Arbeiter at the Gate
Encyclopedia
Arbeiter At the Gate is a post-punk, experimental noise-rock album. It was the fifth album released by Jewish-American bi-polar outsider musician, Steve Lieberman
on 18 October 2004.
The album title is a play on a Biblical verse in Isaiah 29:21 ' (the wicked) lay a snare for the arbiter(judge) at the gate'(by changing to "arbeiter" it becomes Yiddish for "worker".
Of Lieberman's 19 releases to date,Arbeiter At The Gate still remains a top album pick of the AllMusic Guide
Arbeiter had charted on a number of college radio stations, most notably peaking at #42 on WXDU Duke University and #87 at KZSU
Stanford University.
It was while on tour for the Arbeiter album that a reporter from Newsday
interviewed Lieberman at one of his shows and stated that the essence of his music is (Lieberman's) message and emotion, not his talent in an article about outsider musicians on Long Island published on 27 February 2005.
The record is considered darker than his works preceding Arbeiter as Lieberman suffered a bi-polar dark cycle through much of the cd's production, dealing with the illness of his beloved Labrador mix Buttons, who passed just before Arbeiter's release.
it is completely stagnant... Mostly, the appeal of Arbeiter At The Gate and all of Lieberman's work is the sheer and impressive fearlesness of it. Rating 3.5 Stars out of 5
- bass guitar
, vocals, flutes, recorder
, trombone, melodica
, beatmachines, fiddle, bombard, shahnai, bagpipe chanter, tin whistles, zurna
Steve Lieberman
Steve Lieberman is a Jewish-American punk rock singer, musician, composer and producer residing in Long Island, New York...
on 18 October 2004.
The album title is a play on a Biblical verse in Isaiah 29:21 ' (the wicked) lay a snare for the arbiter(judge) at the gate'(by changing to "arbeiter" it becomes Yiddish for "worker".
Of Lieberman's 19 releases to date,Arbeiter At The Gate still remains a top album pick of the AllMusic Guide
Arbeiter had charted on a number of college radio stations, most notably peaking at #42 on WXDU Duke University and #87 at KZSU
KZSU
KZSU is a freeform FM radio station broadcasting from the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, USA.KZSU broadcasts in stereo at 90.1 MHz FM with an effective radiated power of 500 watts. The station is owned by the Trustees of Stanford University and is governed by a Board of...
Stanford University.
It was while on tour for the Arbeiter album that a reporter from Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
interviewed Lieberman at one of his shows and stated that the essence of his music is (Lieberman's) message and emotion, not his talent in an article about outsider musicians on Long Island published on 27 February 2005.
The record is considered darker than his works preceding Arbeiter as Lieberman suffered a bi-polar dark cycle through much of the cd's production, dealing with the illness of his beloved Labrador mix Buttons, who passed just before Arbeiter's release.
Greg McIntish-The AllMusic Guide
' A lo-fi sonic sock in the gut built around Lieberman's ultra-fuzzed-out bass,multitudinous flute overdubs and other sundry sounds. Certainly outsider music there's no doubting that Lieberman's sound is unique, but like such artists as Wesley WillisWesley Willis
Wesley Willis was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, he gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics...
it is completely stagnant... Mostly, the appeal of Arbeiter At The Gate and all of Lieberman's work is the sheer and impressive fearlesness of it. Rating 3.5 Stars out of 5
James McQuiston-NeuFutur Magazine
'Although vocally, sometimes achieving an Ozzy-like inflection, the production and mixing of Arbeiter is almost painful to listen to because of the overdoing of the cheesy distortion Lieberman loves... Steve is unique, that much can be said. He's trying to make a coherent yet different album which doesn't necessarily make for solid, listenable music. But i sense here an evolution that eventually, we could get a solid album from him. Rating 4.0 Stars Out of 10.Bill Cuevas-KZSU-FM Radio
Combines programmed drums with driving fuzz bass and insane flutes and really strange vocals , lyrically covering topics of anti-semetism to all kinds of crazy stuff. Either this guy is not all there or is doing a great job of faking it. Totally lovable and adorable like Wesley Willis.This is like Wesley Willis crossed with Jethro Tull on a bad acid trip.Track listing
Musical personnel
Steve LiebermanSteve Lieberman
Steve Lieberman is a Jewish-American punk rock singer, musician, composer and producer residing in Long Island, New York...
- bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals, flutes, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, trombone, melodica
Melodica
The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...
, beatmachines, fiddle, bombard, shahnai, bagpipe chanter, tin whistles, zurna