Faust - The Wumme Years 1970-73 (2000) (HDCD) [Re-Up]

The members of Faust are the jokers in the Krautrock pack – jokers because they never formed with any serious intentions, and jokers, too, because whatever preconceptions you might have in approaching that most disreputable-sounding of sonic genres, Faust is guaranteed to explode them. Julian Cope, author of the music's most lasting textbook (1995's Krautrocksampler), steadfastly describes Faust as the most mythical of all the bands forced to the surface by the cultural earthquakes of late-'60s Germany – and that's mythical in every sense of the word. There are, after all, more apocryphal tales surrounding Faust than any band you can name, with the most apocryphal of them all being that most of the tales are true. And nowhere are those mind games more apparent than in an evening spent embedded in their entire early ouvre. The Wumme Years: 1970-73, titled for the studio where the band created much of its magic, documents an output that simply defies belief. Throughout the period under consideration, the band recorded two albums, but created sufficient material for three more – with the first of them funded by a major record label that not only didn't know what would be delivered at the end, but wasn't even sure that the players were really musicians. The entire thing was set up by a German journalist, who wondered what would happen if a bunch of untried avant-garde instrumentalists were given free rein in the studio for as long as they wanted. Polydor, to its everlasting credit, shared his curiosity. That the Faust and So Far albums (completely unadorned, the first two discs in this package) emerged as both critical and cult successes during 1971 and 1972 was, then, as much a triumph for performance art as it was for the art of performance. The band's cut-up techniques – slicing riffs and dicing rhythms, then binding all the bits together by repeating and reworking the odd catchy sequence – predicted virtually everything the Residents have ever done (unknowingly, of course); Faust, in particular, sounded like nothing else on earth, and one can only imagine today what the response was back then. The modern age, after all, has made acceptable pop from the most unacceptable noises. The early '70s were neither so forgiving nor so open-minded, and an album (Faust) that rode in on a roar of barely tolerable fuzz, while a radio played snatches of the Beatles and the Stones, invited neither quality. But it received them and, though Polydor dropped the band after the second album, Virgin promptly stepped into the void with the budget-priced release of The Faust Tapes – essentially, a collection of the already wickedly spliced outtakes from the earlier albums, hacked into even more convoluted snatches. The longest piece is under four minutes, the shortest is just 25 seconds, but it says much for the impact that The Faust Tapes still enjoys that, among The Wumme Years proudest selling points, a track listing for this album is included as one of the greatest. The joke is on the completist collector – most of the tracks are titled "Untitled." In 1973 Faust toured the U.K., and made an immediate beeline for BBC Radio's John Peel, who aired a session in early March. The three tracks, highlighted by the 12-minute "Kraut Rock" (which is essentially anything but), open the fifth disc in the box, which itself is otherwise concerned with continuing the outtakes saga launched on Faust Tapes and continued across disc four (71 Minutes). A handful of these have been released in the past, chiefly during the 1980s, when they were spread across the Munich and Elsewhere, Last LP and Faust Party Three albums and EPs; this, however, marks their first appearance in anything approaching a cohesive whole, reconstructed not only in the fashion that the band originally envisioned them, but also completely remastered. Not all of these latter two discs can be called essential listening – like the early Mothers of Invention, the only even quasi-mainstream act with whom Faust could ever be reasonably compared, one gets the impression that not every sound went according to script, and that sometimes the band didn't have a script to begin with. More than a few things fall horribly flat; one or two are even embarrassingly inept. But still there's enough on board to merit comparison with the best of the regular albums and, if you add the dazzling 40-page booklet and digipack recreations of the original albums' artwork, there's enough, too, to make this box worthwhile, even if you already own all the Faust you think you need. Because you don't know how wrong that belief can be. ~Allmusic





The impact of Faust cannot be overstated; their debut album was truly a revolutionary step forward in the progress of "rock music". It was pressed on clear vinyl, packaged in a clear sleeve, with a clear plastic lyric insert. The black X-ray of a fist on the cover graphically illustrates the hard core music contained in the grooves, an amalgamation of electronics, rock, tape edits, acoustic guitars, musique concrete, and industrial angst. The level of imagination is staggering, the concept is totally unique and it's fun to listen to as well. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Why Don't You Eat Carrots? (9:35)
02. Meadow Meal (8:19)
03. Miss Fortune (16:35)
~ (34:29)






Faust's second album moves closer to actual song structure than their debut, but it still remains experimental. Songs progress and evolve instead of abruptly stopping or cutting into other tracks. The opening song "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" begins as a repetitive 4/4 beat played on toms and piano with the title sung over the top. But for seven minutes the song adds instruments, including a lush analog synth line, and ends in a memorable sax riff. Faust's lyrical side appears on the acoustic "Picnic on a Frozen River" and "On the Way to Adamäe," whereas its abrasive side pops up on "Me Lack Space." "So Far," a jam shared by guitar, horns, and tweedy keyboard, rolls along with a funky hypnotic beat and wailing processed synths. And on "No Harm," the crazed delivery of such lines as "Daddy, take the banana, tomorrow Sunday" makes one want to believe something profound is going down. In terms of scope and the wealth of ideas, this is probably the most balanced of their first four albums. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl (7:32)
02. On the Way to Abamäe (2:46)
03. No Harm (10:22)
04. So Far (6:20)
05. Mamie Is Blue (6:05)
06. I've Got My Car and My TV (3:51)
07. Picnic on a Frozen River (0:44)
08. Me Lack Space… (0:41)
09. … In the Spirit (2:16)
~ (40:37)






This was the release that "broke" Faust to a British audience, mostly because of a marketing gimmick whereby the then-infant Virgin label sold it in shops for half a pound. Still, it's no mean feat to sell 50,000 copies of rock this avant-garde, no matter what the cost. A continuous 43-minute piece with about 26 discrete passages (which makes it hell to zero in on a specific bit on CD), it roams from crash'n'mash drums and fierce art rock jamming to rather pretty, if inscrutable, bits of folk-rock and spoken word, with odd shards of melody sticking out like glass in a tire. There are rough reference points to Zappa in the torrid editing and British Canterbury bands in the goofier, more rock-driven parts, but this is even less immediately accessible, taking a few plays to get a grip on, though most pop-oriented listeners won't get that far. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Exercise - With Several Hands on a Piano (0:52)
02. Exercise - With Voices, Drum and Sax (0:22)
03. Flashback Caruso (4:01)
04. Exercise - With Voices (1:49)
05. J'ai Mal Aux Dents (7:15)
06. Untitled (1:04)
07. Untitled - Arnulf and Zappi on Drums (1:43)
08. Dr. Schwitters Intro (0:25)
09. Exercise (Continues Track 1) (1:11)
10. Untitled (1:18)
11. Untitled (0:50)
12. Dr. Schwitters Snippet (0:50)
13. Untitled - Arnulf on Drums (1:04)
14. Untitled - Arnulf on Drums (0:48)
15. Untitled - All on Saxes (1:34)
16. Untitled (2:19)
17. Untitled - Rudolf (0:35)
18. Untitled - Rudolf (0:52)
19. Untitled - Rudolf (1:17)
20. Untitled (2:29)
21. Untitled (0:20)
22. Untitled (1:13)
23. Untitled (0:59)
24. Stretch Out Time (1:36)
25. Der Vaum (3:51)
26. Chčre Chambre (3:08)
~ (43:44)






Basically an expanded version of Munich and Elsewhere (which was itself a compilation of unreleased material), with the addition of the unreleased LP Faust Party Three (parts of which had previously appeared only as limited-edition EPs and singles), as well as two previously unreleased tracks. Parts wed brutal drum patterns to insistently repetitive guitar riffing; there are prog rock keyboard passages that slightly recall Soft Machine; and "Don't Take Roots" sounds like an unintentional satire of the cheap California psychedelia that you might hear on a late-'60s youth culture exploitation flick. Sometimes it even sounds like a parody of early King Crimson-type pomp rock. It would be nice to have some liner notes explaining exactly what comes from where, but basically what you need to know is that it was all recorded in Germany from 1971 to 1975 and is on par with the quality of the albums they actually released during that time. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. Munic/Yesterday (11:58)
02. Don't Take Roots (4:54)
03. Das Meer (2:50)
04. Knochentanz (11:49)
05. Baby (4:23)
06. J'ai Mal Aux Dents (7:07)
07. Party 8 (1:23)
08. Psalter (4:09)
09. 25 Yellow Doors (4:33)
10. Chromatic (9:48)
11. Party 6 (0:43)
12. Giggy Smile (3:25)
13. Lieber Herr Deutschland (4:49)
~ (71:50)






BBC Sessions + presents archival vintage Faust from various sources. The highlight is the first track, a continuous 20-minute session recorded for John Peel's BBC radio show. It includes "The Lurcher," "Krautrock," and "Do So," the latter a self-mocking pop song making a ludicrous contrast with the previous noise/drone hypnotic anthem. This version of "Krautrock" (12 minutes) tops the one found on Faust IV (if anything, it sounds clearer). "Party 1" was first released on the ReR 1986 LP Munich and Elsewhere but did not appear on the reissue 71 Minutes of Faust. "We Are the Hallo Men" is a groove-based piece with samples and typical Faust vocals previously released on the ReR 1988 LP The Last LP. All other tracks, including the alternate takes of "So Far" and "Meer," see the light of day for the first time here. The sound collage "(360)" is not essential listening, but the spirited "Party 9" and the futuristic folk of "Party 10" have everything you could wish for from unreleased Faust songs. Chris Cutler, who compiled BBC Sessions +, did not provide detailed recording and personnel credits; all we know is that Werner Diermaier, Joachim Irmler, Jean-Hervé Peron, Rudolf Sosna, Gunther Wüsthoff, and Arnulf Meifurt all appear on this CD, a worthy addition to any fan's collection, especially for the radio session. ~Allmusic

Track listing
01. BBC 1.3.73 (22:12)
02. Party 9 (6:07)
03. (360) (3:38)
04. Party 10 (1:12)
05. Party 1 (3:43)
06. We Are The Hallo Men (4:30)
07. So Far (Alternative) (3:59)
08. Meer (Alternative) (3:13)
~ (48:33)




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