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Faust (band)

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Faust is a German band, originally composed of Hans Joachim Irmler, Zappi Diermaier, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Gunther Wustoff and Rudolf Sosna working with producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.

Contents

History

The group formed in 1971 and located themselves in the rural setting of Wümme. They secured a lucrative record deal with Polydor and soon began recording their debut, Faust, which sold poorly but received critical acclaim for its innovative approach and established a devoted fanbase. Faust became one of the premier bands in the international appreciation of the genre that would eventually be known as krautrock.

Faust experimented with the presentation of some of their records. Their first album was originally on clear vinyl in a clear sleeve with an X-ray of a human fist silkscreened on the outer sleeve ("faust" is German for "fist"). Later reissues did not always follow this. The second album, So Far made extensive use of black, though inside the sleeve were photographs illustrating each song. They became one of the first acts to sign to Richard Branson's Virgin Records, whose low-priced Faust Tapes (issued at the price of a single, 49 UK pence) had a visually disturbing op art design by Bridget Riley, while Faust IV consisted of a series of blank music staves. The impact of these designs is largely lost in CD reissues.

Faust were arguably the most radical of the groups of their era, using advanced studio techniques and electronics in a way that opened up new possibilities for studio composition. At the time they may not have appeared to have had the same impact as a number of their German peers (notably Kraftwerk, Can and Tangerine Dream), but they are increasingly recognised as the most far-sighted of the German groups of that era.

Faust broke up in 1975 but reissues of their recordings and various additional material maintained a level of interest. Consequently, core members Irmler, Diermaier and Péron reunited for performances in the early 1990s, including touring the United States for the first time. They have continued to perform in various combinations and with various additional musicians ever since although Diermaier and Péron now perform separately from Irmler, who has since been rejoined by Meifert. In the booklet for The Wumme Years box set, Péron announced that Sosna had died but gave little information.

Collaborations

During the Wümme years, Faust played on Slapp Happy's first two albums, Sort of (1972) and Acnalbasac Noom (1973) which were also produced by Uwe Nettelbeck. Slapp Happy's connection to Faust was Peter Blegvad who had played with Faust in Wümme and subsequently toured with them in the UK. That tour also featured Uli Trepte, who had performed with Guru Guru and Neu!.

In extreme contrast with Slapp Happy's song-based music, in 1972 members of Faust also collaborated with the violinist Tony Conrad on an album entitled Outside the Dream Syndicate; the record was released at low price in the UK and was at the time one of the few available examples of drone-based minimalism. A live recording from 1995 of a later concert, entitled "Outside The Dream Syndicate Alive" featuring Tony Conrad, Zappi & Jean-Hervé of Faust and Jim O'Rourke was released in Autumn 2005. This recording is considered by many to be more successful than the 1972 studio version with Jean-Hervé playing so hard he snaps a bass string and shreds his fingers.

Faust also collaborated with New Jersey avant-garde hip-hop crew Dälek for the album "Derbe Respect, Alder" with surprising success in 2004.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

External links

 

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