Can

Germany, 1968–1979

Cologne group whose method was collective improvisation edited into finished pieces. Jaki Liebezeit's steady, repetitive drumming on Tago Mago and Ege Bamyasi became a lasting reference for rhythm in experimental rock.

MusicRoots documents 3 artists who influenced Can and 11 artists Can influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Can?

• Karlheinz Stockhausen — Czukay and Schmidt were literal Stockhausen students — Can was founded by his pupils taking the avant-garde into the rhythm section.
• The Velvet Underground — Schmidt's 1966 New York trip — where he encountered the Velvet Underground and the minimalists — sent him home to found Can; his own account.
• James Brown — Liebezeit's endless groove was Can's declared rhythmic north — Brown's funk machine turned into trance.

Which artists did Can influence?

• The Fall — Can's hypnotic krautrock repetition is foundational to The Fall — Mark E. Smith paid direct tribute on the track 'I Am Damo Suzuki', named for Can's singer.
• Swell Maps — German krautrock — Can above all — drove Swell Maps' long experimental jams.
• Happy Mondays — Krautrock's hypnotic repetition — Can above all — was woven into the Happy Mondays' groove, the motorik pulse beneath their funk-dance fusion.
• Radiohead — Kid A and Amnesiac drew openly on krautrock — Can's motorik repetition and studio experiment among the German avant-rock the band absorbed leaving guitar-rock behind.
• Stereolab — Can's hypnotic, groove-based krautrock is a core reference for Stereolab's repetition and texture.
• Geoff Barrow — Barrow's krautrock love — Can above all — surfaced in Portishead's later, sparser sound and drives his band Beak>.
• Loop — Loop's official cover of Can's 'Mother Sky' declares the krautrock motor inside their riff-mantras.
• The Verve — Krautrock was the defining influence that set The Verve apart from their shoegaze peers — Ashcroft's love of Can's hypnotic repetition drove A Storm in Heaven's exploratory grooves.
• LCD Soundsystem — Can's hypnotic krautrock grooves underpin LCD Soundsystem's long, motorik-driven dance tracks.
• Hawkwind — Can's krautrock repetition and motorik drive are part of the hypnotic foundation of Hawkwind's space rock.
• King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard — Can's hypnotic, motorik krautrock is a clear influence on King Gizzard's repetitive, exploratory psych jams.