Genre/Influences: Industrial, Experimental, Industrial-Pop.

Format: Digital, 2CD, 2Vinyl.

Background/Info: Forty four years after the set up of this legendary formation “Rampen” brings Einstürzende Neubauten back into the spotlight. Blixa Bargeld, N. U. Unruh, Alexander Hacke, Jochen Arbeit, Rudolph Moser and Felix Gebhard achieved fifteen new songs which have been introduced by the single “Ist Ist”.

Content: The early Industrial approach and improvisation evolved throughout the years by the Industrial label is still running through “Rampen”. You mainly hear it in the metallic percussion work and different noises which are sometimes hard to catch. But the ’alien pop music’ is also noticeable for the ‘softer’ side the band has elaborated and which in a way has something Pop and/or Ballad-like. They here are playing with acoustic instruments like guitar. Blixa Bargeld’s timbre of voice hasn’t changed throughout the years and remains a charismatic and single singer/performer.

+ + + : It’s simply fascinating to realize how this legendary band and pioneers of Industrial music are still innovative 44 years after their debut. You don’t exactly imagine Industrial- and Pop music as a match and yet “Rampen” reveals it’s possible. Surreal or abstract it sounds to me as an imaginary Dadaistic music creation featuring multiple outstanding songs. Blixa Bargeld and his acolytes took me by surprise and I can only but recommend this apocalyptic and alien-like composition. It has something accessible and even sweet but still raw and should I dare to say ‘perverted’ sound creation?! This is a free style which remains visionary. Respect guys!

– – – : I’m less into a few Ballad-driven songs which however bring extra diversity.

Conclusion: “Rampen” is totally different from the early, harsher years of the band although it remains a work without compromises and still visionary. Highly recommended!

Best songs: “Everything Will Be Fine”, “Wie Lange Noch”, “Pestalozzi”, “Gesundbrunnen”, “Besser Isses”, “Ist Ist”, “Ick Wees Nich (Noch Nich)”.

Rate: 9.

Artist & Label: https://neubauten.org/en/  www.facebook.com/EinstuerzendeNeubauten.TributePage

About Einstürzende Neubauten

Einstürzende Neubauten is a German experimental group formed in West Berlin in 1980, generally linked to a concert at the Moon Club on 1 April that year. Founding members Blixa Bargeld and N. U. Unruh remain in the line-up, joined by Jochen Arbeit and Rudolph Moser since 1997. The band is known for its use of custom-built instruments, largely made from scrap metal and building tools, alongside standard instrumentation. Forty-four years after that first show, the band released the album “Rampen (APM: Alien Pop Music)”, introduced by the single “Ist Ist”.

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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Einstuerzende Neubauten announce the upcoming release of a new double album, titled “Rampen – apm: alien pop music”. The release will be out on the band’s own label Potomak. You’ll be able to get the album as limited edition double LP, regular double LP, double CD, and of course also digitally. The release date is April 5th.

“Rampen – apm: alien pop music” is the follow-up to the 2020 album “Alles in Allem”.

Einstürzende Neubauten formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, vocals), long-time contributor Alexander Hacke (bass, vocals), plus Jochen Arbeit (guitar, vocals), and Rudolph Moser (custom-built instruments, percussion, vocals), who both joined the line-up in 1997.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Jochen Arbeit releases his forthcoming album “Tier Macht Toene” (“Animal Makes Sounds’) this month, September 23rd. The album was made with homemade instruments and others built by Sonic Youth guitar builder Yuri Landman. Arbeit is joined on the album by Sonja Kosche.

You can exclusively listen to the album below ahead of the official release tomorrow.

About the album, Arbeit says: “A long while ago one day in forced Isolation, detached from time and space, something broke free that was asleep before. Reduced to the minimum vital functions of life a Tier awoke from which all Schmerz and Lust broke free, in which old Trauma were hidden inside way too long. It spoke in Toene the stories it had to tell of loneliness but also from interactions that led to reactions that not always were agreed upon, rarely harmonic, but that found themselves in a We with special value.

Old images broke free like a suppressed madness from a thicket and showed an exhaustion but also a force and strength that was vividly perceptible.

How can one describe what is not describable when two meet. The one who was inside the Berlin Music Scene for decades with knowledge that seemed obvious and the other who made music a long time ago but lost herself for decades and did not trust to express herself from fear what could come up with it and emerge. It stays hard to describe.

Nothing was planned or predictable. The forced isolation because of the pandemic gave urgently needed time to develop something special and precious. The music expresses emotions that were hidden in the dark and finally broke free and told not only from old despair and not overcome trauma but also brought strength, satisfaction, peace and calm that you can try to feel inside the screeching-oppressive and nearly screaming tones.

When we could we sat down to generate sound with self made instruments, developed a dialog that words could not tell.This was finally a motor which kept us alive, a dynamic that functions in the moment, spontaneously without thinking.”

Tier Macht Toene will be available for download and streaming on September 23rd via Dymaxion Groove Records.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist is to release “Tier Macht Töne” (“Animal Makes Sounds”), a 3-track album recorded using homemade instruments and others made by Sonic Youth guitar builder Yuri Landman. He now shares the first single with Sonja Kosche, “Trauma”, today.

About the album, Arbeit says: “A long while ago one day in forced Isolation, detached from time and space, something broke free that was asleep before. Reduced to the minimum vital functions of life a Tier awoke from which all Schmerz and Lust broke free, in which old Trauma were hidden inside way too long. It spoke in Toene the stories it had to tell of loneliness but also from interactions that led to reactions that not always were agreed upon, rarely harmonic, but that found themselves in a We with special value. Old images broke free like a suppressed madness from a thicket and showed an exhaustion but also a force and strength that was vividly perceptible. How can one describe what is not describable when two meet. The one who was inside the Berlin Music Scene for decades with knowledge that seemed obvious and the other who made music a long time ago but lost herself for decades and did not trust to express herself from fear what could come up with it and emerge. It stays hard to describe.”

And he adds: “Nothing was planned or predictable. The forced isolation because of the pandemic gave urgently needed time to develop something special and precious. The music expresses emotions that were hidden in the dark and finally broke free and told not only from old despair and not overcome trauma but also brought strength, satisfaction, peace and calm that you can try to feel inside the screeching-oppressive and nearly screaming tones. When we could we sat down to generate sound with self made instruments, developed a dialog that words could not tell.This was finally a motor which kept us alive, a dynamic that functions in the moment, spontaneously without thinking.”

Check the single below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Out today via Re:Mission Entertainment is the second album, “—-X—-“, in an ongoing collaboration between Dead Voices on Air and Snowbeasts. For this release the two bands took a slightly different approach during the recording. Most of the songs were passed back and forth via file transfer until the songs felt finished. “This resulted in a more composed, or thematic feel to the album, which features more lyrical content”, so the label emphasizes.

The release is out as a download and as a limited CD digipak (100 copies) via Bandcamp (where you can order it. A special T-shirt is also available for ordering.

Spybey’s lyrical content continues to be preoccupied by the political challenges of our time, believing that we have entered a new era of autocracy. He believes that we are in danger of being seduced by the incessant barrage of lies, half-truths, trolling and allegations. That we are being wilfully misled by petty tyrants, upper class twits, the filthy rich, pathological liars and narcissists.

The duo says: “We are oppressed through the weaponisation of fear, in a vain attempt to obscure the political and strategic ineptness of our politicians. The enemy is anyone who dares to think or act differently, or who challenges the kind of beliefs that have plagued mankind: hatred of others, hatred of minorities, hatred of those who seek to instil hope and compassion into our societies.”

Spybey specifies even further: “I’m 60 and I’m still pissed off. Perhaps more pissed off than ever. I confess I find it ever so hard to believe that with all of the advances that humans have made during my lifetime, all of the wonderful things we have achieved, that our countries (the USA and the UK) have ended up electing, being led and represented by people like Trump and Johnson. I can’t believe that anyone could be stupid enough to believe that the world is a safer and better place because of their contribution, or lack of it to the maintenance of peace, stability and wellness. To all of you who say that musicians shouldn’t get involved in politics, I have this to say. I make music because I am able to do it. It’s my right to create and by doing so I am afforded a voice and a platform. It’s one of the many privileges of living in a ‘free society,’ (whatever that means). I make music because I want to and if I didn’t think that by doing so that I couldn’t reach out to people and to respectfully challenge the status quo, in an attempt to make some kind of meaningful contribution to society, I’d quit tomorrow, pack up and go away. For Trump and Johnson, you can easily add another dozen or so ‘world’ leaders names to the list by the way. Politicians are not all the same, and if you think that, then I’d like to respectfully suggest that you might want to do something about it. We deserve better. So yeah, when I started to write lyrics for this record, I really couldn’t avoid mining some of these feelings and I’m kind of unapologetic about it. I don’t like to offend people but enough is enough folks, we deserve better.”

Simon Paul, a well known graphic artist from Toronto, Canada provided the artwork, which plays on a number of themes from the album. The CD was mastered by another member of the Dead Voices on Air family, Anatoly Tokee Grinberg from Moscow.

Here’s the album itself.

About Snowbeasts

Snowbeasts is the duo of Robert Galbraith and Elizabeth Virosa. The project was formed in 2014 in Providence RI after a series of heavy snowstorms. Earlier releases were cinematic modular landscapes and droning dark ambient while later tracks can be more beat oriented.

Snowbeasts has numerous releases scattered across their own Component Recordings and Paris’s MTronic. They have also recently completed a trio of albums with beat oriented noise artist, Solypsis including two for Ohm Resistance.

Along with Snowbeasts, Virosa and Galbraith produce techno under the name Obscure Formats and electronic dance as Pattern Behavior.

About Dead Voices on Air

Spybey started his career in the North-East of England with Zoviet France in the late eighties before moving to Vancouver. It was here that Dead Voices On Air were formed. Spybey also worked under the name Propeller and was an original member of Download, who included members of Skinny Puppy. Spybey was the voice of their 1996 release, “The Eyes of Stanley Pain”.

After leaving Download he started a series of collaborations, appearing on over 50 albums in a five-year period. Perhaps his most significant collaboration was being asked to be part of CAN guitarist Michael Karoli’s band Sofortkontakt! and appearing at the CAN 30th anniversary shows in 1999. Spybey was a close friend of Michael Karoli prior to his death in 2001 and had toured with him as part of legendary CAN vocalist Damo Suzuki’s Network in 1998 in North America, appearing in the German TV film by Peter Braatz, “On the Air”.

Spybey has recorded, toured and played live with numerous collaborators including Faust, Michael Rother (Neu!) and Dieter Moebius (Cluster), members of The Legendary Pink Dots, Mick Harris (Scorn, Painkiller), Jarboe (Swans), Simon Fisher-Turner, Richard Sanderson, James Plotkin (Flux, Old, Scorn), Robert Hampson (Loop/Main), Jochen Arbeit (Einzturzende Neubaten), Darryl Neudorf and Sugarpill (Abintra), Not Breathing, Pigface and Martin Atkins.

He has worked with a number of record companies, including Kranky, Nettwerk, Invisible, Cold Spring, U.M.P and Soleilmoon. Spybey was part of the band Beehatch with the late Phil Western of Download, who released three albums and toured Europe. In 2004 he formed Reformed Faction, a duo with founding member of Zoviet France and Rapoon mainstay Robin Storey. The band have released a number of albums and have played live in both Europe and North America. He now resides in his native Yorkshire, in the UK.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Out on December 14th via Re:Mission Entertainment is the album “The Camel Corps and Other Stories” by the experimental / industrial duo Jochen Arbeit and Mark Spybey. You will know Jochen Arbeit from his work with Einstürzende Neubauten and Automat, while Mark Spybey has been active with Dead Voices On Air and Download. Among others that is.

Mark was introduced to Jochen via Robin Rimbaud of Scanner. Mark then invited Jochen to contribute to a collaborative project whereby he teamed with various friends to create a number of 7 inch singles. The single was never released but the pair enjoyed the experience enough to go on to record enough material for a full length album.

That was back in 2011. Ten years elapsed before they talked about releasing it.

Mark explains: “Ten years seems like a lot of time and I guess it is. I can recall that we felt that the best way of finishing the album was for me to either send Jochen the project files so that he might do some of the finished mixes or that, preferably, I go to Berlin to spend time with him finishing up the project. In the end I guess life and experiences just took over and we didn’t manage to get together. Earlier this year I listened to the mixes, which I really liked and sent them to Jochen with a suggestion that we release the album, as is. Thankfully he agreed!”

Most of the material on “The Camel Corps and Other Stories” was assembled from sounds that Jochen sent to Mark: fractured rhythms, and textured processed guitars.

You can pre-order it already on Bandcamp.

About Jochen Arbeit

Jochen Arbeit moved to Berlin in 1980 and became part of the arts collective Geniale Dilettanten. In 1983 he joined the
instrumental band Die Haut, and recorded and toured extensively.

In 1997 he joined Einzturzende Neubaten and is still an integral part of this legendary band. His other projects include Automat, The Jever Mountain Boys, Alert!, Abq, Martin Dean, Richard Ruin, Latin Lovers and the arts project Stupid Green. He has collaborated with people such as Scanner, TM Schneider and members of Larsen.

About Mark Spybey

Mark Spybey started his career briefly working with Zoviet:France, before forming Dead Voices on Air and joining Download with members of Skinny Puppy whilst living in Vancouver. He was a member of Can guitarist Michael Karoli’s band, Sofortkontakt!

Over the years he has collaborated extensively with a wide variety of artists such as Damo Suzuki, Martin Atkins, Jarboe and works with ex-Zoviet:France member Robin Storey, from the band Rapoon in the project Reformed Faction.

He now lives in the north of England.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Available now for ordering is the vinyl version of Mueran Humanos’ 2nd album “Miseress”. “Miseress” was produced and mixed in Einstürzende Neubauten’s ‘andereBaustelle’ studio in Berlin. On ‘Miseress’, the post-punk act continues its industrial inflected synth explorations first introduced on their 2011 debut on Old Europa Café.

On “Miseress” they now add for the first time guitars to their sound, supplied by Einstürzende Neubauten’s Jochen Arbeit, who also acts as the only guest musician on the album.

Below is the track “Mi auto” taken from the 9-track release “Miseress” available now on vinyl.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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