by osmosis

The mythically messed up and transient Faust have only rarely seemed as if they’d never play another note. After disbanding during the mid ‘70s, the group had enough of a back catalog to secure its legacy. And even in looking back at those initial recordings – official or not – those tapes reveal a band not necessarily at the heights of musicianship, but able to listen and understand each other better than most improvisational rock groups. Being included under the umbrella of kraut rock along with Can, Neu! and others, while sensible, in some ways only serves to place Faust’s work in a state of redux.

The most shocking aspect of the band’s career – apart from the fact that they had a record deal with a major label – is how different each of its releases have been. Faust (1971) perhaps sits closest to what kraut rock is considered. The disc included extended improvisations with a more than solid back beat, tape trickery and enough huge grooves to placate even funk aficionados. Subsequent releases, though, sought to incorporate shards of folk songs, faux ska songs about skinheads and even some horns.

The impending release of C’est…Com…Com…Compliqué marks the return of this unit with original members Jean-Hervé Peron and Werner “Zappi” Diermaier. Working with Bureau-B to release the disc, the nine tracks find the newly constituted Faust moving through some territory that could be foreseen, but there’re also less aggressive aspects to this affair. “Ce Chemin Est Le Mon” sounds as ambient as anything the group has recorded, but the sections within this track that are meant to serve as the abrasive aural persona of the group aren’t really as tense as those found during the band’s initial life. Of course a few tracks later, “Bonjour Gioacchino” more than fulfills any listeners need for aggressive improvisation.

It would be too simple to explain these dynamics as the process of maturing, but even in the most tense moments of the group’s improvisations, there seems to be a new found temperance lacking from those now legendary ‘70s recordings. But even amongst those first few discs, Faust was able to move effortless amongst all musics that they so loved.  C’est…Com…Com…Compliqué is simply a continuation of that and a more than appropriate addition to the hopefully ever expanding Faust catalog.