Faust IV

Released

There is no real analog to Faust in Anglophone circles, except maybe in some work by Zappa or Negativland or maybe even Naked City, played at half-speed. They were writing songs and cutting songs and noises into pieces and dismantling the idea that there was a band inside this band. Depending on which one of the many versions of this album you find, you might hear the Peel session version of “Krautrock,” as demented a swirl of noise and pulsing (no drums) that anyone in this cohort ever made. The eight-minute clomp of “Giggy Smile” is like every style the band was into, jammed piece into piece, a rough cut-up of what was on the charts, with some actual catchy bits. (This band had the best hook writers in Germany, no lie.) As they put it in the manifesto they handed out on their 1973 tour: “Faust have mentioned that working as they do in the space between concept & realisation they are in fact doing nothing. Faust would like to play for you the sound of yourself listening.”

Sasha Frere-Jones

Suggestions
Night’s Quietest Hour cover

Night’s Quietest Hour

Gordon Grdina, Marc Ribot
Eve cover

Eve

Speed, Glue & Shinki
Meteor Circuit cover

Meteor Circuit

Nerve Net Noise
The Raincoats cover

The Raincoats

The Raincoats
Solid State Survivor cover

Solid State Survivor

Yellow Magic Orchestra
Solar Motel cover

Solar Motel

Chris Forsyth
Rastakraut Pasta cover

Rastakraut Pasta

Dieter Moebius, Conny Plank