Soundtracks, more functional than Ege Bamyasi, harder and funkier than Future Days and Soon Over Babaluma, the two-disc Tago Mago is Can's masterpiece. My disco promiscuity had long prevented me from bathing in the dub folds of "Aumgn" or marveling at the clicks and cuts of "Peking O" on the second disc. But prolonged exposure to Creel Pone and the films of Betzy Bromberg has softened me to their charms. "Aumgn" makes for terrific writing music at the very least. Still, the first disc is where Can discover fire. "Paperhouse" gnaws at the dancefloor stiffly but relentlessly while "Mushroom" ups the disco ante with stops, starts, and mini-breaks. And then the real fireworks pop off. "Oh Yeah" ain't here to play. With portentous electronics and Damo Suzuki's backwards vocals over Jaki Leibezeit's beastly banging, Can are here to remind you that there's no parking, baby, no parking on this dancefloor. A guitar gongs at 2:26 to light a fire under your ass in case you're getting tired already. And the side-long "Halleluhwah" is the apotheosis of Krautrock functionalism - 18:33 of funk stuttering forward as a bedrock for ever-fluctuating textures up top. It fades out at 4:36 but oh no, it ain't over, honey. After a perverse piano interlude, the stutter-funk returns at 5:04, fiercer than ever. If you're new to Can, there's no better introduction.

Grade: A