Faust: C or D?

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Krautrock pioneers or self-indulgent wank merchants? (Although I'm sure some of you don't think those terms are mutually exclusive.)

TMFTML
http://intonation.blogspot.com

TMFTML (TMFTML), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 20:04 (twenty-one years ago) link

C++

dleone (dleone), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 20:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

70s = Classic.
Now = Dud.

(disclaimer to Now: I think of Rien as more of a Jim O'Rourke solo album featuring all-Faust samples.)

hstencil, Tuesday, 19 November 2002 20:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

Albums don't get much prettier/scarier/noisier/sweeter/melodic/bewildering/fun than IV.

Yancey (ystrickler), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 20:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

all the releases up to and including IV are classic. i favour the noisier / cutup things more and so the 1st album and Tapes are my favourites. in fact, they get a bit dud when they do straight songs even if there's always a wry smile in them.

Now=Dud: don't think so really, just different. 'you know faUSt' is quite good in an early faustion way and the later releases are more drone, fuzz rock (which i find a bit boring). the live 'Land Of Ukkio...' is far better than the studio based 'Ravvivando' in this type.

still waiting on the latest album to reach my mail box. here's the blurb from AndyW's wonderfull www.faust-pages.com :

After years of on-off debate about whether there are any significant unreleased works from the early days of Faust, now comes the group's definitive answer with the release of Patchwork: 1971-2002. While the album compiles material from right across the group's history to date, most is from the Wümme period, 1971-1974. Including new versions of classic Faust material such as It's a Rainy Day, Krautrock, Psalter and Stretch Out Time (from the original Faust Tapes)

phil turnbull (philT), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 20:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

i just listened to faust tapes for the firs time inna year or so. is good!

"jennifer" is still one of my all time favorite songs.

jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 21:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't have any of the new stuff, but I'd say classic. The 2-on-1 Faust/So Far CD is a steal. I finally realized that Stereolab/NWW ripped off "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" for one of their collaborations. "Picnic on a Frozen River" (any version) would probably be good music for a video game, signaling that your time is running out, or that you ate a power pellet that makes you invincible for 15 seconds.

Ernest P. (ernestp), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 21:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

'You Know' is as gd as any of their 'classics', and in fact I prefer it to the Faust Tapes.

Andrew L (Andrew L), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 22:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

the songs are better than the noise

Josh (Josh), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 22:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

Faust tapes is the only thing i have by them and I'm not bowled over by it really. but i can understand how good it would be to someone in 1974 (year of release no?).

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 22:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

i think the noise on the first one is good: faust tapes was a far-sighted idea but millions now living have done it better

mark s (mark s), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 23:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

classic up to and including IV. definitely not dud after that. not heard much of the more recent stuff but what I have was ok. not amazing but ok.

simon 803 (simon 803), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 00:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

classic post-Faust IV?

SEARCH:

71 minutes of FAUST

(not entirely post IV, but a good bit of it)

gygax!, Wednesday, 20 November 2002 00:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

'it's a rainy day, sunshine girl' is one of thee finest songs ever, by anyone.

stirmonster, Wednesday, 20 November 2002 00:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

i really like iv,never heard anything else by them though...

robin (robin), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 01:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

Dud. No, I don't really know. Haven't knowingly heard enough, but Rainy Day Sunshine Girl is dreadful.

Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 20 November 2002 03:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

70's - definitely classic, get The Wumme Years box and IV
Current - a bit patchy to be honest

Incidentally, I understand that "Outside The Dream Syndicate" (the album Faust did with Tony Conrad in '73) is due to be re-released (complete with a 2nd CD of bonus tracks etc. apparently) but I've heard very mixed reports of this one - is anyone familiar with it? C or D?

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 09:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

Haven't heard anything by the reformed Faust, but 70s Faust = classic classic classic. The thing about them that annoys me (and it's something that annoys me about a few German bands of their era) it's that when they hit on something that sounds genius, they spoil it by veering off on some less genius tangent, like on Mamie Is Blue or most of No Harm. Things I love about Faust - that mental guitar solo on It's A Bit Of A Pain, that bit on Jennifer that sounds like a prog-rock band falling down a flight of stairs, the first three minutes of No Harm, and I could go on about The Faust Tapes but it would be too hard to refer to a specific bit.

Damian (Damian), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 09:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

Incidentally, I understand that "Outside The Dream Syndicate" (the album Faust did with Tony Conrad in '73) is due to be re-released (complete with a 2nd CD of bonus tracks etc. apparently) but I've heard very mixed reports of this one - is anyone familiar with it? C or D?

Classic. "Academic" mid-1960s underground L.E.S. NY little-m minimalism meets German psychedelia.

I think the bonus tracks is probably the same schtuff as was released on the 7" that originally came with the CD (which had a bonus track itself), but I've no idea. I've got the orig. Caroline issue (released as a "nice price" style, just like Faust Tapes), plus the CD + 7" version...

hstencil, Wednesday, 20 November 2002 15:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

I've only heard Faust thru to IV; but it is all most assuredly classic. The first one is totally underrated, btw; Some peeps claim that they make awkward use of sound collage technique, but that's part of the beauty. The second one (So Far) is tooooo poppy for me, but I like the folky guitar track. Faust Tapes is excellent. But IV is the all time best: Krautrock is fecking genius, so is the sad skinhead. I luv the sense of humour these guys have (who says germans don't have it) and they're my fave "Krautrock" group!

Anas FK, Wednesday, 20 November 2002 18:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

i really like "rien" (apart from that hippyish "listen to the fish" bit) - everyone says "rien" is dud. i don't know why. the other stuff (older (not george michael older)) doesn't get me off. why everyone brings up "motorik" pavlov style evrytime someone mentions kratrock i don't know - i find even neu & can plod really stiffly.

bob snoom, Wednesday, 20 November 2002 20:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

Agreed abt 'Rien' being OK, maybe even as gd as gd: I esp. like the 'credits' being read out at the end, more ppl should do that. But as Stencil points out upthread, it's much more like that Brise-Glace rec that O'Rourke put together (round abt the same time?) than an 'real' Faust rec, which is both gd and bad.

Andrew L (Andrew L), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 20:40 (twenty-one years ago) link

three weeks pass...
Utterly classic.

Matt Kendall (mattkendall), Sunday, 15 December 2002 10:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

two months pass...
Wumme Years stuff and 4 are unqualified classics.

John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Sunday, 9 March 2003 02:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think Faust were an amazing band - their 70s albums are absolute classics. Having said that, I think they're a bit clunkier than the likes of Can, Neu!, Kraftwerk - they're a bit more of a hippy band in places with a definite Zappa influence and even a little bit of the dreaded Prog Rock (tho with a commendably German disregard for Prog nonsense like instrumental virtuosity). I didn't like "Rien", thought it was a master-turned-pupil situation, too "Industrial" plus it didn't have Hans-Joachim Irmler's organ-playing, which I love. "You Know Faust" I really liked - it was like an old Faust album, with pure aggressive noise, nice acoustic and pop elements and even silly pseudo-mediaeval stuff. "Ravvivando" I liked too - it sounded like a good live album, very rough-edged.

Dadaismus, Monday, 10 March 2003 16:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

Classic. Second only to Can.

roger adultery (roger adultery), Monday, 10 March 2003 18:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

if Rien is a jim O solo album, then it's better than anything else he's ever produced.

Faust are one of the cornerstones of my life but that's based entirely on the first four albums and Rien. they never really jumped the shark, so to speak, but they just sort of became less essential.

i saw them live in 1998 or 1999, and it was good, but not amazing. the sense of danger and unpredictability that i expected was absent.

john fail (cenotaph), Monday, 10 March 2003 18:56 (twenty-one years ago) link

but John, what about 71 Minutes?? IMO, as good as the first four.

dleone (dleone), Monday, 10 March 2003 19:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

yeah, 71 minutes has some great moments. and those BBC sessions that came out with the box set are also nice. how could i have forgotten that?!

john fail (cenotaph), Monday, 10 March 2003 19:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think the version of krautrock on the BBC disc is better than the original.

dleone (dleone), Monday, 10 March 2003 19:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

it's a different mix of the same performance, isn't it? I agree though, there's more energy.

I will grow old and they will remain my favorite band. Can't do the new stuff though, the balance is gone without Rudolf Sosna's songs and Kurt Graupner's engineering.

The story in this month's Wire was nice to see but frustratingly Irmler-centric. I don't trust that guy...

Jon Leidecker, Monday, 10 March 2003 19:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

three years pass...
well well, what have we here then?

haitch (haitch), Sunday, 19 March 2006 10:37 (eighteen years ago) link

ah, here we go (from faust pages):

EMI, who now own the Virgin label, have announced the release of a remastered Faust IV with extra tracks. You'll want to snap this up, not only for the new material but because the mastering of the existing version of the album on CD is so poor.

From the press release: "The bonus disc is completed with six previously unreleased tracks recorded by Uwe Nettelbeck. Beginning with a soporific take on Jennifer, followed by an alternate take of The Sad Skinhead, an extended version of Just a Second takes the track to greater levels of trance inducement, before ending in its almost trademark snare crack half roll. The ambient Piano Piece is reminiscent of Brian Eno's Another Green World - best known as the theme tune to the BBC documentary series Arena. A gentle and shimmering piece it is a gem tucked away on this second disc that concludes with alternate takes on Lauft and Giggy Smile."

As with the existing release, the track listing doesn't mention the track Run seperately, although presumably it will stiill be there, tacked on to the end of Lauft.

CD1: The original album, re-mastered

* Krautrock
* The Sad Skinhead
* Jennifer
* Just a Second (Starts Like That!)
* Picnic on a Frozen River (Deuxieme Tableux)
* Lauft... Heist Das Es Lauft Oder Es Kommt Bald... Lauft
* It's a Bit of a Pain

CD2: bonus disc

* The Lurcher (BBC Peel Session)
* Krautrock (BBC Peel Session)
* Do So (BBC Peel Session)
* Jennifer (Alternate)
* The Sad Skinhead (Alternate)
* Just A Second (Starts Like That!) (Extended Version)
* Piano Piece (aka Das Meer)
* Lauft... Heisst Das Es Lauft Oder Es Kommt Bald... Lauft (Alternate)
* Giggy Smile (Alternate)

haitch (haitch), Sunday, 19 March 2006 10:47 (eighteen years ago) link

I think I might just be buying this.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Sunday, 19 March 2006 10:50 (eighteen years ago) link

A remaster's not a bad idea. I love this album, most of the times it's my favorite Faust. The bonus disc contains some tracks (1-3) that are also available on BBC Sessions + and Piano Piece/Das Meer is from 71 minutes I guess. Still a very nice package though!

willem -- (willem), Sunday, 19 March 2006 13:11 (eighteen years ago) link

badly needs a remaster, the original CD has the track placements all wrong, and there's a glitch on 'jennifer' right after the cymbal crash that leads to the tack piano outro, sounds like the tape splice catching as it passes over the capstan. engineer must have left the room while doing the tape transfer.

the track listing on faustpages is incorrect as well -- looks like the new remaster got it right though

milton parker (Jon L), Sunday, 19 March 2006 22:28 (eighteen years ago) link

one month passes...
anyone heard this yet? still waiting on mine

Dominique (dleone), Monday, 1 May 2006 17:38 (seventeen years ago) link

just got this, and sounds great

Dominique (dleone), Monday, 1 May 2006 23:39 (seventeen years ago) link

Faust, the wumme years box, I got cheaply (see past threads), and have played it all a few times.

The only track I'm not fussed about is the third (longest) one off the first album.

All the rest, and indeed "IV" is all classic. I don't know why.

mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 08:26 (seventeen years ago) link

The only track I'm not fussed about is the third (longest) one off the first album.

What that one where they're all round the pianner having a good old Teutonic singalong (Knees Up, Mutter Braun) and "Garlic, yes/ White/ Yes white" etc etc?

You'll Never Put a Better Bit of Butter On Your Knife (Dada), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 08:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Miss Fortune, apparently.

"Why don't you eat carrots" still my favourite. Like a manic circus parade ploughing through some couple's bedroom, at one point.

Woman: "Have they gone?"
Man: "I Think so"
"ting....."

mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 08:45 (seventeen years ago) link

1st album has great riffs interspersed with found silliness, definitely prefigures & anticipates the Residents. 2nd is weak VU inspired junk. 3rd is undeveloped fragments. "Faust IV" is pretty good prog-rock/krautrock mixture. "70 Minutes" CD has the heaviest stuff, quite great, anticipates Throbbing Gristle and Industrial.

Hidden Fire, Tuesday, 2 May 2006 18:20 (seventeen years ago) link

Wumme Years stuff and 4 are unqualified classics.

-- John Bullabaugh (Liphedd...), March 9th, 2003 1:34 PM.

Yes, also: Patchwork, which is like a Faust mixtape made by crazies and Derbe Respect, Alder (with Dalek) are fucking grand.

S- (sgh), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 02:12 (seventeen years ago) link

"Faust IV" is pretty good prog-rock/krautrock mixture.

That album is overrated, IMHO. They skitzophrenically switch genres with each song to the point that the album really loses something. The first song is a pretty nice krauty instrumental jam. Nothing amazing, but nice. I can't remember the exact track order, but at the beginning of the CD there's also the dub, ambient rock song, which is pretty nice. But then there's that one that sounds something like an Irish jig. What the hell is with that? It's so out of place. I think the album is lacking a cohesive flow to the whole thing.

like murderinging (modestmickey), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 03:35 (seventeen years ago) link

'the sad skinhead' = mega classic.

lil' merzbow wow (haitch), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 03:43 (seventeen years ago) link

the sad skinhead is awesome. that's not the jig I'm thinking of.

like murderinging (modestmickey), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 03:47 (seventeen years ago) link

"I don't know why."

That is why.

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 10:50 (seventeen years ago) link

I think so.

mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 10:56 (seventeen years ago) link

2nd is weak VU inspired junk

Totally ridiculous. While Rainy Day Sunshine Girl is a very VU type thing, it is it's own beast and a magnificent one at that, and also classic for I've Got My Car and My TV/Picnic On a Frozen River.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 15:21 (seventeen years ago) link

The title track is gorgeous, too.

Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 15:38 (seventeen years ago) link

one month passes...
got the 2 CD reissue of faust IV

remaster sounds good, they fixed the tracking and the tape splice glitch on 'jennifer', and they restored the original beautiful cover art with the smaller sheet music & typeface

most of the alternative versions are earlier mixes of album tracks... same performance, but rougher eq balance & in some cases one less layer of sound. 'sad skinhead' has an extra verse and 'piano piece' (aka 'meer' from 71 minutes) is about three minutes longer. nothing earthshaking.

the real attraction is the complete 10 minute version of 'just a minute', which is faded down about 90 seconds in on the original album. it's cool, basically just jamming and then the tape machine got turned on, but... it's them all right, you could tell it was them from the next room. beautiful part in the middle where everything breaks down just to the drums and that incredibly corroded, echoey wash of organ ambience that was distinctively theirs, fans know what I'm talking about.

(I'm guessing this is more of the 'laufzeitmachine', a delay that graupner built them using several tape heads & a tape loop threaded around a turntable, which could then be 'played' to change the tape speed as it fed back. we still need a longer interview with graupner about the gear he built them)

so, good to have the new jam, but the main thing is they've finally done the mastering and track id's right.

milton parker (Jon L), Sunday, 4 June 2006 06:14 (seventeen years ago) link

Well, they did fix the tape glitch, but you neglected to mention that they also no-noised this album to death. This remaster does not sound "good". Rather, it sounds like every no-noised CD. You can put a pillow over your speakers and get a similar effect. Do an ABX with the original Faust IV CD and you'll see what I mean.

Hot Hot Heat (Hot Hot Heat), Sunday, 4 June 2006 13:35 (seventeen years ago) link

the extras don't sound like enough for me to re-buy this. also, tape glitch on a faust record seems like hardly something to worry to about

Q('.'Q) (eman), Sunday, 4 June 2006 17:59 (seventeen years ago) link

Believe me, the old CD is sonically superior to this "remastered" atrocity. Don't waste your money. The good stuff on the bonus disc is already on the ReR BBC CD anyway. I wish I hadn't spent the money on this thing.

Hot Hot Heat (Hot Hot Heat), Sunday, 4 June 2006 18:45 (seventeen years ago) link

I have the old cd.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Sunday, 4 June 2006 19:50 (seventeen years ago) link

The good stuff on the bonus disc is already on the ReR BBC CD anyway.

yeah screw that, what a waste

Q('.'Q) (eman), Sunday, 4 June 2006 22:37 (seventeen years ago) link

the tape glitch always bugged me. that cymbal crash should be smooth, but it's just the way I grew up with the record.

orgone girl's right though, I hadn't a/b'ed them yet. they overdid it on the noise reduction. though there is a lot of tape hiss on the original record & CD, the nonoise deadened the high end a bit. having checked out both a little bit I think I prefer the sound of the original disc. that stings.

the ReR BBC Sessions disc is definitely better overall than the 2nd disc on this new thing, so people who don't have this yet could just grab a used copy of the original version of the CD, and a copy of BBC Sessions. that being said, I am ten steps past fanatical when it comes to this band, I'm keeping both editions.

milton parker (Jon L), Monday, 5 June 2006 04:30 (seventeen years ago) link

four months pass...
I'll take the original V 2004 LP, thanks.

So Ho La (So Ho La), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:47 (seventeen years ago) link

five months pass...
Has anyone got In Autumn or Nobody Knows It It Ever Happened yet?

Any good?

Stewart Osborne, Friday, 30 March 2007 19:13 (seventeen years ago) link

I really like Ravvivando

admrl, Friday, 30 March 2007 20:15 (seventeen years ago) link

all the releases up to and including IV are classic. i favour the noisier / cutup things more and so the 1st album and Tapes are my favourites. in fact, they get a bit dud when they do straight songs even if there's always a wry smile in them.

i'm with ya homey. I'm only into Faust for their Residents-esque stuff. Everything else got boring over time.

theoreo, Friday, 30 March 2007 21:12 (seventeen years ago) link

two months pass...

So Faust are playing Hull on June 10th but I've promised a friend I'd babysit. Please tell me I'm not missing much re: their current incarnation.

Noodle Vague, Friday, 1 June 2007 18:43 (sixteen years ago) link

Aren't there 2 versions kicking about now?

Herman G. Neuname, Friday, 1 June 2007 19:31 (sixteen years ago) link

What do Faust "play" when they play live? Is it guitar, drum and bass set up? I couldn't imagine how they would play the majority of their songs like that. Unless they became a more normal band type thing nowadays and used to be something more wild.

filthy dylan, Friday, 1 June 2007 19:35 (sixteen years ago) link

Faust IV was always my favorite, but Faust v. Dalek is pretty compelling too.My "review," or response, was in theVoice, and I also try to describe a new version of "Beware (The Transatlantic Feedback," with Gary Burger, in my take on Silver Monk Chant: A Tribute To The Monks, which will be out in the States later this month, and so will the review, again in Voice. Irmler saw them on The Beat Club in '66, revelatory for teeenaged him, as he describes it in the documentary, Monks--The Transatlantic Feedback. (Although wathching that same appearance on You Tube, and their studio stuff,I can't agree that "they had no Afro-American or Caribbean influence," but maybe he just means how he heard them at the time.)

dow, Monday, 4 June 2007 05:09 (sixteen years ago) link

Jean Herve Peron had a track from their new album available on his website and it's fantastic. Steve Stapleton has a big part to play in the whole thing and it's exactly what they need to make their music come alive again. Live - they play guitar bass drums and machinery - all a bit silly.

nonightsweats, Monday, 4 June 2007 06:50 (sixteen years ago) link

It seems to be really popular among fans, but I've never liked "Why Don't You Eat Carrots?" There's cool stuff in it, but that recurring riff drives me up the wall. That may be the intended effect.

clotpoll, Monday, 4 June 2007 08:27 (sixteen years ago) link

I missed the London gig, my own fault, anyone go? I prefer Faust when Jean-Herve is in them, but I'm not sure about a Faust where he is the prime mover.

Tom D., Monday, 4 June 2007 09:54 (sixteen years ago) link

I went to see Tony Conrad. Does that count?

PJ Miller, Monday, 4 June 2007 11:08 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh man, was he playing too??!?!?

Tom D., Monday, 4 June 2007 11:10 (sixteen years ago) link

I went to the Tony Conrad show. He was dressed just like Anderson from Beavis and Butthead.

Didn't realise Faust played. They was great last time they played London! Jean-Herve did some ironing.

gnarly sceptre, Monday, 4 June 2007 11:57 (sixteen years ago) link

Tony Conrad played in St Giles in the Field church, Dadaismus. Right opposite the nu-Intrepid Fox. I only found out about it the day before, and then by accident, because a friend was going to see the Finnish support band.

I'm not sure how good it was. I must admit he'd lost me by the end. And I was trying ever so hard. I'm glad I went though.

Did you like it, Gnarly Sceptre?

PJ Miller, Monday, 4 June 2007 12:17 (sixteen years ago) link

Sorry, the Monks trib, with the Faust featuring Gary Buger track,is Silver Monk Time, not Silver Monk Chant. Speaking of their concerts, I once read in an English mag about their early (first?)LP, that was so very inexpensive that a lot of schoolkids bought it, and one who was maybe 11 at the time remembered then going to one of their shows, as did a lot of her classmates, and the set started with roadwork machinery or something, and all the kiddies booed and hooted through the whole gig, the ones who stayed that long.

dow, Monday, 4 June 2007 19:27 (sixteen years ago) link

xpost: I thought Tony Conrad's second track was over an hour. I'm sure I'm as happy with drone stuff as much as the rest of that audience, but I think he coulda cut it down by about 20 minutes or so and everybody would have been satisfied. But then whenever it did seem feel like it was *finally* about to draw to a close, suddenly he'd pull out some fat static and turn it up to level 11 again, and I was happy to see it though. I thought Richard Youngs accapella worked real well too, particularly given the surroundings. Shame nobody could sustain his request to imitate a massed eBow.

gnarly sceptre, Monday, 4 June 2007 19:33 (sixteen years ago) link

I e-bowed along quite merrily.

20 minutes shorter would have been better, yes.

PJ Miller, Tuesday, 5 June 2007 16:59 (sixteen years ago) link

one month passes...

I'm listening to 71 Minutes for the first time right now, and I'm "Knockhentanz" is as good as anything else they've done.

I'm filling in at a friend's record store today, and people keep walking in during songs like "Don't Take Roots" (a meandering 5 minutes of moaning and feedback) and rolling their eyes at me, buy Icky Thump and Funeral, and then on the way out the door I can hear them say "God!" to their girlfriends. Then, as soon as the customer leaves and the store's empty again, the feedback dissolves and it's back to Faust-style accessibility.

I'm enjoying this more than Faust/So Far/IV/etc right now.

Z S, Sunday, 8 July 2007 16:35 (sixteen years ago) link

one year passes...

new faust is pretty good!

eman, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 00:55 (fifteen years ago) link

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51t4Nxtbz3L._SS420_.jpg

eman, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 00:58 (fifteen years ago) link

Which Faust line-up is it?

Boring Sign In Name (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 11 February 2009 01:17 (fifteen years ago) link

Hamburg-based Krautrock outfit Faust has returned from a creative kosmische aether, bringing with them a new studio album C’est com…com…compliqué due out April 13 on the Bureau B label. According to group member Jean-Hervé Peron's website www.art-errorist.de, the album was recorded in Hamburg during 2006 by producer Tobias Levin, and joining original members Peron and Werner “Zappi” Diermaier was Amaury Cambuzat of French post-rock group Ulan Bator (who first toured with Faust in 1996 as Collectif Metz/Faust, a project which also produced an eponymous album).

eman, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 16:20 (fifteen years ago) link

I watched the ending about four times

Milton Parker, Friday, 13 February 2009 20:01 (fifteen years ago) link

urgent request for .gif loop of 4:56 - 5:05

Milton Parker, Friday, 13 February 2009 20:09 (fifteen years ago) link

:D

eman, Friday, 13 February 2009 23:59 (fifteen years ago) link

lol I didn't even know about the deluxe IV! Guess who's going to be shopping online in a few seconds (possibly to find out I'm SOL)?

System Jr. (Mackro Mackro), Saturday, 14 February 2009 02:46 (fifteen years ago) link

seven months pass...

What about Faust Wakes Nosferatu? Their 1997 live interpretation of the "Nosferatu" film.

Listening to it now and I like it, even on its own. I don't know if having the film playing alongside would improve it.

What does anyone reckon to this one? Have I missed discussion anywhere?

krakow, Tuesday, 29 September 2009 22:08 (fourteen years ago) link

What can I expect if I go see them in Detroit next week?

[All I've ever heard is 71 Minutes]

peepee, Thursday, 1 October 2009 01:04 (fourteen years ago) link

What about Faust Wakes Nosferatu? Their 1997 live interpretation of the "Nosferatu" film.

I once tried watching the film with this playing in the background, but it goes "out of synch" fairly quickly... so back to he "Wizard of Oz" and "Dark Side of the Moon" for me

The Prince's choice: making a brush. (Tom D.), Thursday, 1 October 2009 09:17 (fourteen years ago) link

What can you expect? The only (and not very helpful) answer is to expect the unexpected.

When I last saw them about 3 years ago, it felt at times like me and my friends were the only people there who weren't somehow in on what was going on; like some odd Krautrock Truman Show. They got some "random" girls in the audience to join in on vocals, and they somehow knew all the words (I think they turned out to be The Pipettes), they made some guy in the audience take his shirt off to have it ironed onstage as part of a song ("zis is not rock and roll, zis is ironing!!" IIRC), at one point a brass band appeared through the main door of the venue, joined in on a song and then left again.

Terrific fun, and largely documented on this set:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Autumn-Faust/dp/B000MGVA1U/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1254390085&sr=1-18

(Amazon reviewer hated it, maybe you had to be there.)

The time before that, someone climbed up some stepladders and through rocks into a mic-ed up tin bath full of flaming materials. I thought it was hilarious, but it was generally responded to with chin-stroking solemnity by everyone around me.

Officer Pupp, Thursday, 1 October 2009 09:43 (fourteen years ago) link

*threw

Officer Pupp, Thursday, 1 October 2009 09:44 (fourteen years ago) link

one year passes...

http://www.klangbad.de/xtc/images/product_images/popup_images/125_0.jpg

am0n, Sunday, 24 October 2010 03:36 (thirteen years ago) link

this is really good, probably the best i've heard of their late period

am0n, Sunday, 24 October 2010 23:27 (thirteen years ago) link

"faust is last" is definitely the best of the releases where irmler seems to have control. "ravvivando" just seemed messy but this one has some great moments and is definitely better than the peron / zappi faust on "c'est complique". but "disconnected" is really great (even if that seems to be mostly due to NWW).

nonightsweats, Monday, 25 October 2010 00:52 (thirteen years ago) link

I see I killed this thread for a year. I can't help but wonder whether PeePee went to the gig and what they thought.

Officer Pupp, Monday, 25 October 2010 13:07 (thirteen years ago) link

I dunno if I'm a fan of the "Faust is Last" album; sadly it would have been better if they had trimmed it by about a half hour. Because both discs have some great pieces along with a lot of interchangable material. Ravvivando is still the post-reformation group's high water mark.

frogbs, Monday, 25 October 2010 18:09 (thirteen years ago) link

I heard C Pluus off of You Know Us...I thought that was really good.

scaruffi kaleidoscope (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 25 October 2010 21:27 (thirteen years ago) link

frogbullshit

am0n, Monday, 25 October 2010 21:48 (thirteen years ago) link

do you disagree??? I run a review site here where I have reviewed all of Fausts albums:
http://www.listology.com/jamool/story/faust

IMO the problem with Faust's recent albums is that their primary songwriter died before the reunion and they never really bothered to replace them or attempt to write songs themselves. Not that they are song-based but without them their newer albums tend to be kind of monotonous. Not bad, but just kind of gray and stark.

frogbs, Monday, 25 October 2010 22:13 (thirteen years ago) link

one year passes...

how are Faust live these days? "They" are playing here in a short while, with Jean-Herve. I think I want to go.

Aceveda (admrl), Monday, 20 August 2012 23:17 (eleven years ago) link

i've seen them twice and enjoyed them both times. One was more of a 'best-of' set, which was super awesome, the second one was more leaning towards a commune hippy jam, but still good.

emil.y, Tuesday, 21 August 2012 00:07 (eleven years ago) link

Jean-Herve generally keeps things song-oriented IIRC; I've never seen 'em, but I've heard some of their live albums with him and they're a pretty good mix of long industrial jams and their good song-oriented 70's material

frogbs, Tuesday, 21 August 2012 14:03 (eleven years ago) link

one month passes...

Dear Faust fans,

We're getting ready for Friday and our tech director just showed us his "Faust Procurement Checklist." There's a couple firsts for us on here, so we wanted to give you a sneak peak at what you have to look forward to:

Faust Procurement Checklist
1 Cement Mixer, 1 Demolition Hammer, 2 Angle Grinders, 3 Large Canvasses, 55 Gallon Drumm, 2 four-by-eight Sheets of Styrofoam, 2 Sledge Hammers & One Sacrificial Piano

P.S. We also need a 12" (or smaller) Gas-Powered Chain Saw for the night. If you can loan us one, we will set aside a pair of tickets for you to stay for the 11 PM performance and watch Faust "play" your chain saw!

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Friday, 19 October 2012 07:26 (eleven years ago) link

has anyone seen them recently

puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Friday, 19 October 2012 07:27 (eleven years ago) link

They did two shows in Seattle, Mon & Tue. I went to the Monday show. I still can't believe I saw that show.
I can cross Long Hair Raising Chainsaw On Stage Smiling off my rock n roll bingo sheet now.
<3 <3

ma ck ro ma ck ro (mackro mackro), Friday, 19 October 2012 08:53 (eleven years ago) link

which Faust is this

my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 19 October 2012 09:33 (eleven years ago) link

That piano got merked

Heyy M. United This Is Your Last 48 Hours 3-0 3-0 3-0 (admrl), Sunday, 21 October 2012 00:23 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNcprgc5NuQ

Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 21 October 2012 00:34 (eleven years ago) link

I described this show to my wife as "like watching a happy and newly crawling baby tear up someone else's living room"

Heyy M. United This Is Your Last 48 Hours 3-0 3-0 3-0 (admrl), Sunday, 21 October 2012 00:35 (eleven years ago) link

ALso Geraldine Swayne is the "Geraldine" in the Gallon Drunk song of the same name, yes? Would have been rad if James Johnston was there too.

Heyy M. United This Is Your Last 48 Hours 3-0 3-0 3-0 (admrl), Sunday, 21 October 2012 00:36 (eleven years ago) link

eleven months pass...

I scored a very clean original vinyl pressing of IV at a record fair today in Brooklyn, and I'm playing it right now at high volume. It is completely FLOORING me. This is a record I've known for years, but I'm feeling like like I've never heard it before. I owned the old CD version of it, which had always struck me as a little polite and flat sounding, but that's how I knew the record. This is anything but.

I've also been dipping my toes into Zappa lately, especially digging his fusion-y early '70s stuff like Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka but also things like Uncle Meat--and this Faust is certainly mining some of that, in such a great way. Maybe I've just never been "ready" for this sound before. I feel like Faust never clicked with me when I was young the way Neu! and Can and Harmonia and stuff did; they always seemed more inaccessibl proggy, sweatier, more coated in '70s mud. Now that's what I want and crave, and man is this album doing it for me. This record is making me think of just how silly the premise that recent "prog vs. krautrock" showdown truly was.

Clarke B., Sunday, 6 October 2013 01:26 (ten years ago) link

I got my copy (of IV) in Dec 1981 from a Zappa fan's collection, for the price of a pizza. already a fan from borrowing it, I jumped at the chance when the hungry Zappa fan made me the offer!

Paul, Sunday, 6 October 2013 04:36 (ten years ago) link

Has anybody come across any genuine live material by the band from its original incarnation?
I thin there was supposed to be a '73 live set shared with Henry Cow but I don't think the d/ld was still active also not sure if it was necessarily actually valid anyway.

Stevolende, Sunday, 6 October 2013 13:42 (ten years ago) link

two years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op6FRZGo4ek

am0n, Friday, 30 October 2015 18:13 (eight years ago) link

playing with NWW and Cut Hands on Dec. 5th in London...

sleeve, Friday, 30 October 2015 18:16 (eight years ago) link

damn!

am0n, Friday, 30 October 2015 18:24 (eight years ago) link

five months pass...

in the flesh: faust sat next to me at a hipster vietnamese spot in bushwick last night. then they fucking leveled market hotel. amazing band.

adam, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 12:47 (eight years ago) link

goddamn right they did!

veronica moser, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 14:10 (eight years ago) link

the SF show was wonderful. huge expanded band of local musicians. I did not enjoy the 1994 SF show, but maybe my expectations were too high for that first reunion or I was too close to my high school obsession with their 70s records; this time around I was just a lot more grateful to see them. huge expanded band of local musicians including a brass band and chorus situated about the crowd. no pre-reformation material, but lots of 'munic & elsewhere' / 'outside the dream syndicate'-esque 2/4 stompers. all much better live than the recent albums.

Milton Parker, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 17:07 (eight years ago) link

argh proofread before posting

70s albums have been on iPod for the first time in years since the show. what a band.

Milton Parker, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 17:09 (eight years ago) link

Whoa. Got tickets to the Louisville show since I couldn't make Big Ears --- reading this, now I'm even more excited.

dronestreet, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 18:19 (eight years ago) link

oh man, sorry I missed them. What is the touring Faust lineup?

Dominique, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 18:24 (eight years ago) link

this was 'faUSt' (Peron & Zappi & ersatz cavalcade)

Irmler seems to have been concentrating on other various collaborations since the other two have ramped up recording and touring with the band name again. his records with Gudrun Gut and Jaki Liebezeit both have a bit more freedom to them than what he was calling Faust.

Milton Parker, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 18:54 (eight years ago) link

what name is that Liebezeit collab under, and what is album title?

the 'major tom guy' (sleeve), Wednesday, 30 March 2016 18:59 (eight years ago) link

i didn't enjoy faust in sf as much as milton but my experienced was probably dampened by seeing magma the night before

kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 19:00 (eight years ago) link

I missed Magma this time, but... Magma is currently one of the best touring bands in the entire known galaxy so... saw them in 2010 and 2014, and I hear the new guys they've added since last year's show are insane.

Milton Parker, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 19:05 (eight years ago) link

are you guys saying i should go see magma on friday

adam, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 19:06 (eight years ago) link

if you like music!

xp self-titled, spotify. again, temper your expectations, more FYI than anything else

Milton Parker, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 19:07 (eight years ago) link

cool thanks, I just need a Jaki fix tbh

the 'major tom guy' (sleeve), Wednesday, 30 March 2016 19:07 (eight years ago) link

i saw faust (great, but short set) and missed magma (conflicting plans) but always need a jaki fix!!

La Lechuza (La Lechera), Wednesday, 30 March 2016 19:24 (eight years ago) link

five months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfabqGeA2IU

Bottlerockey (Tom D.), Friday, 23 September 2016 11:33 (seven years ago) link

Great! Never knew Impressions existed. So this is where Cadbury got their idea with the gorilla-ad from

willem, Friday, 23 September 2016 12:57 (seven years ago) link

four months pass...

Looks like the Faust / Slapp Happy shows at Cafe Oto were rather good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKccCYmwrLE

Noel Emits, Monday, 20 February 2017 18:18 (seven years ago) link

Wish I'd gone now :(

Eats like Elvis, shits like De Niro (Tom D.), Monday, 20 February 2017 18:24 (seven years ago) link

one month passes...

I dunno if I'm a fan of the "Faust is Last" album; sadly it would have been better if they had trimmed it by about a half hour. Because both discs have some great pieces along with a lot of interchangable material. Ravvivando is still the post-reformation group's high water mark.

― frogbs, Monday, October 25, 2010 1:09 PM (six years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I take it back, I think it's pretty good now. definitely one of those albums you gotta crank up. even the second disc feels quite interesting to me, now.

anyone try out the last two Faust albums? kinda wanted to check them out based on the strength of this album, even though it's a totally different lineup.

frogbs, Tuesday, 28 March 2017 13:54 (seven years ago) link

four weeks pass...

New album Fresh Air in two weeks. I don't have the highest of hopes but I'm willing to give it a shot!

frogbs, Wednesday, 26 April 2017 18:53 (six years ago) link

four years pass...

New box set with a whole unreleased album from 1974 -

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/faust-1971-1974-limited-edition-box-set-on-cd-and-vinyl/

Maresn3st, Wednesday, 16 June 2021 19:32 (two years ago) link

four months pass...

so half of Punkt appears to be stuff that also appeared on 71 Minutes, but in a different form (sounds more like demos). other half is (I think?) new, clearly recorded during the same sessions though. good stuff but not exactly a "new album", it's nowhere near as polished as Faust IV. the two discs of rarities are pretty neat though, its like 2 more albums of Faust Tapes, minus the actual songs. plenty of cool jams though

frogbs, Saturday, 16 October 2021 00:24 (two years ago) link

omg did this ship?!?!

Communist Hockey Goblin (sleeve), Saturday, 16 October 2021 00:29 (two years ago) link

It did, the unreleased stuff is pretty damn great too, my theory is that they finally located the multitracks that they did a runner with from the last sessions in Munich.

They apparently had a week in the studio before they were rumbled. I think this extra stuff is all from there, but they wanted to attach all the other albums to it to make more of it.

It works for me, because we already have all the Wumme stuff and the Manor out-takes.

Maresn3st, Saturday, 16 October 2021 00:37 (two years ago) link

wonder if any of this is gonna be released separately. would be cool to be able to get Punkt as a standalone and So Far is desperately in need of a repress.

frogbs, Monday, 18 October 2021 21:42 (two years ago) link

gahh why hasn't my Forced Exposure preorder shipped, dying over here

Communist Hockey Goblin (sleeve), Monday, 18 October 2021 21:43 (two years ago) link

three months pass...

New album

https://faust-berlin.bandcamp.com/album/daumenbruch

Seems to be another new lineup? Anyway, great cover and clicking around these tunes seem pretty chaotic

frogbs, Saturday, 22 January 2022 01:41 (two years ago) link

Really enjoying this release

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 22 January 2022 02:58 (two years ago) link

where tf is that box set repress, YSI?

bad milk blood robot (sleeve), Saturday, 22 January 2022 03:35 (two years ago) link

two months pass...

wonder if any of this is gonna be released separately. would be cool to be able to get Punkt as a standalone and So Far is desperately in need of a repress.

― frogbs, Monday, October 18, 2021 4:42 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

what do you know

https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/faust-punkt-lp/BB.392LP.html

frogbs, Monday, 18 April 2022 14:38 (two years ago) link

👍🏽

Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 18 April 2022 15:56 (two years ago) link

And indeed

https://faust.bandcamp.com/album/punkt

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 15:24 (one year ago) link

Still not on Spotify, but.

(The Faust Tapes is, with the new titles...)

Mark G, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 16:05 (one year ago) link

four months pass...

picked up the standalone LP of Punkt and really liking it. I was a bit too dismissive at first. "Morning Land" is similar to the first track on 71 Minutes but the version of "Knochentanz" sure isn't...it's got a polka rhythm which suddenly switches into a shuffle. super cool. the way the drums kick in is very much like "Krautrock". "Fernlicht", I swear, sounds like it could fit on the next Autechre album (if it were 8x longer). the direction they went in after they reformed makes a lot more sense now. "Schon Rund" has some of the prettiest gosh darn music in their whole catalogue. really makes good on the promise of those little piano pieces they sometimes did. the entire record sounds weirdly modern too - I'd believe it was something on Ipecac in 2005. dare I say it would be a pretty high profile album if it was actually released in '75 (maybe it wouldn't have been at the time, but it would totally have a following now)

frogbs, Sunday, 18 September 2022 02:05 (one year ago) link

three months pass...

New live album, This Is The Right Path, recorded in China in 2016.

https://oldheavenbooks.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-the-right-path

“Dec. 2015: I received an invitation from Old Heaven to participate with FaUSt to the 3rd edition of “Tomorrow Festival” at B10 Live, Shenzhen, China!
A few months later, May 2016, we were on our way to the most exciting concert experience. A loooong flight-haul and then, such a warm welcome, such a perfect organization… the most charming, dedicated, competent crew around us… the largest cement mixer I ever used on stage, and an audience so vibrant, so focused.
I was and still am in memory, overwhelmed by the endless energy of all the people I met: technicians, promoters, music fans, the so-creative Knitting Ladies, my old-time friend Keiji Haino, and my comrade Maxime.
The music we created together had been accurately recorded. As Old Heaven proposed to release this concert, I immediately was enthused by the idea. Even more so when I heard the perfect mix of Liu Ying. Two tracks were beautifully post-produced, edited and mixed by Amaury Cambuzat.
I loved the B10 Live performance and place it in my top ten FaUSt concerts ever and I love this album, I do.”

—— JHP / art-Errorist

Jean-Hervé Péron: Vocals / Bass / Acoustic Guitars / Trumpet / Cement Mixer
Werner “Zappi” Diermaier: Drums

Very Special Guests:
Maxime Manac’h: Keyboards / Guitar/ Gas Cylinder / Hurdy-Gurdy
Keiji Haino: Vocals / Electric Guitars / Electronics
Wei Zi, Tina, Li Tingting: Knitting Performance

but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 21 December 2022 14:21 (one year ago) link

whoa...didn't know they did a show with Keiji Haino. makes sense though

heard the two Momentaufnahme discs from the 1971-1974 set are getting a separate vinyl release. hopefully they just do the whole box. would be nice to have a copy of So Far that is NOT the 4 Men With Beards version

frogbs, Wednesday, 21 December 2022 15:33 (one year ago) link

I have a bunch of Polydor/Virgin origs, will be nice to finish up with the box extras.

Mark G, Friday, 23 December 2022 10:38 (one year ago) link

That live set looks great and went to order it, but balked at paying $30 shipping for a $28 CD. Nope.

Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 23 December 2022 15:09 (one year ago) link

two months pass...

So the unreleased stuff on the boxset from two years back is available separately now:

https://faust.bandcamp.com/album/momentaufnahme-i

https://faust.bandcamp.com/album/momentaufnahme-ii

Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 March 2023 15:39 (one year ago) link

Or at least the Momentaufnahme work.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 March 2023 15:40 (one year ago) link

Faust and Faust So Far are on streaming now too. Not sure if that just happened today or was the case for a while... but last year when I checked they weren't there.

sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 10 March 2023 20:24 (one year ago) link

The "punkt." also.

Mark G, Saturday, 11 March 2023 14:40 (one year ago) link


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