Sprung Aus Den Wolken ★★★
1981 – West Berlin
BUREAU B. CD/DL/LP
Light industrial sounds from post-punk Germany.
Founded by artist Kiddy Citny in 1980, Sprung Aus Den Wolken (“Jump From The Clouds”) emerged from the West Berlin underground of Einstürzende Neubauten and Malaria!. This compilation combines their self-titled 1981 debut EP with tracks harvested from early cassettes, among them the skeletal Bad Seeds lament Pas Attendre, used by Wim Wenders on the soundtrack of 1987’s Wings Of Desire. Their paint-spattered post-punk and industrial debris come with an authentic tang of basement, workshop and squat. Dub & Die’s sinister samba exhibits a surprisingly nimble Cabaret Voltaire experimentation; the stentorian groove of Komm Her, Sing Mit (“Come Here, Sing With Me”) bends towards The Pop Group. Leidenschaftlich (“Passionate”), meanwhile, plays out over an ironically deadpan 12XU clatter. Abrasive yet playful, 1981 – West Berlin crackles with historical static but also, pleasingly, an undimmed creative urgency.