Mcbees paints the Berlin Wall

Berlin is not all about music... Here's a video about an exhibition at Freedom Park in Berlin; artists were invited to paint on pieces of the Berlin Wall.

Real Scenes - documentaries on the music scene in Bristol, Detroit and Berlin

Resident Advisor and Bench have teamed up to produce a series of documentaries on the musical, cultural and creative culture in some of the key destinations in today's music scene; Real Scenes. The first of the series; Real Scenes: Bristol, was out in July. It focuses on the influential electronic music scene in Bristol. The second one; Real Scenes: Detroit, out in August, explores Detroit, the birthplace of techno. And the latest one; Real Scenes: Berlin, came out today and focuses on the techno scene in Berlin.


Real Scenes: Bristol from Resident Advisor on Vimeo.


Real Scenes: Detroit from Resident Advisor on Vimeo.


Real Scenes: Berlin from Resident Advisor on Vimeo.

Children of Berlin

Ostgut Ton at Berlin Next

Last Saturday I found myself in Paris. That night as part of Berlin Next there was an Ostgut Ton label event on at La Gaite Lyrique. Naturally I went!

I get there and Berlin based John Roberts is already playing (he's actually not on Ostgut Ton, he's on Dial). First time I see him, his set is ok, nothing too special, but quite deep and definitely bringing that Berlin sound to Paris! Not sure how long he played for, I get to see only the last 20mins. Then Barker and Baumecker! They play for around 1hr, again ok set, nothing too exciting, but can't really say anything negative either.



And then what I've been waiting for... Marcel Fengler! I've got a few tracks and a couple of mixes of his, really like his stuff! I had big expectations from tonight! Then again a little bit disappointed... I think his set is only 1hr (I say I think.... cause I don't stay till the end), yet it takes him 20mins to actually go for it. Also he's playing really low... Even the soundman goes up to him to tell him he can turn it up, but he's not doing it. The tracks are good, the mixing is good, but there's something not there for me. I wish I was in Berghain next to the Funktion 1 listening to Marcel playing really loud, after a couple of other deep techno DJs, so I can really get in the mood, but that's not the case. I think it's also the crowd that is not helping. The venue is great and the staff are really nice and helpful. The crowd is quite young and somehow really clean and proper. That's probably what impresses me more... this is not the crowd you would normally expect in such an event and it actually makes a big difference.

Overall a good night, but if you missed it, you didn't really miss that much..

Berlin Next - bringing Berghain in Paris

Radio Granouille is having a pop up studio this week at La Gaite Lyrique in Paris. They have teamed up with another 2 radio stations and are putting on Berlin Next, a 5 day event that offers the best of the Berlin scene at the moment. The event includes talks, projections and club nights. I went to have a look yesterday and was really impressed with the building the event is held on... It's like a cultural centre near Reaumur Sebastopol with artists studios, exhibitions space, bars and space for the club nights! Its style combines traditional with futuristic elements really nicely, without them clashing with each other! I'm going back on Saturday night so watch this space!

Here you can have a listen to the new mix Sebastien Bromberger, founder of Paris based label Modelisme Records, just put together for Radio Grannouille 888 in Marseille.

 SEBASTIEN BROMBERGER - MODELISME ON AIR AVRIL 11 - RADIO GRENOUILLE by SEBASTIEN BROMBERGER

Endless hours of joy listening to Seb playing!

Peter Van Hoesen!

Lately I've been listening a lot to Peter Van Hoesen. There is nothing I've heard from him that I haven't liked. Would be so great to see him play live! Shame it doesn't seem like he's coming to London any time soon. Although I could always go see him play somewhere else... For now (and the next 4 hours) I guess this will have to do!

Peter Van Hoesen at Berghain - 022011 by petervanhoesen

Lucy’s Wordplay For Working Bees

A few days ago Lucy released his new album Wordplay for Working Bees on his own berlin based label Stroboscopic Artefacts and I can with no doubt say, it's one of the best techno albums I've listened to so far. Haven't bought it yet, but have listened to the entire album more than a few times already as it can be streamed in full from FACT. It's deep, quite dub at times and very atmospheric with some male vocals here and there, which don't normally do it for me but here they somehow work pretty well. He definately doesn't come accross as harsh as in his live sets.

Talking of his live sets, listen to this...

http://soundcloud.com/lucy/lucy-berghain-20-10-2010 by lucy

How is this even possible? Killer set! It's almost too much even to just imagine being in Berghain listening to this...