9. CanSoon Over Babaluma
When it comes to Can, I chose this one because the way the cards fell was that this was just the record I had at home. In your teenage years you can’t really buy loads of albums, so I didn’t get the others for ages. I probably found this in a jumble sale or something. Jaki Liebezeit’s drumming is so creative, so different and so fresh. I was obsessed with the sound on ‘Dizzy Dizzy’ for years and always wanted to get it. I think it’s his minimalism, his way of approaching the kit is just amazing. He played at Cafe OTO a few years ago and he lined up all the drums on a table including the bass drums, deconstructing and reconstructing the kit. It was really interesting too that he was very grateful to the audience who were going apeshit because you don’t often get to see Jaki Liebezeit play, and he was quite overcome. I don’t think he realised what he meant to lots of people.
Again, this album does sound like a strange magical rite. There’s a lot of mumbling in the same way as My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, this strange atmosphere of sampled voices that sound underwater. Sometimes you can’t quite work out what the lyrics are. It just sounds like magic to me, like a weird ceremony is going on. Also, the lyrics are great. My favourite of all is on ‘Dizzy Dizzy’ which is “don’t throw ashtrays at me.” I absolutely love it.
