EXPO '70 Exquisite Lust (Kill Shaman) cd-r 5.98
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We were sent a whole batch of cd-r's from this mysterious group Expo '70, and all the various cd-r covers were designed to look like old seventies krautrock or free jazz records. Which definitely grabbed our attention. Plus they're called Expo '70, so while we weren't exactly sure what to expect, we were definitely thinking it was bound to be good. And boy were we right. This is good. Great in fact. But that wasn't all, the faux vintage covers and the band name ended up being seriously indicative of the sounds within. Gorgeous drifting ethereal krautrocky ambience is what Expo '70 is all about, and eyes closed, you'd be hard pressed to not think this was some Ash Ra Tempel disc or some long lost A.R. and The Machines lp. Crafted entirely from guitars, sitar and Moog, each track here is some sort of lengthy, mesmerizingingly blissed out minimal drone jam. Guitar figures are looped into hypnotic cycles, over shimmery whirls of fuzzy sound and distant drones, the looped riffs slowly shifting and gently changing shape. It's almost like some sort of new age space rock Steve Reich. Swirling FX surround warm deep guitar tones floating weightless in a glistening expanse of muted color and twinkling sonic sparkles. So completely blissful and dreamlike and captivating. One of our favorite new discoveries.
Fans of far out krautrock, deep dark drone, and outerspace guitar exploration will be in absolute heaven, or at the very least in some darkened room, in a trance, drifting off to some druggy dreamy other dimension...
MPEG Stream: "Hitherto"
MPEG Stream: "Motorik"

EXPO '70 July 18, 2004 Live At Infrasonic Sound Studio (Kill Shaman) cd-r 5.98
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Another gorgeous slab of spaced out krautrocky ambience from Expo' 70, this one a live, completely improvised performance back in 2004, with the band expanded to a trio. And if folks' reaction to the first three Expo 70's releases is anything to go by, then these will be flying out of here in no time as well.
For those yet to discover the sublime joys of Expo '70, these guys (usually just one guy, Justin Wright) traffic in glistening dreamlike kosmiche drift. A krautrock that is less about propulsion and rhythm and more about texture and ambience, think Ash Ra Tempel, AR & The Machines, Tangerine Dream, Eno, Popol Vuh. Guitars aren't strummed and picked, they are sort of allowed to unwind, long glistening strands of reverberating buzz unfurl and float into the hazy ether. Synthesizers unleash a similarly disembodied sonic vibe, soft clouds of fuzzy whir and distant chordal warmth. Very much the sonic equivalent to drifting down a warm summer stream, on your back, watching the clouds drift by, the trees on the shore shimmer and sway. Or maybe more accurately, floating in the vacuum of space, everything weightless, untethered and drifting lazily through the inky blackness. The light of stars and suns bends and twists, slowly cycling through the visible spectrum, disobeying all laws of physics, wrapping you in a thick swirl of sonic brilliance. This music has to be the work of some immortal group of dronelords, sitting in their multidimensional fortress, atop some mysterious lost mountain, who in their infinite wisdom, allow their dreamlike drones and angelic ambience to fall from the sky and settle over us like a light dusting of snow...
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

FAUST (Untitled) cd 14.98
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FAUST 71 Minutes (ReR) 2lp 38.00
SWANK DOUBLE VINYL REISSUE FOR THESE KRAUTROCK LEGENDS!
This compiles the posthumous Faust odds-n-ends LPs Munic & Elsewhere and The Last LP. But of course, Faust is all about odds-n-ends. That's kinda their whole aesthetic. Not the first Faust record to buy, but definitely worthy of purchase.
RealAudio clip: "Knochentanz"
RealAudio clip: "Psalter"

FAUST 71 Minutes of Faust (ReR Megacorp) cd 16.98
Recommended completes their reissues of all the early Faust material with "71 Minutes of Faust". Essentially the same as the previous reissue known as "71 Minutes of Faust" this compiles the posthumous Faust odds-n-ends LPs "Munic & Elsewhere" and "The Last LP". But of course, Faust is all about odds-n-ends. That's kinda their whole aesthetic. Not the first Faust disc to buy, but definitely worthy of purchase.
RealAudio clip: "Knochentanz"
RealAudio clip: "Psalter"

FAUST BBC Sessions + (ReR) cd 16.98
Probably if you're a rabid Faust fan (aren't you?) you've already got this, the disc of rarities that was previously only obtainable through purchase of the entire Faust box set. But in case you didn't get the box, the individual discs are now being released piecemeal for your snacking enjoyment, with this one being the disc that people are going to get the most excited about, for obvious reasons. The album starts off with a 22 minute track recorded at the BBC in 1973 of Faust performing a medley of "The Lurcher", "Krautrock" and "Do So". Though the disc is named the "BBC Sessions", the rest of the tracks here appear to all have been recorded at Faust's Wumme studio, and with the exception of "We Are the Hallo Men" which was originally released on Munic & Elsewhere (though Recommended still persists on claiming that it was originally on The Last LP) most of these cuts are previously unreleased. Included are some nice tape experiments like "(360)" which is a mix of various stereo (possibly binaural) recordings like the Faust boys playing ping pong, plus some alternate versions of songs from So Far and Munic & Elsewhere including "So Far" and "Meer". It's all totally worthwhile, classic krautrock from one of the best bands ever. If you're new to Faust, you'll want to start with one of their proper albums (or heck, just get the whole box) but folks who already have IV, So Far and the rest should definitely invest in the BBC Sessions.
RealAudio clip: "Party 9"
RealAudio clip: "(360)"

FAUST C'est Com... Com... Complique (Bureau B) cd 17.98

FAUST C'est Com... Com... Complique (Bureau B) lp 17.98

FAUST Freispiel (Klangbad) cd 17.98
Legendary krautrock band Faust's 30th anniversary is being celebrated with not free pinball and fireworks, but remixes... The remix cd ep that preceeded this was ok, if unneccessary. Here's the full remix album, with one of that Soft Cell guy's mixes from the ep, plus mixes from other mostly Euro electronica folks (Kreidler, Howie B., Surgeon, Funkstorung among them). Dead Voices On Air and, interestingly, The Residents also appear. All the tracks remixed come from Faust's recent (and quite good) Ravvivando album. Our verdict: still unneccessary, and not ok. But at least the remixers aren't violating classic old '70s Faust tracks, like with Can's "Sacrilege" remix project. And electronica fans will find this to be a fine electronica comp, like so many others. But Faust fans aren't going to see any improvement over the originals (not to be expected anyway) OR any other reason to listen to this...it's just uninteresting and predictable. Too bad, 'cause Faust are such an interesting band. If they HAD to do a remix album for their 30th, they should have picked artists with more of their eccentric artistic spirit. We'd be more keen on Reynols or Boredoms remixes, maybe Philip Jeck or Aphex Twin...oh well.

FAUST Impressions (Film Spector) dvd 21.00
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Ahh, the German sense of humor. Once, while flying somewhere, my German neighbor told me a "German joke"... it turned out to be in actuality a philosophical puzzle, and not very funny. For some reason, German jokes and joking around has this heavy sillyness that I love. It's never actually all that "funny" per se, but so so endearing!
That said, this Faust dvd opens with some 8mm footage from the 70s. The band is in their hometown of Wumme, Germany and approached by a giant panda bear who read about the band in a newspaper while tanning on the beach. It's a very strange, probably very stoned interaction set to a Faust song. Not that funny really, but totally endearing. Cause it's Faust! One of the most abstract of core Krautrock bands.
But then that's it!!! I mean, as far as actual visual documentation from the band during the 1970s. The remaining classic Faust tracks on here are set to horrendous, freshman-year-art-student video collage made recently by Faust's Zappi Diermaier as interpretations of the songs' original themes. Every track and "film" is a nauseating combination and so incredibly confusing to us. Even more puzling is why Zappi decided to add additional accompaniment to some of the audio tracks.
Man. As extremely devout Faust fans, we have to say, "WTF?!" Is there no other footage of the band -- either playing concerts, or interviews, or any photos, or then even commentary?
There's also an audio cd included that has no Faust songs, but new tracks by Zappi that are from a dvd of his solo stuff coming out in the future. Writing all this down is making us feel like we need to cry or something. Wish there was more FAUST to SEE. We don't know what Zappi was thinking. Sure do hope that all the feedback (like this) from fans will inspire the band to get something together for an actual document-worthy dvd at some point in the future.
That little nugget of Faust and the polar bear, boy. That's something special. Can't imagine what we'd do with a whole dvd full of that sorta stuff! Meanwhile, all we can do is keep on sitting around listening to Faust IV over and over again.

FAUST IV (Caroline / Blue Plate) cd 14.98
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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's a top-ten essential krautrock record for sure. Indeed, it's even got a song entitled "Krautrock" on it! As crucial as Can's Tago Mago or Future Days, Amon Duul II's Yeti, or Neu! 1... Spacey (Andee thought we were listening to Spacemen 3) and weird and wacky and quite wonderful. Not in the Faust box, either.

FAUST IV (EMI) 2cd 16.98
We've been wanting to correct a glaring omission from our site for some time now. Well, its not so much an omission as it's an overdue update on a very old review; one that was made when our reviews served only as shelf-talkers in the store instead of entryways into the vast online catalog of our website. And now with an affordable reissue with a bonus disc of rare BBC radio sessions and alternate versions, the time is right to reappraise this mighty, weird, and awesome jewel of classic krautrock greatness that is Faust IV.
Essential as any krautrock album we can name, including Can's Tago Mago or Future Days, Amon Duul II's Yeti, or Neu! 1, Cluster, Kraftwerk etc. It's also the record that coined the term "krautrock" which is the title of the nearly 12 minute opening track, a thick pulsating rumble of motorik groove that out-Neu's Neu!. But things definitely get stranger after that with bizarre forays into reggae, pretty ballads, prog, pop and free jazz. Yet for all the weirdness, this is the record to get if you've never heard Faust before as it's their most accessible and structured. Not nearly as kaleidoscopic and avant as, So Far or Faust Tapes, and even with the genre-hopping, the songs all seem to belong together. "The Sad Skinhead" has got to be the most left-field excursion into reggae we've heard, complete with marimba passages and echoing vocals, while "Jennifer" has to be about the prettiest song ever made. Each song linked together by odd passages of detuned piano, far away screams and noisy stews of synth warbles and feedback stabs. "Giggly Smile" obviously influenced Battles recent debut Mirrors, as strange effected vocals accompany groovy prog excursions that abruptly shift tempos into one of our favorite rocking moments ever put to tape before suddenly ending, launching into the sublime folk groove of "Lauft... Heisst Das Es Lauft Oder Es Kommt Bald... Lauft". And it just keeps getting better and better.
The bonus disc features many alternate versions of the songs including a much longer version of "Just A Second (Starts Like That!)", plus rare BBC radio sessions of two songs "The Lurcher" and "Do So" and one previously unreleased piece, called appropriately "Piano Piece".
This is definitely one of those records, where we wish we could just invoke some physical force to reach out and grab you through the computer by the shoulders and just scream "Buy this already!!!!!!"
MPEG Stream: "Krautrock"
MPEG Stream: "Jennifer"
MPEG Stream: "Giggly Smile"
MPEG Stream: "The Lurcher"
MPEG Stream: "Piano Piece"

FAUST IV (Virgin /Capitol) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now reissued on Vinyl!
Essential as any krautrock album we can name, including Can's Tago Mago or Future Days, Amon Duul II's Yeti, or Neu! 1, Cluster, Kraftwerk etc. It's also the record that coined the term "krautrock" which is the title of the nearly 12 minute opening track, a thick pulsating rumble of motorik groove that out-Neu's Neu!. But things definitely get stranger after that with bizarre forays into reggae, pretty ballads, prog, pop and free jazz. Yet for all the weirdness, this is the record to get if you've never heard Faust before as it's their most accessible and structured. Not nearly as kaleidoscopic and avant as, So Far or Faust Tapes, and even with the genre-hopping, the songs all seem to belong together. "The Sad Skinhead" has got to be the most left-field excursion into reggae we've heard, complete with marimba passages and echoing vocals, while "Jennifer" has to be about the prettiest song ever made. Each song linked together by odd passages of detuned piano, far away screams and noisy stews of synth warbles and feedback stabs. "Giggly Smile" obviously influenced Battles recent debut Mirrors, as strange effected vocals accompany groovy prog excursions that abruptly shift tempos into one of our favorite rocking moments ever put to tape before suddenly ending, launching into the sublime folk groove of "Lauft... Heisst Das Es Lauft Oder Es Kommt Bald... Lauft". And it just keeps getting better and better.
This is definitely one of those records, where we wish we could just invoke some physical force to reach out and grab you through the computer by the shoulders and just scream "Buy this already!!!!!!"
MPEG Stream: "Krautrock"
MPEG Stream: "Jennifer"
MPEG Stream: "Giggly Smile"

FAUST Kleine Welt (Live) (Ektro) cd 14.98
Forget for a second that this is a Faust album. What if it was just some unknown new band, some cd-r we got in the mail, some limited edition cassette release? Heck we've tried that thought experiment, and we'd be all over it! Telling you that it's a mysteriously murky, throbbing psychedelic freak-scene, fraught with krautrocky rhythms and tense textures. Sorta reminds us of a mix of Blues Control and Wooden Shjips... or White Hills and Expo '70... there's a druggy '60s garage vibe, industrial electronic atmosphere, blissful moodiness, and clockwork Circle-like propulsivity, all crammed into one crazy counter-intuitive whole, raw and live! Everything in the way of organ drones, harmonica blurt, echoing voices, shuffling drums, and serious dosage of searing psych-rock geetar found here were all taken from various European performances in 2006, later mixed and edited at fauststudio. We'd assume most of the tracks are pretty much unique to this disc...
Yeah, we'd be pretty into it if it was some new group! Does the fact it's a new disc by krautrock legends Faust, released by Circle's Ektro label, make it any cooler? It doesn't need to. Though if that's what it takes to get you to check it out, that's ok. Conversely, if you were like, oh just another umpteenth Faust reunion album, don't be like that. First off, Faust rule. Even today. Sure, this isn't the original line up. In fact, it's not even the ONLY current line up! Apparently, in the grand tradition of, uh, Saxon and others, there's now more than one version of Faust, each featuring different original band members, going around touring under the name. Weird. Not sure if this fractured factioning is an agreed-upon thing (to cover more ground?) or if they're in competition. Hopefully the former! It would be sad to hear that there's litigation pending.
So anyway, THIS Faust consists of Jan Wolbrandt on drums, Michael Stoll on bass (and flute), Lars Paukstat on percussion and vocals, Steven Wray Lobdell on guitar, and Hans Joachim Irmler on organ, keyboards and vocals. That's a good line up all right, they've got Lobdell in the band after all! Hence the dosage of searing psych-rock geetar previously mentioned...
Recommended, as one of the two very different and very cool live albums newly issued by Ektro that we're reviewing this list (the other one is by '80s strong-man metaller Thor, believe it or not!). Hmmm. Faust + Thor, does that sort of = Circle??
(And note, there's another new live Faust 2cd that we have in stock and hope to review soon, Od Serca Do Duszy, that's the work of the OTHER active Faust unit, featuring Jean-Herve Peron, Zappi Diermaier, and Amaury Cambuzat.)
MPEG Stream: "Foam Of War"
MPEG Stream: "Crawling Wax"
MPEG Stream: "Terrorize Me"

FAUST Od Serca Do Duszy (Lumberton Trading Company) 2cd 24.00
And here's the other new live album from the what is also in fact the *other* Faust (mentioned a couple of lists back when we reviewed Faust's Kleine Welt cd on the Ektro label). Od Serca Do Duszy was recorded in Krakow, Poland at the wonderfully named Loch Ness Club on November 15th, 2006, by a Faust "power trio" lineup consisting of Zappi Diermaier (drums, metals, tools), Jean-Herve Peron (voice, guitars, horns) and Amaury Cambuzat (guitars, keys, voice). Note that this is an entirely different lineup than the one responsible for Kleine Welt, also recorded on tour in 2006. We'd like to think that Faust has splintered into these two different touring groups (both featuring original '70s members as well as new blood from the band's initial reunion era in the '90s) in an amicable fashion, but we don't really know. Maybe they hate each other. But we also wonder if it's just 'cause their individual schedules didn't work out to all play together, or so they could cover more ground, or 'cause they had different interests in terms of what songs should go into the band's current set?
For Diermaier/Peron/Cambuzat, that means doing some of Faust's famous old songs like "A Bit Of A Pain" and "The Sad Skinhead" alongside newer stuff and full-on improv jams. We figure that if you were AT the show, you'd want to hear a few of those old favorites. But listening to this at home, it's probably the new material that will actually be most of interest... although hearing how they mutate and reinterpret their own "hits" is cool too.
Anyway, either way, this excellently-recorded, lengthy live set is one for Faust fans, and also those into the likes of Acid Mothers Temple, really anyone looking for experimental explorations of clattery murk, with feedbacky psychedelic guitar, quasi-industrial improv chaos, plodding drums, and noisy textures! The raucous Krakow crowd certainly is into it, stoking Faust into further frenzies, including shouted vocals (in French?) among them some yelling about "George Washington!" and "George Bush!"... it must have been a memorable night. Disc two begins with two tracks (20 minutes) of pure, heavy-duty improv, which the band follow with a fairly wild rendition of their classic "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" to make even the old time fans happy... and then for their encore, for good measure, they launch into "Schempal Buddha", an urgent and repetitive number that fans will recognize from The Faust Tapes album.
MPEG Stream: "We Are Not Here..."
MPEG Stream: "Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl"

FAUST Patchwork 1971-2002 (Staubgold) cd 14.98
"We've always liked the idea of releasing records which lacked conventional 'finish' in terms of production...the music should sound like bootlegs, as if recorded by someone who passed a group rehearsing or jamming and then cut the recorded material wildly together." That's a quote from Faust mentor/manager Uwe Nettelbeck circa 1973, reprinted in the liner notes to this aptly-titled odds n' ends collection, a collage of pieces recorded by the idiosyncratic krautrock legends over the past thirty years. It helps explain the sounds here, as well as the aesthetic behind their classic "Faust Tapes" album (which this echoes) and much else of their output. The material presented here will fade from stuff recorded in the early days at their communal studio directly into things put down on tape by the reunited/retrofitted incarnation of Faust just last year -- sometimes within the very same track! Mostly this is early '70s stuff, but there's a few '80s derived recordings and material from the currently active Faust line-up. It's all pretty great. Unreleased archival alternate versions of familiar Faust favorites, forgotten experiments, live bits and pieces -- wild psych guitar/effect noise fests, Stoogesy jamming, droning electronics, sweet strumming folk, jazz freakouts -- all this is woven together in a truly kaleidoscopic krautrock "patchwork" indeed. Very Faust-ian. Uwe's quote describes this perfectly.
RealAudio clip: "Stretch Over All Times 1971/73, 2000/01"
RealAudio clip: "Psalter (slow version) 1980"
RealAudio clip: "Zerr:aus 1971"

FAUST Patchwork 1971-2002 (Staubgold) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"We've always liked the idea of releasing records which lacked conventional 'finish' in terms of production...the music should sound like bootlegs, as if recorded by someone who passed a group rehearsing or jamming and then cut the recorded material wildly together." That's a quote from Faust mentor/manager Uwe Nettelbeck circa 1973, reprinted in the liner notes to this aptly-titled odds n' ends collection, a collage of pieces recorded by the idiosyncratic krautrock legends over the past thirty years. It helps explain the sounds here, as well as the aesthetic behind their classic "Faust Tapes" album (which this echoes) and much else of their output. The material presented here will fade from stuff recorded in the early days at their communal studio directly into things put down on tape by the reunited/retrofitted incarnation of Faust just last year -- sometimes within the very same track! Mostly this is early '70s stuff, but there's a few '80s derived recordings and material from the currently active Faust line-up. It's all pretty great. Unreleased archival alternate versions of familiar Faust favorites, forgotten experiments, live bits and pieces -- wild psych guitar/effect noise fests, Stoogesy jamming, droning electronics, sweet strumming folk, jazz freakouts -- all this is woven together in a truly kaleidoscopic krautrock "patchwork" indeed. Very Faust-ian. Uwe's quote describes this perfectly.

FAUST Ravvivando Remix Maxi Single (Klangbad) cd ep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Soft Cell remixes Faust?? That's right, the legendary, eccentric krautrockers Faust hit the dancefloor with the help of Soft Cell's David Ball (and one Ingo Vauk as well). The track "Wir Brauchen Dich #6", taken from Faust's last (and quite excellent) album "Ravvivando" from a few years back, gets strapped to some heavy Neu!-ish motorik beats on the three remixes on this ep, which apparently precedes a full-length Faust "Ravvivando Remixes" disc yet to come. The fourth track reprises the album original, which of course is still the best, but the others are interesting novelties for Faust fans (and, possibly, *really* "interesting" novelties for Soft Cell fans!).
RealAudio clip: "Wir Brauchen Dich #6 remix"

FAUST Schiphorst 2008 (Salamanda) 2cd 23.00

FAUST So Far (Polydor / Universal) cd 17.98
One of the BEST RECORDS EVER. That's right. And I don't think we're really going out on a limb with that claim. Certainly one of the best krautrock records ever (as are pretty much all the Faust albums, actually). This, Faust's second album, originally released in 1972, has been reissued numerous times over the years, for a while as an expensive Japanese import only, then in the crucial Wumme Years box set, and most recently by Collector's Choice as a two-on-one with Faust's self-titled debut. We still stock that for the budget-minded amongst you, but since this is such a classic, we figure some folks will want this newer, nicely digipacked reish all by its own. Unlike the two-fer, the cd booklet here includes all the full-color images (one illustration per song) that came as art prints with the original vinyl. And as well, there's new liner notes and vintage photos in there as well. Nice.
But let's get back to this best records ever business, for those that weren't already nodding in agreement. It's the missing link between The Velvet Underground and The Boredoms, we're telling you. Just listen to the mantric opener "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" and tell us they weren't influenced by the VU... yet taking things way further into the trance-zone, pioneering the minimal post-rock sounds of many popular indie bands today... Circle ferinstance! And for sure the Boredoms. Also, without Faust, chances are, no This Heat. No Nurse With Wound. Yep they were pioneers all right. And still sound plenty fresh 'n weird today. So Far reigns in the sound collage craziness of their selt-titled debut, tightening up into actual song-form-iness, even getting into some pleasantly lyrical poppiness... but always ready to do something violently eccentric. "Daddy, take the banana!"
MPEG Stream: "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl"
MPEG Stream: "No Harm"

FAUST So Far (4 Men With Beards) lp 19.98
Nice to have this in now as an actual vinyl (180 gram) reissue, after all, it's one of the BEST RECORDS EVER. That's right. And I don't think we're really going out on a limb with that claim. Certainly one of the best krautrock records ever (as are pretty much all the Faust albums, actually). This, Faust's second album, originally released in 1972, is the missing link between The Velvet Underground and The Boredoms, we're telling you. Just listen to the mantric opener "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" and tell us they weren't influenced by the VU... yet taking things way further into the trance-zone, pioneering the minimal post-rock sounds of many popular indie bands today... Circle ferinstance! And for sure the Boredoms. Also, without Faust, chances are, no This Heat. No Nurse With Wound. Yep they were pioneers all right. And still sound plenty fresh 'n weird today. So Far reigns in the sound collage craziness of their selt-titled debut, tightening up into actual song-form-iness, even getting into some pleasantly lyrical poppiness... but always ready to do something violently eccentric. "Daddy, take the banana!"
And, this vinyl reissue comes packaged like the original with a bunch of art inserts!
MPEG Stream: "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl"
MPEG Stream: "No Harm"

FAUST The Faust Tapes (ReR) cd 17.98
Faust's third album (or fourth if you count the Tony Conrad & Faust "Outside the Dream Syndicate" album), originally released in 1973, is now available for the first time on cd with the original artwork (excepting the box set) instead of the horrible cover that originally graced the previous Recommended reissue. Faust Tapes is a collection of Faust's more experimental forays, recorded between 1971 and 1973 at Wumme, with lots of short snippets of improvised noise and textures. There are a few composed "songs" on this album (some of their best, like "Flashback Caruso"!), but overall it's a lot more chaotic and random sounding than Faust's rock efforts such as "IV" and "So Far". Completely essential, however.
RealAudio clip: "Exercise - With Several Hands On A Piano"
RealAudio clip: "Flashback Caruso"
RealAudio clip: "Untitled"

FAUST The Faust Tapes (ReR) lp 31.00
Another welcome lp reissue from these legendary krautrockers!
Faust's third album (or fourth if you count the Tony Conrad and Faust collaboration Outside the Dream Syndicate), originally released in 1973, is a collage-like collection of Faust's more experimental forays, recorded between 1971 and 1973 in the studio at Wumme, with lots of short snippets of improvised noise and textures. There are a few composed "songs" on this album (actually some of their best, like the classic "Flashback Caruso"!), but overall it's a lot more chaotic and random sounding than Faust's rock efforts such as IV and So Far. Completely essential, however. And if you're interested in picking this up on vinyl at this import price, you've probably heard it already anyway and KNOW you want it on wax.
RealAudio clip: "Exercise - With Several Hands On A Piano"
RealAudio clip: "Flashback Caruso"
RealAudio clip: "Untitled"

FAUST The Land of Ukko & Rauni (Ektro) 2cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow! Krautrock/Faust fans have had a lot to be thankful for these past few weeks. First we are presented with the instantly-essential "Wumme Years" 5-cd box set (see AQL #104) of old Faust classics and rarities, and now we are blessed with this double cd set of new Faust material! San Francisco Faust fans disappointed by the legendary krautrock band's last SF performance (a lackluster jam-filled session at the Great American Music Hall a year or two ago) may find their faith in Faust's live abilities renewed by this album, released on our new favorite label, Ektro (run by Jussi Lehtisalo of Circle). No, they're not doing old Faust songs from "So Far" or "Faust IV", but their current improvisational efforts are very effective in a dark and droning way. As well, they do at least two songs derived from their last studio album, 1999's pretty great "Ravvivando" -- the line-up of which, minus only one guy, performs on this set. "The Land of Ukko and Rauni" (Ukko and Rauni being ancient Finnish gods, of course) documents a Faust show in Helsinki on April 20th, 2000, beginning with sub-aquatic dirge-rumble, like music for whales -- you get the sense of large, intelligent beings moving fluidly in the darkness. Soon the band is engaged in some exploratory, but quite propulsive, psych-rock, with keys, guitar (courtesy of the Davis Redford Triad's Stephen Wray Lobdell), and Zappi's drums, augmented by additional mysterious sounds (Faust's trademark proto-industrial sound effects). The textures and rhythms of this mostly-instrumental set (there's a few moments of nonsense word-blurt but nothing much) are unmistakably Faust-ian, and worthy of a double discs' investment in listening. Faust, even thirty years on, remain a potent outfit, one from which today's crop of supposedly trend-setting spacey post-rock bands could learn a thing or two.
RealAudio clip: "Wir Brauchen Dich no#7"
RealAudio clip: "Vagary"

FAUST The Wumme Years 1970-73 (Recommended) 5cd box+book 82.00
A 5cd box set devoted to krautrock legends Faust? We were salivating from the moment we heard about it! The output of the band from 1970-73 is truly remarkable, and their work can hardly be compared to any of their contemporaries. They transcend both psych and prog, they influenced countless acts and anticipated many musical trends, from This Heat to Nurse With Wound, New Wave and No Wave, Industrial and "Post-Rock", the Boredoms old stuff to the Boredoms new stuff. Seminal musical genius that everyone should hear. And this is both a good place to start for newcomers (I envy anyone hearing Faust for the first time!) and a necessary collection for fans.
The nitty gritty details, for those who wanna know it all: Wumme refers to the schoolhouse-turned-studio that Faust producer Uwe Nettelbeck rented out at Polydor's expense (he also managed to get Polydor to buy the band all the recording gear they needed and pay for a 24-hour a day, live-in engineer.) It was under these ideal conditions that Faust recorded almost all of the material on this box set, which includes (get ready!): Faust's self-titled debut, their second album "So Far" (both of those terribly hard to find on cd, with the Japanese edition of "So Far" having been out of print for years now), the ever-popular "The Faust Tapes" (now with a track listing and indexing!) and "71 Minutes of Faust" (collecting both the "The Last LP" and "Munic and Elsewhere" LPs). And, also included in this set is an amazing disc of unreleased material, some recorded live at the BBC in 1973, plus some recently discovered & never before listened to tapes as well as the track "We Are the Hallo Men" which was originally on "Munic & Elsewhere" (though curiously credited here as having been on "The Last LP"), but previously left off of ReR's previous version of "71 Minutes of Faust". For this disc alone the set is worth the money to Faust aficionados! Then add in the 40 page booklet, illustrated with rare color photos (of them playing darts outdoors in the nude! THE NUDE!) and Super 8 stills, that features essays/memories from Faust friends/fans Chris Cutler and Peter Blegvad, and interviews with several band members as well as with their producer (the reclusive Nettelbeck) and, for the first time ever, with sound engineer Kurt Graupner!
Of course, the individual discs may be issued separately at some time (or not? all we've heard is that the BBC sessions will come out individually) but then again with those first two Faust cds being so hard to come by, and so essential, there's got to be lots of you out there you not only will want this whole box, but NEED this box. Nicely presented, clearly a labor of love, with the cds in not-fancy-but-serviceable individual digipacks (and don't worry, the paintings from "So Far" are included in a color booklet with that disc).
RealAudio clip: "J'ai Mal Aux Dents"
RealAudio clip: "Flashback Caruso"

FAUST Two Classic Albums From Faust: Faust & So Far (Collector's Choice) cd 15.98
What can we say, other than that this may be the year of the Faust re-issue! Yet another (and quite cheap, all things considered) way to delve into the seminal work of these eccentric krautrock geniuses. Fairly well packaged, with reproductions of the original artwork and notes from the first album (no, not on clear plastic as the LP was) included, as well as the front and back cover images from "So Far" (but not the color prints found inside the original LP or in the previous cd reissues--if you want those, you gotta get the "Wumme Years" box). But, this disc comes with two pages of additional notes by Jason Gross of "Perfect Sound Forever" magazine.

FAUST / NURSE WITH WOUND Disconnected (Art-Errorist) cd 22.00
The quintessential Krautrock projects -- Faust, Can, Guru Guru, Amon Duul, and all things vaguely associated with Conny Plank -- had been huge influences on Nurse With Wound's catalogue. So it goes without saying that when Steven Stapleton got the call that Faust wanted him to produce a record of theirs, he enthusiastically leapt at the chance. What he didn't expect was that Faust only passed on a series of sloppy studio improvisations to Stapleton with the instructions to make a Faust album out of them. We can imagine that Jim O'Rourke had been given a similarly loose framework when he was granted the opportunity to produce Rein back in 1995. Just as O'Rourke took those sounds and sculpted an album which was remarkable in its similarity to classic '70s era Faust (e.g. Faust Tapes, Faust IV, So Far, etc.), Stapleton with his trustworthy cohort Colin Potter at his side has crafted an excellent pastiche of that obtuse Faust sound of mutant psychedelia which guided the more experimental proponents of prog rock, industrial, post-punk, and post-rock. Disconnected is filled with dynamic tumbling percussive riffs, rolling acoustic guitar nestled into clouds of vibrating distortion, unsettled sweeping driftwork, and stoned basslines. In other words, Disconnected sounds like a fucking great Faust album.
Unfortunately, this has been very difficult for us to get a hold of; so don't expect it to stick around for very long. We should also let you know that this is the regular edition of Disconnected. The special edition (which we didn't get) does feature two 'bonus' tracks, the first of which is called "Silence" and features just silence (some bonus!); and the second is a live track without the presence of Nurse With Wound. Nope, those ain't here; but honestly we really don't think purchasers of this regular version are missing too much.
MPEG Stream: "Lach Miss"
MPEG Stream: "Disconnected"
MPEG Stream: "Tu M'entends?"

FAUST / NURSE WITH WOUND Disconnected (Dirter) 2lp 42.00
Now on vinyl! The quintessential Krautrock projects - Faust, Can, Guru Guru, Amon Duul, and all things vaguely associated with Conny Plank - had been huge influences on Nurse With Wound's catalogue. So it goes without saying that when Steven Stapleton got the call that Faust wanted him to produce a record of theirs, he enthusiastically leapt at the chance. What he didn't expect was that Faust only passed on a series of sloppy studio improvisations to Stapleton with the instructions to make a Faust album out of them. We can imagine that Jim O'Rourke had been given a similarly loose framework when he was granted the opportunity to produce Rein back in 1995. Just as O'Rourke took those sounds and sculpted an album which was remarkable in its similarity to classic '70s era Faust (e.g. Faust Tapes, Faust IV, So Far, etc.), Stapleton with his trustworthy cohort Colin Potter at his side has crafted an excellent pastiche of that obtuse Faust sound of mutant psychedelia which guided the more experimental proponents of prog rock, industrial, post-punk, and post-rock. Disconnected is filled with dynamic tumbling percussive riffs, rolling acoustic guitar nestled into clouds of vibrating distortion, unsettled sweeping driftwork, and stoned basslines. In other words, Disconnected sounds like a fucking great Faust album.
MPEG Stream: "Lach Miss"
MPEG Stream: "Disconnected"
MPEG Stream: "Tu M'entends?"

FAUST VS. DALEK Derbe Respect, Alder (Staubgold) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ok, just in case introductions are in order: Faust is the classic Krautrock band from the '70s who resurrected themselves in the '90s, demonstrating that they still knew a thing or two about making weird and avant-garde psychedelic rock music. Dalek, meanwhile, is a genre defying, indie-rock-scene-crashing rapper from New York whose album on Ipecac two years back was a big hit 'round these parts and elsewhere. The Dalek / Faust connection first became public when a Dalek cut was included on Faust's Klangbad: First Steps compilation. We then heard rumors that the two were gonna do something together...at last, here is the fruit of that unholy union! Krautrock and rap, that's a first I guess. (Krautrap? ugh.) But it makes sense in light of Dalek's allegiance to dub and electronica and Faust's interest in the same... So, how did this collab turn out? Sounds more like a Dalek record than a Faust one overall. Dark, scary soundscapes stretch out over the first track -- percussive miasma, with somewhere in there latter-day Faust guitarist Stephen Wray Lobdell (Davis Redford Triad) generating clouds of blue-black -- before Dalek starts dropping rhymes on track two, "Hungry For Now". Beats ricochet dangerously as Dalek does the urban griot routine over the grinding of the Faust factory. It's kinda in the same illbient, claustrophobic dub-sphere as Spectre and the WordSound crew, or Techno-Animal, with whom Dalek previously has worked. Faust are certainly capable of generating some heavy duty darkness -- as they have gotten older, they seem to have delved more into the Industrial-Ambient sounds their old albums perhaps presaged. You'll find no references to the surreal pop element of Faust's '70s sound here, just some hardcore hip hop in a nightmare void.
MPEG Stream: "Hungry For Now"
MPEG Stream: "Dead Lies"

FAUST VS. DALEK Derbe Respect, Alder (Staubgold) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ok, just in case introductions are in order: Faust is the classic Krautrock band from the '70s who resurrected themselves in the '90s, demonstrating that they still knew a thing or two about making weird and avant-garde psychedelic rock music. Dalek, meanwhile, is a genre defying, indie-rock-scene-crashing rapper from New York whose album on Ipecac two years back was a big hit 'round these parts and elsewhere. The Dalek / Faust connection first became public when a Dalek cut was included on Faust's Klangbad: First Steps compilation. We then heard rumors that the two were gonna do something together...at last, here is the fruit of that unholy union! Krautrock and rap, that's a first I guess. (Krautrap? ugh.) But it makes sense in light of Dalek's allegiance to dub and electronica and Faust's interest in the same... So, how did this collab turn out? Sounds more like a Dalek record than a Faust one overall. Dark, scary soundscapes stretch out over the first track -- percussive miasma, somewhere in there latter-day Faust guitarist Stephen Wray Lobdell (Davis Redford Triad) generating clouds of blue-black -- before Dalek starts dropping rhymes on track two, "Hungry For Now". Beats ricochet dangerously as Dalek does the urban griot routine over the grinding of the Faust factory. It's kinda in the same illbient, claustrophobic dub-sphere as Spectre and the WordSound crew, or Techno-Animal, with whom Dalek previously has worked. Faust are certainly capable of generating some heavy duty darkness -- as they have gotten older, they seem to have delved more into the Industrial-Ambient sounds their old albums perhaps presaged. You'll find no references to the surreal pop element of Faust's '70s sound here, just some hardcore hip hop in a nightmare void.
MPEG Stream: "Hungry For Now"
MPEG Stream: "Dead Lies"

FRUMPY 2 (Philips) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

FRUMPY All Will Be Changed (Philips) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

GEMS INTERVIEW ZINE (VOL. 1) (Strange Cessation) magazine 4.00
First issue of this new b&w xeroxed zine, and it's a doozy! The whole title is Gems Interview Zine, and barring a comic strip, this whole zine is in fact interviews, one with long time aQ faves Sic Alps, but even more excitingly, an extensive interview with German experimental music pioneer Eberhard Kranemann, who was an early member of Kraftwerk, a touring member of Neu! and the mastermind of acid fried boogie woogie outfit Fritz Mueller, he talks at length about the early days of Kraftwerk, tells stories about David Bowie and Brian Eno, his first band Pissoff, and more. Also included are tons of photos and documents and random ephemera from those early krautrock days. Definitely worth the price of admission alone for all your krautnerds. There's also a comic strip by Geneva Jacuzzi that fills out the rest of the zine. It's short, but cheap. And we're so excited to have another kick ass music zine, and we're already hankering for issue number two!

GENRICH, AX The Best Of... (ATM/BMG) cd 18.98
The 'best of' Guru Guru's psychedelic Krautrock guitar legend Ax Genrich. Includes 2 previously unreleased *live* Guru Guru tracks, plus all of Ax's 1975 "Highdelberg" super session record, and 2 tracks from his 1994 and 1995 amazing solo records. Freak out!

GERMAN OAK s/t (Flash Back) cd 17.98
One of last week's Records Of The Week (and an all-time AQ fave!) is now also available in the handy compact disc format! And, it's got the BONUS TRACKS. The three songs, available on an earlier cd reissue, that we had mentioned we wished were on the vinyl (but then it would have had to have been a double lp). We promise, we had no idea that they were gonna be included on Flash Back's cd version of the record. In fact, we weren't entirely sure that Flash Back would even be doing a cd version. But here it is. And boy is it recommended.
So, our review from before, slightly altered...
Before we get way into it, let's just quickly mention that this record is AMAZING. Heavy and weird and dark and damaged. Allan and Andee have been in love with this record since they first heard it years ago. Andee considers it the best krautrock record EVER (though he'll get some argument from a lot of folks we're sure... after all, he doesn't like Can, so what does he know?). We have been patiently waiting for someone to reissue it (the first cd reissue has been out of print for ages) and finally that day has come! So just buy it. Trust us. And it you need some more convincing, well, here we go:
1945. Amid ruin and rubble, German civilians cower as Allied bombs help bring an end to WWII. As citizens of a totalitarian nation whose mad leader launched a brutal war of aggression, and committed terrible crimes against humanity, they are both being punished and liberated... Flash forward twenty-five years to the early '70s. The youthful, idealistic offspring of the WWII generation are now of an age to wonder about and wrestle with what their parents did and experienced during the Hitler years. In the case of the krautrock band German Oak, the approach they took was to hole up in an abandoned air-raid shelter (the Luftschutzbunker), set up their gear and just roll. Let the music unfurl, channelling years of grief and anger and confusion and hope through guitar, drums, bass, organ, fuzz-organ/guitar and "noises." The band described it like this:
"As we played down there in the old bunker, suddenly a strange atmosphere began to work. The ghosts of the past whispered. There has been fear, desperation - but also hope!"
Weird sure, and kinda hippy maybe, but what do you expect? It's 1972, five twenty-something German hippies are using music and sound to explore the emotions and tragedies and glories of the last three decades, particularly, the war that shaped their country and the lives of their parents. And indirectly their own lives as well. You can hear it in the music. Dark and frightening, ominous and rumbling. A huge cavernous space, giving everything the appropriate claustrophobic, underground feel, drums stumbling through the darkness, warm swells of guitar and organ billowing out like puffs of smoke. Almost ambient at times, pulsing and pounding at others. This is THE ultimate krautrock record. Super lo-fi but thick and heavy and lush in its own way. The sound of the bunker is definitely another instrument, a primitive caveman studio, adding a subterranean timbre to the creepy jams and abstract rhythms.
Originally released in '72, only 213 records were pressed, all with handpainted covers. Only 11 copies sold at the time. Which is hard to believe listening to this. Or actually, maybe not that hard to believe. This is politically and personally charged stuff, the militaristic images, the song titles ("Raid Over Dusseldorf", "Down In The Bunker", "1945 - Out Of The Ashes", "Airalert") but mostly the music. So gorgeously spacey and ominous, throbbing and moody. A modern reference would obviously be the No Neck Blues Band (David Nuss of the NNBB is a massive fan) whose shambolic, skittery free-folk sound borders on the plagiaristic when compared to this here record. But what the hell? If SUNNO))) can make a career out of Earth worship, then hell, NNBB should be free to channel the spirit of the mighty German Oak. Krautrock expert Julian Cope, in a review of the first German Oak cd reissue said heard a lot of Funkadelic and "whiteboy funk" in German Oak's murky spaced out rhythms. We don't hear much "funk" but we do see what he's driving at. The early Funkadelic records were constructed from the same sort of skeletal rhythmic frameworks of stumbling, scrabbly, pulsing, throbbing groove. Sure there are plenty of wah guitars and thumping throbbing bass, but here the guitars are used for rhythm as much as melody and are swaddled in thick swirls of natural underground reverb, and the melodies that do surface are muted and minor key, always slowly meandering, wandering into oblivion. Like Can or Faust if they were Hell's house band, playing last call forever, at the gates of damnation, forced to play on and on and on and on...
And, like we said above, this DOES include the 20+ minutes of bonus material missing from other recent reissues. So it's seven tracks not four, 60 minutes not 38. And so we're stoked that you'll get to hear the legendary "Swastika Rising", complete with its mysterious sonic dropouts (original tape damage? mastering mishap?). And, "The Third Reich" which samples a Hitler rally speech to chilling effect. And finally, "Shadows Of War", spit into two parts: "Rain Of Destruction" and "V1 To London". These bonus bunker tracks are killer, but with or without 'em, German Oak still completely blows us away, so don't cry if you got the vinyl. Still, nice to have this cd option with the extras. And again, sorry, we really didn't know when the lp came out that the cd would be bonus-ified.
MPEG Stream: "Down In The Bunker"
MPEG Stream: "Raid Over Dusseldorf"
MPEG Stream: "Swastika Rising"

GERMAN OAK s/t (Flash Back) lp 24.00
All-time AQ favorite now available on vinyl!
Before we get way into it, let's just quickly mention that this record is AMAZING. Heavy and weird and dark and damaged. Allan and Andee have been in love with this record since they first heard it years ago. Indeed, Andee considers it the best krautrock record EVER (though he'll get some argument from a lot of folks we're sure). We have been patiently waiting for someone to reissue it (the first cd reissue has been out of print for ages) and finally that day has come! German Oak reissued, on vinyl! So just buy it. Trust us. And it you need some more convincing, well, here we go:
1945. Amid ruin and rubble, German civilians cower as Allied bombs help bring an end to WWII. As citizens of a totalitarian nation whose mad leader launched a brutal war of aggression, and committed terrible crimes against humanity, they are both being punished and liberated... Flash forward twenty-five years to the early '70s. The youthful, idealistic offspring of the WWII generation are now of an age to wonder about and wrestle with what their parents did and experienced during the Hitler years. In the case of the krautrock band German Oak, the approach they took was to hole up in an abandoned air-raid shelter (the Luftschutzbunker), set up their gear and just roll. Let the music unfurl, channelling years of grief and anger and confusion and hope through guitar, drums, bass, organ, fuzz-organ/guitar and "noises." The band described it like this:
"As we played down there in the old bunker, suddenly a strange atmosphere began to work. The ghosts of the past whispered. There has been fear, desperation - but also hope!"
Weird sure, and kinda hippy maybe, but what do you expect? It's 1972, five twenty-something German hippies are using music and sound to explore the emotions and tragedies and glories of the last three decades, particularly, the war that shaped their country and the lives of their parents. And indirectly their own lives as well. You can hear it in the music. Dark and frightening, ominous and rumbling. A huge cavernous space, giving everything the appropriate claustrophobic, underground feel, drums stumbling through the darkness, warm swells of guitar and organ billowing out like puffs of smoke. Almost ambient at times, pulsing and pounding at others. This is THE ultimate krautrock record. Super lo-fi but thick and heavy and lush in its own way. The sound of the bunker is definitely another instrument, a primitive caveman studio, adding a subterranean timbre to the creepy jams and abstract rhythms.
Originally released in '72, only 213 records were pressed, all with handpainted covers. Only 11 copies sold at the time. Which is hard to believe listening to this. Or actually, maybe not that hard to believe. This is politically and personally charged stuff, the militaristic images, the song titles ("Raid Over Dusseldorf", "Down In The Bunker", "1945 - Out Of The Ashes", "Airalert") but mostly the music. So gorgeously spacey and ominous, throbbing and moody. A modern reference would obviously be the No Neck Blues Band (David Nuss of the NNCK is a massive fan) whose shambolic, skittery free-folk sound borders on the plagiaristic when compared to this here record. But what the hell? If SUNNO))) can make a career out of Earth worship, then hell, NNCK should be free to channel the spirit of the mighty German Oak. Krautrock expert Julian Cope, in a review of the first German Oak cd reissue said heard a lot of Funkadelic and "whiteboy funk" in German Oak's murky spaced out rhythms. We don't hear much "funk" but we do see what he's driving at. The early Funkadelic records were constructed from the same sort of skeletal rhythmic frameworks of stumbling, scrabbly, pulsing, throbbing groove. Sure there are plenty of wah guitars and thumping throbbing bass, but here the guitars are used for rhythm as much as melody and are swaddled in thick swirls of natural underground reverb, and the melodies that do surface are muted and minor key, always slowly meandering, wandering into oblivion. Like Can or Faust if they were Hell's house band, playing last call forever, at the gates of damnation, forced to play on and on and on and on....
Our one complaint (it's always something) is that they shoulda made it a double lp and included the 20+ minutes of bonus material that was on that first cd reissue (released on Witch And Warlock in 1991 and now WAY out of print). So it's too bad that you won't get to hear tracks like the legendary (and perhaps now lost) "Swastika Rising", complete with its mysterious sonic dropouts (original tape damage? mastering mishap?). Or "The Third Reich" which sampled a Hitler rally speech to chilling effect. But even stripped down to its original length, this record still completely blows us away!
MPEG Stream: "Down In The Bunker"
MPEG Stream: "Raid Over Dusseldorf"

GOLEM Orion Awakes (Acme / Lion) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
German Oak isn't the only recent reissue from the murky zone of long-lost krautrock to get us frothing lately. There's also this welcome reissue of the Golem album, via excellent archival imprint Lion Productions (and their UK associates Acme Records). This one has a mysterious backstory indeed. We'll briefly try to give you the basics here, though there's lots more info in the liner notes that come with this release... During the mid '90s there was a resurgence of interest in krautrock, when all kinds of long lost kraut classics were being reissued on cd (many via the grey area Germanofon label), and Julian Cope came out with his infamous Krautrocksampler book. Virgin UK got into the act with a series of compilations called Unknown Deutschland. They featured tracks by some totally unknown bands, The Nazgul, Golem, Temple, Galactic Explorers, and others, supposedly originally released as limited edition lps (100 copies? 25?!) by an art gallery associated label called Pyramid, circa '72-'74, amazing archival stuff indeed. But were they fakes? Perhaps '90s recordings, cashing in on the krautrock boom? Some thought so, on account of how nobody had ever seen or heard of these records before. Definitely it seemed likely that all were the work of the same bunch of musicians, recording under different names. Eventually a label called Psi-Fi came out with reissues (?) of some of the individual albums, which hardly settled the question. This, one, by Golem, even deepened the mystery, as someone named "Genius P. Orridge" was credited as producer... Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV fans will find that rather curious. Who knows, maybe a coincidence.
The controversy has never been definitively settled. But the general consensus is that these recordings do date from Germany in the '70s, maybe more like the late '70s. In any case it's the music that matters, and yeah by that measure there's no doubting that Golem is prime krautrock indeed, sure sounds like it to us! Freeform, all-instrumental, organ and synth heavy space rock for fans of Gila, Guru Guru, Ash Ra Tempel, etc. Five long tracks (including a 14 minute 3 part suite) of superbly spaced out jamming, loose and lysergic, with an edgy, throbbing pulse throughout, and blasts of fuzzed out guitar. Title track "Orion Awakes" starts the trip off right, dark and heavy, "Stellar Launch" also builds up from nervous atmospheres and propulsive motorik rhythms to sheer ecstatic chaos, "Godhead Dance" wah's it up a la Hendrix, "Jupiter & Beyond" (the suite) is suitably far out and freaky, and the repetitive riff rock finale of "The Returning" is a catchy fuzz buzz, almost pop, yet ultra distorted, that reminds us a heck of a lot of AQ garage psych faves The Heads!! Spacemen 3, too. Also could almost be something from one of J. Cope's Braindonor discs too. Super cool.
Like we said, packaged with copious liner notes, this edition far superior to the long out of print one on Psi-Fi, though that did have nice silver metallic cover that this doesn't replicate. Here's hoping that Lion next reissues The Nazgul one, it's good too, how could it not be with a lineup consisting of Frodo, Gandalf, and Pippin?
MPEG Stream: "Orion Awakes"
MPEG Stream: "Stellar Launch"
MPEG Stream: "The Returning"

GOLEM Orion Awakes (Acme) lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl!
German Oak isn't the only recent reissue from the murky zone of long-lost krautrock to get us frothing lately. There's also this welcome reissue of the Golem album, via excellent archival imprint Lion Productions (and their UK associates Acme Records). This one has a mysterious backstory indeed. We'll briefly try to give you the basics here, though there's lots more info in the liner notes that come with this release... During the mid '90s there was a resurgence of interest in krautrock, when all kinds of long lost kraut classics were being reissued on cd (many via the grey area Germanofon label), and Julian Cope came out with his infamous Krautrocksampler book. Virgin UK got into the act with a series of compilations called Unknown Deutschland. They featured tracks by some totally unknown bands, The Nazgul, Golem, Temple, Galactic Explorers, and others, supposedly originally released as limited edition lps (100 copies? 25?!) by an art gallery associated label called Pyramid, circa '72-'74, amazing archival stuff indeed. But were they fakes? Perhaps '90s recordings, cashing in on the krautrock boom? Some thought so, on account of how nobody had ever seen or heard of these records before. Definitely it seemed likely that all were the work of the same bunch of musicians, recording under different names. Eventually a label called Psi-Fi came out with reissues (?) of some of the individual albums, which hardly settled the question. This, one, by Golem, even deepened the mystery, as someone named "Genius P. Orridge" was credited as producer... Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV fans will find that rather curious. Who knows, maybe a coincidence.
The controversy has never been definitively settled. But the general consensus is that these recordings do date from Germany in the '70s, maybe more like the late '70s. In any case it's the music that matters, and yeah by that measure there's no doubting that Golem is prime krautrock indeed, sure sounds like it to us! Freeform, all-instrumental, organ and synth heavy space rock for fans of Gila, Guru Guru, Ash Ra Tempel, etc. Five long tracks (including a 14 minute 3 part suite) of superbly spaced out jamming, loose and lysergic, with an edgy, throbbing pulse throughout, and blasts of fuzzed out guitar. Title track "Orion Awakes" starts the trip off right, dark and heavy, "Stellar Launch" also builds up from nervous atmospheres and propulsive motorik rhythms to sheer ecstatic chaos, "Godhead Dance" wah's it up a la Hendrix, "Jupiter & Beyond" (the suite) is suitably far out and freaky, and the repetitive riff rock finale of "The Returning" is a catchy fuzz buzz, almost pop, yet ultra distorted, that reminds us a heck of a lot of AQ garage psych faves The Heads!! Spacemen 3, too. Also could almost be something from one of J. Cope's Braindonor discs too. Super cool.
Like we said, packaged with copious liner notes, this edition far superior to the long out of print one on Psi-Fi, though that did have nice silver metallic cover that this doesn't replicate. Here's hoping that Lion next reissues The Nazgul one, it's good too, how could it not be with a lineup consisting of Frodo, Gandalf, and Pippin?
MPEG Stream: "Orion Awakes"
MPEG Stream: "Stellar Launch"
MPEG Stream: "The Returning"

GOLOWIN, SERGIUS Lord Krishna Von Goloka (Lion Productions ) cd 14.98
You know the notion of the wise old hermit sitting on a mountaintop? You'd expect to find an Eastern guru like that up on some Himalayan peak, but of course leave it to a bunch of Swiss and German hippies in the '70s to relocate that mountaintop guru concept to the Alps, and why not? These krautrockers, organized as one of Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser's "Cosmic Couriers" projects, found the perfect frontman, enlisting Swiss writer/folklorist Sergius Golowin (an expert on both Alpine myths and magic mushrooms, not to mention a friend of fugitive acid maven Timothy Leary) to provide mystic recitations over the Eastern-inspired druggy kraut bliss a-sprawl on this 1973 LSD dipped/tripped/hipped "supersession" happening. Said spaced out sounds generated, via flute Mellotron bongos electronics piano tablas organ glockenspiel & guitars, by a cast of musicians including folkies Witthuser & Westrupp, members of hard progsters Wallenstein, and last but not least, he of much kosmiche cred, Klaus Schulze! Actually, Golowin's echoey German-language spoken vox, while adding to the esoteric atmosphere, really take a back seat to the trancey music found on these three long tracks, the longest and most dramatic of which is the third, "Die Hoch-Keit", at almost 20 minutes taking up all of the original vinyl's second side. It begins like an eerie interlude from a particularly psychedelic Spaghetti Western soundtrack, full of abstract percussive sputter, cascading piano, and whispered vocals, its rhythms eventually coalescing into minimalist, Reich/Reichel style pulsations, having a looping, Moolah-like aspect. It and the other two equally freaky pieces on here make for mind expanding, maybe not exactly relaxing music, having a nervous energy that might have something to do with the general drug vibe... yet some portions of this album are quite angelic. While kraut fiends will want this 'cause it was one of the first of Kaiser's post-OHR Cosmic Couriers label albums, released after Ash Ra Tempel's Seven Up and before Walter Wegmuller's Tarot, even the less obsessed might find this an interesting Astral-Alpine excursion!
It's been reissued before, on Spalax, but this new edition boasts much more in the way of liner notes in the thick cd booklet, including some fairly recent interviews with the late Sergius Golowin himself, who passed away in 2006, a true hippie guru 'til the end.
MPEG Stream: "Der Reigen"
MPEG Stream: "Die Hoch-Zeit (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Die Hoch-Zeit (excerpt 2)"

GOTTSCHING, MANUEL E2 - E4 30th Anniversary (MG.ART) cd 17.98
At last, a nicely done new cd reissue of this renowned early '80s krautrock / proto-techno classic! We've actually never before reviewed E2-E4 because the previous reissues were expensive and kinda hard to come by, though we DID once list a double cd tribute to this record, imported from Japan, featuring tracks by the likes of Rovo, Buffalo Daughter, and Eye from the Boredoms, who took up the entire 2nd disc with his extended mix (wish we still had that, but it's long gone). Better, though, to have this, the actual album that inspired the tribute. Here's some of what we said about it when we reviewed that Japanese tribute disc:
German guitar guru Manuel Gottsching, founder of legendary krautrock pioneers Ash Ra Temple (which morphed into the new-age-ier Ashra), made a few records in the eighties under his own name. E2-E4, recorded in Berlin in 1981, and released in '84, was first and foremost among them. It's rightly hailed as a classic and was a great inspiration for early Detroit techno artists like Derrick May and Carl Craig. The resonant timelessness of E2-E4 has extended beyond many other albums of the era and its influence has continuously popped up in more recent minimalist techno circles - most noticeably within the Cologne scene.
We went on to say that while the reinterpretations on the tribute disc were cool, you should check out the real deal, and now here it is. It's one loooong track, approximately one hour in length, with nine titled and timed subdivisions indicated on the cover (suggestive of a chess match: "Quiet Nervousness", "Queen A Pawn", "Draw"...), that flows and flows and flows, Gottsching's guitar and electronics drifting and dancing beautifully over the continuous, pulsating, subtly-shifting proto-techno beat. It's so very pleasant and airy, also soooo hypnotic and ahead of its time. An hour you won't want to end, once it has lulled you into trance. Listening to this, it's easy to see why the Boredoms' Eye would revere it, and of course those abovementioned Detroit legends too.
This "30th Anniversary" edition comes packaged in a nice embossed miniature lp style sleeve showing off its iconic chess-board cover design.
MPEG Stream: "E2-E4 excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "E2-E4 excerpt 2"

GURU GURU Essen 1970 (Garden Of Delights) cd 21.00
Here's an excellent live soundboard recording from this classic Krautrock power trio, performing at their early, uber-heavy peak. It's all drugged-out, mostly-instrumental cosmic stoner guitar jams, of course. You get versions of "Stone In" and "Der LSD-Marsch" from their spacey first album UFO, and "Bo Diddley" from their anarchic second album Hinten (which hadn't yet been released with this concert took place). Fans won't be disappointed -- it all sounds pretty great considering that these tapes were never originally meant for release, and the Garden Of Delights packaging job is superior as always, with a thick booklet of notes and photos.
Guru Guru have always been one of our favorite '70s German groups, definitely among the heaviest and freakiest in their early days, as documented here. Former free jazzers Mani Neumeier (drums, lots of drums) and Uli Trepte (bass), together with ex-Agitation Free axeman Ax Genrich, went on some heavy psychedelic improv trips yet to be exceeded. Perhaps Caspar Brotzmann heard these guys whilst but a toddler, years before he began his Massaker trio?
RealAudio clip: "Stone In"

GURU GURU Hinten (ZYX) cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
2nd album from these heavy krautrock freaks.

GURU GURU Hinten (Captain Trip) cd 27.00
What it is exactly that constitutes "Krautrock" is definitely up for debate. It seems often largely construed to be the insistent, motorik pulses of Neu! and Can. But to limit the genre to just that would be a mistake. Bands like Guru Guru and Ash Ra Tempel were also present, bringing some of the heaviest psychedlia ever recorded. Hinten is the former band's second album, and a classic. Free range guitars grazing on open, organic jams. It is more evidently structured than their debut, UFO, while still retaining an improvisational feel that is as playful as it is crushingly acidic. This is one of both Allan and Cameron's favorites within the genre. Halfway between killer rock riffs and complete psychedelic blow-out. Essential, though an expensive Japanese import in its current incarnation.
MPEG Stream: "Electric Junk"
MPEG Stream: "The Meaning of Meaning"

GURU GURU Hinten (Wah Wah) lp 29.00
This Krautock essential, available on vinyl again for a limited time...
What it is exactly that constitutes "Krautrock" is definitely up for debate. It seems often largely construed to be the insistent, motorik pulses of Neu! and Can. But to limit the genre to just that would be a mistake. Bands like Guru Guru and Ash Ra Tempel were also present, bringing some of the heaviest psychedlia ever recorded. Hinten is the former band's second album, and a classic. Free range guitars grazing on open, organic jams. It is more evidently structured than their debut, UFO, while still retaining an improvisational feel that is as playful as it is crushingly acidic. This is one of both Allan and Cameron's favorites within the genre. Halfway between killer rock riffs and complete psychedelic blow-out. Essential, though an expensive Japanese import in its current incarnation.
MPEG Stream: "Electric Junk"
MPEG Stream: "The Meaning of Meaning"

GURU GURU Kanguru (Revisited / Brain) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After a few years of unavailability, now this krautrock classic has been reissued again, as a domestically priced digipak on Revisited, as part of their Brain label reissue campaign. This was the 3rd album from Guru Guru, recorded in 1972 with producer Conny Plank, and it was the the last of theirs to really be about the power trio heavy rock (as opposed to the lighter, jazzier stuff they got into later on), and boy do they let it rip on a lot of this. At the same time, Guru Guru's goofier tendencies are also to the fore, as you can see from the picture on the sleeve of a leaping, why-be-normal Mani Neumeier (the drummer), which despite being on the back cover has become one of the iconic krautrock album art images, along with Kraftwerk's traffic cones, Faust's X-ray fist, and Amon Duul II's Shrat-the-reaper...
There's four long songs on Kanguru, none under 10 minutes, one of 'em over 15. And you'll quickly hear why, for instance, Makoto Kawabata and all the Acid Mothers Temple folks are so into this band. Psychedelic freakiness that's HEAVY, yet playful. "Oxymoron" is a trippy groove, featuring treated vocals chanting "smelled like shit, but it wasn't it" (presumably a drug reference). High or not, guitarist Ax Genrich gets let loose to slay it up on his axe, Hendrix-like. "Immer Lustig", "Baby Cake Walk" and "Ooga Booga" also all feature plenty of complex, burnin' guitar/bass/drums interplay, with the latter boasting the doomiest fuzz riffage. Wild stuff, it must have been a blast to see these guys play!
Guru Guru's previous album, Hinten, had a track called "Bo Diddley". Kanguru's songs are also suggestive of primal '50s rock n' roll influences - although stretched waaaaay out, and given a hippified, improvisatory, drugged-up makeover! Hmm, have you ever seen the live video of early Black Sabbath covering "Blue Suede Shoes" on a European TV show? Maybe the Guru guys had seen that too and it got 'em thinking...
MPEG Stream: "Oxymoron"
MPEG Stream: "Ooga Booga"

GURU GURU Moshi Moshi (EFA) cd 14.98
Neumeier's legendary krautrock band returns with a new record for '98, the Japan-themed Moshi Moshi...not a whole lot like their stuff from the early seventies, but inventive and rockin' nonetheless--similar to 1995's Wah Wah.

GURU GURU UFO (Spalax) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Heavy 1970 debut from this Krautrock power trio. Caspar Brotzmann was probably into this band when he was a baby... Very freaky ("Der LSD Marsch") and heavy. One of Allan's all-time Krautrock must-haves.

GURU GURU UFO (Captain Trip) cd 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What it is exactly that constitutes Krautrock is definitely up for debate. It seems often largely construed to be the insistent, motorik pulses of Neu! and Can. But to limit the genre to just that would be a mistake. Bands like Guru Guru and Ash Ra Tempel were also present, bringing some of the heaviest psychedlia ever recorded. UFO is the former band's debut effort. Fans of heavy psych, German rock of the '70s, and free improv jams will consider this absolutely essential. And chances are, those fans already own this, or they simply haven't found a copy yet... here's the currently in print, Japanese mini-LP sleeve version. Repetitive, hypnotic, transcendent. And at the same time jarring. This is a fist full of mushrooms being shoved through the speakers. Embrace it.
MPEG Stream: "Stone In"
MPEG Stream: "Der LSD - Marsch"

GURU GURU UFO (Lion Productions ) cd 14.98
The last time we reviewed a cd reissue of this classic krautrock record, it was an expensive Japanese import. Now, however, it's been given a domestic release by Lion Productions, so now's the time to turn on to it if you haven't already. And if you did spent like $30 for the import, you know the music was worth it. After all, Guru Guru's 1970 OHR label debut UFO is in many ways THEE ultimate in uber heavy druggy freaked out krautrock. A power trio indeed, powered by LSD...
If you're into the heavy freeform psych sounds of bands nowadays, from Earthless to Bardo Pond to Wooden Shjips to Comets On Fire to Acid Mothers Temple (who not long ago actually did an album with Guru Guru's maniac drummer, who's still going strong), then chances are this is one of your favorite records without you maybe even knowing it yet. The distortodelic jamming of Guru Guru's debut provides the template for so much to follow, and does it better than most! If you're like us, you've got a record collection full of stuff from Japan alone that owes a ton to the hirsute heaviness and musical madness of these three German hippies. Indeed, LSD-march takes their name from the last track here, "Der LSD-Marsch". Though they themselves of course owed a debt to Jimi Hendrix...
Guru Guru were acid rock band playing free jazz or vice versa, conjuring a storm of utter amped up whale call guitar feedback and loose lumbering bass-heavy riffage over an exploding minefield of splattering drum-detonations. Plus, trippy electronic interludes, soundscapes constructed with contact mics, tapes, and FX... in fact, the ten and a half minute title track is ALL droning subsonics, noise, scrape, and skree, and could be something by the Dead C, even. Thus, to use a little hyperbole, this album makes Blue Cheer's Vincebus Eruptum sound like a sugary pop sneeze!
Of the original three Guru Guru discs (UFO, Hinten, Kanguru) when they held to the power trio format, this one is the most raw, dense, doomy and destroyed, without so much of the overt humor that lightened up their later releases. Extreme enough to be considered both proto-metal, maybe, and also proto-noiserock. Like we said about this before: "Repetitive, hypnotic, transcendent. And at the same time, jarring. This is a fistful of mushrooms being shoved through the speakers. Embrace it."
Lion, as we have come to expect, does this reissue right, including a thick booklet of liner notes. There's a band history, and also an essay about OHR's Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser, complete with extensive discography (from which we hope Lion selects even more records to reissue).
By the way, does anyone have info on who exactly "P. Hinten" is or was? He's quoted on the sleeve here saying "Soon the Ufos will land and mankind will meet much stronger brains and habits. Let's get ready for that." And Guru Guru's second album was titled Hinten. Obviously a big inspiration for these guys, but who is Hinten?
MPEG Stream: "Stone In"
MPEG Stream: "Next Time See You At The Dali Lama"
MPEG Stream: "Der LSD - Marsch"

GURU GURU UFO (Wah Wah) lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This legendary krautrock jam finally available again on vinyl!!!
What it is exactly that constitutes Krautrock is definitely up for debate. It seems often largely construed to be the insistent, motorik pulses of Neu! and Can. But to limit the genre to just that would be a mistake. Bands like Guru Guru and Ash Ra Tempel were also present, bringing some of the heaviest psychedelia ever recorded. UFO is the former band's debut effort. Fans of heavy psych, German rock of the '70s, and free improv jams will consider this absolutely essential. And chances are, those fans already own this, or they simply haven't found a copy yet...
Repetitive, hypnotic, transcendent. And at the same time jarring. This is a fist full of mushrooms being shoved through the speakers. Embrace it.
MPEG Stream: "Stone In"
MPEG Stream: "Der LSD - Marsch"