German pop music after BBC Newsnight 7-Aug-2006

James
I did not hear it but the BBC seem to have a thing about Blixa Bargeld at the moment (he was featured on Tales from Berlin). If it was him then the group was Einstürzende Neubauten. They have a great website here

Steve

Thanks Steve, I am pretty sure it was [having looked at the site].

Can you suggest which CD to buy if I want to get started [They reminded me a bit of Kraftwerk but acoustic ... I am a big fan of Kraftwerk].

Thanks again
James

Hi James
Well Kraftwerk they ain't! Unlike Kraftwerk Einstürzende Neubauten, are more into what is not electric. Metal, sticks, grinding rusty things together, concrete, jackhammers, sledgehammers, and various other implements of destruction. They are trying to make sounds and rhythms out of solid uncomplicated raw materials. If the clip was from Tales from Berlin then they were banging drainage pipes and the such like, this was for a subscriber only web broadcast.

I think you probably need to remember the history of the era that created a band like Einstürzende Neubauten:

"At the end of the 1970s an apocalyptic mood came over West Germany, and especially West Berlin. Opponents of nuclear power and the arms race announced the end of the world. An alternative movement developed in West Berlin, disconnected from the West German "rat race" and free to cultivate the mood of despair. No group expressed this disposition better than the Einstürzende Neubauten, who developed a novel and desolate musical sound." siteandsound.com

Einstürzende Neubauten have usually been classed as industrial - I seem to remember a BBC arts programme about them where they drilled through the ICA stage with pnuematic drills - with the use of home made instruments being part of their trade mark - originally the instruments were made up of stuff discarded by the American Army. Recently they have begun to use silence as part of the music, notably in the album Silence Is Sexy. So, they have an ever expanding collection of work that is to some extent poles apart. What you might also have noticed from their website is that they now are a "supporter funded" band, in reality this means that they are releasing a lot of stuff for download only, and usually only for supporters.

I suggest you have a look here for details on industrial music and some descriptions of the albums involved. Also here for an interview with co-founder Alexander Hacke.

Anyway to CD's (and with the warning that Einstürzende Neubauten have never been a popularist group, some of the listening can be "difficult"). I would try:

Strategies Against Architecture 3 1991-2001 - this is a double CD that is a review of the first 10 years, so you go from drilling to Silence Is Sexy. If I were forced into a single "recommendation" it would probably be this. £7.99 from Amazon at the moment.

Haus Der Luege - is claimed to be more accessible. The second "side" appears to have been recorded during a riot.

Tabula Rasa - most of this album is on Strategies III but the songs are slightly different.

I read somewhere that "if you find Rammstein a bit soft, you could do worse than Einstürzende Neubauten" and that kind of sums them up ideally. I "like" their later more "musical" stuff much more than the earlier recordings, even so they are not exactly dinner party material (unless you really dislike the guests.....) As for a similarity to Kraftwerk that is possibly a maybe! Einstürzende Neubauten are much more experimental (maybe you already got that idea anyway?) and certainly less popularist, also I don't think they are that interested in the Tour de France. I think possibly early Bad Seeds stuff might be more appropriate especially as Blixa Bargeld was involved in that as well.

In the end you pays your money and makes your choice but I would guess 99% of people would dislike most of what Einstürzende Neubauten do. Hope that helps.

Steve

I'm glad you mentioned Einsturzende Neubaten. I love their stuff but I haven't listened to them for ages. You've prompted me to pull their albums out anmd give them a listen. Thanks

If Peter's posts are anything to go by, you should be able to stand outside Cymbiosis soon and listen to a early years "tribute band"!
Steve

Dear Steve,
Thanks for all the info .. I will read more of it at the weekend and think about buying one of the albums you suggest.
Thanks again,
James H.