Faust - Something Dirty

With all of the turmoil this pioneering band has been through in their 30+-year history, and with such ridiculous song titles as “Tell The Bitch To Go Home,” it was so hard to get excited to review the new Faust album. I mean, clearly the band was just using what little notoriety they had left and it’s goddamn hard in today’s economy for left-leaning artists.

But art this is, and at the level where I’m upset with myself for tackling Something Dirty a bit earlier than I have. It is wonderful expression of abstract music that continues down a long line of challenging arrangements with more than a few hints of honest accessibility.

Blending with the Krautrock elements they fucking invented, Faust circa 2011 are mixes those primary elements with art-haus cool, psychedelia, noise, and straight-ahead Beefheart lifting. Add it together and you get Something Dirty, a record so out-of-place today that it actually sounds like the soundtrack 2011 deserves.

I’m sincere about the high praise here-I absolutely adore Something Dirty and have played it often-but I know that much of my regard is because it’s confounding, the same way I feel when I listen to Morning Edition and get overwhelmed by how the basic concept of “live and let live” seems to be impossible to understand.

It’s front heavy-meaning that the real gems are loaded in the front. From “Lost The Signal” onward, it’s a crapshoot of emotions, some of which are not so pleasant.

But in between some of the barks, shrieks, and squeaks from the chalkboard, are moments of clarity that demand the focus of your attention.

I just wish that someone had gotten a hold of mine a bit sooner.

Here's a free download of the track "Herbststimmung" courtesy of the nice folks at the band's label, Bureau B.

Don't say I never gave you anything.