It’s a little startling to realize that the 14 tracks of burning guitars, droning synths, shrieking ritualistic horns and surrealist sound collage on Momentaufnahme I are over 50 years old.

It’s tempting to say that Faust were ahead of their time, but it’s more like they’re outside of time, beaming in strange sci-fi rituals from some alternate timeline where reindeer-antlered trance musicians gather around modular synths set in the walls of a prehistoric temple where they gather to summon and commune with extraterrestrial sentient plant life.

Momentaufnahme I, which translates to “snapshot,” is a collection of studio outtakes and rarities recorded between 1971 and 1974 that never made their way onto albums, originally collected for a lavish box set released in 2021.

This was Faust’s most fertile and prolific period, as well as a Golden Age for kosmische music in general, after which Faust virtually fell off the face of the planet for decades.

This alone would make 14 tracks of brand-new old recordings from Faust enough to drive psych fiends as mad as rare book mold. These odds and sods are so much more than barrel scrapings, though, crammed full of interesting ideas, distinctive textures and imaginative sound design, all crystallizing to summon a sense of metaphysical mystery and otherworldly aura.

Recordings from 1971-1974.
First released on 2021-10-08 as part of the Faust - 1971-1974 box set.

Tracklist:
Naja
Flaflas
Es Ist Wieder Da
Mechanika
Weird Sounds Sound Bizarre
Karotten
RéMaj7
Fin De Face
Vorsatz
Acouphènes
Interlude 18. Juni
Dadalibal
Bonne Soupe Au Fromage
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