Part 2 of don’t-turn-around-but-the-future-of-music-is-standing-right-behind-you. In Germany. As we meet Faust, the second of the Krautrock quartet (along with Neu, Can and Kraftwerk) who grabbed ‘Rock’ music by the lapels in the early 1970′s, gave it a good shoeing and invented the future without many of us even noticing at the time. (See ABON 0003 for Part 1).
‘Pain’ is actually the closest Faust ever got to a conventional song and, by their standards is pretty mainstream. Half song. Half drone. Half exquisite meditation on the meaning of being. Half dentist drill. 100% genius.
Apparently it’s all about the self-loathing and self-doubt created by suddenly having serious money for the first time after Faust signed to the Virgin Label. But for me it’s much more universal than that. Touching on the need to remain self-critical and never take yourself too seriously if you are fortunate enough to become more successful in life. In that conext, guitar-as-dentist’s-drill self-applied to the ego on a regular basis is the perfect - and perfectly beautiful – metaphor.
Released 1973.
Available on the album ‘Faust IV’: Amazon