Einstürzende Neubauten loves their fans. I mean truly its difficult for any band to stay together three decades and retain such control over their music so Neubauten turns to the fans for support and in turn reward them. One such reward would include a 2004 "supporter-only" concert (in reference to the band's initiative to put out work without a label but rather the financial backing of their fan-base via donations) at Berlin's Palast Der Republik, an iconic building that housed, amongst other things, the East German Parliament, though this rather be a skeleton of the former building which was in the process of being torn down (a beautiful reference to Neubauten's name which literally means Collapsing Buildings). A video of the show was recorded and released as an exclusive supporter's only DVD and would not be released to the public until 2006. It's a good thing too because this is a great DVD for an Einstürzende Neubauten fan. If you haven't seen a Neubauten show then you are missing out. The band is widely recognized for their unique use of industrial machinery, products, waste, etc. in their music making and all of that is on display here with garbage cans, power tools, sheet metal, PVC pipes, and even the building itself. As the show goes on the usage only becomes more creative with highlights including a moment where a series of beer can boxes filled with who knows what and tied together by string is dragged around the building by one of the band members as part of one of the sequences of "Grudstueck". My personal favorite moment is when the band uses an air compressor with a mobile made of bottles, a device that was explored in depth on the album Perpetuum Mobile. The song selections are really solid with a mix of iconic older tracks such as "Haus Der Luege", "Armenia", and "Sabrina", newer songs like "Youme & Meyou" and the epic "Perpetuum Mobile" and then the highlight has to be the middle of the performance which includes "Grudstueck" movement from the 2nd supporter-only album. Another innovation and show of love towards their fan-base is featured on several songs where the band is supported by a 100-piece chorus made of their supporters enlisted directly from their website. One of the things I love about Neubauten has been their ability to take experimental music and make it accessible. That whole idea translates very well to this DVD because you get a mixture of concert and performance, like watching Stomp. Its easy to watch this DVD over and over again to notice all the different ways in which the band is creating sound. In fact a DVD like this should be mandatory for any kind of college sound program, especially for foley artists and experimental musicians. But even if you're not super in to experimental music this is a fun show to watch, chill out to, and just enjoy the pioneers of industrial music dressed up in nice suits showing you don't have to be rich to make music. The DVD also includes two bonus tracks that are part of the concert but for some reason omitted as part of the main DVD movie ("Die Befindlichkeit Des Landes" and "Redukt"). The video of the show could be slightly better but the sound recording is phenomenal. Favorite Tracks: Haus Der Luege, Armenia, Youme & Meyou, Perpetuum Mobile, Grundstueck, Was Ist Ist, Sabrina, and Redukt
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Album a Day (DVD Edition): Einstürzende Neubauten - Palast Der Republik
Einstürzende Neubauten loves their fans. I mean truly its difficult for any band to stay together three decades and retain such control over their music so Neubauten turns to the fans for support and in turn reward them. One such reward would include a 2004 "supporter-only" concert (in reference to the band's initiative to put out work without a label but rather the financial backing of their fan-base via donations) at Berlin's Palast Der Republik, an iconic building that housed, amongst other things, the East German Parliament, though this rather be a skeleton of the former building which was in the process of being torn down (a beautiful reference to Neubauten's name which literally means Collapsing Buildings). A video of the show was recorded and released as an exclusive supporter's only DVD and would not be released to the public until 2006. It's a good thing too because this is a great DVD for an Einstürzende Neubauten fan. If you haven't seen a Neubauten show then you are missing out. The band is widely recognized for their unique use of industrial machinery, products, waste, etc. in their music making and all of that is on display here with garbage cans, power tools, sheet metal, PVC pipes, and even the building itself. As the show goes on the usage only becomes more creative with highlights including a moment where a series of beer can boxes filled with who knows what and tied together by string is dragged around the building by one of the band members as part of one of the sequences of "Grudstueck". My personal favorite moment is when the band uses an air compressor with a mobile made of bottles, a device that was explored in depth on the album Perpetuum Mobile. The song selections are really solid with a mix of iconic older tracks such as "Haus Der Luege", "Armenia", and "Sabrina", newer songs like "Youme & Meyou" and the epic "Perpetuum Mobile" and then the highlight has to be the middle of the performance which includes "Grudstueck" movement from the 2nd supporter-only album. Another innovation and show of love towards their fan-base is featured on several songs where the band is supported by a 100-piece chorus made of their supporters enlisted directly from their website. One of the things I love about Neubauten has been their ability to take experimental music and make it accessible. That whole idea translates very well to this DVD because you get a mixture of concert and performance, like watching Stomp. Its easy to watch this DVD over and over again to notice all the different ways in which the band is creating sound. In fact a DVD like this should be mandatory for any kind of college sound program, especially for foley artists and experimental musicians. But even if you're not super in to experimental music this is a fun show to watch, chill out to, and just enjoy the pioneers of industrial music dressed up in nice suits showing you don't have to be rich to make music. The DVD also includes two bonus tracks that are part of the concert but for some reason omitted as part of the main DVD movie ("Die Befindlichkeit Des Landes" and "Redukt"). The video of the show could be slightly better but the sound recording is phenomenal. Favorite Tracks: Haus Der Luege, Armenia, Youme & Meyou, Perpetuum Mobile, Grundstueck, Was Ist Ist, Sabrina, and Redukt
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