CONCERT GUIDE & LIVE MUSIC RESOURCE VO L . 2 / N 0. 9 / Fe b r u a r y / 2 0 2 0
FREE 1
CONTENTS 04 12 18 19 20 22
Show Calendar It’s the Notes They’re Not Playing History Witch Musician Classifieds Shows of Note Fake News
What is this filth? This is a free, monthly resource to help you navigate Berlin’s textured music scene. Within these pages you will hopefully find something useful, interesting, or amusing. What you will not find is any place for bigotry or intolerance of any kind. If you like what you see here, consider visiting our beautiful website: schmutzberlin.com
CONTRIBUTORS
CONTACT
Wordsmiths
Web
Samuel Flannagan, Gabriel Dunn
schmutzberlin.com
Nolan Parker, Emily Gale
Mail hallo@schmutzberlin.com
Design Wizard Wenhui Zheng
Deputy Design Wizard Oleksandra Pshenychna
facebook.com/schmutzberlin Instagram @schmutzberlin
Cover Art Lina Ehrentraut - @linaehrentraut
2
Don’t be a turd. Please recycle this when you’re done with it.
Dear reader, It’s a leap year, which means you’ve got 3.5% more February to play with. We recently learned that leap years are skipped every century, except when the year is divisible by 400, in which case the century rule is overridden. The purpose of mentioning this shoddily constructed system is to point out, once again, that time is an arbitrary construct, but more importantly, that adopting new governing systems is entirely feasible. If a handful of scrappy Papal States can convince the entire world that they’ve got a better format for time, then there is still hope for us to dismantle capitalism in 2020. Who’s down?
Seriously, Schmutz
3
Recommended Shows
Schmutz Presents
01 19:30
TRISTAN BRUSCH Maze Singer/Songwriter
€22
02 14:00
€21
01 21:00
ELEPHANT STONE Urban Spree Indie | Psychedelia
JACOB KIRKEGAARD – “OPUS MORS” Silent Green Composition | Drone
€15
01 19:00
DAN DEACON Heimathafen Neukölln Electronic | Experimental Pop
€21
DAMNIAM Schokoladen Melodic Punk
02 20:00
€TBA
01 22:00
ORLANDI- KRAEF- BERKMANN Donau115 Jazz
€TBA
13 BATS Wild At Heart Darkwave | Goth
02 20:00
€11
HATARI Lido Electronic | Metal
01-02 20:00
CTM FESTIVAL 2020 – LIMINAL Multiple Venues Avante-garde | Composition | Electronic | Experimental
03 20:00
€125
03 19:00
THE FRANKLYS Schokoladen Garage
01 20:00
DAVE HAUSE WITH TIM HAUSE Passionskirche Folk | Punk | Rock
€29
04 20:30
SEBA KAAPSTAD Gretchen Hip Hop | R&B | Soul
01 21:00
BRUITAL NIGHTS VOL. X Loophole Experimental
€TBA
04 20:00
01 20:00
STUMPFF + SUPPORT Nuke Electronic | Experimental | Gothic | Rock
RABIH BEAINI / FANIS GIOLES / LAURE BOER Acud Macht Neu Percussion | Sound Art | Techno
€16
05 20:00
KATE DAVIS Monarch Indie | Singer/Songwriter
€11
01 19:30
KAMAAL WILLIAMS | NAKIBEMBE XYLOPHONE TROUPE Festsaal Kreuzberg Jazz | Percussion
€26
05 21:00
ALTIN GÜN Astra Turkish Psych
€23
01 16:30
INFERNO BY LOUIS-PHILIPPE DEMERS & BILL VORN Composition | Performance Radialsystem V
€17
05 19:00
THE SOMNAMBULIST | THE USUAL BOYS Schokoladen Electro Pop | Indie
01 22:30
OTTONE PESANTE Supamolly Brass | Metal
€TBA
05 19:00
SEPIDEH SAFIARYAN / TONY ELIEH / SAWT OUT Acud Macht Neu Improv | Percussion | Synth
€5
01 20:30
CAESAR / CAESAR / THEODOR Donau115 Jazz
€TBA
05 22:00
ALIEN-GHOST Eschschloraque Electronic | Science Fiction
€TBA
02 15:00
RODA DE FEIJOADA - LIVE SAMBA: IEMANJÁ´S DAY Festsaal Kreuzberg Brazilian | Baile Funk | Samba
€5
05 21:00
DOOM SPARROW Wild At Heart Rock
Free
02 21:00
PURPLE PILGRIMS West Germany Experimental | Pop
€TBA
05 20:30
GROPPER / AARON / HENKELHAUSEN / BLACK Donau115 Jazz
€TBA
02 20:00
U-BAHN + LASSIE Urban Spree New Wave | Space Punk | Synth
€13
06 22:00
HAUNTED + SUPPORT TIEF Metal | Rock | Stonerdoom
€TBA
4v
€20 €TBA €21 €6
€TBA
06 21:00
DANIEL NORGREN Heimathafen Neukölln Blues
06 19:00
THE SPYRALS 8MM Bar Garage | Psych
06 18:00
LIGHT STRIKES AT MONOM OPEN NIGHT MONOM Composition | Electronic | Experimental
06 20:00
THE FELICE BROTHERS Lido Classic Rock
06 20:30
FARIDA AMADOU | LIZ KOSACK | DAG MAGNUS NARVESEN Watt Free Jazz | Improv
€TBA
06 22:00
ALCALICA Eschschloraque Drum n’ bass | Electronic
€TBA
06 20:30
ANDI HABERL MEETS Donau115 Jazz
€TBA
06 21:00
ORDEN - VISIONS OF POST-HUMANISM OHM Dark Techno | Industrial
€TBA
06 21:00
MASICKA (THE YOUNG GENNA) Yaam Reggae | Club
€TBA
07 21:00
THE TESKEY BROTHERS Heimathafen Neukölln Blues | Rock
07 20:30
SARAH SAVIET & SUSANNE PETERS KM28 Composition | Experimental
€TBA
07-08 20:00
STROM FESTIVAL Berliner Philharmonie Composition | Dance | Electronic
€13+
07 22:00
CHICKEN RELOADED + BEATMASTER M ALLSTARS Wild At Heart Punk Rock
07 21:00
MANU LOUIS + FANTAZIO Urban Spree Avante-garde | Experimental Pop | Synth
€22 €9 €TBA
€26
UERST WIACEK BIER: F –M OT E
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SC
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E A AG –V – ND BU
€23
GUEST: HEIDENPETER S CIAL SEP
WU
H T: T RS
G SA AU ES
E
€TBA €TBA
M
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IRD BBQ
11:00 bis 19:00 Eintritt frei Motel Brauerei – Waldstraße 11A – Berlin - Reinickendorf mehr dazu auf motelminibar.com
5
Recommended Shows
Schmutz Presents
07 22:00
FEIERABEND POETIC CUMBIA & DJ DAGVII Hangar 49 Cumbia | Latin | Punk | Ska | Tango
07 19:30
A PROJECTION | WIRES & LIGHTS | GOLDEN APES Musik & Frieden Goth | New Wave | Post Punk
€19
07 20:00
BADIÂA BOUHRIZI | ERNESTO CHAHOUD | RAFAEL ARAGON Yaam Arabic | Dance | Latin
€TBA
07 20:30
SARAH SAVIET & SUSANNE PETERS KM28 Composition | Experimental
€Donation
07 19:30
SHKOON | EL MUNDO & ZAZOU Säälchen Dance | Downbeat | Dub
07 22:30
LÖTFETT / EGO / TBA Supamolly Punk
€TBA
08 20:00
SOLIKONZERT MIT SCHWACH & NOXE Schokoladen Garage | Punk
€TBA
11 20:00
PISSE | INFANT SANCHOS Berghain Punk
Sold Out
08 20:00
LUBOMYR MELNYK Silent Green Neo Classical
€23
12 21:00
HIBOU Urban Spree Indie | Pop | Rock
€12
08 19:00
UNITED VOICES! EVIL CONDUCT | ON THE JOB | CITY SAINTS SO36 Oi | Punk Rock
€19
12 20:00
FOURTRACK: SETH FAERGOLZIA’S MULTIBIRD Schokoladen Anti-folk | Folk Punk
08 21:00
THE BALLROOM BANG FT. TRECKER & YONDALLL Zukunft am Ostkreuz
€TBA
12 19:00
MINOR PIECES Privatclub Singer/Songwriter
€16
08 20:00
KOKOMO / JAGUWAR / LOIPE Zukunft am Ostkreuz Doom | Post Punk | Post Rock
€TBA
12 20:30
MIKAL CRONIN | SHANNON LAY Kantine am Berghain Alternative | Indie
€17
08 22:30
EOHALIS / HERMANN / JEHACKTET Supamolly Grindcore | Hardcore | Punk
€TBA
12 22:00
WELCOME TO THE 20’S! SPREETONORCHESTER – LIVE! Eschschloraque Swing
€TBA
08 20:30
LUCAS DORADO & YACARANDÁ Donau115 Jazz | Latin
€TBA
12 21:00
KIN OF BRICKS Wild At Heart Rock
Free
09 20:00
THE WELL + URSULAR Toast Hawaii Doom | Heavy Psych
€11
13 22:00
INTERSECTIONS II Eschschloraque Experimental | Noise | Viola
€TBA
6v
€8
€20
10 20:00
TWIN TEMPLE | HEXVESSEL Bi Nuu 60s | Doo-wop | Occult
€22
10 20:00
EFTERKLANG Admiralspalast Electro Pop | Indie pop
€32
10 19:30
THE SPIRIT | KARG & FIRTAN Nuke Metal
€15
10 19:00
RYLEY WALKER (SOLO / ACOUSTIC) Volksbühne Acoustic | Singer/Songwriter
€27
10 20:00
SWAN VALLEY HEIGHTS & KARSK Schokoladen Stoner Doom
11 20:00
SAINT JHN Lido Hip Hop | Pop | Trap
€28
11 19:30
ABBATH | 1349 | VLTIMAS Festsaal Kreuzberg Black Metal
€35
€TBA
€TBA
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KATE DAVIS
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05.02.20, Monarch
MIKAL CRONIN
Special Guest: Shannon Lay 12.02.20, Kantine am Berghain
ALICE BOMAN
18.02.20, Kantine am Berghain
AUTOMATIC / SORRY 21.02.20, ACUD
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SPINNING COIN 23.03.20, Urban Spree
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08.04.20, Kantine am Berghain
#2 You’ve always wanted to be in a magazine
PHARMAKON
18.04.2020, Urban Spree
RICHARD DAWSON
20.04.2020, Kantine am Berghain
NADIA REID
21.04.20, Roter Salon
DESTROYER 24.04.20, Bi Nuu
#3 We’re not Facebook
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11.05.20, Urban Spree
JONATHAN BREE
12.05.20, Festsaal Kreuzberg
SCOUT NIBLETT 21.05.20, Frannz Club
#4 Print media is obviously the future
JACKIE LYNN
25.05.20, Kantine am Berghain
KURT VILE
[SOLO]
29.05.20, Heimathafen Neukölln
DONNY BENÉT 29.05.20, Lido
SOCCER MOMMY 09.06.20, Frannz Club
BIKINI KILL hallo@schmutzberlin.com
11.06.20, Astra Kulturhaus TICKETS: PUSCHEN.TICKETS.DE
7
Recommended Shows
13 20:00
SILVERSTEIN | HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS SO36 Emo | Pop Punk | Screamo
13 21:00
ALCEST | BIRDS IN ROW | KAELAN MIKLA Heimathafen Neukölln Indie | Metal | Shoegaze
13 19:00
INDIANIZER 8MM Bar Kraut | Psych
13 20:00
MILKY CHANCE Tempodrom Pop
13 22:00
Schmutz Presents
€34
15 20:00
JOHN PRINE Großer Sendesaal des rbb Folk | Bluegrass | Country
€42
€30
15 20:00
JENNY HVAL HAU 1 Composition | Electropop | Synth
€19
€TBA
15 19:30
CEEYS | HOSHIKO YAMANE Filmmuseum Potsdam Ambient | Electronic | Experimental
€10
€40
15 22:30
€TBA
KON SAMETI Wild At Heart Psych Rock
OPERATORS | RYL | FATHER MIDNIGHT Supamolly Garage | Stoner
€TBA
14 21:30
ULF Schokoladen Melodic Punk
€12
PONYS AUF PUMP / ESELS ALPTRAUM / INFANT SANCHOS Supamolly Punk
15 19:00
€TBA
15 19:00
BOY & BEAR Lido Indie Rock
€27
14 20:00
UFO361 Max-Schmeling-Halle Deutsche Rap | Pop
€42
15 22:00
BOB WAYNE Wild At Heart Country
€TBA
14 21:00
BLACK MARBLE | PANTHER MODERN Bi Nuu Post Punk | Wave
Sold Out
16 20:00
SUBSHINE Kantine am Berghain Synth Pop
14 19:00
NAPALM DEATH | EYEHATEGOD | MISERY INDEX | ROTTEN SOUND Astra Death Metal | Grindcore | Sludge
16 18:00
SWAK X DOGMA PRESENTS PLANET EUPHORIQUE TOUR Acud Macht Neu Club | Dance
17 18:00
TENACIOUS D Max-Schmeling-Halle Fun | Kitch | Rock
17 19:00
MAGIC SHOPPE | HYPNOTIC REVERB ROCK Schokoladen Psych
18 20:00
LINA MALY Lido Deutschpop
€23
€9
18 18:00
TESTAMENT | EXODUS | DEATH ANGEL Huxley’s Neue Welt Heavy Metal | Thrash
€44
€TBA
18 20:30
ALICE BOMAN Kantine am Berghain Melancholic Pop | Singer/Songwriter
€17
14 20:00
CANDICE GORDON | THE SACRAMENTAL TRAFFIC LIGHTS Badehaus Country | Folk | Indie
14 21:00
BALAGAN & SUCK | THE PLEASURE MAJENTA Urban Spree Fun | Garage | Punk
14 23:00
VAAGNER TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY FEAT. I NSTRUMENTS OF DISCIPLINE OHM Dark Techno | Noise
14 20:30
KALIMA/KEMPENDORFF/ BAUMGÄRTNER Donau115 Jazz
8
€25
€16
€TBA
€21
€TBA €62 €TBA
18 21:00
WOLF MOUNTAINS Loophole Rock
€TBA
18 21:00
PHILLIP DORNBUSCHS PROJEKTOR B-Flat Jazz
€TBA
19 20:00
...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD Festsaal Kreuzberg Alternative | Post Punk
€28
19 20:00
M.O.P. SO36 Hip Hop | Rap
€32
19 21:00
MORIOH SONDER Wild At Heart Indie pop
Free
19 19:30
MARCIN MASECKI’S JAZZ TRIO KM28 Jazz
€TBA
20 22:00
BAPTISTS + DECULTIVATE TIEF Sludge | Hardcore
€15
20 20:20
BAD HAMMER 8MM Bar Bedroom Pop | Soft Rock
€TBA
20 20:30
BRUCHGOLD & KORALLE Donau115 Improv | Jazz
€TBA
21 20:00
POLYPHIA Cassiopeia Math Rock | Prog
€21
21 20:00
OEHL Kantine am Berghain Synth Pop
€18
21 20:00
A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN Funkhaus Ambient | Neo Classical
€26
21 21:00
AUTOMATIC + SORRY Acud Macht Neu Post Punk | Synth
€14
21 22:30
TISIPHONE / RASKOLNIKOV Supamolly Coldwave | Darkwave | Post Punk
€TBA
21 22:00
SCHATTENVORAUS Eschschloraque Post Punk
€TBA 9
Recommended Shows
Schmutz Presents
21 21:00
MAGIC ISLAND | JOHN MOODS | DISCOVERY ZONE | DENA (DJ-SET) Urban Spree Electronic | Indie | Pop
21 21:30
TISIPHONE & RASKOLNIKOV Supamolly Coldwave | Post Punk
€TBA
21 20:00
THE SCREENSHOTS Bi Nuu Indie Rock
€TBA
21 21:00
NOISE FLOOR Ausland Experimental | Noise
€TBA
21 20:00
ANTIBODIES & DAVID WALLRAF Zum Limit Experimental | Noise pop
€TBA
21 20:30
PRACTICALLY MARRIED Donau115 Jazz
€TBA
DIE ARBEIT | SID VISION Badehaus Alternative | Noise Rock | Punk
22 19:00
(SANDY) ALEX G | PET SHIMMERS Lido Indie | Slacker Pop
27 20:30
€18
27 22:00
7 YEARS OF THE BRVTALIST OHM Dark Techno | Wave
€TBA
22 20:00
CHE SUDAKA | DOCTOR KRÁPULA SO36 Cumbia | Latin | Reggae
€21
28 17:00
SUFFOCATION | BELPHEGOR ORWOhaus Death Metal
€33
22 22:00
A PONY NAMED OLGA Wild At Heart Punk | Rockabilly
€TBA
28 20:00
REAL ESTATE Tennis Indie | Soft Rock
23 20:00
WINSTON SURFSHIRT Cassiopeia Hip Hop | R&B
€20
28 21:00
HMLTD Urban Spree Electro Pop | Experimental
€14
23 21:00
TURIA & IFFERNET Zukunft am Ostkreuz Black Metal
€TBA
28 20:00
CAIROKEE Yaam Arabic Rock | Pop
€30
24 20:00
DJ SHADOW Metropol Beats | Dance | Hip Hop
€36
29 20:00
MILKING THE GOATMACHINE Nuke Metal
€18
24 21:00
ASA Heimathafen Neukölln Jazz | Pop
€29
29 22:30
BURNT FRIEDMAN & MOHAMMAD REZA MORTAZAVI Supamolly
24 20:00
MONDO GENERATOR Zukunft am Ostkreuz Alternative | Rock | Stoner
€16
29 21:00
MODERN BON IV Urban Spree A/V | Drone | Electronic
€TBA
29 22:30
EL COLECTIVO | CHOCHÁN VOLADOR & DJS Hangar 49 Cumbia | Latin Rhythms
24 20:00 10
Die Steine + DJ Lobotomy Zum Limit
€13
25 20:00
BROOKE CANDY Berghain Hip Hop | Pop
€26
25 20:00
POLIÇA Columbia Theater Electro Pop | Indie Soul
€23
25 20:00
DANCE WITH THE DEAD Musik & Frieden Electro | Industrial | Trance
€22
27 20:00
L’IMPÉRATRICE Festsaal Kreuzberg Dance | Electronic | French Pop
€20
27 19:00
AL DOUM & THE FARYDS 8MM Bar Kraut | Psych
€TBA
27 20:00
PHILIPP DITTBERNER Privatclub Pop | Singer/Songwriter
€19 €9
€TBA
€TBA €23 €8
Shows often get cancelled or added at the last minute. For the full listing and latest info, check the dang website: www.schmutzberlin.com
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11
IT’S THE NOTES THEY’RE NOT PLAYING Dissecting the prescriptive
posture of experimental gigs by Samuel Flannagan Like most 20-somethings moving to Berlin
machines and DIY oddities, simultaneously
for the first time, I reckoned I was on the
layering noises which recalled the ticking of
right wavelength to thrive in a city closely
a gas stove being ignited and a rat falling
associated with musical weirdness. For a
down a drainpipe – as a “bag of shite.” Exper-
start, Lennon was my favourite Beatle. I had
imontag does exactly what it says on the tin,
a Trout Mask Replica avatar on Twitter. I
and from one week to the next, you might
owned several entirely improvised albums.
encounter anything from the beating of
The list goes on.
amplified sheet metal to primitive bellowing
So, having my avant-garde credentials unravelled in such a way by a friend of a friend,
(also amplified).
upstairs in Madame Claude’s after one of
It is no surprise that boundary-breaking
their famous “Experimontag” sessions,
music blossoms in a city whose tumultu-
felt brutal.
ous history has often forced its people to
He was right, however, that it was probably unfair of me to describe the performance – a woman at a table of oblique synths, drum
12
into a spittle-flecked conch shell
negotiate the idea of freedom, or the lack thereof. Berlin’s current reputation for musical experimentation can be traced, in
part, to the Echtzeitmusik scene of the east
communicating everything from “This is
side squats that took root after the wall fell;
so fucking basic, what is this, avant-garde
the resourceful generation of musicians and
101?” to “My God, this screeching is speak-
artists who made use of the abundant empty
ing to me on an emotional level. Really.” Or
space and cheap living. While these factors
if you’re as neurotic as I obviously am: the
are no longer part of Berlin’s current reality,
grumpy dismissal of the performance, while
they have been vital in establishing the city’s
remaining blissfully ignorant of the fact that
attractiveness for practitioners of non-com-
if you’re feeling uncomfortable, then the gig
mercial music, and those who, like myself,
has probably succeeded, at least in part, in
sit in darkened backrooms trying to work out
its aims. What is it about the avant-garde
what they’re up to.
that still makes us act so oddly?
But something this particular night, four or
Unsurprisingly, a difficult cultural theorist
five Augustiners deep, had rattled my cage.
may hold the keys to audience reactions to
I was into the avant-garde, wasn’t I? You
difficult culture. Back in the ‘60s, Theodor
know, experimental stuff? I’d always been
W. Adorno undertook a now rather dated
drawn to the weird, so why was I getting so
critique of audience reactions to innovations
wound up and feeling so out of place?
in jazz, though at the same time he argued
Insecurities around music are, on the whole, completely fucking childish. They say there is no accounting for taste, nor should there be, and most of us shed a good deal of scene-related neuroses when we realise that many seemingly inclusive alternative scenes are usually governed by distasteful hidden hierarchies. These are usually dominated by one
that fans of the genre weren’t truly the vanguard of experimentation that they supposed themselves to be. Adorno delved into Marxist criticism to describe how jazz, in its development, had been mutilated by the pressures of the capitalist music market, and many of his pronouncements concerning the genre really haven’t stood the test of time.
or two long-in-the-tooth white blokes who
Adorno began to break audiences down into
are so jaded they have long since forgotten
various categories and created a laughably
what they are there for (advice for teen
elitist hierarchy of listener types that reads
readers: don’t spend too many years going to
like a cross between a Rorschach crib sheet
skate parks). But an additional, ineradicable
and a horoscope. His groupings range from
anxiety seems to fill the air at experimental
the ‘expert listener’ at the top of the tree
gigs above all others: the necessity to look
(“professional musicians”) to the frankly un-
like you get it. Among audiences, this mani-
thinkable ‘indifferent listener’ at the bottom
fests as an array of self-conscious postures,
(described chillingly as having a “patholog-
13
This is why Twin Peaks and the first season of True Detective eventually come to ring so hollow: sometimes the owls are exactly as they seem.
– the category to which most adventurous music fans on the Berlin scene would likely ascribe themselves – perhaps exposes the difficulty in trying to get to the bottom of the affectivity of much avant-garde music, and our reasons for listening to it. Adorno states that a good listener has an
ical realistic mentality”). Adorno’s flawed
“unconscious mastery of music’s immanent
categories nevertheless illustrate some of
logic.” But what logic is there to the atonal
the reasons we are drawn to music in the
fuzz created by combing your hair with an
first place.
amplified salad fork, or getting a trained
His example of the listener who is a ‘culture consumer’ is perhaps the closest thing we have to an academic assessment of the music snob, someone who combines the twin middle-class needs for cultural cachet and
musician to cook a pot of soup on stage? Is it possible to be an expert or even a good listener of experimental music if it doesn’t grow recognisably from accepted musical practices?
conspicuous consumption. This is the group
For Adorno, elite listeners engage in “struc-
that prizes virtuosity and spectacle for its
tural hearing,” a heightened recognition and
own sake, says Adorno, but would probably
analysis of the music and its performance.
also cover those people who feel the need to
For those right at the top, it must be a bit
film gigs on their iPhones.
like the disorientating few weeks after tak-
His idea of an ‘emotional listener,’ meanwhile, covers people who use music as “a trigger for emotions repressed or unfulfilled
14
However, his description of a ‘good listener’
ing a media studies class, in which you overanalyse all film and TV and your newfound knowledge kind of ruins everything for you.
in everyday life.” There is a running thread
Like the music that occupies these refined
throughout Adorno’s work that unsophisti-
ears, experimental music engages us in a
cated listeners use music like a drug, and
task, but with the added, irresistible lure
despite Adorno’s overly specific example –
of a potential hidden meaning to unlock: a
“tired businessmen of Anglo-Saxon coun-
conceptual centre which doesn’t necessarily
tries” – we’d surely agree that this ‘use’ of
arise from familiar music logic. This is prob-
music is almost all of us, at least part of the
ably why the avant-garde makes us strike
time, however supposedly refined our ear
the ridiculous poses that we do: thoughtful
may be.
chin-stroking, head nodding, or beatnik-es-
Photo by Mateusz Trzeciak for Schmutz
Clear roles for sweaty heathens at a King Gizard concert que knowing indifference. If there is a core
points of reference, navigating their way
thing to be ‘got,’ the impulse is to communi-
towards a recognisable meaning.
cate that we’re psychically working our way towards it, or that we’ve already got there, way ahead of everyone else. All gigs are ritualistic, and avant-garde gigs are no different. But unlike, for example, seeing King Gizard & the Lizard Wizard, when getting kettled half to death in a fog of flying booze and sweat is central to the creation of collective euphoria, the sense of togetherness elicited among 20-30 understated artsy types listening to metallic squinks in the back room of Loophole might not be as obvious.
So, a feeling of resentment can arise when there is no inner sanctum of meaning to access, no layer to peel back to let you feel like you’re onto something. This is why Twin Peaks and the first season of True Detective eventually come to ring so hollow: sometimes the owls are exactly as they seem. On the other hand, the absence of meaning may also be a blessing: anyone who has had the misfortune of being obsessed with the film Donnie Darko as an adolescent, and who subsequently bought the accompanying book
Offering little in the way of the nostalgia,
in search of answers, might understand that
joie de vivre, or sense of collective identity
imaginative space is often preferable to a
that form much of the emotional appeal of
constructed mythos of pseudo-
conventional gigs, the common task becomes
intellectual gibberish.
one of intellectualisation – a room of brains together, untethered from their familiar
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Jochen Abreit of Einstürzende Neubauten playing a solo show with a vibrator But the fact is, that despite the finely-crafted
thetes. There is no expert listener in the art
manifestos and artist statements that fill
of getting abrasive noises out of salad forks.
the Facebook descriptions of avant-garde
Nor, with respect, can there be much in the
happenings, most experimental gigs are just
way of virtuosity. And quaint though many of
as silly as they sound when friends attempt
these experiments may be, in an age where
to explain what happened at a show you’ve
anything we create may be repackaged and
missed. Sometimes, a man in a Maybachufer
sold back to us, they remain impervious to
basement sucking air inwards through a sax-
those forces that eventually render so much
ophone for 45 minutes is just a man sucking
of the music we love toothless and kitsch.
air through a saxophone. For 45 minutes. And almost always in the retelling of such gigs, the humour seems to work its way to the forefront, despite the atmosphere at the time.
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A couple of years ago, I dragged my untidy self and two long-suffering friends to a free concert at the swanky Collegium Hungaricum near Museum Island. The show was a collaboration between experimental noise musi-
Though easily written off as pretentious
cian, Zsolt Sőrés, and members of Faust. It
– or worse, elitist – the kinds of squiggles
took place behind a white curtain which split
and grunts we encounter in Berlin’s nico-
the room in two, separating the band from
tine-stained backrooms and fire-hazardous
the packed audience in the auditorium, leav-
basements offer us the very opposite: nightly
ing only the cast shadows of the musicians
fuck-yous to Adorno and his fictional aes-
and their equipment visible to the audience.
The earnestly seated audience was treated
mayhem projected onto this gossamer-thin
to pummelling after pummelling of acerbic,
curtain. But something about that frigging
abrasive percussion and defiant industrial
cement mixer forced me to break down in a
noises so twisted you couldn’t tell – hidden
fit of hysterical laughter.
as the performers were – whether they were emitting from perversely treated synths, tortured strings, or something else altogether, manipulated into emitting screams no inanimate object should ever be capable of. In short, it was bloody weird, with the only relief being an occasional passage of Canstyle space noodling.
Brian Eno once said: “Avant-garde music is sort of research music. You’re glad someone’s done it but you don’t necessarily want to listen to it.” I agree with this in part, but here in Berlin, where guaranteed weirdness is only ever a few U-bahn stops away, the option to experience something new, subversive and often silly is always there, and in
Throughout, I was aware of a static shadow
the face of such novelty our own reactions
of something fat and bulbous at what would
are unexpected, surprising, and most impor-
be the equivalent of front stage centre of
tantly, honest.
the white curtain. It only made its anti-musical appearance about half an hour into the show, when a shaggy-haired shape darted across the stage to turn it on. As it began its monotonous, grinding rotation, I finally realised it was a cement mixer, full of what must have been gravel or maybe seeds, and which was, of course, lovingly amplified.
This puts me in mind of another quote, from the dancer Isadore Duncan, whose response to interrogative interviewers was to answer: “If I could tell you what it meant, there’d be no point in dancing it.” What we find, then, is that avant-garde performances don’t necessarily require complex or coherent thought: what we can enjoy instead is their
Of all the things that are going to elicit a bel-
affectivity; the squirming of our bodies and
ly laugh, the image of a man trying to control
nervous systems that respond unconsciously
the noises coming out of a bloody great lump
to intentional displays of incoherence.
of industrial machinery may not feature at the top of your list. And it might have had
Often the only thing you need to ‘get’ is
something to do with the sober, modernist
the joke. / SF
space in which the event took place, or the nervousness that arises from looking like a scruff in a nice area of town. Or, maybe it was the silhouettes of the heads of the front row, held stock-still in the face of this
All recollections of avant-garde artists/performances described are factual, and any resemblance to the work of performance artists living in Berlin is entirely intentional. We love you all.
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HISTORY WITCH with Emily Gale
History Witch celebrates voices that are all too often left out of musical narratives and simultaneously provides historical context for why discussions of gender and sexuality in music continue to matter. Each month the column spotlights historically significant albums or tracks by women, queer, trans, or non-binary musicians.
Lesley Gore’s recording of “You Don’t Own Me” peaked at the number two spot on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 1st, 1964. It remained there for three consecutive weeks while The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” maintained a strong hold on number one. Dusty Springfield, Klaus Nomi, and Joan Jett are among the artists who have covered the song. There was also a French version by Canadian singer Michèle Richard. More recently, a rendition by Australian singer Grace and American rapper G-Eazy brought the song to the top of the charts demonstrating that fifty-six years later, the song continues to inspire young women to use their voices to loudly and firmly denounce the patriarchy. Gore recorded “You Don’t Own Me” at the age of 17. It might be tempting to dismiss her performance as that of a young woman under the thumb of powerful men. Indeed, the song was written by Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White and produced by Quincy Jones. But Gore’s youthfulness is at least part of what lends the song such a powerful sense of agency. Released in December of 1963 with “Run, Bobby Run” as the B-side, “You Don’t Own Me” was Gore’s second most successful recording and her last top-ten single. Her recalcitrant performance rejects the notion of women as property and, in so doing, aligns the struggle for women’s rights with the 1960s Civil Rights movement— as imagined by the song’s authors. In her 1964 performance of the song for the T.A.M.I. show, Gore smiles as she enters the stage. She prepares her character and as
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she starts to sing, her expression shifts to uncompromising resolve. She makes direct eye contact with the camera and her eyes mock the viewer as if daring us to test her certainty. The song opens in the minor mode, its title and opening line among the most hauntingly defiant in the history of popular music. Gore’s voice, thick with reverb, repeats the poignant line an additional three times over the course of the two and a half minute track. I hear this echo—characteristic of 1960s girl groups—as a kind of shouting into the void. Will their messages be heard and legitimated? A rattling tick provides the backbeat while a piano in the low register chugs out the compound meter like an exhausted old train. And exhausted— or at least tiresome—the necessity of this message may be, Gore directs a series of negative imperatives towards an unnamed oppressor before triumphantly shifting to the parallel major. The doo-wop chord progression buttresses Gore’s assertions of autonomy and self-determination. Through a rising series of chromatic modulations, Gore intensifies the conviction. Although not supported vocally in the same manner as other girl groups of the time, faint “oohs” and “aahs” can be heard as tentative endorsements. The song fades out in repetitions of positive declarations; it feels appropriate to allow these sentiments to linger, insisting that the work of freedom is far from finished. Dr. Emily Gale is a feminist pop music scholar who lives in Berlin. Email: emily@sentimentalmuseum.com
MUSICIAN CLASSIFIEDS Quit playing with yourself
Jan 20th 2020 James Pain SINGER WANTED Influences include Bauhaus, The Birthday Party, Sonic Youth and Pixies. Currently we have a drummer, guitarist and bass player, looking for a fourth member who is confident writing lyrics and fronting the group. We have some recordings of instrumental originals that we can send to you to get a better feel for our sound. We regularly meet at a shared rehearsal space in Neukolln. Jan 20th 2020 Bruno PERCUSSION BAND We are looking for percussionist with or without experience who wants to be part of and ensamble of percussion. Rhythm and percussion with signs is a new way of performing percussion, based on group improvisation in which, through a language of around 150 signs made with the hands and body, a director can coordinate the flow of improvisation by converting to the sum of individual ideas in a true collective composition... Jan 20th 2020 Joonas Ikonen SINGER / ACOUSTIC GUITARIST LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO PLAY WITH! Singer/acoustic guitar player who has just moved to Berlin looking for fellow musicians to jam, create, practice with.My preferred genre consists of Indie folk. Artists like Bon Iver, Ben Howard, The Tallest Man On the EarthI’m looking for practically anything. Serious or not. Just want to find my way into the musicians circles and find my people. Please send me an email! Let’s see what we can do together!
Jan 19th 2020 Sandy K SYNTH / KEYBOARD PLAYER NEEDED HISSYFIT – bass+drums duo playing live tech/ house inspired electronica/ dance-punk with the aid of various funky pedals & pads. Influences include LCD Soundsystem, Simian Mobile Disco, Holy Fuck, The Rapture, Death From Above, Hot Chip etc. We are looking for a third member/collaborator to play keyboards or synth, to add some dirty electro, blissy melodies, fuzzy layers and space sounds to the core tracks we have written. 3hr weekly rehearsal in F’Hain and gigs coming in the coming months so a level of commitment is required (Passion essential!). To give you some idea of our sound, we have some very early demo clips on Soundcloud. PM me if you’re interested in joining the band! HF. X Jan 19th 2020 Bob EXPERIENCED SINGER/ SONGWRITER TO FORM ALTERNATIVE ROCK BAND I am experienced Singer/ Songwriter looking to form an Alternative Rock Band. What I am looking for is to create four peace unit of Singer/Guitar (me), Bass, Drummer, and a utility member (playing piano or piano). The idea is to write our own songs and practice at least once a week. All in all gigging should start beginning of June. Example of artist Cage the Elephant, Shins, SWRS etc.Look forward to hearing from you! Jan 18th 2020 Hansi DYNAMIC SINGER LOOKING FOR BAND MATES I am a dynamic vocalist/ singer . . . I love collaborating with musicians from different genres...
(continued) I am excited to get to know and jam with any musicians looking for a vocalist. Most evenings I am free except for Friday, as well as weekends. Jan 17th 2020 Victor Rez (PAID JOB) MALE SINGER WANTED (LABRINTH, JOHN LEGEND) Looking for a male singer who sounds like John Legend, Aloe Blacc, Labrinth. Recording session would be in our studio at Treptower Park. Please send a demo of your voice to me and I’ll get back to you if selected. Check reference below. Jan 14th 2020 Hans LOOKING FOR MUSICIANS FOR NEO SOUL PROJECT. We are a duo of experieced musicians in composition and live performance based in Berlin. Actually we are driving a R&B, Hip Hop, Neo Soul project called Pursuit Of and we´re in need of cooperators. For the moment experieced vocalist, bassist and guitarrist are the members we are looking for. If you want to apply write to one of the email listed. Uploading some footage of your playing or singing would be great aswell. If you like Neo soul, R&B, Jazz and other styles of this Kind, we are more than happy to know about you. We are open minded and like to integrate more ideas into the project. Jan 14th 2020 Looking for Bassist, guitarrist and Vocalist. We are a duo of experieced musicians in composition and live performance. Actually we are driving a R&B, Hip Hop, Neo Soul project called Pursuit Of and we´re in need of cooperators. For the moment a vocalist, a bassist and a guitarrist are the members we are looking for. If you want to apply write to one of the emails listed
Jan 13th 2020 Kimberli Lewis LOOKING FOR ARTISTS FOR 2 EVENTS I am looking for artists for 2 events in May in Berlin. 1. I would like a 20 swing band of 3 persons with a women singer for a private event May 25 18.00-22.00 2. Looking for piano artist, perferably 2 for a dueling piano set up late 22.30-1.00 pm May 25 Location Berlin Jan 13th 2020 Sergio SINGER (TENOR RANGE) LOOKING FOR A POPROCK BAND I am a singer with 10+ years of experience in different choirs and vocal ensembles, but I have also love singing pop and rock. I am looking for a band to play both covers or original music, just for fun and also to find some gigs in Berlin. My musical references are bands like Keane, Coldplay, Low Roar or Muse. Looking forward to your answers! Jan 12th 2020 Aaro Seppänen DRUMMER, GUITARIST AND BASSIST WANTED Hi! I´m a 23-year old guy looking for musicians to play my original songs. I sing and produce electronic tracks with Ableton live but I want them to be enriched by live instruments., My style is quite diverse e.g. synth pop, alternative rock, alternative hip hop. A few artists that have inspired me: Talk Talk, Pet Shop Boys, Outkast, NOTE: In addition to playing acoustic drums I would except a drummer to have some experience in using drum pads with Ableton Live. Send me an email if this raised any interest in you!
Listing supplied by Noisy Rooms. For full listing, to reply, or to post your own, visit: noisy-musicworld.com/rooms/#board 19
SHOWS OF NOTE We're a very credible source DAN DEACON WEDNESDAY / 04.12
Heimathafen Neukölln Dan Deacon creates frenetic and thoughtful compositions that are as chaotic as his performance rig of twisted fluorescent wires and hardware. He’s one of the few mid2000s era neo-psych acts that has aged well and, more importantly, continued to evolve, making it our prospective highlight of this year’s CTM Festival. FFO Animal Collective, Battles, Black Moth Super Rainbow / GD
Urban Spree Listening to U-Bahn tells the story of how Devo left a wake of single mothers on their Australian tours of the ‘80s. Their wavey bastards eventually grew up to form U-Bahn, which is clearly an elaborate scheme to someday tour the US and collect the long overdue child support owed by Devo. In the meantime, we get to enjoy their authentic take on new wave in the modern era. In support is Leipzig’s Lassie, who I’m going to describe as ‘space punk.’ FFO Devo, Gym Tonic, Useless Eaters / GD
STROM FESTIVAL FRI-SAT / 07-08.02
Berliner Philharmonie For the first time in its history, the gorgeous pentagonal interior of the Berliner Philharmonie will be used to celebrate electronic music. The weekend-long Strom Festival features the likes of Nina Kraviz, KiNK, Ryoji Ikeda, Don’t DJ, Cristian Vogel, and countless other incluencers. FFO electronic music in unique spaces / GD
Bi Nuu It seems that we’ve entered the stage in music history in which artists are forced to pursue extreme stylistic contradictions in a desperate attempt to be novel. Emo rap? Sure. Christian death metal? Ugh, I guess. Satanic doo-wop? Hell yes. This is where Twin Temple comes in, pairing the most wholesome of sounds with the most blasphemous of aesthetics. FFO Dee Dee Sharp, Dion, sacrificing virgins / GD
PISSE TUESDAY / 11.02
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U-BAHN + LASSIE SATURDAY / 07.12
TWIN TEMPLE MONDAY / 10.02
Berghain We’re not entirely sure when Pisse graduated from just a puddle in Connewitz to the hot stream that’s fit for the stalls of Berghain, but we’re not complaining. For the uninitiated, the Leipzig outfit is sloppy synth-punk at its finest, with far more hooks than you’d expect from bands of their ilk. FFO Jay Reatard, The Spits, Stratocastors / GD
Astra You know that film of grime that gathers under the rim of your toilet bowl and occasionally seeps down onto the pristine porcelain of your poop catcher? Well, that film is actually the “Campaign for Musical Destruction Tour” and the poop catcher is your feeble existence. Prepare for battle, mortals, as we may not make it out alive. / NP
MANSIONS & MILLIONS 5TH BIRTHDAY FRIDAY / 21.02
NAPALM DEATH | ROTTEN SOUND | MISERY INDEX | EYEHATEGOD FRIDAY / 14.02
Urban Spree Mansions & Millions is the taproot of cool culture in an already very cool city. The record label and PR agency is turning five, which is both exciting and a chilling reminder of our own mortality. Fortunately, the birthday includes the label’s MVPs to distract you from your existential dread: Magic Island, John Moods, and Discovery Zone. If you don’t know what any of these words mean, just come down to the this venue on this date to quickly acquaint yourself with the rising stars of Berlin’s pop scene. FFO iamamiwhoami, Fenster, Sean Nicholas Savage / GD
Funkhaus Their charming new album, The Undivided Three, was largely recorded in Berlin and is a soft-focus bow to the quieter moments of the city. The impressionistic movements cleanse the emotional palate while simultaneously introducing fresh tensions and builds. A walk out to Funkhaus while listening to Debussy will be the perfect warmup for this warm embrace. / NP
AL DOUM & THE FARYDS THURSDAY / 27.02
A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN FRIDAY / 21.02
8MM Bar Al Doum & the Faryds is a rotating cast of Italian hippies playing anything that moves them, but mostly lands in the psych-kraut department. “The new spiritual exotic jazz celebrate [sic] a new collective soul, a dancing cathartic ritual with birds, plants and all the animals, together in the circle of devotion.” Lord knows how they’re all going to fit in 8MM Bar. FFO Folläkzoid, Sundays & Cybele, Goat / GD
Urban Spree Modern Bön is a local label and event series that uses its curated catalog of ambient composers and sound artists to “awaken the inner eye through meditation.” With their 4th edition, the festival brings together yet another massive lineup of live A/V performances from local and international artists, including Herman Kopp, the German composer responsible for the soundtrack to 1987 horror classic, Necromantik. FFO Echtzeitmusik, slow builds, ASMR / GD
MODERN BÖN IV SATURDAY / 29.02
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FAKE NEWS/FAKE NEWS/FAKE
Oh Shit: I’m the I.T. Guy With Shaved Head and Goatee Who Listens to Late 90s Industrial Music by Cory Cousins Fuck me, really? I mean, I always knew those guys existed. You know the type, blathering on and on about how they saw Lords of Acid live in ‘97, while taking way too long to set up the office WiFi. Though, I never thought that my life would take such a turn that I would one day, eventually transform into one of them. How did it get this far? Looking back on it, I guess it started out innocuously. I shaved my head because I realized I couldn’t grow dreads, and compensated some by growing a long goatee. Sure, kind of a predictable move, but relatively benign. But soon after, I developed an unhealthy obsession with Ministry, and would frequently wear an “Al Jourgensen Is My Co-Pilot” t-shirt to work. Things started to snowball after I would incessantly quiz employees at our office about their favorite Orgy lyrics before I would help them set up their computer passwords. Christ, they could barely even list three songs from Nine Inch Nails’ entire catalogue. Looking
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back, my frustration at the corporate squares for having such simplistic taste in music, only caused me to delve deeper into things Industrial. Management started to get on my ass whenever I would roll up in the parking garage in my tricked-out Honda CRX, smoking cloves, blasting Rammstein, and tossing empty Red Bull cans out of my window. This would shock the suits at work, but I simply didn’t have time for their judgement. I was diving ever deeper into a world of synthesizers, strobe lights, and casual drug-induced sexual encounters, all the while maintaining and repairing information technology hardware associated with my corporate office. I was on a roller coaster with no end in sight. So where do I go from here? Now that I have crossed the line into “I.T. Guy With Shaved Head and Goatee Who Listens to Late 90s Industrial Music,” I feel as though there is no turning back, and the only thing left to do is to fully embrace my newfound personality, even to the monumental annoyance of everyone I work with. I just hope my mother can forgive me. She always wanted me to grow up and be a Dave Matthews Craft Beer/Hockey sales guy.
Quality music journalism provided by thehardtimes.net
NEWS/FAKE NEWS/FAKE NEWS
Send us your doodles and we’ll publish them in the next issue. The winners will also receive guest list for a show of our choosing. We can’t believe we’re the first ones to come up with this idea.
REVERSE CAPTION CONTEST
“It’s not very big, but rent prices sure are soaring”
Congratulations to these readers for their winning submissions!
“Doggy want a bondage?” Submitted by Jamie Kao
Submitted by Miriam Federgreen
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FEBRUARY FEBRUARY FEBRUARY U-BAHN + L ASSIE URBAN SPREE
CANDICE GORDON BADEHAUS
JOHN PRINE
RBB SENDESA AL
B A P T I S T S + D E C U LT I V AT E TIEF
(SANDY ) ALE X G LIDO
02 14 15 20 22
SCHMUTZ PRESENTS SCHMUTZ PRESENTS SCHMUTZ PRESENTS Every month we cohost shows we like and give away free tickets. Visit schmutzberlin.com for a chance to win. 24
