2000 Great Songs #1330: Mother Sky

I'm not a huge fan of German prog/Krautrock legends Can--finally snagging their first mention on the Jittery White Guy Music blog--but I appreciate some of their instrumental vamps. "Mother Sky," from 1970's Soundtracks, is a 14-minute-plus jam session, starting mid-note in an extended guitar splonk that sounds like both the tail-end of a long Buffalo Springfield freak-out and the blueprint for Yo La Tengo's lengthy noise-rock explorations. The thumping bass keeps the journey somewhat grounded, with occasional discursions into psychedelic vocal passages comparable to Pink Floyd's space-rock era, but mostly it's just an excuse for the band to just raise some jammy hell "Sister Ray"-style until they run out of steam. (There's a more manageable 6-minute version on a Can compilation, which starts with the vocal segment and is probably the easier listen; but, hey, once you're in, may as well go all-in.)

Edited version:

Live:

Vibravoid 30-minute live cover!

That Petrol Emotion version:

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