Einstürzende Neubauten

Really happy to get more Neubauten in here, that’s some good working music.

Foetus, “Mighty Whity”

This song, from 1995’s Gash, makes me wonder exactly how you get Sony to distribute a song about killing whity, all set to a grinding slice of noise and a jaunty trumpet line. But thank goodness somebody figured it out! The whole album is very good, by the way.

Freestyle Fellowship, “Dedications”

Just a little interstitial track in the middle of To Whom It May Concern…, over a Delfonics sample. Good record, though.

Some serious immortals today! And, um, 17 seconds of silence.

Smokey Robinson, “Swept For You Baby”

We’re visiting 1967 with this song, with quintessential Motown artist and arguably the soul behind the soul, Smokey Robinson. It would be futile to list all the tremendous songs he’s been involved with, and I couldn’t really do him justice. Just enjoy this song.

Einstürzende Neubauten, “Partynummer [Live]”

This track comes from Strategies Against Architecture II, a roundup of singles, live tracks, and various unreleased music primarily from the late 80s. In a lot of ways, this documents the end of the first phase of their career, as after this album came out, their music trended away from the power tools and more towards ambient pieces and electronics. It’s a great collection, though, and one of the better entry points to Neubauten’s catalog.

Driving on through Sunday! Even though I’m actually writing this on Friday! Time is confusing! Music is forever!

Einstürzende Neubauten, “Trinklied”

We haven’t hit Neubauten proper yet, although we did encounter Alexandre Hacke with his work with The Unsemble. Einstürzende Neubauten (literally, “collapsing new buildings”) is sort of the prototypical industrial band, as opposed to industrial dance. They make use of noise, atypical percussion, and the sounds of industry to make challenging music. Early in their career, it was about noise and chaos. Towards their mid-period, there was a steer towards more recognizable rhythms and even, yes, some danceable stuff. Later on, things moved more towards ambient compositions. Always, though, their music and art has had an edge, and they’ve always been one of the most interesting bands working. They even did crowdfunding way before the crowd did, way back in 2002.