Faust review – live knitting and angle grinders in bewitching krautrock jams

Cafe Oto, London
From attacking a metal bin with a drill to the inclusion of two speed knitters, this duo prove that age cannot wither avant-garde musical inventiveness

Anyone incredulous at Noel Gallagher employing a scissor player on stage of late would have their brains fried by Faust’s knitters. Sitting either side of Werner “Zappi” Diermaier’s drumkit, two middle-aged ladies clack out mittens that go on for yards at a time, occasionally scarfing to a neck-warming climax. They’re a symbol that avant-garde adventurism is a lifelong endeavour, and more than 40 years on, Faust are still casting off into unwritten sonic patterns.

Beloved of Julian Cope and bloodline ancestors of Spiritualized, Tortoise, shoegaze and desert rock, Faust were key players in the rock wing of early 1970s krautrock, as kin to Floyd and Beefheart as Can and Neu! Numerous wilderness periods and lineup changes have left them as two active bands, a kind of krautrock Bucks Fizz, but the branch centred around Diermaier and “art-errorist” bassist Jean-Hervé Péron – who looks more like Jethro Tull’s flute roadie, to be fair – is the busiest and boldest. In 2014, they released jUSt, an album of skeletal compositions for other artists to build upon, and this year delivered Fresh Air, recorded while touring the US with guest musicians at each location, Damo Suzuki-style.

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from Music | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2i9G9kX

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