Improvisation five unforgetable improvisations 3) FAUST: THE FAUST TAPES- 1973 This is getting predictable ! But to leave this landmark album off this list would be sacriledge. It was created around the same time in history,german history I guess as Tago Mago and to a certain extent Can and Faust share similarities. However I see Faust more within the left-wing avant-garde tradition,grouping them with other bands such as Henry Cow,from the U.K.Thus,their music straddled many aspects of avant and prog-rock. The Faust Tapes is the perfect Faust sampler. 43 minutes and 46 seconds of rapidly shifting ideas and themes, with no track titles. It was assembled by long-time Faust Producer, Uwe Nettlebeck from improvisations, using a cut 'n paste technique which was streets ahead of anything else at that time. The music weaves it's way through acoustic songs,noise breaks,radios,industrial sounds, guitar movements,wailing saxaphones,f ree-form chaos,gut wrenched chants and the Magic Band like drumming of Werner Diermaier. Essentially neo- classical in the sense that it borrows from minimalsim (they did after all record an album with Tony Conrad) and some of the more experimental pieces by neo-classical composers such as Ligetti. I can remember buying the Faust Tapes for 99 pence on an early incarnation of Virgin Records,long before Richard Branson branched out into airlines and condoms. The sleeve notes were by John Peel. This music signalled danger at each turn and remains as vital in sound today as it did then, the true mark of a classic album. I was absolutely thrilled when Faust reformed,unlike most of my old heroes,they remain as diffident to contemporary music and single minded in their persuit as ever. Dangerous music for adventurous minds. My final two selections come from 1978. It is easy to ignore and refute the significance of punk,with twenty years of hindsight. However,in 1977 I was an impressionable 16 year old, bored stiff by rock music. I had searched for interesting sounds but the music of the time lacked passion,drive,wit anger and focus. Along came punk. I was entranced. Nothing has had such a dramatic impact on me . I really started to take interest when a number of bands came along that managed to combine some of the drive of punk with the focussed inventiveness of the avant-garde. You must understand that England was in a bloody mess at the time. The relative comfort of the sixties had eroded into financial crisis and terrorism. Socialism was the only answer in my mind but we managed to elect the first of Thatchers reactionary right- wing governments.We also had to live through the abject misery of a silver jubilee,celebrating the useless and archaic tax-waste that makes up the British Monarchy. The critical thing that differentiated the American and British punk movements were social and political differences. I absolutely believe that dynamic times,conflictual times,influences music and musicians. So 1977 and 78 were vital years and spawned several bands in the U.K such as This Heat and Wire.

(doing) (being) (melding)