71 MINUTES OF FAUST

This is a compilation of two other releases - 'Return of a Legend: Munic and Elsewhere' and 'The Last LP'. The 'Munic' tracks (1 - 5) are mostly dense sound collages which feature lots of studio effects - a lot of time was clearly spent at the mixing desk. The technique is something like dub reggae, though the sound is a million miles away from Lee Perry's. The two long tracks 'A' and 'B' are best - hypnotic beats, a dense soundscape with fragments of words or melodies breaking through every now and then. 'Meer' is a ghostly fragment built around a slow piano figure, while 'Don't Take Roots' is almost rock music. The 'Last LP' pieces have a brighter, clearer sound and at times are quite tuneful, as on the rippling piano/guitar duet of 'Party 6' or the never ending descending scale of 'Party 1'. If you like Faust then this comes highly recommended; newcomers would probably fare better with 'Faust So Far'.

4.5 stars. After "Faust IV" the band packed things in but in 1986 their label released "Return Of A Legend : Munic And Elsewhere" which was a compilation of unreleased and live tracks from the early seventies. Then in 1989 the label released "The Last LP" or some call it "Faust Party" which was again a compilation of unreleased songs and live tracks from the early seventies. No the band was not back together at this point. The label then combined those two albums to make "71 Minutes Of Faust" but they did drop some tracks in the process. I have to mention how amazing the album covers were for those two earlier compilation albums.

Now I may not be the biggest fan of experimental music and it's taken years for me to appreciate FAUST but man I love this particular release. It's not as experimental, in fact a lot of this music is even catchy and CAN did come to mind several times.

"Munic / Yesterday" opens with organ and distortion then a beat and more takes over after a minute. Vocals a minute later. The guitar is getting crazy ala Karoli from CAN before 6 minutes. What a great track. The beat stops 10 minutes in as we get a calm to the end. "Don't Take Roots" features distorted guitar as these beats come in. Again this sounds amazing. Spoken words and laughter follow as the music stops. Strange sounds take over 1 1/2 minutes in then banging sounds a minute later. More spoken words and laughter. This is one crazy tune man. It kicks in again 3 1/2 minutes in. "Das Meer" has a relaxed beat with piano and vocal melodies. Cool sound. "Munic Other" has a beat with sax playing over top. Catchy stuff. It settles down around 5 1/2 minutes and changes a minute later. Nice drum work too. "Baby" is like a sixties parody. There's that Karoli- like guitar as a beat and vocals kick in. Yup this reminds me of CAN. Great track !

"Party 2" has this beat that I love as the guitar then vocals join in. Almost spoken vocals join in as well around 1 1/2 minutes. Freaking amazing ! "Party 8" is a short piece with an electronic beat and more. "Psalter" has melodic guitar then another sound joins in then the drums. It continues to build. Clapping too. Vocals before 1 1/2 minutes. It settles back before 3 1/2 minutes. Nice. "Party 5 / 25 Yellow Doors" has this noisy rhythm as the vocals join in. Crazy stuff with yelling too. Nice keyboard work after 2 minutes. "Chronmatic" has these sounds that beat and pulse as we get atmosphere too. I like it ! "Party 6" is a short piece with funny Zappa-like sound affects.

Well this is my favourite FAUST release so far and it's amazing the amount of killer material that was sitting in the vaults much like with CAN.