Klangbad: First Steps is an aptly titled CD sampler covering the first productive years of
Faust's label Klangbad. Although diverse in its musical scope, the compilation shows that very few artists on the label move away from Krautrock, but it also illustrates what the word -- and style -- meant back in the early '70s, and still means: experimental yet accessible trance-inducing rock music.
Circle possibly
Faust's most promising bastard son -- opens the disc with two opposite tracks showcasing both their hard-driving pulse and mellow psychedelia. If
Dälek's hip-hop sounds slightly out of place, every other track packs a punch, be it the Electric World-like funk of Kangaroo Moon's "Love Is," Audiac's quirky pop song "Everybody Is Sneaking," or Adriano Lanzi and Omar Sodano's "Emanzipazione," which is both strange and captivating. Of course,
Faust themselves sit on the throne, contributing the raucous "I Can, U 2?" (mean, mean overdriven organ). The other artists represented are S. /T., Nista nje Nista,
Hans Joachim Irmler, and Ole Lukkøye. There is little to be debated about the track selection, making this CD an excellent overall sampler. The disc was distributed to subscribers of the British magazine The Wire in August 2002 (Issue 222). ~ François Couture