German Experimental Rockers Pay San Francisco A Rare Visit
One of the pioneering bands of the early '70s "krautrock" movement, experimental German outfit Faust comes to the Chapel in San Francisco Saturday for a night of exploratory sounds that also features new SF psych supergroup Heron Oblivion.
Like their iconic Cologne-based predecessors in Can, Faust would mix elements of avant-garde minimalism, free improvisation, psychedelic rock and outright noise during it's initial outburst of unbridled creativity. Formed in 1971 in the rural German town of Wümme, Faust coalesced around former music journalist and producer Uwe Nettelbeck.
Taking their advance after signing to Polydor to convert an abandoned schoolhouse into a studio, founding principle members Hans Joachim Irmler, Jean Hervé Péron and Werner "Zappi" Diermaier crafted a chaotic and unhinged sound that leaned heavily on cut-and-paste sonic collage. The stark packaging of their eponymous debut -- a clear vinyl record in a clear plastic sleeve imprinted with an x-ray of a fist -- was as uncompromising as the music.
Faust's subsequent recordings -- the somewhat more accessible Faust So Far and Outside the Dream Syndicate, their 1973 collaborative effort with NYC minimalist composer Tony Conrad -- continued to mine a unique vein of experimental music that predated both ambient and industrial styles. The band would also sign to Richard Branson's then fledgling Virgin Records, which put out The Faust Tapes album for the price of a 7-inch single and helped establish a cult following for the band in the U.K.
But following the release of the group's Faust IV (another commercial disappointment that would later be hailed as one of the great krautrock albums of the decade), Faust lost it's deal with Virgin and disbanded in 1975 as Nettlebeck turned his attention to writing and editing for his magazine Die Republik.
Faust essentially disappeared for the better part of the next decade and a half, playing only a few concerts during the 1980s before officially reforming with Péron and Diermaier leading the band in the early '90s. Faust would tour the U.S. for the first time in 1994, augmented by American psych guitar wizard Steven Wray Lobdell and additional players. Two years later, Irmler would return to the fold for another tour of the States. The band has periodically released new studio albums and toured ever since with a rotating cast of musicians supporting Diermaier and Péron.
For this sold-out performance presented by SF-based record label Superior Viaduct, Faust will be joined by celebrated new psych quartet Heron Oblivion. Comets on Fire veterans Ethan Miller (bass) and Noel Von Harmonson (guitar) first teamed with Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound mainstay Charlie Saufley (guitar) and noted psych-folk artist Meg Baird (drums and vocals) during informal jam sessions that started in 2014.
The band would evolve organically, conjuring a sound that wraps Baird's crystalline singing voice with a gradually blossoming guitar squall equally indebted to Crazy Horse-era Neil Young and Japanese neo-psych giants like High Rise and Acid Mothers Temple. The band's recently released Sub Pop debut is already being hailed as one of the best new albums so far in 2016. Noted experimental solo guitarist Bill Orcutt and DJs Paul Costuros and Darragh Skelton also appear at this sold-out show.
Faust with Heron Oblivion
Saturday, March 19, 8 p.m. $25 (sold out)
The Chapel
