Can were formed in 1968 in Cologne (Köln) as "Inner Space", comprising of Holger Czukay (Bass), Irmin Schmidt (Keyboards), both of whom were music teachers who had studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen, Michael Karoli (Guitar) who was a pupil of Czukay, and Jaki Liebezeit (Drums), along with David Johnson (reeds, winds, electronics and tape manipulation). In the autumn of 1968 they were joined by American vocalist Malcolm Mooney whose ranting contrasted the start minimalism of the music. Johnson left shortly after the arrival of Mooney, who would leave in 1969 apparently for mental health reasons.

Tago Mago was the 2nd Can Album to feature Suzuki on vocals, I often confuse the name with Tango Mango, but Tago Mago it is. I kinda like the dual nature of my interpretation of the album title. The name Tago Mago comes from a large rock formation off the coast of Ibiza that figures in the legend of Aleister Crowley, Tango Mango on the other hands suggests some strange kind of free form jazz, both fit the album perfectly.

The classic piece Oh Yeah comes in as a tour de force again with subtle cyclical tribal drum patterns, shimmering keyboards and a backwards vocal with backwards cymbals. The song starts off quietly and builds in tension volume and overall hypnotic power; this is experimental music at its best. The guitar kicks in sounding like it is playing broken notes and once again you hear their influence on a generation of electronic artists especially the likes of Mogwai, Primal Scream, and even quite possibly The Happy Mondays. The song build in a freeform jazz rock number but thanks to superb drumming it keeps its place in time and space.

The same can be said for "Aumgn" which kicks off in a disorientating space rock fashion with instruments traveling between the speakers creating an evocative soundscape. It is disorientation to the hungover ears that I have today even after years of listening to this album. The song has sections of pure Musique concrète as industrial and natural sounds are edited together and at nearly 18 minutes long it is almost too much, but still wonderful and innovative. Definitely not music to listen to whilst writing and not music to be listened to in company either. In fact by the end of the song you are wishing that they used the word edit literally, as five minutes shorted would have been ideal.

The album comes to a close with "Bring me Coffee or Tea" which could almost pass for normality but does not……….

This remastered edition also comes with a booklet with extra photos and information as well a piece on the band by Bobby Gillespie, and it is also compatible with Super Audio CD players. So you can have much more of a sonic experience if you have one.