FM Einheit

• Genre: Industrial
• Hometown: Berlin
• FM Einheit Website

About

Einsturzende Neubauten have always been a decentralized operation as far as rock bands go, and this has permitted its members to pursue side projects at will. Since 1990, member FM Einheit has released a number of challenging, postmodern concept pieces both under his own name and as Stein. His ambitious sound collage Radio Inferno is a quick-edit, cut-and-paste exploration of post-war German culture. As with so much of Einheit's solo material, the level of intellectualism is daunting and may put his releases out of reach for American audiences not versed in German history and literature. Much of it is performed in German and contains snippets of news footage contrasted at times by traditional folk songs. On Stein releases such as Steinzeit (1992) and Konig Zucker (1996), Einheit delves deeply into the German character by juxtaposing historical sound clips and nostalgic swatches of lieder, all against a panorama of electronic entropy and Industrial clangor. His albums are soul-searching exercises in the artistic psychoanalysis of Germany.

- Chad Driscoll