Figured it’s about time I finally wrote about the band whose frontman’s name I’ve s̶t̶o̶l̶e̶n̶ borrowed, Einstürzende Neubauten, which translates roughly to Collapsing New Buildings, though most people just seem to call them Neubauten and everyone knows what they’re talking about. Neubauten are a German industrial band which takes the genre to the most literal extreme: most of their percussion is crafted from scrap metal, which more often than not results in some of the most inventive rhythms the genre has to offer. The band aren’t exactly without controversy; the band came into being during the time when Germany was bifurcated between Western Europe and the Iron Curtain, a time when architectural standards were substandard at the best of times. There were altbauten (old buildings), which were and are centuries old and either survived World War II or were reconstructed, and neubauten (new buildings), which had an unfortunate reputation for being cheaply built, shoddily designed, and less pretty than the altbauten which preceded them, and the band received unwanted attention when the Berlin Congress Hall collapsed and killed someone. To give North American readers an idea of how insensitive Germans might have thought the name to be, imagine if less than a day after 9/11 happened, some dipshits got together and formed a punk band called Carpet-Bomb Manhattan.
Now if you’re wondering how the hell this band is in the same scene as Throbbing Gristle, Coil, and Nurse with Wound, consider the meaning of the band’s name: it fits in perfectly with the classic industrial ethos of taking cultural landmarks of old and molding them into something new, and in that respect Neubauten’s music coincides nicely with the British industrial of the time. Up to this point, Neubauten made a name for themselves making anarchic but rhythmic anti-music, then came Halber Mensch, which, perhaps due to frontman Blixa Bargeld playing with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, saw their music become more structured, while still being some of the most literally industrial music there is. From: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/82848/Einsturzende-Neubauten-Halber-Mensch/
Halber Mensch (also known as 1/2 Mensch) is a 1986 documentary film by Japanese director Gakuryū Ishii, then going by the name Sōgo Ishii, featuring German band Einstürzende Neubauten. It was originally released on VHS, and re-released on DVD in 2005. The film's title comes from the album of the same name. The one-hour film documents Einstürzende Neubauten's visit to Japan in 1985. It includes concert footage along with scenes of the band performing in an industrial building. Several songs from the "Halber Mensch" album are presented as music videos, some with accompanying Butoh dancers. From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halber_Mensch_(film)
