Perpetuum Mobile (album) explained

Perpetuum Mobile
Type:	Album
Artist:	Einstürzende Neubauten
Cover:	Perpetuum_mobile_cover.jpg
Released:	February 10, 2004
Recorded:	August 2002 – June 2003
Genre:	Experimental industrial
Length:	66:56
Label:	Mute
Producer:	Einstürzende Neubauten
Prev Title:	Silence Is Sexy
Prev Year:	2000
Next Title:	Alles wieder offen
Next Year:	2007

Perpetuum Mobile is the ninth full-length studio album by the industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten. It was released in 2004 on Mute Records. The album is an offshoot of the band's first fans-only recording experiment, and was released in part to facilitate a world tour.

Track listing

1. “Ich gehe jetzt” ("I am going now") – 3:31
2. “Perpetuum Mobile” ("Perpetual Motion") – 13:41
3. “Ein leichtes leises Säuseln” ("A Low, Light Murmur") – 4:31
4. “Selbstportrait mit Kater” ("Self-Portrait with Hangover") – 6:12
5. “Boreas” – 3:59
6. “Ein seltener Vogel” ("A Rare Bird") – 9:14
7. “Ozean und Brandung” ("Ocean and Surf") – 3:44
8. “Paradiesseits” ("Paradising") – 4:07
9. “Youme & Meyou” – 4:39
10. “Der Weg ins Freie” ("The Way into the Open") – 4:04
11. “Dead Friends (Around the Corner)” – 5:14
12. “Grundstück” ("Plot of land") – 3:41

Themes

Perpetuum Mobile contains overarching references to its namesake perpetuum mobile (the musical term) and to perpetual motion (the physical concept). Other ideas include Boreas, Ararat (of note both for the Einstürzende Neubauten song "Armenia" and Mount Ararat), travel and airplanes, and rare birds.