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einstürzende neubauten (1984)

¬ 4:30 pm - the buses arrive more than 90 minutes late in a scenic, rugged canyon near the salton sea. at the foot of the cliff, mark pauline has set up an array of cracky old refrigerators, washing machines and constructions of metal. the air is mildly warm, and occasional gusts of wind sandblast the spectators.

¬ 6:00 pm - by the original scheduled finishing time, neubauten has yet to appear, and it's getting dark. a startling boom rips through the dusk. pauline, sitting at a control board that looks like a ray gun, has begun detonating the appliances. a large clump of dead desert tree branches is ignited. people are warned to move away from a cliff that will be exploded.

¬ 7:30 pm - einstürzende neubauten is finally playing. group members put two rocks on a man's chest and start cracking them with a hammer. they polish steel with sanders, producing angry red sparks. the sound of their machinery, pre-recorded tapes and conventional instruments is dense, thick, metallic and primal. a few red and blue lights illuminate the group, and in the distance people have set bonfires in the barren sandscape as the group clangs, drones and screeches on.

¬ 10:00 pm - the buses, still licking together, are driving aimlessly through palm desert, trying to find a gas station with diesel fuel.

txt source: los angeles times, 6/3/1984.

fm einheit: « we played together with mark pauline and his friends (survival research laboratories). they installed explosive charges everywhere and let refrigerators blow up. the PA-guy was totally paranoid: "they don't know what they are doing!". that was partly true, i.e. they shot with a twelve-barrelled gun at a fridge which was filled with a big bottle of petrol. but they made a mistake; the fridge door opened facing the audience. shortly before shooting they noticed it and turned the fridge around, otherwise the thing would have blown into the mugs of the people. i mean, they like things like that but sometimes they make mistakes, and then mark pauline loses a hand or so...»

txt source: klaus maeck, einstürzende neubauten 1980-1996, die gestalten, berlin.

related:
einstürzende neubauten: haus der lüge (some bizarre 333)
einstürzende neubauten: strategies against architecture II (ego 112)
einstürzende neubauten: die hamletmaschine (ego 111)
fm einheit: sensation death (inv086)
ammer/einheit: radio inferno (inv097)
ammer/einheit: deutsche krieger (inv098)
v/a - fm 451 (fm 451)

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