Under The Influence

The follow-up to Tago Mago is only lesser in terms of being shorter; otherwise the Can collective delivers its expected musical recombination act with the usual power and ability. Liebezeit, at once minimalist and utterly funky, provides another base of key beat action for everyone to go off on -- from the buried, lengthy solos by Karoli on "Pinch" to the rhythm box/keyboard action on "Spoon".

The underrated and equally intriguing sense of drift that the band brings to its recordings continues as always. "Sing Swan Song" (featured here) is particularly fine, a gentle float with Schmidt's keyboards and Czukay's bass taking the fore to support Suzuki's sing-song vocal.

Messer fur Frau Muller (translates as 'Knife for Mrs. Muller' in German) originally started in 1991 in St.Petersburg, Russia. The current version, with the addition of Oleg Kostrow, takes its sound into unusual territory defining it as “post easy-listening,” drawing on samples from the 50’s and 60’s pop-culture, with addition of bass, guitars, synths and programming.

The influences on "Triangle, Dot & Devil" come from music styles as varied as surf, twist, mondo, lo-fi noise, experimental electronica, and even cartoons, children’s educational records, and sampled dialogue from Soviet cinema.

Have a listen to 'Agents and Spies'. You'll want to hear more, trust me...