If you love our Video Sundays, then you'll certainly love this: As some sort of prequel to the first edition of the Boddinale independent film festival, happening at Loophole on the eponymous Boddinstraße in Berlin Neukölln between February 7 and 17, our friends at Noisekölln have initiated another premiere event: their very own Music Video Awards. We're proud to be media partners of the NMVA, and even more proud to be part of the jury that will announce Neukölln's best music video on the day of the Boddinale closing ceremonies on February 17. However, all participating videos will be shown tomorrow at Loophole, starting at 8.30pm sharp. Entrance is free, go here to see a list of all contending submissions. The night will be completed by some live music courtesy of Orphan Fairytale, Free Choice Duo, and Savage Republic. Capacity is limited, so make sure to be there on time.
So well, we're closing up to the finest line-up of CTM this weekend, except for yesterday's excellent showcase curated by PAN Records, and obviously tonight, with our San Francisco-based crush Holly Herndon, playing Berghain Panorama Bar alongside Kuedo, d'Eon and Forest Swords. Tomorrow stands yet another impeccable line-up before our eyes and ears, and we're personally starting the night over at the Musicmakers Showcase at Berghain Kantine, curated by Berlin locals Peter Kirn of Create Digital Media and Cassette BLN, and led by Travis Stweart, better known as Machinedrum.
We're obviously very excited to have our own Montreal duo Solar Year on the roster too, who recently released a 7" on our new imprint Stratosfear. A handful very exciting names will also join the full line-up, amogst them the genius Tim Exile, audiovisual composer Tarik Barri and Science Fiction Children, as well as live music sessions with Laurel Halo, Sam Barker, Easton West and more. Machinedrum, XI, Kode9 and Lando Kal will make sure to keep the beat going after 02:30, just in case you feel like having a break from the intense dancefloor at Berghain Panorama Bar nextdoor.
We're also very excited to announce the first European tour with Solar Year, dates below.
01.02 Berlin, Germany - Berghain Kantine 07.02 Paris, France - L'Espace B 08.02 Lille, France - Le Rouge 15.02 Oslo, Norway - Skuret 16.02 Berlin, Germany - Urban Spree 22.02 Prague, Czech Republic - Final 23.02 Leipzig, Germany - Null Unendlich
On Monday, Berlin's uniquely engaging CTM Festival heads into its 14th edition (called CTM.13, because, you know, it's 2013), this time proceeding under the theme "The Golden Age", which aims at reflecting today's underground and adventurous music culture, which "displays a greater diversity than ever before, and is therefore increasingly stretching the limits of differentiation, genre ascriptions, and the capacities of human perception," as the festival's curators explain in their convincing and exhaustive remarks on the topic:
No tensions, frictions, and dichotomies exist in the "Golden Age" of antiquity. The term describes a state of harmony and peace, and this is precisely what makes it so obviously suspect; few people nowadays are able to put much faith in unconstrained peace and harmony. CTM.13’s "Golden Age" reveals itself to be at least as ambivalent, but takes the diametrically opposed viewpoint, namely that nothing but tension, intensity, and friction is ever able to put a shine on its gold and bring forth from the tired, purely quantitative pluralism of indifferent juxtaposition, a pluralism appreciably rich in diversity and potential. Tension here does not mean only affect, speed, contrast, and a rejection of rationalism and conflict. Peace, languor, and contemplation likewise create spaces that allow for such intensity to build.
While the festival officially starts next week with the official opening concert at HAU1 on Monday night featuring AtomTM, Marc Behrens, and Matmos, the CTM exhibition "In That Weird Age" opens its gates at Kunstraum (Mariannenplatz 2 in Kreuzberg) tonight already. Moreover, there's a bunch of more or less unofficial, CTM-related events happening over the weekend, most notably tonight's "CTM Preglow" with Pete Swanson, Sensate Focus, and PAN mastermind Bill Kouligas, tomorrow's Greco-Roman curated "CTM Warm-up" (oh those names) featuring Renaissance Man, Millennium (exciting new project, more on that next week), and Full Nelson; both events take place at our ever-beloved Horst Krzbrg. Also on Saturday, we've got "Noisekölln x Sameheads x CTM Vorspiel" (oh) at Neukölln's Sameheads, with performances by NFOP darling Sean Bowie aka Teams, plus the debut (?) appearance by elusive Montenegrin project Time Wave Zero. Last, we'd like to recommend "Geek Out!" at Neukölln mainstay Das Gift on Saturday, an event that not only has Richard Scott and Erik Dower performing live, but also a workshop in the afternoon where you can learn how to build your own Quäkmonster (don't ask, just head over here for more information).
But as we said, that's only the (inofficial) beginning. You'll find the NFOP-approved guide for the festival's program below. Did we mention that we're excited?
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We've said it before but to be sure, we'll say it again: These are solely our recommendations, i.e. that sort of stuff that we'll most likely attend or try to attend ourselves (so if you see us, say hello!) – for the complete program, head over here.
Monday, January 28
As mentioned above, things officially kick off with AtomTM and Marc Behrens performing their Bauteile radio play prject, and Baltimore duo Matmos premiering their upcoming album The Marriage of True Minds, which is out February 19 via Thrill Jockey. The concert happens at HAU1 and starts at 7.30. More info here. Below, take a listen to "Teen Paranormal Romance", the first track off the full-length:
Tuesday, January 29
On Tuesday, things get a little darker and dirtier at Berghain for the first time, with Opium Hum, Diamond Version, Emptyset, TM404 (the new project of Mokira's Andreas Tilliander), and others exploring and testing the sonic capabilities of the sacred halls of stone. 8pm, more info and timetable right here.
Meanwhile at HAU1, you may witness the German premiere of Myrninerest, a newly formed project centered around David Tibet together with guitarist James Blackshaw, joined by a couple of musicians on stage. The group is set to perform their debut album “Jhonn”, Uttered Babylon, which is focused on 'the life and death' of Coil's Jhonn Balance, who had been a friend of Tibet. It probably won't get any more riveting and absorbing the whole week, so you might consider attending. We highly recommend that anyway. No need to say more:
During the day, there's a bunch of very interesting artist talks happening at Kunstquartier (Mariannenplatz 2, Kreuzberg). Electronic Beats editor Max Dax will have a conversation with AtomTM (2pm), before The Wire's Jennifer Lucy Allen takes over to talk to Heatsick (3.30) and Matmos (5pm).
Wednesday, January 30
Wednesday should become the day when the magic happens: First, we got Hamburg's finest Hendrik Weber aka Pantha Du Prince performing together with his Bell Laboratory at HAU1 at 8pm. Though we haven't really figured out yet how to come to terms with the project's brand new work Elements of Light (we guess it's awesome, we're just not sure), seeing the whole thing life will surely put it on a completely different level. Plus, he will always be our God anyway. More info here. Note that due to the overwhelming demand, there has been another show scheduled for the night after (which might be sold out already as well).
At Berghain, starting at a neat 8pm, last year's (rightfully) most critically acclaimed label, Berlin-based PAN, will have its long-awaited showcase featuring some of the imprint's crown jewels, including Heatsick, Jar Moff, Mark Fell, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Florian Hecker, and of course Lee Gamble, who is (as you'll know) responsible for this writer's favourite album of 2012. The staggering line-up is completed by recent Houndstooth signee Call Super. Go here for more details and the timetable.
No chance to slow down one day later, when things centre upon Berghain proper and its adjacent Kantine. At Berghain, contemporary electronic music's vanguard holds court, with a line-up that can only be called mindblowing and that features both the artist who's made our staff's favourite track of 2012, and the artist who has achieved the same as regards the editors. Besides Holly Herndon and Kuedo (who will be visually joined by MFO), the night will host Forest Swords and d'Eon. No, really. Here's the proof.
Next door at Kantine things will get decidedly grittier and gloomier, with performances by reliq, the very exciting Wife aka Irishman James Kelly, Reznik, Oneirogen, and of course Iceage, who will start at 1am – which most likely means that you won't need to worry about missing some of Kuedo's show, which is set to start half an hour later at Berghain; you'll easily make it in time (unless, of course, you got beaten up by the band because you made an attempt to take a photo of the singer).
As for the discussions and talks, there's some exciting things happening on Thursday as well: Jennifer Lucy Allen will have a conversation with Holly Herndon at 2pm, which should be fun, followed by Lisa Blanning (ex-The Wire, newly recruited by Electronic Beats) and Adam Harper (The Wire, Dummy, and author of our personal Bible Infinite Music) discussing "The Pop Art Of The Virtual Plaza" at 3.30.
Friday, February 1
A lot of things happening on Friday, so let's keep things brief by highlighting this one true highlight, our man Dean Blunt performing another of our favourites of 2012, his mixtape-cum-album The Narcissist II, at HAU1, 8pm. Details here.
Apart from that, which you shouldn't dare to miss, there's a lot of stuff at Berghain as well, namely performances and DJ sets by such illustrious figures as Shackleton, DJ Sprinkles, Shed, EVOL, or Andy Stott. Yes. If you don't seem excited enough about this insane night, it's because we don't see ourselves drinking enough Club Mate to actually make it there after Wednesday and Thursday. But we'll see.
Friday is also packed with terrific discussions at Kunstquartier, most notably a Resident Advisor "Live Exchange" with PAN's Bill Kouligas at 12pm, two talks on "The Death of Rave", the first focusing on the UK, featuring Mark Fisher, Lee Gamble, Alex Williams, and Steve Goodman aka Kode9, moderated by Lisa Blanning (1.30); the second centred on Berlin, with our friend and original raver Alex Droener, Ulrich Gutmair, Johnnie Stieler, Felix Denk, and Tom Lamberty. If you're able to read German but haven't read Der Klang der Familie yet, do so immediately, and then attend that panel at 3.30. If you happen to have enough energy for a fourth talk, look no further, at 5.30 smart folks will elaborate on "Virtual Futures: The Future Of Music".
Saturday, February 2
If you still want more, Saturday will serve another multitude of awesomeness, starting with d'Eon performing his acclaimed Music for Keyboards (not sure which one, actually) at HAU2 at 8pm; highly recommended.
Demdike Stare and Gatekeeper will share the bill later at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (which is a pity, as it's not all that easy to get there in time), with a world premiere and a German premiere, respectively. Later, there's complete craziness happening at Stattbad Wedding (again, a bit off) with The Midas Touch/#gHashtag/Purge, featuring quite a few of our friends such as BlackBlackGold, xorzyzt, and Half Girl / Half Sick, plus a bunch of amazing artists including Mykki Blanko, EAN, Anika, and Simian Mobile Disco. Yes. So it's probably worth to go all the way up to Wedding after all.
Sunday, February 3
CTM.13, "The Golden Age", ends on Saturday with something golden indeed, if pitch-black on the surface: The great Sunn O))) performing at Astra, starting at 8pm. We don't think we need to go any deeper on that. And honestly, if you've made it there considering the week's program: kudos to you. So have fun, and see you somewhere around next week.
We're beyond proud to present a very special event happening at Haus Ungarn (previously .HBC) on Friday with the Ukranian pianist Lybomyr Melnyk, who is now finally receiving the credibility he deserves as a legendary piano ambient composer; having recently joined forces with our friends at Erased Tapes Recordings. Even with cassette and vinyl releases dating back to 1975, Melnyk has pretty much been a well-kept secret for decades, secretely praised within the minimalist scene only by word of mouth, but claimed to be one of the most unique pianists of the 20th Century. Behind the immersive waves of sound lies a quite peculiar, highly complicated technique that Melnyk has suitably named "Continious music", sustaining the speed of over 19.5 notes per second in each hand (simultaneously!), composing mighty, cinematic pieces that float into one another, at most via 93,650 notes an hour, giving him the title as one of the fastest pianists in the world.
If this alone isn't enough to get you excited, we might also mention that Efterklang's Peter Broderick helped record and produce his upcoming album on Erased Tapes, as well as label mate and Ólafur Arnalds collaborator Nils Frahm, whom will be joining the concert.
To celebrate, we're giving away 2x2 tickets to a few lucky Berliners, and if the term "Berliner" unfortunately doesn't fit your residentional description, then you might want to keep your eye up on our NFOP Sessions page in the not so far away future. To enter the contest, simply just leave a comment or share this link via Facebook.
After the excellent visuals for "Anywhere", we're happy to host the premiere of the video for the second single from Rough Days For Diamond Trade's lovely debut EP Somehow. On "Okay", Berlin via Copenhagen solo artist Frederik Sølberg continues to follow the road towards perfectly crafted, melodiously lush yet distinctively dark and sombre pop, with aptly impressionistic lyrics that are drowned in decay and reverb. The stunning, uncanny video was made by Simon Højbo.
The Somehow EP is out next week via Looking Forward. Together with Nordic By Nature, we're presenting the release party on Wednesday, December 12, at Kreuzberg's Monarch. RSVP over here.
This Saturday, together with our friends at Noisekölln, we proudly present the Berlin edition of Jef Barbara and Femminielli's Eurotour 2012, as part of a night full of madness at +-0, an abandoned train house adjacent to Postbahnhof in Friedrichshain. On the two other floors of the old industrial landmark, Sameheads and OCVLTO are going to stage their own pre-Christmas nightmare, all melting together into one of this year's finest nights of deranged music and related lunacy. As we believe that both artists are well known amongst the readership of these pages, no further introduction appears to be necessary, so just watch those two gems of Franco-Canadian synth extravaganza below, and be sure to be there on Saturday.
For more information on the whole night and RSVP head over here.
Ponderous names for unceremonious pop projects: Rough Days For Diamond Trade is the imaginative (and assumedly profound) if unwieldy moniker for the musical solo endeavour by Berlin via Copenhagen filmmaker Frederik Sølberg, whose debut EP Somehow is set to be released via elusive imprint Looking Forward in mid-December. As somehow expected, the project's output is all stylish and sophisticated and well-considered, not without some twisted edges but overall definitely airplay-ready. Watch the well-crafted video for first single "Anywhere" below and see for yourself. If things come across as a little bleak, that's just because we haven't had the time to start dancing yet. Now think about that.
Together with our friends at Nordic By Nature, NFOP presents Rough Days For Diamond Trade's EP release show at Monarch on Wednesday, December 12. For more details head over here.
Focused on forward-thinking club music, Polymorphism aims to pump life and modernity back into the somewhat sterile House/Techno dominated Berlin club scene. Previous events have showcased labels Hippos In Tanks and 100% SILK, but this time the focus is set on Hyperdub and their artists King Midas Sound and NFOP regular Hype Williams (aka Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland). We talked to one of the organisers, Jan Rohlf, ahead of the event's fourth installment at Berghain tonight.
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What are the origins of the Polymorphism events and what makes them unique? Jan: When we started preparation for the next CTM festival which is coming up in January, we began to analyse what we feel is the state of music culture at this very moment. We had the feeling that we are dealing with an overwhelming wealth and variety of music of all sorts, and we were thinking, 'why is it that way and where does it come from?' Basically, Polymorphism started as an offspring of these inquiries leading towards the festival. The idea was that instead of having these strict subscenes that are bound to specific aesthetics and genre ideas, we would like to focus on artists and labels that do the opposite: ones that try to include as many influences and aesthetic forms as possible, to be "polymorphic" in a certain sense. Nowadays we are exposed to more and more material, influences and cultural artefacts than ever before, because we have high digitization, [access to] the internet, and open archives. We wanted to engage in these open-ended processes where we have no limits. This is the idea behind Polymorphism.
The Polymorphism line-ups seem to be mainly UK and US artists, is there a reason for this? Jan: I feel that this hybridity is something that in Berlin, or maybe even in mainland Europe, is not there. This is quite a broad statement, but Berlin is still kind of stuck: if you are making a refined step within a certain formula it can only be boring. You need certain reckless people to make some experiments, and it might sound stupid or kitsch, but they just want to test new ground. That's what I feel we are missing in Berlin. It's not that there is no-one doing it; but for the majority it doesn't work that way.
Why were Hype Williams and King Midas Sound chosen for Polymorphism #4? Jan: Hype Williams are artists that, I feel, "browse the world" so to say. They take whatever is interesting for them and stitch it together or mould it in their own unique way, and are artists that you can't pin down to a certain style. They are people who try to throw smoke bombs and play with the audience and the media's expectations. If you follow the career of Kevin Martin [King Midas Sound] and see all he has done in all his 35 years; going from his free-jazz project God to post-industrial electronics with Justin Broadrick and Techno Animal, or onto his dancehall stuff; King Midas Sound becomes more like nocturnal poetry. So he is also very diverse in his approach.
Any strange request from Hype Williams? Jan: Definitely, it was quite a process! What they wanted from us changed constantly, [and] even in the last few days before the concert we had to find some new things for them.
Will there be any more Polymorphism nights before CTM? Jan: We are working on some ideas for April or May but the same ideas will feed into the festival. People who like Polymorphism will also like the stuff at CTM.
