#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