Einstürzende Neubauten

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Einstürzende Neubauten

Background information
Origin Germany
Genre(s) Industrial music
Experimental music
Years active 1980-present
Label(s) Mute Records
Members
Blixa Bargeld
Alexander Hacke
N.U. Unruh
Jochen Arbeit
Rudi Moser
Former members
Beate Bartel
Gudrun Gut
F.M. Einheit
Mark Chung
Roland Wolf

Einstürzende Neubauten is an experimental music band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980.

The band is often classified as industrial music or electronica, though neither really applies well in describing what it is that Einstürzende Neubauten does or sounds like. The band is best described as creating experimental music with their own personal stylistic sensibilities. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Blixa Bargeld is probably the best-known member of the group.

One of the band's "trademarks" is the use of custom made instruments (usually, but not always, made out of scrap metal and building tools) and noises, in addition to standard musical instruments. Neubauten has always experimented with sounds, originally in noise music and recently in silence (such as with the Silence Is Sexy album).

Contents

[edit] The band name

The band name is usually translated into English as "Collapsing New Buildings" - "collapsing" is a participial adjective, not a transitive verb. Neubauten is a general term referring to buildings constructed in Germany after 1945. These are often regarded as cheaper, flimsier, and less aesthetically attractive than "Altbauten," or pre-1945 buildings. Due to the extensive destruction throughout Germany during the second World War, and the extensive rebuilding thereafter, Neubauten constitute a very familiar element of German cities.

[edit] History

[edit] 1980 (the beginning)

On April 1, 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten made their first appearance in the Moon Club in Berlin. This date is considered to be the band's birthday. Their name was a reference to the Berlin Kongresshalle, a post-war "new building," which had collapsed earlier that year. At that time the band was just a coincidental live set-up of the Dadaistic musical movement the Geniale Dilettanten.

This first line-up featured Beate Bartel and Gudrun Gut, Blixa Bargeld, and N.U. Unruh, who later went on to record music under the name of Einstürzende Neubauten. The two female members Bartel and Gut left the band after a short period of performing and founded the girl-band Mania D.. A young sound technician and multi-instrumentalist Alexander von Borsig (alias Alexander Hacke), fifteen years old at that time, joined the band and became a long-time member.

[edit] 1981–1982

In 1981 the percussionist F.M. Einheit (from the Hamburg band Abwärts) joined Einstürzende Neubauten and they released their first LP Kollaps, mixture of rough punk rock tunes and industrial noises using self-made music machines, various electronic sounds, and found objects such as metal plates. The live performances with FM Einheit in the 1980s included lots of metal banging and destruction on stage, which became legendary.

During their first German tour, Mark Chung (previously the bass player with Abwärts) joined the group of musicians. This line-up lasted for the next ten years.

[edit] 1983–1984

In 1983, Einstürzende Neubauten recorded their second album Zeichnungen des Patienten O. T.. The title comes originally from a book of the writer Leo Navratil, which describes the drawings of Oswald Tschirtner, O.T. 1974.

Also in 1983 Bargeld joined the band The Birthday Party (featuring Nick Cave and Mick Harvey) as a guitarist. After it was disbanded a short time later, he became a long-time member of one of the bands that rose from The Birthday Party's ashes — Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (again featuring Nick Cave and Mick Harvey).

Bargeld remained a full-time member of two bands, Einstürzende Neubauten and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, until 2003.

[edit] 1985–1989

The band's next album, Halber Mensch (1985), may be seen as the developmental breakthrough of their musical career. Musical structure became more evident, with Bargeld's lyrics and singing in particular changing from shouted words and phrases into organized, poetic melodies.

The band played a show in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to kick off their third North American tour. The performance was sponsored by the German Goethe Institute as part of the German contribution to Expo 86. Also scheduled to appear were Test Dept and Skinny Puppy, though not everyone was able to play.

On the tour, the group's experimental and improvised live performance style occasionally caused difficulties with venue management and law enforcement. A performance at The Palladium in Manhattan ended 30 minutes into the set after an improvised pyrotechnics display. The band ignited a small amount of paint thinner in metal pans, and panicked management stopped the performance and cleared the venue.[1]

The one-hour film Halber Mensch (1986) by Sogo Ishii documents Einstürzende Neubauten's visit to Japan in 1985.

The next two albums, Fünf auf der nach oben offenen Richterskala (1987) and Haus der Lüge, were great successes in the United States and Japan.

[edit] 1990–1995

In 1991, the band tried something completely new, recording the soundtrack for Heiner Müller's play Die Hamletmaschine (The Hamlet Machine). The band image of Einstürzende Neubauten changed. Blixa Bargeld, formerly wearing punk/industrial style clothes, appeared at the live concerts in a suit.

1991 also saw the release of the double album best-of and rarities album, Strategies Against Architecture II.

In Vienna, 1992, Einstürzende Neubauten performed at The Academy of Visual Arts' 300th anniversary in a show by Erich Wonder, Das Auge des Taifun.

The next album Tabula Rasa (1993) was an important turning point in the history of Einstürzende Neubauten because their music became softer and contained more electronic sounds.

Martin Munsch Factory QC mastering engineer, for the final mass duplication in New Jersey, commented on the production as being one of their most insidious to date.

Mark Chung left the band after recording Faustmusik and made a career in the music industry. F.M. Einheit, who contributed much to the music and sound of the band, left the band a short time later, during the recording of Ende Neu, at least partially because of a conflict with Bargeld. The last Einstürzende Neubauten track Einheit worked on was "Was ist ist"[2].

After leaving Einstürzende Neubauten, Einheit continued his work in music and theater, collaborating with various artists, such as Andreas Ammer, KMFDM, Gry and Pan Sonic.

[edit] 1996–1999

A short time later, the band released the album Ende Neu (1996). The song "Stella Maris" — a duet between Bargeld and Hacke's wife, singer Meret Becker — became quite famous. A world tour followed the release. During this time, Jochen Arbeit and Rudi Moser (both members of Die Haut) joined the band.

In 1997, the album Ende Neu Remixes was released, which featured remixes of the songs from Ende Neu by artists such as Barry Adamson and Pan Sonic.

[edit] 2000–2001

Einstürzende Neubauten live in 2000: Alexander Hacke (left) & Blixa Bargeld (right)
Einstürzende Neubauten live in 2000: Alexander Hacke (left) & Blixa Bargeld (right)

From March, 27 to May, 23, 2000, Einstürzende Neubauten celebrated their 20th birthday with a "20th anniversary tour", playing in the Columbiahalle, Berlin on their exact birthday, April, 1 and released the album Silence is sexy, followed by a world tour. The title song of Silence is sexy is about tinnitus, a perpetual ringing in one's ears, often caused by exposure to loud noise..

Since 2001, Einstürzende Neubauten albums and web projects have been partially produced and supported by Bargeld's wife Erin Zhu, who also serves as webmaster of the official Einstürzende Neubauten website.

[edit] 2002–2004

In 2002, Einstürzende Neubauten began work on a new album without the backing of a record label, relying instead upon fan ("supporter") participation in an experiment of a type of Street Performer Protocol combined with an internet community and touches of the patronage system.

About 2,000 supporters signed up to support what became Phase I by paying 35 USD or EUR to participate in the experience and receive the results. Numerous sessions of the recording and creating of the next album, were translated to the supporters community via the internet, as a streaming video. An exclusive Supporter Album #1 was sent out to them in autumn 2003.

Bargeld left Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in 2003. In order to go on tour, the band reneged on the idea of creating a supporter-only album, and cooperated with Mute Records to go on tour and release Perpetuum Mobile in 2004. The air sounds, such as blowing the plastic pipes with an air compressor, were greatly explored and used for this album.

The live shows of the Perpetuum Mobile Tour were recorded by the band's sound engineers, then burned on CDRs and sold directly after the concerts to the visitors. So, numerous "official" live albums were created during this tour. Unfortunately, these live albums include some cuts and errors.

On April 1st, 2004, part of "Ein Seltener Vogel" (translated in English as "A Rare Bird") was used in an episode of the American forensics drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

In November of 2004, the band went on a mini-tour, which included a supporters-only performance at Berlin's Palast der Republik. The performance was filmed and was released on the exclusive supporter's DVD at the end of Phase II.

[edit] 2005

The band also started a new project called Musterhaus in early 2005. The first CD Anarchitektur was sent out in May of 2005, and was also available for download to Musterhaus subscribers. The Musterhaus project is a "line of releases intended to give the band an outlet for more experimental impulses and exploration." Musterhaus releases are released roughly every 3 months.

The second Musterhaus CD Unglaublicher Lärm was finished on August 15th of 2005 and shipped out (as well as posted for download) shortly after.

Phase II of the Neubauten Supporter's project finished in August of 2005, and the official site was taken down on the 20th of September. The supporter's album (titled Grundstück) and DVD (containing footage from the November 2004 Grundstück performance in Berlin) was shipped in early October of 2005.

Musterhaus #3, released 8 December, Solo Bassfeder is a collection of bass spring compositions by the individual members of Einstürzende Neubauten.

[edit] 2006

Phase III of the Supporter's project started on February 10th. On February the 25th, the fourth part of the Musterhaus series, called Redux Orchestra vs. Einstürzende Neubauten was completed. One of the new additions to Phase III was a piece-by-piece album available only to supporters, consisting of 12 jewels as the band calls them. Starting in March, these downloadable tracks were released on or around the 15th of the month and are drawn from singer Bargelds' dreams. Available so far;

  1. Ich komme davon (March 15th 2006)
  2. Mei Ro (April 15th 2006)
  3. 26 Riesen (May 15th 2006)
  4. Hawcubite (June 15th 2006)
  5. Die Libellen (July 15th 2006)
  6. Jeder Satz mit ihr hallt nach (August 15th 2006)
  7. Epharisto (September 15th 2006)
  8. Robert Fuzzo (October 15th 2006)
  9. Magyar Energia (November 15th 2006)
  10. Vicki (December 15th 2006)
  11. Ansonsten Dostojevsky (January 16th 2007)
  12. Die Ebenen werden nicht vermischt (February 15th 2007)

Musterhaus #5, Kassetten finished May 15 with release scheduled for May 31. At the same time, Alles was irgendwie nützt, an album that had been in the work since Phase 2, were completed. The album consists of rare live tracks, handpicked by 6 Supporters of Phase 2 and mixed by Boris Wilsdorf.

On August the 31st the sixth Musterhaus installment were released, titled Klaviermusik (Piano Music)!

In October, Neubauten released a public DVD, the recording made at Palast der Republik.

The seventh Musterhaus album titled Stimmen Reste (Voices Remains) was released on December 2nd, 2006. This record consists of vocal experiments, vocal recordings, and manipulations of voice recordings, enriched with a couple of leftover instrumental tracks made with polystyrene, electronic pulses, hammond organ, bass guitar, and metal percussion. Some of these recordings have been around for a while but have not been previously released ("Gestern"), or have never been properly recorded ("Semiotische Musik #5").

The center piece ("Kernstück") is a speed-manipulated rework of the "Vox Populi" section of "Grundstück" including the 100 person "social choir".[3]

[edit] 2007

It was announced on the band's website that they would be undertaking a small "mostly" UK tour in April. Before the four UK dates, they are scheduled to play in Hannover on the 22nd.

[edit] Members

  • Blixa Bargeld: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards. (real name: Christian Emmerich, original member)
  • Alexander Hacke: bass, guitar, vocals (also known as Alexander von Borsig, since 1980)
  • N.U. Unruh: special built instruments, percussion, vocals (real name: Andrew Chudy, original member)
  • Jochen Arbeit: guitar, vocals (since 1997)
  • Rudi Moser: special built instruments, percussion, vocals (since 1997)

[edit] Other personalities

  • Ash Wednesday: keyboards, electronics (touring member since 1997, perhaps named for the Australian bush fires, perhaps for the holiday)
  • Boris Wilsdorf - sound engineer
  • Erin Zhu - executive producer, webmaster of neubauten.org.
  • Ari Benjamin Meyers - frequent collaborator, with Redux Orchestra and on Piano

[edit] Previous members

  • Beate Bartel: bass (original member, only in the band for a short time in 1980)
  • Gudrun Gut: keyboards (original member, only in the band for a short time in 1980)
  • F.M. Einheit: percussion, vocals (real name: Frank Martin Strauß, 1981-1995)
  • Mark Chung: bass, vocals (1981-1994)
  • Roland Wolf: keyboards, bass (replaced Mark Chung in 1995, died in a traffic accident short time later)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Other albums

These are compilations, live albums, limited, soundtracks and other full length releases

  • Stahlmusik (1980)
  • Stahldubversions (1982)
  • 1981/1982 Livematerial alias Liveaufnahmen 07/81 bis 02/82 (1982)
  • Strategies Against Architecture 80-83 (Strategien gegen Architekturen 80-83) (1984)
  • 2X4 (1984) (live album)
  • Die Hamletmaschine (1991) (music for a radio play)
  • Strategies Against Architecture II (1991) (double album)
  • Faustmusik (1996) (music for a radio play)
  • Ende Neu Remixes (1997)
  • Berlin Babylon (2001)
  • Strategies Against Architecture III (2001) (double album)
  • 09-15-2000, Brussels (2001) (double live album)
  • Gemini (2003) (download-only release, double live album)
  • Supporter Album No. 1 (2003) (limited album for the supporters of phase 1 only)
  • Numerous live albums from the Perpetuum Mobile Tour (February-May 2004)
  • Kalte Sterne -early recordings- (2004) (re-issue of the early singles)
  • Grundstück (2005) (limited album for the supporters of phase 2 only)
  • musterhaus:Anarchitektur (2005) (subscription-only; also available on tour)
  • musterhaus:Unglaublicher Lärm (2005) (subscription-only; also available on tour)
  • Numerous live albums from the 25th Anniversary Tour (March-April 2005)
  • musterhaus:Solo Bassfeder (2005) (subscription-only)
  • musterhaus:Redux Orchestra vs. Einstürzende Neubauten (2006) (subscription-only)
  • musterhaus:Kassetten (2006) (subscription-only)
  • Alles Was Irgendwie Nützt (2006) (available only through neubauten.org)
  • musterhaus:Klaviermusik(2006) (subscription-only)
  • Jewels(album) (2006-2007) (download-only album for supporters of phase 3)
  • musterhaus:Stimmen Reste (2006:Dec) (subscription only).
  • musterhaus:Weingeister (2007:Apr) (subscription only).

[edit] Singles

  • "Für den Untergang" (1980)
  • "Kalte Sterne" (1981)
  • "Thirsty Animal" (1982) (with Lydia Lunch & Rowland S. Howard)
  • "Yü-Gung" (1985)
  • "Das Schaben" (1985)
  • "Feurio!" (1989) (3-inch disc)
  • "Nag Nag Nag/Wüste" (1993) (3-inch disc available only with book Einstürzende Neubauten)
  • "Stella Maris" (1996)
  • "NNNAAAMMM" (1996)
  • "Perpetuum Mobile" (2004) (download-only release)

[edit] EPs

  • Interim (1993) (part of Tabula Rasa triptych)
  • Malediction (1993) (part of Tabula Rasa triptych)
  • Total Eclipse Of The Sun (1999)
  • Airplane Miniatures (2003) (supporters-only download, Christmas present)

[edit] Videos

  • Halber Mensch (film) (1985)
  • Liebeslieder (1993)
  • Stella Maris (1996)
  • 20th anniversary concert (2000)
  • Grundstück DVD (2005)
  • Palast der Republik DVD (2006)

[edit] Influenced

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.fromthearchives.com/en/chronology1.html
  2. ^ see the booklet for Strategies Against Architecture III
  3. ^ Musterhaus Home Page on neubauten.org. Accessed 26 December 2006.

[edit] Further reading

  • M. Bullynck and I. Goerlandt: "The Semiotics of Einstürzende Neubauten's 'X'". In: Philament 7 (2005), pp. 1-8. [1]
  • A. Spencer: "Einstürzende Neubauten und Heiner Müller: 'Kopfarbeit' or The Theatre in Your Head". In: Amsterdamer Beiträge zur neueren Germanistik 48 (2000), pp. 203–222.
  • Dax, Max and Defcon, Robert. Nur was nicht ist, ist möglich/No Beauty Without Danger.
  • Maeck, Klaus (1997). Hor Mit Schmerzen: Listen With Pain : Einsturzende Neubauten, 1980-1996 (Paperback). Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, Germany. ISBN 3931126099.
  • Bargeld, Blixa (1997). Headcleaner: Text Fur Einstürzende Neubauten/Text for Collapsing New Buildings (Paperback). Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, Germany. ISBN 3931126129.
  • (1993). Einstürzende Neubauten (Paperback includes 3" CD). Stampa Alternativa/Materiali Sonori, Italy. ISBN 88-7226-101-5.

[edit] External links

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