1 Shame (Radiomix) (3:22)
Remix - Flood
2 Captivate (6:21)
Remix - William Orbit
3 Backlash (6:15)
Remix - William Orbit
Sonically, Nitzer Ebb evoked the sequenced teutonic basslines and barked commands of Virgin-era DAF in their early days, and took the energy of alternative punk rock of bands like Killing Joke and Bauhaus to create a new aesthetic.
As they grew in confidence and ability, they began to develop the Nitzer Ebb 'sound' - a blend of unusual analogue trickery, minimal song structure, heavy drum beats and percussion, and Douglas Mccarthy's soulful vocals - either shouted, sung, or spoken. Their sound was captured perfectly in one of their publicity slogans from 1987 -"International Funk Aggression" - as despite being hard and heavy, their tracks were always very danceable.
Nitzer Ebb were seen as totally compromising their music, art and culture, manifesting itself as a 'Nitzer Ebb commerzial Produkt', which saw all adverts, flyers, record sleeves, letterheads, T-shirts, and other objects all sharing a collective identity that was heavily influenced by Russian Constructivist art, Italian Futurism, totalitarian imagery, and Expressionism. Long time collaborator Simon Grainger was an unofficial member of Nitzer Ebb and responsible for the austere look and feel of this visual aspect of the band, which aimed to provoke reaction, to critique, and even to poke fun at such stern stark powerful imagery. It also refelected perfectly the uncompromising style of the music.
In the short term Nitzer Ebb had a clear influence on labelmates, Depeche Mode, with both bands sharing a producer in Flood and (by virtue of his studio role) Alan Wilder, which saw a cross pollination of ideas - a harder edge given to one band and a pop sensibility brought to the other. Compare the intros of Halo and Lightning Man for a demonstration of this.
Nitzer Ebb were also a huge influence on Detroit Techno, with Derrick May publicly acknowledging this fact before the band opened last year's Detroit annual electronic music festival. A diverse range of DJs and producers, from Richie Hawtin to Tiga have also acknowledged the influence that Nitzer Ebb have had on their careers. Indeeed, their tracks (usually in their original form) are still heard across the world's more discerning dancefloors, and have been consistently listed in a wide range of DJ's Top 10s throughout the past year in the dance music magazine, Mixmag.
http://www.myspace.com/nitzerebbmusic
http://www.nitzer-ebb.com/
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