German Rock & Pop Music

Artists of Rock & Pop Music
  • Can
  • Neu!
  • Kraftwerk
  • Modern Talking
  • Ute Lemper
  • Nina Hagen
  • Die Toten Hosen
  • Scorpions
  • Rammstein
  • Einstürzende Neubauten
  • Die Fantastischen Vier
  • 5 Sterne De Luxe
  • Mouse on Mars
  • Tarwater
  • To Rococo Rot

German Krautrock Music - Can

Can was one of the most important avant-garde bands of the 1970's. Since its very beginnings, its music let go of all preconceived notions about what rock should be. The music that is closest in style would be that of Frank Zappa or Velvet Underground, although Can's songs were less accessible than the other two. Can experimented with noises, synthesizers, non-traditional music, cut-and-paste techniques and electronic music; each one of their albums was a step further into the exploration of new territory.

Throughout their career, the band's formation was very fluid, with different vocalists joining the basic structure made up of keyboardist Irmin Schmidt, drummer Jaki Leibezeit, guitarist Michael Karoli and bassist Holger Czukay. With Malcolm Mooney, their first vocalist, they edited the seminal Monster Movie in 1969; a year later Soundtracks was edited, a collection of music from movies that introduced their new vocalist, a Japanese singer Kenji "Damo" Suzuki, with whom they later edited the classic Tago Mago, where they shatter the limits of pop songs by adding long improvisations and experimental textures.

Ege Bamayasi was the following record, where experimentation takes on a more jazzy air, and Future Days, an exploration into minimalism, in which the musicians bury themselves in music territory that would later be known as Ambient; this is also the last record that was recorded with Damo Suzuki. Soon over Babaluma introduced Dub rhythms into Can's musical formula; Unlimited Edition (1976) and Saw Delight (1977) continued to move into blends with ethnic music.

Despite the fact that this band broke up in 1978, their work has been fundamental in later developments of rock; their echoes can be found in the first three albums by Public Image Ltd (PIL, the band created by John Lydon after the Sex Pistols), Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, The Fall, and Einstürzende Neubauten, among many others.