Fresh Air

The following is a review of Faust's Fresh Air I wrote back in 2017.

There was a fantastic post on Reddit recently about a rather extensive Krautrock collection, followed by an interesting conversation about the possibly anachronistic nature of labelling any contemporary music Krautrock. I agree with this sentiment: Krautrock is probably more accurately described as an unorganised movement in the German experimental music scene rather than a clear-cut genre – therefore it is ultimately defined by its historical context.

Then again, there are artists of said movement that still produce music to this day.

Taking this continuation (however intermittent) into consideration, it would be somewhat disingenuous to call it anything other than Krautrock, wouldn’t it?

There’s bound to be more accurate and descriptive definitions of this kind of music by now, but the very nature of Faust as a kind of a living dinosaur makes it deserving of the moniker Krautrock.

Faust, though, is a dinosaur only in principle, as the current lineup (with founding members Péron and Diermaier) has managed to forge a fresh new sound that, while at times reminiscent of the Faust of old, stands wholly on its own. Their latest, Fresh Air (2017) is, in its cohesion and focus, more akin to the fantastic C’est Com… Com… Complique (2009) than to the more disjointed Something Dirty (2011) or Just Us (2014).

This new Faust feels overall more streamlined than their completely insane debut album, for instance, but the spirit of experimentation is definitely still there.

Despite a certain shift in character, Faust is still (very) far from ordinary. And whatever it is, it’s all permeated by a contagious raw energy, heard both in Péron’s unrefined, frenetic singing and Diermaier’s powerful drumming, which somehow manages to sound both crude and sophisticated at the same time. Despite being a live album in essence, Fresh Air also has a somewhat effective ascending structure: starting with the slow-burning titular opening track, the album gradually erupts into the kind of multi-instrumental noise one could expect (only?) from Faust.

It is quite the experience, feeling that wall of sound wash over you – which, to me, is what Krautrock is all about.

These are only some of my initial thoughts, as I only recently acquired this album (in the striking Limited Deluxe Version with the bonus 7”), and a more comprehensive review would require quite a bit more exploration.

But it’s safe to say that Faust’s still got it.