Faust V

Jean-Hervé Péron

The Faust list, Dec 2004

(After the Manor House recordings in 1972)... then chaos: Faust splits: some of us go home (Rudolf and Irmler) some of us continue touring (with Uli Trepte)... after years of wandering, we found ourselves in southern Germany (eating dogfood and drinking schnaps, both of them being cheap down there) and longing to go studio-recording again: that's the Münich story then and also the fifth album. You are right about Münich and Elsewhere... BUT... the stuff released on Münich and Elsewhere is not mixed the way Sosna and (even more so) Irmler would have mixed it. So I remember some talking (Irmler) of re-mixing the Münich tapes under the name of 5½ and, imvco (in my very confused opinion) the two tracks on 71 Minutes have been remixed by Irmler.

OK, your next question will be: Which two tracks? 1 and 4! Knochentanz, aka 'Devoted Bone Dance', and Münich / Yesterdayaka 'Willie the Pimp'. So 5½ is (was) an 'ideal projection', a 'virtual entity'. I have not seen it, smelled it, did not chew it, did not feel it and did not hear it (not with my ears anyway) so it does not exist, does it ?

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OK, now that you ask, I realize it's my personal interpretation of what Rudolf is 'mumbling'. I never questioned the rightness of my guessing up to now. So I put the headphones and must achknowledge: I may be right BUT I may be wrong... now i hear something like "it's out of the point" and later "it's really the point" so that would be phonetically close to "willie the pimp", but YOU are right in seeing a connection to Hot Rats, and Rudolf and me ... I liked this album very very much , never heard it again since back then... maybe something like self-suggestion...

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I know for sure that Virgin refused flatly to release the Münich tapes we sent them.... they would not talk to us any more...and refused of course to pay the studio and hotel bill.

ref: Faust Mailing List