Faust IV＜限定盤/Clear Vinyl＞

Faustが1973年にリリースした4作目となるスタジオ・アルバム『Faust IV』が再発!Faustは初期2作ですでに伝統的なソングフォームを解体し、連続性や一貫性、商業性の枠を軽やかに超える実験精神でシーンを揺し、ドイツ・ロックの構造を根本から書き換えていた。同年、49ペンスという破格でリリースされた『The Faust Tapes』は、彼らのコラージュ的手法を凝縮した超現実的サンプラーとして話題を呼び、英国のリスナーの好奇心を掻き立てた。そして発表された『Faust IV』は、彼らのキャリアの中でも最も親しみやすくも謎めいた逆説的な作品。実験とポップの境界を曖昧にしながら、半世紀を経た今もなお鮮烈な輝きを放ち続けている。

Coming on the heels of the cut-and-paste sound-collage schizophrenia of The Faust Tapes, Faust IV seems relatively subdued and conventional, though it's still a far cry from what anyone outside the German avant-garde rock scene was doing. The album's disparate threads don't quite jell into something larger (as in the past), but there's still much to recommend it. The nearly 12-minute electro-acoustic opener "Krautrock" is sometimes viewed as a comment on Faust's droning, long-winded contemporaries, albeit one that would lose its point by following the same conventions. There are a couple of oddball pop numbers that capture the group's surreal sense of whimsy: one, "The Sad Skinhead," through its reggae-ish beat, and another, "It's a Bit of a Pain," by interrupting a pastoral acoustic guitar number with the most obnoxious synth noises the band can conjure. Aside from "Krautrock," there is a trend toward shorter track lengths and more vocals, but there are still some unpredictably sudden shifts in the instrumental pieces, even though it only occasionally feels like an idea is being interrupted at random (quite unlike The Faust Tapes). There are several beat-less, mostly electronic soundscapes full of fluttering, blooping synth effects, as well as plenty of the group's trademark Velvet Underground-inspired guitar primitivism, and even a Frank Zappa-esque jazz-rock passage. Overall, Faust IV comes off as more a series of not-always-related experiments, but there are more than enough intriguing moments to make it worthwhile. Unfortunately, it would be the last album the group recorded (at least in its first go-round). ~ Steve Huey