Great article. I have had the pleasure of playing with Faust on several occasions since their return in the 90s. I was asked to stand in on guitar for a UK tour in 2006. I was given only a few hours advance warning and arrived at the first venue less than an hour before stage time. Zappi took me out into the carpark with a big sheet of paper on which he wrote the 'setlist' for me. It comprised a series of abstract shapes and squiggles. It seemed to go fine all the same. The next night (in Glasgow I think) Jean-Hervé decided they would add a couple of oldies and furthermore I would be singing 'J'ai Mal au Dents' along with my friend Ann so that he could concentrate on bass playing - also I would sing the French bits and Ann would sing the rest in Welsh. Again it went well... and gave a great insight into how the group worked.
Throughout the past 20 years, both Jochen Irmler and Jean-Hervé have held (separate) festivals at their houses in south and north Germany repectively. I have been to just about every one and played at each several times. The most recent northern festival was in 2019 and when I turned up, Jean-Hervé greeted me and said I was on stage in an hour as a member of Faust. When I said that I hadn't brought an instrument, he said "Onnan has brought a spare guitar for you" and introduced me to Onnan Bock, who is half of Qluster (with Roedelius). This time I was given an envelope with my parts in it... which again were in graphic form - I think it was an hour long piece and it had the times I was meant to play marked on it, together with shapes to depict what I was supposed to play. Again it all went well.
My most recent performances with Faust were in London and Manchester in April this year and for once I was given (slight) advance notice - I was to do a vocal duet with Jean-Hervé's daughter Jeanne-Marie. It was as always great, but scary fun. They still have the same anarchic approach to their work that they did in the 70s.
It's unfortunate everything imploded for them (though genuinely amazing it lasted so long), because the stuff they did *after* this album was also incredible. I think the 71 Minutes comp is just as brilliant as anything they've ever done, particularly the long tracks - one of them ("Knochentanz") actually sounds like This Heat's 24 Track Loop, but several years earlier! And the "lost" album Punkt, which I'm sure you've heard, is also incredible. You wouldn't think there would be anything left in the archives by now, much less a full LP.
One thing I'm curious about is how the tracklisting on Faust IV got so screwed up - tracks 1-3 on Side B seem to be out of order, and somehow even the CD release doesn't fix this. Oh well, perfectly within the spirit of Faust I guess :)
I'll have to pay more attention to these later works! I got the box set for Christmas, because my wife is glorious. I've given Punkt a couple of spins during the workday but haven't listened closely as yet. Man oh man were they good ...
Great article. I have had the pleasure of playing with Faust on several occasions since their return in the 90s. I was asked to stand in on guitar for a UK tour in 2006. I was given only a few hours advance warning and arrived at the first venue less than an hour before stage time. Zappi took me out into the carpark with a big sheet of paper on which he wrote the 'setlist' for me. It comprised a series of abstract shapes and squiggles. It seemed to go fine all the same. The next night (in Glasgow I think) Jean-Hervé decided they would add a couple of oldies and furthermore I would be singing 'J'ai Mal au Dents' along with my friend Ann so that he could concentrate on bass playing - also I would sing the French bits and Ann would sing the rest in Welsh. Again it went well... and gave a great insight into how the group worked.
Throughout the past 20 years, both Jochen Irmler and Jean-Hervé have held (separate) festivals at their houses in south and north Germany repectively. I have been to just about every one and played at each several times. The most recent northern festival was in 2019 and when I turned up, Jean-Hervé greeted me and said I was on stage in an hour as a member of Faust. When I said that I hadn't brought an instrument, he said "Onnan has brought a spare guitar for you" and introduced me to Onnan Bock, who is half of Qluster (with Roedelius). This time I was given an envelope with my parts in it... which again were in graphic form - I think it was an hour long piece and it had the times I was meant to play marked on it, together with shapes to depict what I was supposed to play. Again it all went well.
My most recent performances with Faust were in London and Manchester in April this year and for once I was given (slight) advance notice - I was to do a vocal duet with Jean-Hervé's daughter Jeanne-Marie. It was as always great, but scary fun. They still have the same anarchic approach to their work that they did in the 70s.
It's unfortunate everything imploded for them (though genuinely amazing it lasted so long), because the stuff they did *after* this album was also incredible. I think the 71 Minutes comp is just as brilliant as anything they've ever done, particularly the long tracks - one of them ("Knochentanz") actually sounds like This Heat's 24 Track Loop, but several years earlier! And the "lost" album Punkt, which I'm sure you've heard, is also incredible. You wouldn't think there would be anything left in the archives by now, much less a full LP.
One thing I'm curious about is how the tracklisting on Faust IV got so screwed up - tracks 1-3 on Side B seem to be out of order, and somehow even the CD release doesn't fix this. Oh well, perfectly within the spirit of Faust I guess :)
I'll have to pay more attention to these later works! I got the box set for Christmas, because my wife is glorious. I've given Punkt a couple of spins during the workday but haven't listened closely as yet. Man oh man were they good ...
Happy Birthday!
Thanks, Art. You have a great day, too! Go Buckeyes!