Pitchfork

Experimental Berliners Einstürzende Neubauten will release Alles Wieder Offen-- their 20 gazillionth album in a career that has spanned gazillions of years-- via their own Potomak label tomorrow (October 23) November 6 in the U.S. (it's already out in Europe).

The title of the record, the official public follow-up to 2004's Perpetuum Mobile, translates to "all open again," which refers to the fact that the band has taken almost all matters related to the album into its own hands.

The reason the phrase "official public" modifies the "follow-up" above is that Neubauten released over 10 albums since Perpetuum Mobile came out. These albums were self-released to subscribers to the band's website (creepily called Supporters), and the material on them ranged from piano compositions by Neubauten members to something a press release calls "the musical possibilities of ritualized wine consumption."

Many of these albums were conceived through alternative compositional techniques, and both these techniques and some of the material from these albums ended up on Alles Wieder Offen in one form or another.

The subscriptions of the aforementioned Supporters financed the recording of Alles Wieder Offen, and for their contributions, the Supporters also got to watch the process via webcam and participate in live online discussions with the band about that process. Neubauten will further reward the Supporters' support with a special edition of the album (accompanying DVD optional).

We wouldn't expect a band so invested in undermining traditional music industry practices to release a single, but that is nonetheless what they did with the worldwide digital release of "Weil Weil Weil", out now. The single includes a radio mix (dudes, seriously? You're not just pulling our legs here??), remixes of the song by each band member, and a karaoke version. Now if only someone could make karaoke versions of Throbbing Gristle tracks.

Fortunately, Neubauten don't have any tour dates for us to type out now... What's that? They're planning a European tour for the spring. Gah!

Alles Wieder Offen:

01 Die Wellen
02 Nagorny Karabach
03 Weil Weil Weil
04 Ich Hatte Ein Wort
05 Von Wegen
06 Let's Do It a Dada
07 Alles Wieder Offen
08 Unvollstaendigkeit
09 Susej
10 Ich Warte