Faust: Stretch Out Time 1970-1975

by Andy Wilson

"There is no group more mythical than Faust" Julian Cope "When the Germans do something, they don't fuck around" Jean-Hervé Péron From the September 2006 sees the release of this book about Faust, the legendary krautrock group. Fully illustrated, it contains reviews all of the group's records from the period 1970-75 as well as recounting the rise of krautrock and its relation to the social upheavals of the '60s. There is also a discography, bibliographies, live reviews and the text of the group's 1973 manifesto as well as essays on music and time and the group's relation to the work of Frank Zappa. From the In 1970 Polydor Records funded an unusual experiment. They gave some unknown German musicians a retreat in the countryside near Hamburg, equipped it with a studio and their best engineer, then left them free to do as they liked. This is the story of Faust and the music they made between 1970 and 1975, music which continues to inspire and confound listeners to this day. About the Andy Wilson has been running the Faust web site, the Faust-Pages () for over a decade now, during which time he has collected information about the band, interviewed band members and generally researched the group's history. Now he has collected that information into a book. He lives in Hackney, London, and has been listening to Faust for the best part of a lifetime. Book Das Lied Eines Matrosen; Germany Calling; On Currywurst; Clear / Faust ; So Far ; Tony Outside The Dream Syndicate; The Faust Tapes; Faust IV; Munich; Elsewhere; On Returning; Faust Live; Faust Manifesto; Fruit Flies Like a Banana; Das also war des Pudels Kern; Discography; Online; Guide to Illustrations; Faust Bibliography; General Bibliography

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2006

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a good few years ago now. An easy read that is very welcome but perhaps not full of revelatory information. I remember their being a lot about Zappi being a huge Zappa fan... no surprises their. And a lot about signing to Virgin and the recording environment that created. Definitely worth a read if you are a follower of Faust's music but a rather straight-foward read.

[veverzay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how pretentious this author was.

[Jlawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author does a great job of describing what's so funny, inspiring, off-kilter and bizarre about the German band Faust's music, as well as giving lots of juicy details about their history, interviews with band members, etc. Wilson can fall into overanalysis (witness the four page contemplation of the first album's cover art and packaging), but usually there's worthwhile things to be gleaned even when he rambles.

I noticed a couple of typos (this is a self-published book, but pretty high-quality given that) and I wish the photos were captioned instead of identified by an index at the end. But a great read for those interested in the band, the golden era of krautrock or experimental/fun music in general.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good history and examination of one of the most interesting & unusual bands of the 1970s, although the author is kind of overly self-involved in this & very opinionated when it comes to the merits of other artists, which can be off-putting.