Description

Limited double album in a nice digipack cover

When the German industrial godfathers Einsturzende Neubauten came to The Capitol in Offenbach Germany (on the 15th of March 2004) the place were packed with Neubauten fans, and the atmosphere was thick with anticipation. When the band performed the music it was felt in right in the chest… there’s a resonance to Neubautens music that doesn’t deafen instead, it shakes up your gut. It’s warm, visceral music, full of clanks and mechanical screams. Even their quiet songs, like Dead Friends (Around the Corner)’ are laden with layers of industrial soup, pulled together from the two-man percussion section, and the iconoclastic utilisation of normal instruments like the guitar and bass of Jochen and Alex. The fourth number was Redukt, from Silence Is Sexy, a lengthy epic, with bursts of energetic percussion driving through waves of bass and guitar howls. After an NYC show in 1998, Blixa said ‘Of course it is, All about Love… Its always been, All about Love. That’s why we are different.’ What? Germanic musical industrialists talking about love? Well, I can see the sense in it. Neubauten dig deeper, show more of themselves. There is no act, they put themselves on the line. It’s an act of trust, that is reciprocated by their fans. Neubauten seem to be more than just about music, or about performance. Their only artifice seems to be in the mechanical engineering works… artistically, they’ve transcended mere performance. They live the music. And for a brief 80 minutes, so does Offenbach. Einsturzende Neubauten break into Perpetuum Mobile, a 15 minute an ode to the non-stop traveller. They invoke the aircake, a stack of polystyrene and Pepsi bottles, played with some kind of power tool. Andrew runs around the stage, smacking gold covered boxes on ribbons against the floor, amidst the layers of Rudys woven metal percussion, and Alex lays down a big dirty baseline. They perform Seltener Vogel (A Rare Bird), a song that Neubauten almost abandoned, but their supporters on neubauten.org encouraged them to complete it. Later on comes Haus der Luge , a classic golden industrial oldie, then slow it all down for the tense, nervous Armenia. By the end comes the eerie Sabrina, with its weird, slightly disturbing lyrics, Ich Gehe Jetzt and Alles. Afterwards, people don’t want to go home. The merchandising stand is mobbed, and band members are walking around grinning, and signing stuff.

Track listing:
1. Ein Leichtes Leises Sauseln
2. Dead Friends (Around The Corner)
3. Perpetuum Mobile
4. Redukt
5. Youme And Meyou
6. Neun Arme
7. Rampe
8. Die Befindlichkeit Des Landes
9. Ein Seltener Vogel
10. Ozean Und Brandung – Paradiesseits
11. Haus Der Luge
12. Armenia
13. Selbsportrait Mit Kater
14. Ende Neu
15. Grundstuck
16. Ich Warte
17. Sabrina
18. Ich Gehe Jetzt
19. Alles
20. Rample (Rohre)-live Dusseldorf 30th of March 2004
21. November (Fadenscheinig)-live Amsterdam 1st of April 2004
22. Ausgerechnet In Stuttgart-live in Stuttgart 11th of March 2004
23. Oh – Wir Sind In Deutschland-live in Stuttgart 11th of March 2004
24. Wechselnde Inkubationszeiten-live in Stuttgart 11th of March 2004
25. Nichts Gegen Stuttgart-live in Stuttgart 11th of March 2004
26. Der Floh Im Ohr-live in Stuttgart 11th of March 2004
27. Gute Nacht Stuttgart-live in Stuttgart 11th of March 2004
28. Nettes Publikum-live in Karlsruhe 28 march 2004