Can

Adventurous and complex, Can’s music set the benchmark for Germany's experimental rock scene in the late '60s and '70s. Formed in Cologne in 1968, the group forged a unique blend of the psych-rock guitar of Michael Karoli, the polyrhythmic style of drummer Jaki Liebezeit, and the avant-garde ideas of keyboardist Irmin Schmidt and bassist Holger Czukay, former students of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Thanks to their improvisatory approach and the unpredictability of singers Damo Suzuki and Malcolm Mooney, even signature songs like "Yoo Doo Right"—a percussive jam on their 1969 debut, Monster Movie—were never played the same way twice. While the band’s only major hit came with 1976’s proto-synth-pop single "I Want More," their ingenuity earned them a mystique that endured long beyond their original 11-year run. Can’s hypnotic rhythms continue to permeate the sound of electronic music’s innovators and rock acts like Radiohead and The Fall.