Zeichnungen Des Patienten O.T. / EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN
The appearance of Neubauten was a shock.
That said, their debut album, KOLAAPS, was difficult to obtain, so the first time I heard it was the Japanese version of this album.
I never thought a Japanese version would be released, so I was happy to be able to get my hands on it so easily, but it also felt a little unpleasant, as it felt like they were already famous and had become pop music, which was a bit of a turnoff.
It felt like Blixa’s looks and sensational music had catapulted them to stardom, and what’s more, they soon collaborated with director Ishii Sogo to create a music video, which made me feel a little cheeky and like they were in the middle of going commercial.
However, the title and sound of this album are classic noise (!!), and it’s still one of my favorite works.
This sound is by no means commercial.
Metal percussion was popular at the time, and I think bands like TEST DEPT. and FOETUS also became popular because of their metal percussion.
The most prominent example would probably be DEPECHE MODE, but there was also KMFDM, which seemed to rival them, so it was an interesting time.
When you think of Neubauten, you think of metal percussion! They seemed to be at the forefront of bands that used junk as instruments.
I read an article about Blixa wearing rubber vests made from old tires, and I thought that both their sound and their clothing were junky, with Germany’s Neubauten and Japan’s Hanatarashi being the twin pillars of junk music.
Blixa later took an unexpected turn by joining Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds as a guitarist, but even with the Bad Seeds he was active more as a noise and visual artist than as a guitarist.
I was able to see Blixa perform live at both Neubauten and Nick Cave shows in the ’90s, and it seemed to me that he had toned down quite a bit of the dangerous feel of his past.
But he was still pretty cool… Although they are in completely different genres, Henry Rollins of BLACK FLAG was also a fan of Neubauten and had a tattoo of the one-eyed man, the symbol of Neubauten, so it’s rare for a noise band to be accepted by such a wide range of people.