Kunst Der Fuge

This is yet another venture into techno from Laibach. The title suggest more than what is there. Previously they have shown an ability to incorporate classical into the modern. Unfortunately, that is not here on this release. However, if you put the title aside and listen without any preconceptions, this is some decent techno.

Laibach has built the better part of their career and certainly their notoriety on their "degenerate" covers and interpretations of well-known music, from Gustav Holst to the Rolling Stones to Der Deutschlandlied, putting some bizarre, fascinating, and sometimes hilarious spin on the source material. With this in mind, I was eager to hear their ambitious assault on Bach's "The Art of Fugue", itself a truly intriguing work exploring mathematics as much as music.But rather than an assault, LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE (it seems to be stylized in all caps in a lot of places, though I'm not clear how official that is) proves to be surprisingly respectful of the source material. Rather than subverting Bach, they play by his rules; instead of mocking the music's original intent, they seem to be sticking to it and exploring it further, in the medium of electronica and techno. While this may be an interesting idea, it is not what one expects of Laibach. To be fair, one of the joys of this band is that one never knows what to expect of Laibach, but nonetheless one expects them at the very least to leave a uniquely Laibachian impression, and in that regard this album falls flat.I have given it 3 stars anyway because on its own level and as an interpretation of Bach it is still quite good. There are some interesting moments, and some even amusing (one of the Contrapuncti had a sort of jazzy vibe to it). Many have said that this is better for fans of Bach than of Laibach, and I can see why: Bach's sound clearly comes through everywhere, barely filtered by the creative stylings of Laibach or anyone else. And that, by itself, is kind of cool, but as a bigger fan of Laibach than of Bach it is also kind of disappointing.

Another amazing piece of brilliance by legendary "industrial" fore fathers Laibach out of Slovania. Already famous for their renditions of songs by Queen, The Rolling Stones as well as others which should not over shadow their brilliant original thought provoking works such as WAT, Opus Dei and more recently Volk they now bring forth Kunst Der Fuge which is an entire rendition of an unfinished work by Johann Sebastian Bach written in around the 1700's. But do not expect hard edged dance versions as they did with their other covered work. No, this is an actual classical composition done entirely with computers, synthesizers and sequencers! And the result...like anything else they produce....sheer brilliance. It is quite relaxing. Compare it to an actual orchestra version and you will be amazed. However, for those who may not know much about Laibach this is not their first venture in to the classical world as they had done scores for Macbeth and a ballet called Krst Pod Triglavom-Baptism. That was quite some time ago and why I find this brilliant because the "industrial" scene is so pathetic now a days you may as well say it is dead. The newer generation of musicians out there are either copying the old or if it is original it is neither saying anything or is just repetitive nonsense and here instead of rehashing some old album to appease a certain type of fan they throw you for a loop and do something like this. They are one of the very, very few bands out there (although this is just one member) that with each new release will present something new and refreshing. Even if you do not like a release you can at least say it is different. And all of their merch and dvd products are of the highest quality. For me, I love everything they have produced. Their live shows still after 25+ years are extraordinary and still leaves me with chills. I saw them twice this year (2008) in both Los Angeles and New York and it was nothing short of breath taking. One of the only...if not only band out there in this genre that is staying consistent. Can't wait to see what's next!!!

Original artwork. Original Sound!

Les albums de Laibach se suivent et ne se ressemblent pas, bien que leur ligne de conduite reste la même depuis leurs débuts : esthétique ambiguë et relectures du panorama musical. Après  Wat , album de compositions originales électro-indus, le très beau best of  anthems  et  Volk , sur lequel ils reprenaient des hymnes nationaux à la sauce Laibach, voilà maintenant qu'ils revisitent l'Art de la Fugue, de Bach. Une oeuvre sujette à discussion, pour plusieurs raisons. Elle est inachevée (ou du moins incomplète), le titre n'est pas de Bach lui-même et l'absence de précision sur l'instrumentation portent à croire que cette oeuvre était plutôt pédagogique que destinée à être jouée. La grande complexité de l'oeuvre, de par son usage très poussé du contrepoint, lui confère un aspect pédagogique supplémentaire. Comme il n'a jamais été précisé avec quels instruments devait être interprétée cette oeuvre, Laibach se permet de grandes libertés quant à l'exécution des morceaux, intégralement revisités par ordinateur, dont la palette presque infinie de sons est exploitée à merveille. La complexité des morceaux a pour résultat qu'on a parfois l'impression de se retrouver dans un album d'Aphex Twin, mais les équivalents musicaux qui me viennent à l'esprit fusent de toute part ; Jean-Michel Jarre, acid jazz, Boards Of Canada, breakbeat, trance goa... Trance goa ? Oui. Et c'est ainsi que s'offre à nos yeux le propos de Laibach ; traduire concrètement l'influence de Bach sur la musique électronique actuelle. Mais un autre nom ne cesse de me venir à l'esprit : Wendy Carlos. A la fin des années 60, elle avait déjà passé des oeuvres de Bach à la moulinette du synthétiseur analogique sur  Switched-On Bach . Oeuvre à la valeur pédagogique indéniable, Switched-On Bach a marqué son époque. Au sein de la grande kermesse de la musique électronique numérique, Laibach ne vendra sûrement pas autant d'albums que Wendy Carlos à l'époque, mais Kunst der Fuge en est bien un prolongement. WatanthemsVolkSwitched-On Bach

.....mit laibach im herkömmlichen sinne hat dieses album weitgehend wenig zu tun. wohl aber mit dem künstlerkollektiv NSK. jedoch ist die idee klassische musik mit elektronischen instrumenten umzusetzen nicht neu.es erinnert phasenweise an den soundtrack zu *uhrwerk orange* oder aberdie adaption von *der frühling* von *stern combo meißen* in der studio version.man sollte aber schon ein verständnis für klassische musik mitbringen und offen sein für experimentelle ideen wie sie laibach unter anderem auch mit *volk* umgesetzt haben. welches ebenfalls ein großartiges album ist!auch sollte man es in ruhe hören, am besten unter kopfhörern, die augen schließen und sich dem ganzen hingeben und genießen!

Ganz, ganz üble Zurichtung dieses einzigartigen Werks. Sieht man einmal von den kitschigen Klängen ab, so bleibt vor allem ein widerlich aufgesetzter Beat, der mit den Contrapuncten gar nichts zu tun hat, und eine Melodielastigkeit, die erfolgreich jeden Kontrapunkt aushebelt. Eine kitschige, gedankenlose Klangtapete!

このバンドには、「Ｏｐｕｓ　Ｄｅｉ」という傑作がありますが、その延長線に乗っかって購入すると、余りの世界の違いにへこんでしまうかも知れません。ここにあるのは、音楽の授業を受けた事のある人ならば、一度は耳にする偉大な作曲家、バッハの曲集なのであります。想定されるのは、懐の深い「クラシックやロック好き」の人に好まれそうなＣＤと言う事位です。私は勿論大好きなので、星５つですが、好みは分かれると思います。