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Einstürzende Neubauten is an ever-changing band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The band is often classified as industrial or electronica, though neither really applies well in describing what it is that Einstürzende Neubauten does or sounds like. One of the band's "trademarks" is the use of self-made instruments and noises, in addition to standard music instruments.

Contents 1 Members 1.1 Other personalities 1.2 Previous members 2 The band name 3 History 3.1 1980 (the beginning) 3.2 1981-1982 3.3 1983-1984 3.4 1985-1989 3.5 1990-1995 3.6 1996-1999 3.7 2000-2001 3.8 2002-2004 3.9 2005 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.2 Other albums 4.3 Singles 4.4 EPs 4.5 Videos 5 Further reading 6 External links 7 Influenced

Members

• Blixa Bargeld (Christian Emmerich) (original member)
• Alexander Hacke (alias Alexander von Borsig)
• N.U. Unruh (Andrew Chudy) (original member)
• Jochen Arbeit
• Rudi Moser

Other personalities

• Boris Wilsdorf - sound engineer
• Ash Wednesday (touring member since 1990s, perhaps named for the Australian bush fires, perhaps for the holiday)
• Erin Zhu - executive producer, webmaster of neubauten.org.

Previous members

• Beate Bartel (original member, left the band in the early 1980s)
• Gudrun Gut (original member, left the band in the early 1980s)
• F.M. Einheit (Frank Martin Strauß) (percussion, early 1980s - middle 1990s)
• Mark Chung (bass, early 1980s - middle 1990s)
• Roland Wolf - replaced Mark Chung on bass in 1995, died in a traffic accident short time later.

The band name

The band name is usually translated into English as "Collapsing New Buildings", though Neubauten generally carries the more specific connotation of a high-rise tower block. Also, the term Neubauten was associated in 1980 with the post-World War II buildings in Germany, which include, due to the destruction during the war and rebuilding after, nearly all the German buildings.

History

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 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.

1981-1982

In 1981 the percussionist F.M. Einheit (from the Hamburg band Abwärts) joined Einstürzende Neubauten and they released their first LP Kollaps, a strange and new mixture of rough punk tunes and industrial noises using obscure instruments such as metal plates, self-made music machines, and various electronic sounds. 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.

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 Blixa Bargeld joined the band The Birthday Party (featuring Nick Cave, Mick Harvey). After it was disbanded short time later, he became a long-time member of the one of the bands that rose from The Birthday Party's ashes - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (featuring Nick Cave and Mick Harvey). Blixa Bargeld remained a full-time member of two bands, Einstürzende Neubauten and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, until 2003.

1985-1989

The band's next foray, 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 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.

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 stlye clothes, appeared at the live concerts in a suit.

In Vienna, 1992, Einstürzende Neubauten performed at The Academy of Visual Arts' 300th aniversary 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.

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 short time later, during the recording of Ende Neu, at least particularly because of a conflict with Blixa Bargeld. The last Einstürzende Neubauten track F.M. Einheit worked on was "Was ist ist" (source: booklet for Strategies Against Architecture III). After leaving Einstürzende Neubauten, F.M. Einheit continued his work in music and theater, collaborating with various artists, such as Andreas Ammer, Gry and Pan Sonic.

1996-1999

A short time later, the band released the LP Ende Neu (1996) which became quite famous because of the song "Stella Maris", a duet of Blixa Bargeld with the female singer Meret Becker. A world tour followed the release. During this time, Jochen Arbeit and Rudi Moser (both were the members of Die Haut) joined the band.

2000-2001

On April 1, 2000, Einstürzende Neubauten celebrated their 20th birthday with a "20th anniversary concert" in Columbiahalle, Berlin and a release of the album Silence is sexy, followed by a world tour. The title song of Silence is sexy is about tinnitus.

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

2002-2004

In 2002, Einstürzende Neubauten began the work on a new album without the backing of a record label, relying instead upon 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 US$ 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 comminuty via internet, as a streaming video. An exclusive Supporter Album #1 was sent out to them in autumn 2003. Blixa 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 intesely 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. Each CD was automatically splitted into the nearly one minute-long tracks.

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.

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.

Phase III of the Supporter's project is going to start in early 2006 (February).

Discography

Albums

• Kollaps (re-released including STAHLDUBVERSIONS) (1981)
• Zeichnungen des Patienten O. T. (1983)
• Halber Mensch (1985)
• Fünf Auf der Nach Oben Offenen Richterskala (1987)
• Haus der Lüge (1989)
• Tabula Rasa (1993)
• Ende Neu (1996)
• Silence is Sexy (2000)
• Perpetuum Mobile (2004)

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
• 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)
• musterhaus:Solo Bassfeder (2005) (subscription-only)

Singles

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

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)

Videos

• Halber Mensch (film) (1985)
• Liebeslieder (1993)
• Stella Maris (1996)
• 20th anniversary concert (2000)
• Phase II DVD (forthcoming) (2005)

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.

External links

• Official Einstürzende Neubauten webpage
• Official Blixa Bargeld webpage
• Official Alex Hacke webpage
• Official F.M. Einheit webpage
• Official Ash Wednesday webpage
• From The Archives: a site with discography, concert history, videography, bibliography, etc. Also features Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party and related artists.
• Einstürzende Neubauten Lyrics

Influenced

• Battery 9

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