Finally falling into CAN... How could I've overlooked them for so long? I mean, I knew their name, their fame in what so awfully has been called "Krautrock", their influence on Anglo-Saxon musicians and bands like David Bowie, Brian Eno, Talking Heads, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees...

And it is not that the avantgarde and progressive music scene in Germany between the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s eluded me, starting with Stockhausen and his pupils (Stockhausen, in a sense, being the godfather of Kraftwerk and Can). But I never really listened to the music of CAN.

What strikes me with CAN is in part their technical abilities and prowess, notably Jaki Liebezeit (drums), Holger Czukay (bass), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards). These were/are sophisticated musisicans, and it shows (or rather: sounds).

Listening to only a few records on YT, without having dived into their catalogue of records yet, I'm struck by the immediacy of their play. There is no distance between me as listener and them as musicians on the records. Liebezit's drum is on point, every beat direct, and directly into the ear.

Listening to younger, more recent productions, with all the emphasis on soundscape, rhythm, basslines, the immediacy of CAN's music is still unreached. CAN's productions are so sophisticated that one can easily forget that their main records are 50 to 60 years old. Timeless. Have a listen.