#306: Faust - Faust IV (1973)

Zack: Faust IV, Faust’s 6^th album (not really, although that would be funny) is I think the third example of krautrock we’ve come across. I know there are a few more that we’ll be listening to, and I’m still waiting to be wowed by the genre. I saw on Wikipedia that what really differentiates it is a lack of roots in American blues music, which is definitely an apt description. Most of the rock and roll stuff we listen to stems from the same fertile grounds of the Mississippi delta up through Chicago and the Midwest, but krautrock spawned from something very different. It can be kind of jarring to listen to for someone like me who grew up on a bunch of different people all working from the same musical language, essentially. Faust does blend in some more traditional elements in songs like Jennifer, but a lot of what they do is based on incorporating noise and its weird teeter-totter style of improvisation is very different from the types we’ve come across before in the jazz albums. In general, this entire album just is very noticeably different than everything else. The genre might grow on me as we keep on keeping on, but I can’t see myself relistening to this to try and get it any time soon.

Favorite Tracks: Krautrock; Laüft...Heisst Das Es Laüft Oder Es Kommt Bald...Laüft; Jennifer

Emily: Krautrock is an unusual genre. It doesn't really fall into the traditional categories that define American and British popular music. It's a little bit rock, a little bit electronic, a little bit experimental, a little bit spoken word, and a whole lotta Germany. I agree with Zack that it's a little bit disarming to hear something so divorced from our common musical traditions without anything to bridge the gap between them (like in Bowie's "Heroes"). With Faust, I found it most reminiscent of a score to a foreign art-house film. It's mostly instrumental with a few sound-effect-type flourishes here and there, and it hits a few different moods along the way. However, listening to Faust IV was like watching the film with no subtitles. I had a general idea of what was going on, but I walked out of the theater more confused than when I began, without much desire to see the director's next movie and wanting to stick with something a little more familiar next time.
Favorite Tracks: Giggy Smile; Läuft...Heißt Das Es Läuft Oder Es Kommt Bald...Läuft; Jennifer

#305: B.B. King - Live at the Regal (1965)

Zack: Wow wow wow wow wow! I was excited to listen to B.B. King, but I was not aware of just how amazing my morning was about to become. My only real exposure to B.B. King before this was his work with Clapton on Riding with the King, which I listened to once like 5 years ago. I don’t remember it too well, but it definitely doesn’t hold a candle to Live at the Regal. If I’m being honest, Regal blew away pretty much all of the blues I’ve listened to before (a list that includes Robert Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Muddy Waters, so I’m at least marginally credible in this assessment). From start to finish it was just a masterpiece. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to be in the crowd that day, listening to him blast through all the other delicately arranged sounds with both his voice and guitar. I'm just glad something this good was immortalized so we could all appreciate it. We have another 95 albums to listen to before the next time I need to really think about this, but I can already say I’ve filled in a slot for my favorite album.

Favorite Tracks: Please Love Me; You Upset Me Baby; You Done Lost Your Good Thing

Emily: Live at the Regal was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. That means someday, when all vinyl has lost its grooves, when all CDs are scratched up beyond repair, when that new wave of cassettes comes crashing into a pile of plastic and blob of recording type, when your hard drive explodes and Spotify goes bankrupt and Pandora retreats into her box, we'll still have Live at the Regal. This is an album that has been deemed worth saving above so many others, and honestly, now that I've listened to it I agree with that assessment 100%. Live at the Regal embodies blues in a way that few other albums do because it captures a live show by a master of the genre. Blues music that is recorded in the studio just doesn't have the same feel of the musicians interacting with the audience, feeding off of their energy in tune with their own emotions and musicianship. That's the feeling you get from Live at the Regal, like you were in that club with a drink in your hand and your toes tapping along with B.B. King. Only a few people actually got to be there that day, but the feeling that you were lives on forever in the recording.

Favorite Tracks: How Blue Can You Get?; Worry, Worry; Please Love Me

#304: John Martyn - One World (1977)

Zack: I’ll just go ahead and cut to the chase by saying that I enjoyed One World. It was certainly a pleasant listening experience. Throughout the album, I kept trying to figure out which adjective, what single word really captured the essence of what I was hearing. I eventually settled on “understated.” And I mean that in a good way, not like how some albums we’ve come across were unassuming and faded too easily into the background. If you’re looking for a clear explanation of what I mean, the entirely instrumental ending track Small Hours can say it better than I can. There was just something elegant and beautiful about the way One World gained your attention but never overwhelmed you. In a way, it’s sort of the natural antithesis to the album that immediately precedes it in our review archive. Several days separated my listening to Van Halen from the day I listened to John Martyn, but I couldn’t help but be drawn to the stark difference in the way the songs (which I liked on both albums) were presented. Van Halen was anything but understated. It’s the sort of hyper-weird factoid that only gets picked up when you basically put the 1001 “most important” albums on shuffle. I found it interesting that two albums that packaged themselves so differently could both be appreciated in their own separate ways. Anyway, before I jump into some tortured metaphor of Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, I should probably mention that One World also reminded me of Stardust by Willie Nelson, so if you liked that, I would definitely recommend checking this out.

Favorite Tracks: One World; Small Hours; Couldn’t Love You More

Emily: John Martyn really takes the "One World" concept to heart on this album. It draws on global, diverse influences, including jazz, folk, rock, and reggae, but blends them into one by dialing each one down to its elements. Those elements come together into beautifully simple songs, songs that make you want to listen more closely to catch the nuance of each beat. While it's not the most exciting album, sometimes you need to trade in excitement for sweet simplicity and uniqueness. And on those fronts, One World succeeds.

Favorite Tracks: One World; Small Hours; Big Muff