Buys & Receipt: Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig (ZickZack Sommerhits 81)
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Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig (ZickZack Sommerhits 81)
Released: 1981
Zickzack Records
’Tis the season for “summer hits.” Last Friday evening, I dropped my stylus into the grooves of Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig (ZickZack Sommerhits 81), (rough translation: Better Too Much Than Too Little (ZickZack Summer Hits 81)) a compilation featuring German New Wave, Industrial, Synth and other experimental goodness. The tracks included on this LP had not been released up to that point. The album included a large-scale newspaper insert.
When I found this delightfully abrasive gem in the used bins at Siren Records, its inclusion of Einstürzende Neubauten was the only true motivation I needed to add it to my pile. Well… that and I’ve been rather fascinated with 80s post-punk since reading Simon Reynolds’ ultra-dense and heavily researched Rip It Up And Start Again, Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. It also helped that I reviewed Bureau B’s reissue of Sprung aus den Wolken’s self-titled LP, released last November, which set me on a course to learn a bit about the Geniale Dilletanten art movement, which birthed the aforementioned Neubauten.
There’s a variety of funk and discord to enjoy here, bands like Front and Abwärts either running rhythmic or loosely repetitious while Die Tödliche Doris eeks, scratches, bumps, and bleeps. I thought the oddest inclusion, which is saying a lot considering the company it keeps on this album, is “You Say You Don't Love Me (Tribute To Pete Shelley)” by Nachdenkliche Wehrpflichtige. Sung entirely in English without much musical accompaniment, it’s an understatement to call it an outlier. “Aschenbecher” by Palais Schaumburg was another standout for me, its quick succession of bass notes and horn phrases playing against a shifting disco beat, an A Certain Ratio kindred. And of course Neubauten never disappoints.
Tracklist:
Front — “Blech Und Liebe”
Kosmonautentraum — “Nr.10”
Aus Lauter Liebe — “Ein Herz In Not“
Falsche Fahnen — “Mutti, Ich Und Die Sonne”
Die Tödliche Doris — “Überlieferung Josef Pfeuffer 3.6.76”
Abwärts — “In The Summertime”
Andy Giorbino — “Sxmmxr Zx Kxrz”
Saal 2 — “Strandgefühle”
Nachdenkliche Wehrpflichtige — “You Say You Don't Love Me (Tribute To Pete Shelley)“
Palais Schaumburg — “Aschenbecher”
Einstürzende Neubauten — “Bakterien Für Eure Seele”
Andreas Dorau — “Sommer Im Dornrosental”
Die Zimmermänner — “Ich Werde In Der Sonne Immer Dicker”
Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle — “Eingeschlagene Schaufenster”
Vielleichtors — “Ohne Titel”
Wirtschaftswunder — “Eis (Live)”
X-Mal Deutschland — “Kälbermarsch”
Die Radierer — “Madagaskar”
Sincerely,
Letters From A Tapehead
