29th Nov

29th Nov is a special day in Berlin, which could probably be added as an extra day off (there are very few Public Holidays in this city anyway!). What happened on that day I have no idea, apart from what I’ve googled now. Apparently Godzilla received its star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but I’m not sure this could be a trigger for creating some of the craziest, quirkiest and most creative label for techno videos.

Last year I was lucky to celebrate 9 years of 29th Nov films on the already legendary Boiler Room party and looking forward to its 10th anniversary.

Maybe it is a coincidence, but it seems there is some strange tradition of throwing 29 hour long parties in this beautiful city. Apart from celebrating 29th Nov, almost each year The Long Now is celebrating the seasons change with a 29 hour show in Kraftwerk.

Since November is the month when the days are getting unbelievably dark, cold and gloomy, having started my 3rd year in Berlin, I fall back into living out of the amazing offer that this city has for music aficionados like me: be it jazz concerts, contemporary dance classes or amazing line ups every week(end).

Or binge-watching Youtube videos, since GEMA has finally allowed most of the content that was out of reach for German IPs for years, due to its famous lawsuit. I can totally recommend randomly choosing 29th Nov videos, and you will not be disappointed. I have consciously chosen some of my favourite ones below, although I could easily start a campaign of posting one video every day for the rest of the month.

Till then, the will be enough reasons this month to celebrate. Commemorating the freedom that brought the fall of the Wall, first snow in the city (apparently next Tuesday already) or Prince Charles (the club, it is) anniversary with some amazing DJs coming up like Theo Parrish or Moodymann. Plus hopefully Donald Trump losing the elections very soon. In any case, happy 29th Nov everyone!

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Techno symphony for Berlin Metropolis

Berlin, the acclaimed city of music, film and creative industry in general, received a very special gift last week.On 8th March 2016, Jeff Mills presented the premiere of his soundtrack for the ‘Symphony of the Great City’ within the Cinemix series. I have to say, that I am still speechless after his performance in a small studio cinema in Hackescher Markt. I am far from being a psychofan, but sitting not even 2 m away from the turntables of the maestro made it for unforgettable experience.

While the original movie is interesting enough to watch anytime, falling under the cinematic Berlin to-dos, the special history and link between Jeff Mills, Underground Resistance, the industrial revolution, and finally the bridge of techno music for Detroit and Berlin, made the Cinemix premiere one of its kind. Legend of the early Tresor years captivated the mood, rhythm and musical landscape of the city, and I bet no one could rewrite the soundtrack better than he did, given his unique connection to Berlin.

Previously we could watch Jeff Mills’ Cinemix production of Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’, as below:

It is incredible, how relevant techno OST can be even after 90 years of the original movie premiere. During the screening of ‘The Symphony of the Great City’ I was stunned, how much the city changed, and at the same time, how much the energy remained the same. Alienation, industrialization, and on the other hand: consumption, excessive and extravagant social/night life describes the early years of 20th Century in Berlin much as the hype these days.

So in case you are curious to check the movie, here is the original footage of the Symphony of the Great City. I can only hope that Jeff Mills’ OST will become one of the most important, timeless masterpieces, universally defining Berlin as a cosmopolitan, dynamic and forward-thinking city.

This is my church

Kraftwerk stands for the ‘power station’ in German. And there are quite a few of them remaining in the centre of Berlin nowadays, including the overpraised Berghain. Its worship makes it for one of the strongest religious movements these days and it’s only a matter of time when the local authorities will start charging for the techno tax, in my humble opinion. But there is also an actual Kraftwerk in Mitte, used only for specific venues, such as The Long Now / Atonal or currently: CTM.

So while awaiting the Deep Web performance and Robert Henke’s concert, I decided to share the set of photos that comes from the 2015 edition of Berlin Atonal festival. During some five hot days in August last year, I was lucky to praise and dance to some amazing artists, such as Ugangan Methods (Ancient Methods + Regis), Shackleton, Alessandro Cortini, Kanding Ray, Varg, Shed, Samuel Kerridge, Lakker (who presented the amazing Tundra works), and many others. I remember the very powerful opening with the voices of the Chor der Kulturen der Welt in this mighty space, as well as the screening of ‘Industrial Soundtrack for the Urban Decay’ by Amélie Ravalec and Travis Collins. 

The light and sound installations set up in the basements and various labyrynths of Kraftwerk were also ery hypnotizing, almost sleepwalking ambience. So after all, I wonder why isn’t it a spot for regular events? I guess the overwhelming size of it, and the magical atmosphere of it just doesn’t match a regular Klubnacht. I think though that if Berghain is a parochial church, Kraftwerk is the cathedral, following the sacred metaphore.

So, see you at the black (laser?) mass on Sunday!

Special thanks goes to: Aldona Weicher, the author of the featuring photo and lately my favourite profile cover. You captured me, the place and the closing moment perfectly!

Berlin Radio

When I was a kid, I remember being haunted by a recurring nightmare that I am being exposed to a radio that can’t be turned off and forced to listen to very bad music and news 24/7. After years of autoanalysis, I obviously put the blame on my parents who made sure that I receive a proper music education from the early years: exposing me to piano and singing classes few times per week. So at the age of 8 or so, I composed my first VERY abstract ‘track’ on my synthesiser. Later I discovered it had something to do with Theo Parrish early experiments. And thus, I developed very low tolerance to bullshit and mainstream sounds.

Music has determined many of my life choices, including the places of residence and travel destinations. And as for my childhood nightmare, last year I discovered someone flipping it into a dream. Aybee, US-origin DJ, filmmaker and producer, currently based in Berlin, created a very interesting story of a journey of a radio throughout different neighbourhoods of the city. I was very happy to see that the radio was broadcasting very deep sounds that were simply ticking the right knobs of my brain. As well as that the people paid attention to it, contrary to the stereotype that Berlin is a cold city full of very indifferent people. But well, to be fair, this radio met people like Ari, Fred P or Levon Vincent on its way. It also passed my house a few times, no wonder why.

All of these DJs are regularly playing in various venues and combine that unique Detroit-Chicago-Berlin flavour. Be it techno, be it soul, be it house or whatever you call it (as I hate labels, I prefer – following my dear friend Enclave – using colours or temperatures to describe music), if I found this radio on the Michaelbruecke, I’d adopt it for life. Just check it out (Aybee is playing regularly in Panorama Bar or Tresor, too) and fall in love with Berlin once again.

Krake – it’s all about music, not names

I don’t go to festivals nowadays. Normally. I’ve been to ADE, Sonar, among other big ones and I enjoyed it a lot. Truth is that now I don’t have as much energy nor time to stay a couple of days partying 24/7. Also, within time they all got way more commercial, and as a consequence – super expensive. There are 3 local Berliner festivals though I can’t think of skipping: CTM, Krake and Atonal. Next week, the second one will take over the city (Friedrichshein, to be precise, or Urban Spree area):

I am looking forward to the amalgamate of art, sound and good ambience. One of my very promising dark techno sound evangelist & artist friends, Enclave, showed me last year’s edition from Suicide Circus and I was amazed. I really liked the anti-festival vybe, meaning that instead of pricey tickets and hype about first two or three big names listed, there will be a mix of more or less unknown, but ambitious rising hopes of the electronic music scene. Here’s a documentary showing bits and pieces of 2014 Krake edition together with the ideology behind the venue:

So: where, when, what? Next week, starting from Monday 3rd August till Sunday 9th, Urban Spree area (together with Kantine am Berghain and Suicide Circus) will be taken over by the art of techno. You can check the detailed programme here. I am so much looking forward to the Friday and Saturday nights, alongside with the art exhibition and 29th Nov films. There’s an ongoing discussion in Berlin about how the electronic scene could reinvent itself, and move away from the overtly mainstream trend, while coming back to its very own alternative roots. Not sure why, anytime I think about the dying scene, and techno being a superficial platform, I always feel like this humanoid from this brilliant videoclip.

Ausflüge pt.2: Suddenly in Mrzeżyno

Two weeks ago, quite spontaneously, I decided to visit Polish coast within the train reach and I landed in Miedzyzdroje on the Wolin Island. This post have totally surpassed my expectations and here we are, two weeks later, with a bunch of my friends living in Berlin, asking for the Baltic Sea destinations worth recommending both on the German and Polish side.

So this time I decided to check out the seaside town from my childhood memories: Mrzeżyno, where my parents use to have a tiny cottage and since then, regularly visited. In short: 90s music, arcade games on rainy days, fish and chips and friends I played football and watched FIFA World Cup 1994 with. Like in the Roots Manuva’s ‘Dreamy Days’: this used to be fun and lots of laughter. Surprisingly, some things have not changed at all, while the time has passed.

The port where Rega river enters the Baltic Sea (or: the other way round, when the sea is as rough as today) is now completely refurbished and offers great sights during the sunset. For those who like more active tourism, it’s also great for renting kayaks and discovering West Pomerania’s treasures (including a medieval towns such as Trzebiatów).
The port also offers now yacht marina, and fresh fish for the hungry ones. I still remember when Mrzeżyno was a very isolated town in between two military bases, and quite undeveloped infrastructure in the 90s. These times are long gone, hence there are crowds of Polish families. Don’t go there in the high season if you search for remoteness!However, there is a very interesting techno festival proposal coming up in August: Plötlzlich am Meer (Eng. Suddenly by the Sea, PL: Nagle nad Morzem) – yet another edition of the Polish-German Electronic Music festival on the beach of Rogowo, one of my all-time faves. It’s probably best to book the trip in advance and rent a car, but if one’s well-determined, this place can be reached by the combination of train + bus, plane + bus, whatever + hitch-hiking, etc.

And then, suddenly, by the sea, interesting things may happen!

A Dark History of Tresor

Sounds brought from Berlin has always inspired not only myself, but also klein aber fein electronic music groovement in my city of origin: Poznań. When I turned enough old to enter clubs in the early 2000s, my journey through the inspirational genres of house, techno and broken beats started and never really stopped, just the amount of time I put in the search for it, had to somehow decrease.

Back in a day the scene in Poznań seemed the most open-minded, at least comparing to other Polish cities. Shortly before the times of conservative backlash that obviously influenced the music scene too. I realized it is coming back to its interesting shape again nowadays, but all this would not happen if it wasn’t for the Tresor club and the influence of the capital city of techno nearby. And I am obviously not thinking about Warsaw.

So back when I was still considering my ‘career’ as a DJ, the natural consequence after getting to know where all the vinyl goodness had come from, was to step on the train and within 2,5 hours reach Kreuzberg to spend a couple of hours in the hottest vinyl stores at the time. Sometimes I was quite lucky to get a permission from my rather liberal parents to come back a few days later, so I could experience just a little bit of what now often is considered a history, like Tresor club, Maria am Ufer or Bar25.

This is where I discovered the sounds from another inspirational city: Detroit and fell in love forever with this crazy, dark deepness of the most organic of the electronic genres. Juan Atkins, Anonym Huisman, Jeff Mills, Theo Parrish and more recently: Fred P, Mike Huckaby are to be named as at least a few who shaped my taste for today. And the Detroit influence over Berlin deserves at least a separate entry!

So last Friday, 13th March 2015, Tresor celebrated its 24th birthday. The new location after re-visiting for a while now did not feel the same magic as the original one. Also, I am no longer such a reckless and restless clubbing aficionado. However, what should be said is that Tresor keeps on bringing deep and still interesting sounds to a wider audience in times when techno turns kind of mainstream and recognizable.

When writing about the history, it is also important to mention its impact on the current happenings. In my humble opinion, the dark and stark sound and vision of the technoworld can be represented by the 29th Nov movies channel with regular uploads of a very surprising content. I always discover the new artists while watching 29th Nov’s new productions. For instance, on a gloomy Sunday like today, these tracks can definitely reflect the bleak Berliner moods best Endlec – Darkness Approaches and Iñigo Kennedy – Plaintive.

Um:laut

Another interesting week has passed in the Augenblick, as would Germans poetically call ‘the moment’. As I am happy enough to live just between the most interesting spots of Friedrichshein, Mitte and Kreuzberg, I decided to visit the mysteriously-named Radialsystem V. This former water pumping station turned in 2006 to a ‘creative space for arts and ideas’.

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Yesterday I went to one of the Um:Laut sessions – dedicated to experimental music with the presence of British pianist Tom Hodge and producer Max Cooper. In the first part they both presented works from the ‘Piano Interrupted’ and ‘Fragmented Self’ EPs, and in the second part, Max Cooper debuted with his world premiere of the ‘Emergence’ visual performance. While the first part was full of experimental piano-electronic klang, the second part was a 90 minutes DJ & VJ set. Even though I’d probably cut out all of the dubstep-ish parts from the ‘Emergence’, I have to admit I was struck by the logic, story and musical vs. visual diversity. The logic of the visual was representing the chemical participles as a part of the universe, cities and human bodies, that eventually coexist and create one living mechanism.

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The radiant-looking Radialsystem V last night seemed to perfectly match its surroundings: Spree river, the moon and the first spring time night in the city. As far as I am concerned, Radialsystem V is famous for hosting multiple pieces of the renowned dancing company from Berlin: Sasha Waltz and Guests but also, various workshops dedicated to the contemporary dance and expression.

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Don’t forget to go home

It is not absolutely necessary to wait for the weekend when in Berlin. Often during the week even more interesting things are happening: for instance, the Boiler Room session which took place in Stattbad only last Wednesday. Totally acceptable to the civilised-schedule and rather sober techno-aficionados as it started off as early as 8 pm. There are regular parties happening early-Wednesday-mornings or Sunday-late-afternoon.

There is obviously more craziness going on, but comparing with the past years of the techno evolution (some 20 years ago), Berlin seems like a tranquility mecca, at the same time being not losing its glory of the island of creativity. I have gathered  some of the documentary movies picturing the milestones of the city’s history watched through the darkened techno lenses:

Technocity Berlin – epic documentary from the 90s (in German)

Children of Berlin – what was then – this is now

Don’t forget to go home – a short history of Berghain, or rather formerly Ostgut

Watergate X – a journey to one of the weekends at the Spree bank’s famous location…

Meanwhile, the spring has come slowly, but surely and the bleakness of the city seems to be washed away with the rays of sun. And I am so much looking forward to wearing sunglasses not only at night.

Swimming in sound

Berlin is definitely a place for water-loving people. I wouldn’t notice it at the beginning when I relocated straight from the Barcelona’s peninsular neighbourhood Barceloneta to hipstery bezirk of Friedrichshein. But now it’s almost three months I’ve been living in Berlin and happily settled in a flat overlooking the river Spree that actually gave partial inspiration to this post.

Winter has not been too extreme so far, but as my thoughts look so much forward to the springtime, I’ve investigated about open air swimming pools, lakesides, etc. The offer looks indeed super-promising, from open air sites to boat rental.

However, lately I’ve visited a very special swimming pool, Stattbad Wedding. Built over 100 years ago, it had served as a public pool for a long while till in the new millenium was turned into the particular cultural centre. During the weekend, Stattbad hosts some of the best deep house and techno line-ups in town, under the labels of Grounded Theory or Stattnacht. Apart from the club scene, various concerts and foodie events also regularly take place.

So, despite the weather, awaiting the springrtime and real water pleasures, I truly recommend to immerse into the sounds of the city and swim along with the happy crowd!

Update: Unfortunately, after happy years of swimming in sound, Stattbad has been closed definitely given the vague decision and anonymous complaints from the neighbourhood in June 2015. Yet one place less on the Berlin’s most interesting guide to clubs…