NEWS:
New Einstellung tracks!

A brand new Einstellung track "Und Die Ruhe Ist Donner", from the forthcoming album "...And The Rest Are Thunder", closes the new "Music For A Good Home" compilation CD from the guys at Audioscope. The album will go on sale for the first time on 17 October for £10 at AUDIOSCOPE 09 at the Jericho in Oxford. Just 300 copies of the CD version of the album will be produced. After the show the album will be on sale digitally via iTunes and physically from www.audioscope.co.uk and selected online retailers. All profits from the release go to help Shelter's vital work.
On the subject of new tracks, Capsule's 10th birthday celebrations include a 7" vinyl single with Einstellung's "Reise (necken)" on one side and a Modified Toy Orchestra track on the other. "Reise (necken)" is an edited version of another track from the forthcoming album. This version will probably not appear anywhere other than this 7".
UK vinyl release for Wings Of Desire album.

Previously only available on CD in Australia or via online stores Einstellung's debut album "Wings Of Desire" has been repackaged for a double-vinyl release by Capsule Records, home of the excellent Supersonic Festival, Home Of Metal digital archive, Transitional and Beestung Lips. The album sports a new beautiful gatefold sleeve (above) designed by Beat13 (aka Lucy McLauchlan & Matt Watkins).
DISCOGRAPHY:
ALBUMS:
"Wings Of Desire" double-vinyl album:

Stunning, limited, gatefold sleeve, special heavy-weight double-vinyl version of the first album "Wings Of Desire". Released on Capsule Records (CAP005). The beautiful foldout sleeve is designed by Lucy McLauchlan.
There are 4-minute Radio edits of "Tot", "Ich Auch" and "Konstant" in the 'Standalone Player' above.
"Wings Of Desire" CD album:

Einstellung's debut CD album "Wings Of Desire". Released on Chatterbox Records (CB050). The CD is available from Waterfront Records.com. Also available to download via itunes Australia.
There are 4-minute Radio edits of "Tot", "Ich Auch" and "Konstant" in the 'Standalone Player' above.
"Wings Of Desire" CD promo:

A CD promo for the double-vinyl release of Wings Of Desire on Capsule Recordings. Housed in a natural card wraparound sleeve containing Lucy McLauchlan's artwork.
There are 4-minute Radio edits of "Tot", "Ich Auch" and "Konstant" in the 'Standalone Player' above.
SINGLES:
"Sleep Easy Mr Parker" CD single:

Einstellung debut single "Sleep Easy Mr Parker". Released on Bearos Records (Bearos 063). Available on Ltd Edition Special Package CD Single. The sleeve folds out into a 360 degree panoramic landscape depicting the spot on the Isle of Jura where Mr Parker now sleeps easy. Click on the sleeve image above to view. Last few copies left.
Available via
..
or contact Alan Farmer at Bearos Records or send a cheque for £3.50 to: Rob Horrocks, 177 Crompton Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, B20 3QX.
There is an edited version of "Sleep Easy Mr Parker" in the 'Standalone Player' above.
"Tot" (edit) download single:

A 4-minute edit of "Tot" from the album "Wings Of Desire" was released as a download-only single on Shifty Disco Records in November 07. The single can be purchased from Shifty Disco.
"Ich Auch" (edit) download single:

A 4-minute edit of "Ich Auch" from the album "Wings Of Desire" was released as a download-only single on Shifty Disco Records in May 07. The single can be purchased from Shifty Disco.
"Konstant" (edit) download single:

A 4-minute edit of "Konstant" from the album "Wings Of Desire" was released as a download-only single on Shifty Disco Records in December 06. The single can be purchased from Shifty Disco.
"Tot" (demo) split download single:

A demo version of "Tot", recorded live at Powerkraut was included on a free downloadable split single along with Shocked Elevator Family's "Euro Court" (Baby Bearos 001). The single was part of the now defunct Baby Bearos download singles club. For details click on the image above or go to the Bearos Download Shop, click on the "Artist" drop-down menu and choose "Singles Club (128)", then choose "Einstellung - Tot" or "Singles Club (128) - All tracks" from the "Track" drop-down menu.
COMPILATIONS:
"Und Das Rest Sind Doner":

"Und Das Rest Sind Doner", from the forthcoming album "... And The Rest Are Thunder" closes the "Music For A Good Home" compilation CD from the guys at Audioscope. Proceeds from the album go to Shelter. This version differs slightly from the version on the album.
"Tot" (edit):

A 4-minute edit of "Tot" from the album "Wings Of Desire" was included on the "British Music at Popkomm" CD compilation used to promote British talent at the Popkomm music exhibition in September 07. The track, also recently released as a single can be purchased from Shifty Disco.
"Sleep Easy Mr Parker" (edit):

A 3-minute edit of the 28-minute "Sleep Easy Mr Parker" CD single was included on the "Greetings From" free CD compilation given away at the 2006 All Tomorrows Parties festival. The compilation includes various taster tracks from bands on the Bearos Records, WIAIWYA, Static Caravan, Fortuna Pop and Picked Egg label rosters. Go to the Bearos Records site and contact Alan to see if he has any left over.
"Tot" (demo):

A demo version of "Tot", recorded live at Powerkraut was included on a free downloadable split single along with Shocked Elevator Family's "Euro Court" (Baby Bearos 001). The single was part of the now defunct Baby Bearos download singles club. All of the downloadable singles from the club have been compiled onto Bearos 064, a downloadable compilation. For details click on the image above or go to the Bearos Download Shop, click on the "Artist" drop-down menu and choose "Singles Club (128)", then choose "Einstellung - Tot" or "Singles Club (128) - All tracks" from the "Track" drop-down menu.
REVIEWS:
"Wings Of Desire" CD/Double Vinyl Album
"Einstellung take the Krautrock simplicity of early Neu!, add the noise and
dynamics of My Bloody Valentine and create something enormous that envelopes
your soul".
FBI Radio in Australia had "Tot", from "Wings Of Desire" on B-List rotation for a while!
Drowned In Sound, online:
"The writer of this review is not a member of Einstellung, does not know Einstellung and has never knowingly met any of the members of Einstellung. As such, the only evidence he has to hand for accusing the Birmingham quartet’s German-language name and exclusively German-language songtitles of being an affectation is that the members are called Si Rider, Steve Hough, Andrew Smart and Andrew Moscardo-Parker. True, they could have grown up in an army base in Mannheim or something. Still, ‘Tot’, the opening track of six on Wings Of Desire features extensive use of the voice from a ‘teach yourself German’ cassette. Conceivably, it came in handy for more than mere sampling purposes.
Initially released on CD in 2007, and not as widely available as it might have been, Wings Of Desire is being released on vinyl for the first time by Capsule, the Brum-based promotional entity who are responsible for the best music festival in the UK, the just-gone Supersonic. Einstellung came together in 2003 but have a greater depth of experience: Hough’s involvement in bands goes back more than two decades, having previously made an industrialised din with Godflesh contemporaries Cable Regime. Other members have done time in – among others – early-millennium post-rockers Grover and bellbottomed stoner types Sally, one of those bands on the Rise Above label who didn’t exactly turn out to be Electric Wizard.
It’s easy enough to pick out threads of all the ‘ex-’ bands above during Wings…’ 65 minutes, but Einstellung’s foundation is Krautrock. Songs tend to be lengthy and hypnotically repetitive but clearly the product of people who love rock, just as Neu! or La Dusseldorf had their roots in rock’n’roll. ‘Schwester’ is probably the sort of thing people have been thinking of in the past when they’ve ventured similarities between Einstellung and My Bloody Valentine; that is to say that much of its duration is spent picking the listener up, carrying him to the runway and letting him admire the turbined bellow of the jet engines. This mode of searing feedback relies less on texture than MBV, though, and more on just being loud and constant. ‘Konstant’ (ooh, a segue) finds the riffs growing fatter to the point of almost-doominess; ‘Ungeeignet’ maintains the heavy and pumps up the distortion until it’s glutinous, tarry and enveloping, worthy of the crypto-Sabbathian sludgefuzz of Bardo Pond.
‘Ich Auch’ has a similar feel to what Mogwai were poking at as youngsters circa Ten Rapid and Young Team: propulsive, vaguely funky cruise-control instrumentals that casually kick into whirlpools of distortion. It would have found a very comfortable home in the independent UK scene of 1997 or ’98, where a plentiful array of bands released an often prolific amount of records on a shedload of largely bedroom-based and now mainly defunct labels. Realistically, five years down the line Einstellung might be as dimly remembered as 90 per cent of these bands, rather than enjoying the career opportunities and relative luxury afforded Mogwai. And Wings Of Desire will still be a good – if never quite leaping to ‘excellent’ – record made with, and embodying, an admirable independent spirit".
Drum Media, Sydney:
"If Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother had undergone their musical educations in 1990s Birmingham instead of 1960s Berlin, the music they would have made together under the Neu! banner probably would have sounded a lot like Einstellung's debut, Wings Of Desire. Featuring ex-members of sludge merchants Sally and Grover, this quartet combines the motorik rythms of Krautrock with massive locked-groove riffs, creating something akin to a Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To for doom metal fans.
Throughout the six lengthy tracks that comprise Wings Of Desire, Einstellung display a deft understanding of the fact that while volume itself wields immense power, its absence can often be as potent. Thus while Ungeeignet spends most if its fifteen minutes pummeling the listener with the fuzz bass and a low-slung riff most post-Kyuss stoner groups would kill for, Tot favours a slower, more blissed out approach.
Einstellung's greatest strength, however, the thing that sets them apart from all the other fucked up children of the world chasing the endless riff - is their inspired combination of repetition and variation. With perhaps a nod to minimal composers such as Steve Reich, the band work subtle changes (and sometimes not so subtle ones) into the music that keeps its natural velocity from turning into mere inertia.
While they do wear their influences on their sleeve, Einstellung still manage to bring something fresh to the world of instrumental rock and for that they deserve praise"
"The 6 tracks on Wings of Desire (which clock in at between 7 and 18
minutes) capture this enormous soul enveloping sound to perfection.
This record introduces a band who are expert in the sonic architecture of
monster fuzz pop gems aka Power-Kraut. The album holds its own with "Psycho
Candy" & "Loveless", records that have stood the acid test of time and
influenced those who seek to push the boundaries in pursuit of a perfect
fusion of overdrive and melody.
Wings of Desire is the finest rush of fuzz drenched adrenaline fuelled noise
pop to come out of the UK underground in at least a decade."
"Wings Of Desire blends hypnotic Krautrock tones with industrial slabs of
riffage. Audiences at Birmingham gigs over the past year or so have been
treated to sets of trance-like beauty, power, noise and glorious melodic
simplicity. The songs lull listeners with mesmerising repetition and an
addictive pop sensibility before taking off and climbing towards the highest
of sonic highs. This band and their Power-Kraut sound will take you higher!"
The Sunday Experience:
"...think of an almighty Hawkwind at their peak bitten by the groove bug -
ruddy awesome."
Yellow Plastic:
"Einstellung's records will soon rightfully reside amongst the scuffed
spines of the sonic pop experimentation cannon"
Noise Assassin:
"...the pounding bass and deafening, hypnotic guitars make Einstellung a
truly explosive and uncompromising act. Ones to watch, no question"
Blunt Magazine:
"The intricate guitars bring to mind the best of the Smashing Pumpkins. Throw in some Mogwai inspired build ups and the occasional ball-crushing Sabbath riff, and the result is a varied, atmospheric journey."
Rave (Street Press, Brisbane):
"If the members of Mogwai took more amphetamines than barbituates they would sound like Einstellung. Big, big guitars, with a complete disregard for trendiness or superfluous innovation. The swirling guitar freak-out during Schwester is reminiscent of Ride's Nowhere and really impresses. The 17-minute punishing krautrock-on-steroids of Ungeeignet is worth the trip"
Metal4Life:
"Minimalist metal? Psychokraut? Industrial fuzz? You could have a whale of a time coming up with a new genre for the pummeling beat that is Brummie band Einstellung. Yes, despite a tracklisting that goes Tot / Ich Auch / Schwester / Konstant / Ungeeignet / Liedy Kann Meinen Hintern Kussen, the Birmingham four piece (featuring former members of Godflesh and Kat Bjelland's Katastrophy Wife) have taken their native metal, mixed it up with some prime time Krautrock, added in some classical minimalism, and come up with a cracker of a CD. Which somehow ended up being released by an Australian record label. That's global kultur for you.
It's a pounding beast of a record, the type of thing My Bloody Valentine might have come up with if they hadn't been such a bunch of indie no-marks, with nary a Black Sabbath record to their name. Although I'm not sure I can forgive them for 'Ich Auch' which had me scatting 'Japanese Boy' by Anneka all the way through. But apart from that, it's utter bliss all the way through, although sadly there is no room for their debut, 28 minute single, 'Sleep Easy Mr Parker'.
Sonic abuse done in a righteous style, this is the kind of thing that should be encouraged, to avert the dullness of modern music.
Twisted, twisted, twisted, twisted / 4 out of 5.
"Sleep Easy Mr Parker" CD Single
Single Of The Week (OrganArt):
Ah now this is soothing, one track single but hey, twenty-eight minutes, almost twenty-nine and not a moment too long (fine artwork as well).
Simple, soothing, slow building, washing kraut/prog that starts off in a slow, delicate, minimal way.
Slow driving, takes a few minutes to reach the first soothing key change (and when we do get there it's hardly noticed). Just sit back and relax like you do with your very best Neu! tunes.
I don't know why this is so good, there's nothing that revolutionary going on and it shouldn't really be so brilliant, we hear lots of things like this, but hey, for some wonderful reason this just hits the spot and reaches the places the others don't.
It's just beautifully dynamic and pretty much perfect. Einstellung pick you up and wash you away with their soothing, warm, slow-building sound - this is brilliant and beautiful.
Somewhere around 13 minutes and 43 seconds there's a subtly dramatic gear shift that lifts you up even further, ah yes this is right in every way.
Einstellung are from Birmingham, they're Steve Hough (ex Godflesh/Cable Regime), Simon Rider (ex Grover), Andy Parker (ex Sally/Katastrophy Wife) and Andy Smart (who doesn't own up here to any previous form).
Incidentally, examination of the small prints reveals some kind of involvement from Vanessa White from the much loved and much missed Twist. Just go get it and let it take you where it wants you to go - highly, highly recommended, one of the singles of the year.
The Sunday Experience:
Of Einstellung we have absolutely no information about other than they have a debut full length entitled Wings of Desire out soon on Chatterbox. Sleep easy Mr Parker featured here is in its edited form - the full version due out on Bearos any day now is a bruising 28 minute affair. Even in its shortened form this brute cuts a neat line in no nonsense krautrock boogie the type of which that Mugstar aficionados will swoon in the company of - think of an almighty Hawkwind at their peak bitten by the groove bug - ruddy awesome.
Blogspot.com:
As a general rule we don't memorialize here every single move of the bigger names in music, as there are enough more widely read publications -- and enough wannabes that will recycle their coverage -- around the blogosphere doing that sort of thing. So instead we endeavor to offer a different perspective, focusing on either acts to which we have pledged our undying love or to up-and-comers who distinguish themselves in a way meaningful to us. Two of the better ways for a band to gain our attention is to share a unique vision (a certain Ted Minsky record jumps to mind) or to offer something really outside the proverbial box. And so it was that we read with great interest about a band from the UK that released a 28-minute, limited edition single as their debut, performed it once live and then vowed to perform it never again. It's a move that takes the fetishism of limited edition singles and extends it into the live forum. Not a completely new idea, as every farewell tour from The Who and The Stones has at least partially built its success on a possibility of finality.
Anyway, we received email earlier this month from a chap representing the interests of Birmingham, England's -- yes, Birmingham *again* -- quasi-kraut-psych act Einstellung. It's true, the act had recently issued a 28-minute single, "Sleep Easy Mr. Parker." The track melds NEU!'s organic drone with some early Gilmour-era Pink Floyd, specifically the pastoral psych sounds evoked by that guitar legend's slide guitar work. When Einstellung's "Sleep Easy Mr. Parker" builds to its most tumultuous sections it reminds us of Dead Meadow. We've been given permission to post an edit of the track below (incidentally, you won't hear the slide guitar work in the edit, as it occurs in different sections of the track), and atop this item is a photo from the recent live debut and final live performance of the track. In addition to the edit of "...Mr. Parker," we're also offering the first track from Einstellung's full-length Wings Of Desire, which was released in September on Australia's Chatterbox Records. Dig it.
Lost Music:
Einstellung come from the Midlands. Birmingham, to be precise. But you'd never know it. Unless this Birmingham is located in industrial Germany. See, Einstellung have more than a penchant for the 70s krautrock sound. 'Sleep Easy Mr Parker' is a one track single. It's also a deeply hypnotic piece of Krautrock. You don't feel short changed by the one track though as it weaves it's way into your brain over the course of 28 minutes. It's a beautiful piece of music, calling heavily on Neu! and to a lesser extent Kraftwerk for it's influences.
The title of this piece of music, song just doesn't seem like the right word, is dedicated to one of the band's guitarist's father who passed away shortly before the recording. The CD comes packaged in a lavish fold out sleeve that depicts the remote Scottish isle of Jura, where Mr Parker's ashes were scattered.
Back to the music, and let's be honest, it's the music that has got me here; the ebb and flow and swells of sound that earmark this as a rather grand piece of music. Like I said, it's a rather wonderful slab of music. As you pass the 14 minute mark the sonic assault of the guitars crashes in at full tilt. I'd imagine this would be powerful in a live environment. It's not often a song can hold my attention for 28 minutes. Einstellung manage this with ease.
I am no aficionado on German Krautrock of the 1970s but from what I know 'Sleep Easy Mr Parker' would slot in with some of the best moments.
Einstellung feature on BBC website. (click on image)

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