SOMETHING DIRTY

Something Dirty

Faust have been a part of my sonic diet for a decade now, and whilst I was rather reluctant to sample their later output, I did finally overcome my preservations - going slightly overboard buying a couple of albums from the 90s along with this one. My fave from these guys is their masterly futuresque, dirty and gritty 4th album. Something wonderful happened: Everything erupted. The tigers broke free, as Roger put it a long time ago, but in regards to this particular band: how long can these orange creatures keep roaming the streets without adapting some form of altered behaviour?

Something Dirty is what you would expect a Faust album to be: expressive, buzzing, twirling, mechanical and improvisational. Listening to any sort of Faust record after their famous 4th has become an almost predictable experience, and here I am treading lightly, because even with the improbable foresight of one Nostradamus - you'd be hard pressed to actually know beforehand what lies around the corner in Faust's music. Often jagged and boisterous - fiddling around with insect noises, beetle choirs, little tiny charades played by an electric ant army hammering away on metallic grasses and minuscule congas. -No it's not about being able to spot the coming twists in the music, but rather to do with being fed the same sort of dish throughout a period of nearly 40 years. I'm being pretty hard with Faust here, but that is only because I love them dearly. It's like a record with The Rolling Stones if you will - you know what to expect, and if you by some miraculous chance get surprised, feel overwhelmed by an altogether new listening experience, then damn! What a thrill! More power to them! Maybe I'm missing the point here, because I still listen to this album with a great deal of pleasure, and had it not been a 2011 release, I'd most likely award it with a full 4 star rating, but I still feel like they could do so much more had they tried something a little different.

The big question though is, how does one even begin to do something differently within the confines of Faust's music? The music is damn near as challenging and thrill seeking as it gets. Now having spent a good amount of time with this album, and listening to it on my way home from work this afternoon with bloodied skies and shaking trees in the side of the road, -something struck me: What really lets this album down is its production. One only needs to dig out the original IV album to hear where it came from. The tunnelling buzzing synths worming along in the music to the distorted harking coughing guitars - the overall sound quality is still deeply rooted in a moment in time where all of this was new, out on a ledge and dangerous. Personally I think this band doesn't need to change one iota of their material apart from the production, but again this is coming from a long time fan, and if you happen to be a Faust virgin and reading this, then you should forget everything I've just said and just go ahead and buy this, because it really is a formidable album and one that paves the way into this remarkable artist just as well as any other of their most recent efforts.

Imagine a post apocalyptic world - where human cyborgs form a band out of leftover musicians, blenders, smashed up televisions and every little insect in sight. They play odes to the industrial nature of our long lost society - taking their inspiration from the crackling surfaces of nuclear power plants, abandoned factory halls, scrapyards and ash grey burned down electronic stores that blink and twitch in stroboscopic neon cries. Apply each of these individual images with the appropriate instrument - be that screeching trash can synths, bare naked metallic rumbling drums or the heavy breathing ghost like bass lines - and voila: you've got Faust!

This is a fine way to start your voyage into the magic of Faust, and whilst still feeling a bit disappointed that they didn't try anything new, I happen to enjoy this record immensely. On a personal level I am giving Something Dirty 4 stars, but this isn't the 70s any more, and I honestly think the industrial production could be swept under the rug for a change - only to welcome something new, preposterous, out there, beautiful or whatever - instead of something dirty, which I've heard a hundred times before.

With Faust now getting back into a swing of things with C'est com... com... compliqué and Faust Is Last, and in a decade that thrives upon making experimental music due to the likes of Secret Chiefs 3, Xiu Xiu, and The Mars Volta, it was certainly a good time to be a Faust fan, especially after getting their 2011 record, Something Dirty.

Whilst C'est com... com... compliqué was more of a back to basics for Faust, Something Dirty pushed things into a much heavier direction, implementing noise rock, psychedelia, and an almost Legendary Pink Dots sort of feeling resonating throughout each track, creating a very mystical, and, as the title suggests, dirty atmosphere that feels as though I am walking through a sandstorm with nothing but goggles upon me to protect my eyes.

This is also probably the first Faust record since Faust Wakes Nosferatu to have most of the tracks listed here to be consistently good in my opinion. The actual songs here feel both fractured, yet still consistently delivering, with nothing in the way to make things too egregious. I especially like the track of Lost the Signal. It is a nearly 9 minute piece of sound that has this super cool and foreboding atmosphere, one that reminds me of some of the songs off of Swans' Soundtracks for the Blind, but as the song progresses it turns more into a track that you'd see Faust make in their heyday, with dissonant guitars, lots of flavorful textures, and just some personal love for the entire album that makes this song a pretty masterful experience, especially in regards to the album as a whole.

Sure some tracks, particularly two of Thoughts Of The Dead and Save The Last One, aren't good, but they aren't all that bad comparatively to other lacking tracks the band has made. In fact, they are probably the best of the best in terms of bad Faust tracks. Thoughts of the Dead is pretty creepy, with speeches that give me ideas of some of David Tibet's more atmospheric workings, and while Save the Last One is very short, it is a fine little acoustic jingle to warm up for the last track. Still wouldn't say these tracks are all that stellar, but still they are pretty interesting to me.

Speaking of speeches, this certainly has some of the best vocals ever since Faust IV. Faust have never really been a band that likes to sing, but they did manage to get some good vocal numbers here and there with the help of British painter Geraldine Swayne, who's voice works quite well with the dissonant sounds that the band provides in my opinion, creating an extra unique layer that makes Something Dirty all the more special.

While it may not be as recognized as THE Faust album like Faust IV or The Faust Tapes, nor is it my personal all time favorite like Faust Wakes Nosferatu, Something Dirty still captures a joy that does get pretty close to being the best of the best. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I certainly don't mind its noisy, dissonant rock elements at all, and see it as the next best step from both C'est com... com... compliqué, and Faust Is Last. Definitely listen to it if you have time.

Best tracks: Something Dirty, Lost the Signal, Dampfauslass 1, La sole dorée

Worst tracks: Thoughts of the Dead, Save the Last One