Faust - Faust IV
1974
What does this song mean? It is titled “Krautrock.” The term in itself seems slightly offensive. Is it being appropriated willingly or derisively? The track is a chaotic mess, but underneath the layers of tape manipulation and distorted guitar is our familiar Krautrock backbeat and unwavering bass line. It sounds like fifteen Neu! albums being played at once and getting attacked by screwdrivers. As long as that steady kick rhythm keeps pounding we can find our way through the vortex.
“The Sad Skinhead” always puts a smile on my face.
“Jennifer” is beautiful. Of course it can't end, it slips away...
“Just a Second (Starts Like That)” is like running down a spiral staircase to escape an oppressive soundscape only to find it growing more bizarre the further you run down.
“Giggy Smile” is strange as hell. Naked Germans? Naked Lunch? Not so sure what it's all about but it's definitely something unnatural and erotic and German. It starts strong and then sort of drifts away from itself only to find a new even better unity (around 4:30). The song becomes a pleasant melody with delirium and insanity bleeding around the edges. As long as the melody clings to that backbeat it'll be safe.
The next song is introduced by an exchange between two Faust members, one says the tape is running, the other asks whether it is running or whether it will soon be running, to which the other replies running! Then they begin to play. This exchange also becomes the title of the piece. Why is this exchange meaningful in the context of the piece, when it could have just as easily been left out? The song is very beautiful, the lyrics come in soft-spoken French... “je n'ai plus peur de perdre mon temps/je n'ai plus peur de perdre mes dents.” It seems to have something to do with surrendering yourself to time and morality. “Lauft... Heisst Das es Lauft Oder es Kommt Bald... Lauft.”
“It's a Bit of Pain” is one of the most perfect songs I've ever heard.
John Cage defined experimental music as having an unclear outcome, that is, when you sit down to record you're not sure what you've recorded is going to sound like. This record adopts that strategy and takes it a step further by both crafting a collage of such moments and by meticulously guiding them to their proper place in the structure. A lot of Faust's music borders on the free-form and structureless, but on this album they find the perfect balance, the middle way.