Faust (band)
Faust is a
German band, originally composed of
Hans Joachim Irmler,
Werner "Zappi" Diermaier,
Arnulf Meifert,
Jean-Hervé Péron,
Gunther Wustoff and
Rudolf Sosna working with producer
Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer
Kurt Graupner.
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 became one of the first acts to sign to
Richard Branson's
Virgin Records, who embarked on a marketing campaign somewhat daring for its time, aimed at introducing Faust to UK record-buyers in as big a way as possible.
The Faust Tapes was a cut-and-paste album which spliced together a large number of bits and pieces from their extensive collection of private recordings, not originally intended for release, but widely regarded today as their finest work. Virgin issued it at the then price of a single, 48 UK pence (they did the same the following year with
Gong's
Camembert Electrique album except that by then the price of a single had gone up to 59 pence).
The Faust Tapes reportedly sold over 100,000 copies but its low price tag rendered it ineligible for a chart placing.
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 after Virgin had rejected their fifth album (some of the recordings later appeared on the "Munich and Elsewhere" album), but reissues of their recordings and various additional material through
Chris Cutler's
Recommended Records maintained a level of interest.
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"). The second album,
So Far made extensive use of black, though inside the sleeve were sheets with one illustration for each song.
The Faust Tapes had a visually disturbing
op art cover design by
Bridget Riley, while that for
Faust IV consisted of a series of blank music
staves. The impact of these designs is largely lost in CD reissues.
The groups' whereabouts were unknown; the Recommended Records catalogues talked about the groups' "disappearance". The official website lists three concerts during the 1980's, and the "Patchwork" album, a compilation of outtakes, feature three snippets that were recorded in the 80's, but apart from that, the groups' activities between 1975 and 1990 remain shrouded in mystery.
In 1990, members Irmler, Diermaier and Péron reunited for performances, including touring the
United States for the first time. They have continued to perform in various combinations and with various additional musicians ever since.
In the booklet for
The Wumme Years box set, Péron announced that Sosna had died but gave little information. Günther Wusthoff has not taken part in any of the reunions. Diermaier has always been behind the drum kit. Irmler was present, but contributed little to the reunited groups' first concerts, and did not participate in the 1994 US tour, but took a more active role after that, producing the groups' records and releasing them on his Klangbad label. He also compiled and edited the "Patchwork" album. Peron left the group in 1996, and does not play on the "Ravviviando" album, which was hailed as an artistic triumph by fans and critics alike.
In an unexpected development, Arnulf Meyfert returned to Faust in 2005, taking over Diermaier's place in the Irmler-led Faust. Meyfert and Irmler are also working on a duo album. At the same time, Peron also rejoined, forming his own Faust with Diermaier and some younger musicians. This incarnation of the group has been extremely active, releasing several CD-Rs and DVD-Rs and touring extensively, including a very successful fall 2005 UK tour.
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.
Albums
*
Faust (1971)
*
Faust So Far (1972)
*
The Faust Tapes (1973)
*
Faust IV (1973)
*
Outside The Dream Syndicate (1973) Collaboration with Tony Conrad
*
Munich and Elsewhere (1987) Compilation of unreleased material
*
The Last LP (1988) Also known as "The Faust Party Album"
*
Rien (1995)
*
Untitled (1996) Compilation of live and studio material
*
Faust Concerts, Volume 1: Live in Hamburg, 1990 (1996)
*
Faust Concerts, Volume 2: Live in London, 1992 (1996)
*
You Know FaUSt (1997)
*
Edinburgh 1997 [live] (1997)
*
Faust Wakes Nosferatu (1998) The CD and vinyl editions contain completely different music
*
Ravvivando (1999)
*
Land of Ukko & Rauni [live] (2000)
*
Freispiel (2002) Remixes of
Ravviviando*
Patchwork (2002)
*
Derbe Respect, Adler (2004) Collaboration with Dalek
*
Inside the Dream Syndicate (2005) Collaboration with Tony Conrad
Compilations
*
Munich and Elsewhere (1986)
*
The Last LP: Faust Party No. 3, 1971-1972 (1988)
*
71 Minutes of Faust (1996) Compilation of material from the above two
*
Faust/Faust So Far (2000)
*
The Wumme Years: 1970-1973 (2000)
*
BBC Sessions + (2001)
*
Patchwork 1971-2002 (2004)
*
The Faust Pages.
*.
