Documentary about Einstürzende Neubauten planned
The Berlin-based film maker Uli Schueppel is planning a documentary about Einstürzende Neubauten’s first concert which took place on December 21st, 1989 in what was then East Berlin. This should be really interesting to see when it’s completed, but for now Uli is in search of anyone who attended that concert and who can provide some additional information for his documentary. Anyone who can help should contact him at info@schueppel-films.de.

Diary Of Dreams has a clothing collection
I don’t know how old this news is, but it caught me by surprise as I was browsing Infrarot.de. Apparently Diary Of Dreams has launched a clothing line in association with the gothic clothing company Aderlass. They have several different styles of jackets, trench coats, pants and skirts available. You can see them all on Infrarot.de here, but I have to warn you, they are pretty expensive. The prices range from €89.90 to €239.90.

Lacrimosa begins work on new album
Lacrimosa, the Swiss gothic metal band headed up by Tilo Wolff, has begun working on their next album. This will be the band’s 10th studio album since they formed in 1990, and their first major release since their 2007 live album Lichtjahre. If you’re in Europe, be sure to catch one of their upcoming concerts or the Blackfield Festival in Gelsenkirchen where they will be headlining.

This week, Radio Goethe has a very special podcast for us. The entire hour is devoted to the new Einstürzende Neubauten album Alles Wieder Offen. You can listen to all 10 songs on this incredible album at any time this week by streaming the podcast on RadioGoethe.org, or you can download the MP3 file from iTunes and keep it for as long as you want.

Radio Goethe podcast playlist:
Einstürzende Neubauten: Alles wieder offen
Einstürzende Neubauten: Ich warte
Einstürzende Neubauten: Nagorny Karabach
Einstürzende Neubauten: Unvollständigkeit
Einstürzende Neubauten: Let’s to it a Dada
Einstürzende Neubauten: Die Wellen
Einstürzende Neubauten: Weil Weil Weil (download just this song)
Einstürzende Neubauten: Susej
Einstürzende Neubauten: Von wegen
Einstürzende Neubauten: Ich hatte ein Wort

Enjoy!

This post originally started out as a reminder, but then I realized there is something here that is much more important…

I wanted you to remember two new albums that are being released today. The first is Bastard by Subway To Sally, and the second is Alles Wieder Offen by Einstürzende Neubauten. While the styles of these two albums are very different, both bands have become favorites within their respective genres. Fans of medieval-inspired German metal really love STS and anyone into a bit more experimentation is sure to know EN.

Which one do I personally recommend? EN’s Alles Wieder Offen, for sure. Contrary to what you may be thinking, it’s not completely because I like their music better (although I do). Both albums are great and I’m sure they will attract a lot of attention during the next few weeks, but Einstürzende Neubauten really knows how to make their fans happy and gain their loyalty more than any other band I know of. First of all, they have a blog where they have been talking directly to their fans, keeping them up to date about the progress of the album every step of the way. Second, they make it very easy for new and would-be fans to hear their music (both new and old). Next, they also understand how the internet is changing the way music is spread, and have embraced online tools (other than MySpace) like Facebook and iLike instead of using some grandiose yet insincere, traditional marketing strategy. Finally, they know how to build and maintain a paid supporter network by respecting their fans and actually making it worthwhile to join, unlike most bands’ poor version of a fanclub.

How does Subway To Sally compare? (more…)

Einstürzende Neubauten’s digital single “Weil Weil Weil” was released today on iTunes, but here’s the catch: They have set it up so only people in Germany using iTunes can access the single for now. I don’t know exactly how it is done, whether it’s judged by your location or where your credit card is based, but the Americans using iTunes won’t be able to download the single until the 16th. Each country’s single release date is one week before the album’s release date. Makes sense, I guess… Here’s the link to access the single on iTunes.

“Weil Weil Weil” is the first single in support of their new album Alles Wieder Offen which will be released later this month. The digital single contains remixes by each member of the band, plus a kareoke version without lyrics so you can sing along. If you really can’t wait to download the digital single, you can always get an MP3 of the album version of “Weil Weil Weil” from Einstürzende Neubauten’s website.

Weil Weil Weil single tracklist:
01. Weil Weil Weil (Single Edit)
02. Warteschleife/Hold – Remix by N.U. Unruh
03. Kurt’s Weil – Remix by Jochen Arbeit
04. Freie Radikale – Remix by Blixa Bargeld
05. Meanwhile – Remix by Alexander Hacke
06. Rückwärtsparken – Remix by Rudolf Moser
07. Karaoke Mix

Einstürzende Neubauten has once again emerged from the junkyard where their “instruments” were found. With them, they bring their brand new album Alles Wieder Offen, which is already a big hit before it has even been released. Radio programs like Radio Goethe have songs like “Let’s Do It A Dada”, “Die Wellen” and the title track “Alles Wieder Offen” playing quite often, making EN fans drool for the full album that’s not coming out until October 19th (or the 23rd for the U.S.).

From the music I’ve heard so far, the album is typical of recent Einstürzende Neubauten music. Their old chaotic clanging and banging has given way to a more beautiful type of experimentation, and Blixa’s voice is an instrument all by itself. Of course, there is still plenty of pounding on scraps of metal that I love from Einstürzende Neubauten, its just usually more harmonious now. I’m really looking forward to the entire album.

If you’re a Neubauten fan, you’ve probably been following the band’s progress on the album’s website Alles-Wieder-Offen.com. On the site, there are webpages for each of the 10 songs on the album which give you a little history about the songs and provide the lyrics in both German and English. On the page for EN’s first (digital) single “Weil Weil Weil“, you can also download an MP3 of the song. There’s also a news page and a blog to keep you up to date, and a press area where you can check out press text, pictures of the band, and other goodies like that.

Einstürzende Neubauten - Alles Wieder Offen tracklist:
01. Die Wellen
02. Nagorny Karabach
03. Weil Weil Weil
04. Ich Hatte Ein Wort
05. Von Wegen
06. Let’s Do It A Dada
07. Alles Wieder Offen
08. Unvollstaendigkeit
09. Susej
10. Ich Warte

It seems like doing covers is a pretty popular trend right now. We’ve got some metal coversongs coming in a few months and some pop versions a bit sooner, and now Songs of Lemuria is joining the mix with some covers of their own. Their new album Deep will be released on September 28th with covers of everyone from Nirvana to Subway To Sally to Einstürzende Neubauten, all in their usual mixture of gothic and classical styles. I guess it’s natural that Nik Page’s band Blind Passengers is covered on the new album as well, considering he and Michaela Laubach together provide some beautiful vocals for Songs of Lemuria.

Deep has 14 songs plus a data track which has a bunch of pictures and wallpapers for your computer. Once again, AlphaMusic.de comes to the rescue with some samples of the new album, while the Songs of Lemuria MySpace page lags behind the times with some older songs. They’re worth listening to, though, if you want to get a nice idea of what the band sounds like.

Songs of Lemuria - Deep tracklist
01. Deep
02. Meer
03. Footprints On The Moon
04. Dein Kuss
05. Kommunion
06. Dein Duft
07. Hunting High And Low
08. Seemannslied
09. Waterdrops
10. Stella Maris
11. All Apologies
12. Irony
13. Walk On
14. End Oh The Night
15. Data-track

The latest Radio Goethe podcast opens with some music that hasn’t even been released yet: 2 new tracks from Einstürzende Neubauten’s forthcoming album Alles Wieder Offen. It will be released in late October (more details in a future post) but why wait until then to start listening to it? The first half of the show is rounded out with some more experimental-electronic songs including a great remix of Faust’s “Wir Brauchen Dich #6″ from the remix album Freispiel, as well as the original version of “T-Electronique” which can be found on their Ravvivando album. (The original version of “Wir Brauchen Dich #6″ can also be found on Ravvivando.)

If you like the Faust you hear, I really recommend checking out the album he did with Dälek, an indie-hip-hop musician from New Jersey. I know what you’re thinking… I was hesitant at first, too, but Dälek is nothing at all like your typical hip-hop music, and their music combined with the incredible experimentation of Faust make for an absolutely amazing fusion of sounds that is unlike anything I have heard before or since. The album, Derbe Respect Alder, also features a modified version of the song “T-Electronique” from this podcast.

Getting back to the show, the second half is a mini-special focusing on the final album by Sonic Front which was just recently released. You can listen to the Radio Goethe podcast either by subscribing to it on iTunes or simply by streaming it from the Radio Goethe website by clicking on “Listen to the latest show” at the top of the page.

The new Radio Goethe podcast
Einstürzende Neubauten: Die Wellen
Einstürzende Neubauten: Alles Wieder Offen
Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk: Wir Brauchen Dich #6
Faust: T-Electronique
Mathias Schaffhäuser: Hey little girl
Sonic Front: White out
Sonic Front: 36 Below
Sonic Front: Forgetting is bliss
Sonic Front: Common ground
Sonic Front: Crazy
Sonic Front: Wave Goodbye

Einstürzende Neubauten is currently in the studio working on their next album. We are expecting it to be available sometime later in the Fall, so stay tuned for updates.

EN’s most recent album that was actually available in stores was Perpetuum Mobile from 2004, but don’t think the band has been relaxing all this time. Blixa and the gang have been hard at work releasing a series of experimental albums called Musterhaus on their website, along with a couple records made exclusively for the band’s supporters.