Einstürzende Neubauten formed in West Berlin in 1980 around Blixa Bargeld and N.U. Unruh, building instruments from scrap metal and power tools and helping invent industrial music outright. Halber Mensch (1985) and Tabula Rasa (1993) are the two entry points worth arguing over. Shop Einstürzende Neubauten vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Einstürzende Neubauten (German for collapsing new buildings) formed in West Berlin on April 1, 1980, around Blixa Bargeld and N.U. Unruh. The band is foundational to industrial music as a genre, building custom instruments from metal scrap, construction tools, power tools, and architectural materials, and integrating these alongside conventional instruments. Blixa Bargeld also served as a longtime member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1983-2003). The band has pioneered fan-supported releasing models with their Supporter program (one of the earliest crowdfunding music models). They have remained active for more than four decades, with the lineup of Bargeld, Unruh, and Hacke as the consistent core.
Einstürzende Neubauten's sound combines industrial, experimental rock, noise, post-punk, and avant-garde with extensive use of custom-built instruments - metal sheets, springs, power tools, jackhammers, and architectural scrap - alongside more conventional instruments. Their work is widely cited as foundational to industrial music as a recognized genre alongside Throbbing Gristle and SPK.
Original Some Bizzare and ZickZack pressings of the early catalog are widely collected. Mute Records repressings have made the 1990s and 2000s catalog more accessible. The band's Supporter program has produced numerous limited-edition direct-to-fan releases.
Listeners new to Einstürzende Neubauten typically start with Halber Mensch (1985) or Tabula Rasa (1993).
