Strategies Against Architecture II

by

Einstürzende Neubauten

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I am impressed and enjoy this CD by the Dada band from Germany, Einstürzende Neubauten. STRATEGIES AGAINST ARCHITECTURE II is described in the notes as "a short history of Einstürzende Neubauten in the years 1984 - 1990". Mr Blixa Bargeld, the guiding light of the band, writes brief notes about each of the songs. I found this to be quite interesting and helpful. My favourite pieces are KEIN BESTANDTEIL SEIN, described as "Serie atonal beauty. F.M. [Einheit] played on a chair, processing the sound through pipes of various lengths to prduce notes of inderterminate pitch"; BILDBESHCHRIBUNG - "A soundtrack, built around Mark's [Chung] ingenious dominant one note bass line and miked up shopping cart" and ARMENIA which was featured in the film HEAT. I feel energised by the raw power, naturally, even more, the primal force transcends any preconceptions about music. I feel comfortable and connected with a fundamental emotional centre given voice. I admire the ingenuity of the band members as they produce unconventional sounds from conventional apparati. The noise of an electric jackhammer, for example, which is heard on KANGOLICHT, is an electric jackhammer. There is something honest about that that I find is lost with digital sampling. If you are interested in truly industrial music by one of the few truly innovative and original bands, this CD will interest you.

This is a German group who seem to be just the opposite of "Kraftwerk". Kraftwerk did music concepts with electronics. Blips, snaps, pops, clicks, bleeps, etc. I really loved Kraftwerk for their uniqueness.

However, 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 they can get a rhythm going, that's great. But, what is their greatest selling point, isn't implimented enough. Plus, their vocalist screaming angrily in German doesn't help sell itself to non-Germans.

I truly enjoyed only about 9% of this whole double CD. Most songs were just not that interesting to an American listener like myself. Although that wonderful 9% would have been great if there were so much more.

I can't believe that they did Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood's song "Sand". What compelled them to do that?

Anyway, there is a DVD called "Liebeslieder" which is a documentary on Einstürzende Neubauten. Most all of the dialogue is in German. There is some performance footage, and some interviews (with English sub-titles). I was hoping that this DVD would help shed some more interesting visual entertainment about this "de-construction noise making" band, but again, there just wasn't enough to justify their claim to fame.

And what's more, these guys are actually uglier than The Rolling Stones. I didn't think that that could be possible. But, their ugliness does support their angst. If I looked like them, I'd be angry too.