What’s most interesting about this is that Faust ended up providing Conrad’s violin drone with this precise bass and drums tattoo grid, even though they were sometimes the sloppiest German band out there. It’s not quite what the Velvets would have done, as this sense of time is nothing like Mo Tucker’s, and it’s not really the same as any other band that likes droning. It’s a very clean and specific approach to extended tones, maybe even thin for people raised on SUNN O))) and the like. You really do have to let this one do its thing. There is no short version of this album, and the expanded Table of the Elements version with the live material is really spectacular. Entirely freaky that they did this in 1972! The “Man and Womankind” side is machine-like, and the “Machine” side has more of a sway and lilt, something you’re more likely to play twice (if I am venturing guesses). It’s something else, that side, more than worth the price of admission.