twelve-odd minutes of rock snobbery
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Artist:
I am having one of my MOG vs. World discourses-the ones between, you know, myself and I. The source of the great divide is this. Masses: like musing with background music on. Moggers: like music with background musing on. Excuse the elitism but take the case of instrumental music, relegated to escorting office toilers, lobby dallyers or elevator riders, only on Planet Hoi Polloi.
Myself, I accomplish nothing with Faust around. I stop and tune in. What was a six-piece from Wümme is for now the trio of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Jean-Hervé Péron, and Amaury Cambuzat. (Danke, Wikipedia.) They have a new album out. It is a wee bit different.
C'est Com...Com....Compliqué (Bureau B, 2009) is bereft of circa-Seventies psychedelia and here's my meaning. The Seventies were a decade of instrumental solos, a compulsion for instrument-worship that seeped into other highly non-verbal formats like progressive or avant-garde. You could hear it in Gong or Popol Vuh. It eased up starting the Nineties due to the likes of lo-fi rock and ambient electronica along with changing production values. I think present-day music favors testing over deifying instruments. This has rung true in Faust's brand of experimentation since a few albums back. Hit up the tagged track-it sounds full instead of heavy.
I find the involvement of Ulan Bator's Cambuzat, who isn't an original member, also evident: in the attention-getting opener, Kundalini Tremolos, which is as the title promises, or Stimmen in all its throat-singing glory; while something like En Veux-Tu Des Effets, En Voilà is almost classic Faust. I am loath to say the album bears a modern or updated sound, as is the favored PR following lineup changes, moreso in long-running acts. It's still Faust, and Faust still isn't time-bound. A caveat: I would not play this album in times of liking my krautrock ass-kissing gravity because it doesn't hurt my head. (Dare I say, in other words, they've lightened up some.)
As for Mogging, a good piece from the Mogosphere can certainly creep up on me, the kind in which the -OG part is as worthwhile as, if not more than, the M- part. I love that those posts make me ask- this isn't too much power to give a song, is it? I mean, things being what they are, Moggers are people, too.
Photo: Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor Siem Reap, Cambodia, May, 2007
Locating MOG account...
Comments (27)
Or I miss MOG. (;
Petits Sons Appétissants
We miss you, too, poe! Awwww...
We are not people.... we are music uberlords. OK, I'll go hide under my rock now.
I'd stay at that hotel and see how the works of art treat me during nighttime ;)
Liking Faust. I'm guessing they don't need to indulge in insane contracts with the erm, dark masters.
And I sure as hell miss you. I'm not the only one either.
What they said :)
This is my first exposure to this Faust, but you've piqued the interest, naturally. There seem to ba about three time signatures going on at once in "Petits Sons..." Particularly riveting when those chimes come in - testing confirms elation...
It was certainly enlightening to live through the revolt of the common folk against the whole "instrument deification" period.
They said "I may never play a mixolydian scale in the key of A flat minor augmented ninth, but I can slam this A chord pattern like, real cool, ya know?"
And, as usual, you're good at mental nudges. It's been too long since I listened to Liszt's "Faust" symphony - from a whole other age of instrument deities.
I know you, and the lofty spirit you bear,
And easily ravel out a clue to all.
These are the trials meet for such as you,
Nor must you hope exemption : to be mortal
Is to be plied with trials manifold.
Look round! The obstacles which kept the rest
Of men from your ambition, you have spurned :
Their fears, their doubts, the chains that bind them best,
Were flax before your resolute soul, which nought
Avails to awe, save these delusions, bred
From its own strength, its selfsame strength, disguised—
Mocking itself. Be brave, dear Aureole ! Since
The rabbit has his shade to frighten him,
The fawn his rustling bough, mortals their cares,
And higher natures yet their power to laugh
At these entangling fantasies, as you
At trammels of a weaker intellect.
Measure your mind’s height by the shade it casts!
I know you.
–Robert Browning, Paracelsus, act iii (1850)
my lawd. i've been sitting on my butt for the last century, playing catch up on MOG. it is near impossible, why did i even try...? i've read most Trusteds' posts of the last, say, three days and now my head hurts.
Anna, dear darkling, i appreciate your even crawling out of your rock before sundown to say hello. the new Placebo choon is overplayed over here, by the way, and i was literally not kidding about that dream (mogmail). (;
Jeff, were you up late or early? whichever it is, i hella miss you. say, does you username have to do with the Jim Jarmusch film? i remembered to ask because i had just sent DVDs home and gave the rest away. sob.
"Music with background musing" is probably the most perfectly succinct description of this thing I have heard. And "Planet Hoi Polloi" ain't a bad descriptor for everything else. I'm happy to see you came back for a visit, even if it winds up being brief.
(Oh my word! I have tried at least a dozen times to leave this comment!)
Hey look who's come crawling back. Thank goodness, I thought you had forgotten the URL. ;)
And you've brought back some new creepy-crawly tunes to soundtrack our near-nightmares. Oh goody. Another album for "the list".
You're always welcome on these digital shores, you know. :)
Scott, ahoy! i was just about wrapping up my overstay in this internet cafe. ;d do i even know what a mixolydian scale is? will have to look it up in my next cafe outing. well, the Seventies were also heavy on blues-rock and hard rock, i guess the time was right for all the adulating.
and Matt! while you were trying to leave your comment, i was trying to leave my comment to Scott, and met you somewhere in the middle, so it's not all bad. (; i miss your words of wisdom as well as non-wisdom, pretty much everyone on Planet Hoi Polloi never gets my ill humor!
and Dale! i have to tell you, it's a wonder how many playlists you end up making when you're off the internet for like a month. every one of them made me think of you when i got to the point of overthinking and going, man, Dale would do this one with his eyes closed. ;p
alrighty, i am out of here...
and with that poe be gone..thanks for an indelible visit. plenty of room for thought in the intro to this one.
killer title tune ilay. sounded great as i tool around email procrastinating goint to work and getting soaked in the rain...
second song sounds like it has some mallets on cookie sheets going on. :) cheers to ya.
ha! mixolydian is just one of those rock n' roll scales, but rather that more you with tech-jumbo, get this; not only is it the scale used in traditional songs like "Old Joe Clark" and "The Skye Boat Song" and rock classics "Dear Prudence", "Norwegian Wood", "Satisfaction", "Dark Star", and "Sweet Home Alabama" - it's also utilized in the themes to both Jurassic Park and Star Trek:TNG! Wikipedia is such a source of amusement...
may b poe b checkin'...
stiil need to get me some Faust. Groon introduced me to them a while ago but i haven't been able to find any
Cody, i'm afraid you're stuck with me, i am not yet gone. (8 i'm in the vicinity of civilization for a few more days. and i've been post-deprived so i'm dangerous.
Jeff, we're having April showers now. hot (summer) but raining ... i can see the flu virus partying. "mallets on cookie sheets" is just the kind of talk i've been missing. ;D
Scott, huh. thank you, indeed, Wikipedia. i guess i should pay attention the next time someone spins the Star Trek: TNG theme. it's a nice-sounding word, too.
Todd, that sounds like our missing Groon, alright. the band's discography has built up over the time, i haven't heard much myself. i guess it'd be good to start with the Seventies stuff, right in the thick of krautrock (a term, i believe, Faust dislikes).
hey kiddo, this is coming to you straight from my couch as I am posting with my new Wii-toy. A bit slow typewise but comfy. I'll have to switch to cable and see if there's any TNG playing. Don't forget your umbrella now...
Of course I can't see a post on Faust without at least popping in! I haven't heard this new one yet, but just yesterday became aware of its existance. Liking what I'm hearing, but then that's hardly surprising. Faust is one of those bands that I instantly am interested in anything they do, even if I don't like it. And while that sounds weird, what I mean is Faust is one of those few bands that absolutely 100% refuses to follow anyone else's rules, conventions, or ideas about what they should sound like. They are solely themselves, and never fail to be completely and totally unique.
Poe, I have a couple of older tracks posted by them if you feel like digging for them. Hope all is well!
now I'm getting sorely confused. (and I'm sure you can answer this, Chuck) - is this the same Faust from the early/mid-seventies that did
"IV" and "So Far"? surely not?? Yet looks like it is....wow, longevity...
Yes, it is. They broke up for like a 15 year span and then reformed about 10 years ago, sounding nothing like the old days, and yet still the same, if that makes any sense.
very intersting
i believe this is my first foray into faust
we missed you as well i echo
Well YO de Poe! Wonderful to see you as always & of course you know I miss your illustrious ass, hahaha!
The first Faust song reminds me quite a bit of King Crimson, the 2nd of Tom Waits. Fascinating. . . .
When I read your 'Or I miss Mog. (;', I literally laughed out loud. The contrast of that against the complexity of your main post was just hilarious to me.
agh! an actual Groon sighting! Chuck, i've been on to this album for over a month and wondering if you are, too. it's even still different from their '90s stuff yet very much Faust, as you say. there's something about that sound, in its various forms, that you can tell what band it's coming from. i love when you said and agree that their music's engaging, whether or not it's your type of thing.
i went over previous posts last night and found that they're (almost) all yours ;d so, yes, i will be digging. chasing this band on and off since the '90s, i have an okay overview but would like to be able to pick favorites out of their entire output. oh, and hello!
Scott, the one and only Faust out there. what i said about the '70s and '90s took off of that early incarnation and then reformation. 30+ years and going, as a band...
and a Pimpy sighting! gosh! the crunchier guitars in certain songs should be right up your alley. Keith, notice how we all came back after you came back. ;p not only did i feel your absence, hardly anyone else KNOWS how to do THIS right.
Aug. A a au uu gg g. missed ya. {: honestly, i don't know what's with my yin and yang. if i were music, i'd be bubblegum prog, or J-serious. mwahahahah. King Crimson is incredibly close but i must say Tom Waits is a surprising association although it makes sense. :::pondering pose:::
haha right on girl
it was too quiet around here
and i missed this as well
i shall check em out cause you got me pegged
CRUNCHY GUITARS are always ringing in my head
Ya know, this feels so natural talking the finer points of music w/you, like we've done it before. @;P I have to say that the Tom Waits comparison is because of the loud, brashness of the cymbals mainly. But also that chunky, clunky sound is all Waits signature despite their (valiant)efforts to disguise it.
And as for group comparisons for you, I'd say you're either like DJ Shadow or Amplive. Werd to ya mutha!
poe: What Faustian bargain hast thou made to have known abouta nd accessed the resurrection of these most idiosyncratic progsters? (Nice to have you here, even if it's just a drive-by.)
K, let's make some noise, shall we? i say bring out your headbangers and wake 'em all up!
Aug, ahahah, i count on you to pull up the artist references i didn't see coming. i hear it! - the brash cymbals and chunky clunky a la Tom Waits. aw your comparisons are too kind. my workmates years ago labelled me the frou-frou goth. ;p
Mike! it is a fairly extended drive-by, if y'all will have me. oh, Knifey, your Toxic Tuesdays rubbed off on me like a sneaky li'l devil. everytime i hear a hateful song, i think of posting it. and, yeah, i sold my other, dead laptop's soul for knowledge. ;d
You're ecclectic like those DJs! Frou-frou goth, love it, you have a new nickname now Ms. Pink Linky(or I should say, another nickname)!
I can't help it, it's an autonomic musical response to make artist references. I just naturally think of who a band sound like when I listen to an artist. And these days, no band creates in a vacuum, they are always influenced by other previous bands since there is SO much music & so many bands.
WELL HOWDY STRANGER! I likes the "twelve-odd minutes of rock snobbery"!!
Aug, i guess we all tend to make artist references but you especially rock at it, i tell ya. "these days, no band creates in a vacuum" - love that! imagine how much deeper you'll get with champagne. ;p
btw, Mr. Pink Linky, this one's our collective name, you and i.
well, howdy back, Eric! how goes it in the Doomsayer household? i can see you gettin' on with Faust. lotsa other broody stuff in the album. good to see you dropping by the Mogos, too. (8