Ende Neu

Amazon.com

Emerging from Berlin at the dawn of the ’80s, Einstürzende Neubauten crafted a distinctive postpunk, proto-industrial sound that the group is still expanding on 18 years later. Typically, a Neubauten track combines abrasive machine sounds and the simplest of musical elements–spare bass lines, aggressive chants, thudding beats–to produce surprisingly atmospheric music. Ende Neu‘s “Was Ist Ist” embodies the band’s punk-plus-machine attack, while “Installation No. 1” throbs with the pulse that spawned a thousand industrial groups. But the CD’s most striking tracks recall the work of dramatic artists like Leonard Cohen and Serge Gainsbourg more than raging power tools. Not a surprise when you consider that singer-guitarist Blixa Bargeld has played with cabaret rockers the Bad Seeds and that Neubauten members have scored numerous films and theater works. A highlight of the album is the exquisite “Stella Maris”–a lovely duet sung by Bargeld and actress Meret Becker, accompanied by strings! –Fred Cisterna