Friday 28 March 2008

ALCHEMICAL MOON (transformation musick)

Alchemical process courtesy of Mr. Jim O'Rourke

FAUST

RIEN

Original Issue: 1995 Table of the Elements (Cr 24)


Margot-meter: 4,5 moons / 5

THE RETURN OF A LEGEND...
THE RESURRECTION OF MARGOT'S FAVORITE '70s BAND...
THE MIRACLE OF Mr. JIM O'ROURKE!!!

01 - 0
02 - Rien
03 - Long Distance Calls in the Desert
04 - Eroberung der stille, teil I
05 - Listen To The Fish
06 - Eroberung der stille, teil II
07 - Fin

from The Wire:

The packaging for Faust's first fully-fledged studio recordings since reforming five years ago is artfully cryptic: no credits save for those on a spine card and a business card carrying the tell-tale x-ray motif (both easily lost!), and the album title is burnished grey on the matt silver CD.

With Rien, Faust, the German avant-rock legend of the 70s whose savage Rienelectroacoustic forays helped sharpen Euro-rocks cutting edge and paved the way for post-punk experimentalists, 80s Industrialists and 90s Ambient artists around the globe, have rediscovered the mystique that was an essential part of their creative being; a Dadaist bent that manifested itself in both performance and packaging alike. (Remember that intriguing transparent package that was their debut album?)

Anyone listening to the raw documentary footage of Faust's 1993 London comeback gigs (both rather ho-hum performances, if the truth be told) released as The Faust Concerts 1 & The Faust Concerts 2 (Table of The Elements), would have been hard pushed to discover what all the fuss was about. Never mind that the antics with jackhammers and chainsaws were now run of the mill fare; what irked was Faust's apparent air of nostalgic importance, something which ran counter to the searching, iconoclastic forays of yore.

Rien, however, is rattlingly contemporary, thanks to the production hand of Jim O'Rourke, who has taken the rudiments of Faust's adventurous spirit and transplanted it into a wholly modern context. The influence of this most exacting sound sculptor has effectively created something akin to a dialogue between the contrasting experimental apparel of 70s Prog rock and 90s purveyors of the Ambient aesthetic There are Industrial mantras of almost crushing intensity, neo-psychedelic jams, concrete interludes, even a passage of bitter-sweet irony in the plundering of Gorecki's Third Symphony (the additional chorale of Industrial noise serving only to heighten the tragic air of Gorecki's original) This is Faust resharpened and revitalised; no longer part of rock's dinosaur parade, but a reshaped, refreshing, challenging voice in 90s experimentalism.

David Ilic

7 comments:

Margot F. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

merci for this gem! faust are one of my fave 70s group, too - their debut still makes me giggle whenever i listen to it!

one of the MUSICK CIRCLE ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh Margot, you've done it again...

You've got into my head and you're gonna keep me awake with this one!

I feel a sudden urge to play with open-reel tapes and splicing-blocks and 'found' noises...

BB

Richard

Anonymous said...

well madame blavatski..i do try most of this new age stuff..but i really dont think you can sample goreckis 3rd..it is really not suitable for out of context useage..ok..what do i know?..its daring.. its innovative...its obvious to those in the know.

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for everything and for this upload especially!

Anonymous said...

hi margot. thanks for nothing. ha ha...steve

Anonymous said...

faust is most certainly one of the true greats in music of any genre. still, there is a particularly special place in my heart for this album. the influence of jim o'rourke is apparent. this is like an avant garde, often noisey quasi-indie rock album peppered with the sort of headfuckery you'd expect from illusion of safety. this is utter genius.