Patchwork 1971-2002 (2002)
A Bit Of Nostalgia For The Old Folks
The glorious heyday of everybody’s favorite German experimentalists, Faust, has long been lost to the 70s. Attempts to revitalize the franchise over the decades has been met with open arms from longtime fans, but… the thrill of discovery inherent in those initial Faust releases – Faust, So Far, The Faust Tapes and IV – has long been eclipsed by fresher extremes, fewer limits and immersible technology. Faust stretched the boundaries, to be sure, but paid the price for it when they tried to catch up to themselves in the 90s. They’ve had their moments in the past few decades – usually coming in the form of oddball collaborations and/or just general rule breaking – but it’s clear now that the era’s time has long since passed, for better or worse. Which is why 2002′s Patchwork is such a pleasant surprise. Not since The Faust Tapes has the band sounded so delightfully untethered, mixing disparate sounds, ideas and snippets of compositions into a nonsensical, yet vibrantly engaging whole. The reason the aptly named Patchwork hits all the right notes – experimentation, invention, nostalgia – is primarily because the elements are taken directly from ancient, unreleased 70s Faust tapes. So not only the sound of those early, groundbreaking releases comes to life again, but familiar melodies and refrains weave within unheard tracks in unexpected ways. Like a best of… but bastardized as only Faust can. For all those who came of age during the glorious dawn of Krautrock, Patchwork is a bit like going home again. There’s more Faust in the archives, HERE.
Walter Adler (0:43)
Stretch Over All Time (2:17)
A Seventies Event (2:17)
Rittersleut & Anderes (3:33)
Ayi Ayi (1:34)
Psalter (2:47)
Tourbotrain (1:27)
Nervous (2:46)
Passings (0:33)
Duo (2:14)
Pause (0:17)
Jassie (2:22)
Ironies (1:24)
Zerr: Aus (1:56)
Drone Organ (3:35)
Stretch Out (2:39)
Elegie (2:22)
Rittersleut & Anderes (2:27)
Klaviernacht (1:07)
Out Of Our Prison (4:18)
19 Comments
I heard Faust, I think it was the 1st album, years ago and I give them credit for my introduction to the whole Krautrock movement & experimental music overall (although I still think that term, "Krautrock" is a bit dated. Who came up with that anyway?) I'm looking forward to hearing this one. Thanks Willard!
–>D.Moose
Hey D,
Yeah… for me it was Faust So Far, their second one back in 72. Changed everything for me. Sent me down the wrong path completely. Have loved them ever since. I'm not sure who coined the phrase, but I know Julian Cope (the musician) wrote some definitive work about the movement (which I'm not familiar with) called Krautrocksampler, but… I don't know if that's where the phrase originated. I know JR at The Heat Warps had some links about it all a few months back. But, fans of the first 4 LPs should enjoy this one. (Again… Heat Warps has an unreleased promo cassette called "V" worth getting, too). Later.
Wow, talk about synchronicity! I just put Faust IV onto the stereo and dropped by the Boat to see what's going on. Lo and behold, you've got this gem up here to satiate my further Faust cravings! Many thanks, Willard! I look forward to devouring this morsel over the weekend.
And yes, the link to the complete list of Julian Cope's Krautrocksmapler top 50 albums is still up over at the Heat Warps for anyone who's looking to immerse themselves a bit further. Just check the April archives.
As far as the term Krautrock, Wikipedia has an interesting entry on its origins ("a mildly pejorative" term coined by the UK music press"). Check it out for a good read.
So long and thanks again, Willard.
HA! So it's barely more than a pissy post-war slight from the English music press. What a shock, eh? Many thanks JR (especially for the ESSENTIAL Faust "V" promo and the Faust "IV" bonus disc).
I'd thought the well was dry on Faust, so this is a delightful surprise. Rocks my leaking boat. Thanks, as ever great taste on this blog.
Cioran Sellars
Fantastic! Thank you! Can's 'Ege Bamyasi' brought me to the party when I bought it back in 1990 because of a – no shit- piece in SPIN. I eventually learned about Krtautrock (in Maine, pre-internet, not the easiest thing to do) and decided that Faust were consistently the best of the bunch (though I still love early Can).
BTW, from what I've read, the term 'Krautrock' started in Britain as a put down on the German rock scene. When Germany began putting out far more adventurous music in the 70's, artists like FAUST and CONRAD SCHNITZLER (formerly of KLUSTER) appropriated the term (tongue planted deep in cheek, no doubt). Once the resurgence of interest hit it's stride in the mid ninties, well EVERYTHING was called something, so there you have it.
Krautrock is the name of the first song on "Faust IV" and was latter coined as the name of the genre
hello. thanks for sharing this (and whatever else i may collect on my visit.
if you're at all interested then there is a really nice little Jean-Herve Peron live set (with chris cutler and simon king) posted on my blog.
peace
Many thanks. I'll stop by.
Cheers
W
thanks for the noise rock, willard.. charly
Another interesting curio I never knew about. Thanks
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Find it HERE.
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Faust IV came out in 1973 (sez wiki) and I'm pretty sure that the term "Krautrock" predates that; wiki links it to Amon Düül's 1969 album, which sounds right. I was a Brit then, and deeply dismissive of stuff I didn't understand. (We may have said "Do your own thing," but in practice we added "Just don't do it all over me.") It was definitely a put-down. I always figured Faust were reacting … and good for them.
The Germans are well-known for their sense of humor, say the Brits, joking. We fight because we're brothers.
DF seems to only be giving me the option of signing up for their Gold Account-?
There should be a cancel “x” up in the corner somewhere that will lead you to the d/l page. Are you in the UK?
I’m in the states…I thought registering might help..nope. It shows me the premium and regular ‘clocks’, I choose ‘regular’, wait 60 seconds, and then nothing happens. Maybe I’m missing something.
What SHOULD fix it is upgrading whatever browser you’re using. Whatever you’ve got… get the latest version. That… or try using a different browser. The link is fine, but we run into these things all the time and it’s usually a browser issue (except in the UK, where the standard “x close” link is apparently well hidden). Let me know.
I just tried it myself to check. When you get the 60 second counter, that means the link should be working ok once it counts down. If you ever get a blank page with a 25 second countdown, it’s counting down to nothing and the link is dead. I DID notice that instead of a typical captcha, DF is NOW using 6 images and asking you to click on the proper ones. (Mine was a set of keys, then a stained glass, then an underwater pic). You have to click on each one instead of typing in a captcha. Then it begins the download. Is that what yor’re running into?
Ah! The six images thing fooled me. I assumed it was some sort of ad. Thanks Willard
I did too when it first popped up. That was my first time seeing it.