SO FAR

Faust's second LP is a more accessable, less crazy affair than their first. True, all the elements of the first album are present (bizarre electronics, fuzzy distorted keyboards and guitars, a jazzy underpinning, thundering drums, strange lyrics and song ideas), but this time out they are structured to help the listener enter Faust's unique soundworld. The band was under pressure to produce a more accessable album than their first, and "So Far" fits the bill, yet does not compromise in the areas of sonic exploration and outright weirdness. "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" starts things out with a drony Velvets-like melody and Zappi Diermeir's pounding proto-punk drumming. The insistant, unchanging title chant leads into sections featuring keyboards, harmonica and finally a goofy sax solo (perhaps a sardonic comment by the band about the album's "commerciality")."On The Way To Abamae" and "No Harm" show Faust's contasts- the former is a gentle acoustic meditation, the latter a harsh electronics-infused rocker. The shorter songs on side two show a lot of range also, from "So Far" (horn-propelled dance music from Saturn) to "Mamie Is Blue" (Throbbing Gristle industrial splooge eight years early) to "I've Got My Car And My T.V." (sarcastic social commentary developing into a blasting psychedelic jam) to "Me Lack Space" (Stockhausen-like tape manipulation). Oddest of all is the closer, "In The Spirit" which, other than the German-accented vocals and rocket-takeoff electronic noises, is basically a simple jazz swing tune. As if to accent the difference in approach between "So Far" and the first LP, this album came in an all-black sleeve with the band name and album title embossed on the cover. Unfortunately for Faust and Polydor records, "So Far" didn't sell much better than the first one (although both sold quite respectably for music this uncompromising). Still, it remains the easiest disc of their early albums for novices to get into and is highly recommended.