Live. Music. Culture. March 2020
â„– 4 // Free
Zebra Katz
YĪN YĪN
14.03.2020 Gretchen
TORRES
11.03.2020 Kantine am Berghain
SPINNING COIN 23.03.2020 Urban Spree
LEWSBERG
06.04.2020 Monarch
RICHARD DAWSON
20.04.2020 Kantine am Berghain
NADIA REID
21.04.2020 Roter Salon
JAY SOM
08.04.2020 Kantine am Berghain
LUCY DACUS
25.04.2020 Roter Salon
DOUGLAS DARE 30.04.2020 Roter Salon
PORRIDGE RADIO 07.05.2020 TIEF
JONATHAN BREE
12.05.2020 Columbia Theater
DESTROYER 24.04.2020 Bi Nuu
SCOUT NIBLETT 21.05.2020 Frannz Club
DONNY BENÉT 29.05.2020 Lido
SOCCER MOMMY 09.06.2020 Frannz Club
BIKINI KILL
11.06.2020 Astra Kulturhaus
WAXAHATCHEE
KURT VILE
[SOLO]
2 29.05.2020 Heimathafen Neukölln
09.07.2020 Frannz Club
TICKETS & INFO: PUSCHEN.NET
Thursday 26 tthh March
Milk Me
20 0000 —— 23 0000
8MM Bar Berlin
presents
ALINA MARI
P.D.O.A Public Display Of Affection 3
Dear reader, Editor-in-Chief / Sales Loki Lillistone loki@instereomag.com Deputy Editor Francisco Gonçalves Silva Sub-Editor Jess Partridge Sub-Editor Dave Rowlinson Events Editor Thomas Evans Creative Director Larissa Matheus
As March marches 2020 forward, tour season in Berlin is in full swing. In this issue, we celebrate some of our favourite local and international artists, fill you in on the latest releases and carefully pull together listings for Berlin’s best concert and club events. More than the simple ‘queer-rap’ he was touted as by the industry, Berlin’s Zebra Katz poses expertly on our cover this month. Inside, he talks about his journey as an independent artist, doing things on his own terms, as all ears and eyes are pointed at his long-awaited debut full-length, LESS IS MOOR. One-of-a-kind artist, Lyra Pramuk also visits to explain the story behind her latest body of work, seeing her use and manipulate only her voice to create some damn stunning arrangements. Elsewhere, a sorely-missed Waxahatchee also speaks to us, along with genuinely awe-inspiring LA producer, Katie Gately. So sit tight, defend your copy of Berlin in Stereo with your life and prepare to soak up the life-affirming rays of our city’s relentless music scene.
Katie Gately
Contributors:
Esme Bennett, Kezia Cochrane, Geoff Cowart, Georgia Evans, Oliver Evans, Kazim Gangadin, Thomas Hannan, Jon Kean, Tim Kuhnert, Charlotte Krol, Georgia Marsh, Nick Mee, Harriet Taylor, Lee Wakefield, Henry Wilkinson, Danny Wright, Madeleine Wrench Cover photo by Larissa Matheus ( @larissamths ), typeface by Lucas Le Bihan ( Velvetyne ) 4
6
8
New Sounds
Lyra Pramuk
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16
Katie Gately
Waxahatchee
20
26
Zebra Katz
Releases
32
34
Events
Full Listings
45
46
Thoughts
In Berlin Zebra Katz
Loki: Half Waif – Ordinary Talk
Staff on Repeat:
Francisco: 808 State - In Yer Face (Bicep Remix) Jess: Dua Lipa – Physical Dave: The Radio Dept. – The Absence Of Birds Thomas: Beatrice Dillon – Workaround Eight Larissa: Aurora – Walking In The Air 5
New Sounds curated by Francisco Gonçalves Silva
Moorweg
Top Ten: New Sounds Special-K – Quest to Impress Dune Messiah – I Headed for the Dancers Sevdaliza – Oh My God Braids – Young Buck Jon Hopkins – Scene Suspended Arlo Parks – Eugene Austra – Risk It Sofia Portanet – Art Deco BisonBison – Expanding Grimes – Delete Forever
Special-K
Get more new music from Francisco Gonçalves Silva every monday at: berlininstereo.com 6
Moorweg
Sofia Kourtesis
Named after the street he works on, Sam Ratcliffe’s Moorweg is a project that requires careful listening, due to its delicate nature. With the objective of raw sincerity, getting straight to the point and not obsessing over the details, this British-born musician ditched the laptop interface and rebuilt his songs with analogue gear for a more focused approach. Balancing between ethereal soundscapes and more romantic tones – albeit still laced with despair – Ratcliffe is a fully-fledged artist with a background in philosophy and the arts. Creative, compelling visuals accompany his rich, synth-driven narratives, standing as worthy cinematography on their own.
Equally attention-grabbing and soothing, Sofia Kourtesis first came into sight last year with her much-lauded self-titled EP. It’s a record that pulsates with a wild energy, enough to make you want to move but harnessing an undercurrent of restraint, displaying her bold and brilliant production skills. Her sound is confident without ever being cocky, and precise without ever feeling too polished. With the recent EP, out last month, and its thrilling title track, ‘Sarita Colonia’ on repeat already, it’s going to be an exciting year for this Peruvian-born, Berlin-based producer. Jess Partridge
Released via Wicked Hag Records, the label he founded as a means to provide a platform for queer artists, How Sad I Am About This dwells among the delicacy of synth-pop with a dense layer of pain, regret and with lyrics that consciously drown in the waves of sound. For a mood and musical direction that could feel hollow, with only four tracks and a sense of transparency towards inner struggles, How Sad I Am About This musters a degree of warmth and hope. With music itself an exercise in self-reflection, allowing yourself to be this straightforward is noble. Francisco Gonçalves Silva
Track: Sarita Colonia @sofia.kourtesis @sofiakourtesis
Track: Flowers @moorweg @moorweg
Sofia Kourtesis
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Lyra Pramuk words: Thomas Evans photography: George Nebieridze Sometimes the most magical ideas are the ones that are grounded in reality. That’s the feeling one experiences when listening to Fountain, the enchanting debut album from Pennsylvania-born, Berlin-based Lyra Pramuk. All seven tracks were crafted entirely from her own voice – shaped, skewed, and sculpted using digital production tools. The result is a lavish sonic tapestry that feels fantastical and otherworldly, yet unmistakably human. “I’d been producing music for seven years and tried my hand at a lot of production styles. And then it sort of evolved conceptually to work in that way,” Pramuk says, explaining how she arrived at the concept. “I realised that my body and my voice were the main site of energy and action. And to work with software tools, almost as an extension and through this core material... that was something that was going to interest me. For my own pleasure and exploration, and to feel like everything I was working with was mine.” The human voice is at the front and centre of Pramuk’s music, but there’s a conspicuous absence of words. There’s storytelling, but it’s led by feeling rather than script. “I think language is a really cumbersome thing to apply to music. In a way, it only does half of its job,” she says about the album’s ‘futuristic folk’ description. “Whenever I think of futurist folk, and what that kind of term and combination of words connote,” she continues, “it’s this idea of going back and going forward. Not necessarily as a genre that exists on the same time plain as other genres. But also this notion of pre-industrialised, premusic industry music-making that goes back to non-commercial kinds of music made in communities – indigenous musical practices, ritual musical practices.” 8
“I sort of made this record thinking about the state of the music industry,” she continues. “What is the place of a record now? What is the place for a concert now? And so with a lot of the ideas I have about futurist folk music, or the kind of ritual nature that I feel when I’m performing this music live, I’m thinking about what place these forms of musical media – the concert, the album, the mp3 file – could serve in the future. In a society that is critical of capital. In a society that is looking for alternatives to dominant, hegemonic systems and structures.” I ask if it’s a kind of document that she’s leaving behind. “I guess it’s a sort of document, or perhaps better, a sort of design object. Something like an artifact,” she says. But it’s not the kind of object that you can hold in your hands. “I never really had a ton of hard copy music, of vinyl or CD. I was really in the iTunes generation, it was all digital. And so my relationship with my favourite music has always been this idea that it’s like an object, but it’s also ephemeral; you can’t see it. This idea that you can revisit these objects – your favourite songs, your favourite albums – and they have substance, and yet you can’t touch them. It’s like an ephemeral design object.” Despite the ephemeral nature of Pramuk’s art, there’s an honesty and transparency to her presence as an artist. She uses her full name, and her social media accounts are an open book into her real life. On platforms like Instagram, where the tendency is to share only the positive and beautiful, Pramuk bravely presents both the highs and lows for all to experience. “Throughout the last eight years, I just came closer and closer to myself and using my name.”
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“In whatever way is possible, I try to tie my artwork into my reality.”
She explains that it’s a kind of magic realism – the idea that magic can exist in reality, or can take on tangible qualities. “The kind of music that is quite transcendental or ritualistic, or beyond reality in some ways – that’s a potentiality and energy that we can access as humans. So it’s not this idea to take art and separate it from reality, but in whatever way is possible, I try to tie my artwork into my reality. To make connections to other things 10
that are real. And to try to be a bit courageous about that – or feel insecure, like anyone else. But trying to show up and be the best version of myself.” Fountain arrives March 20th on Bedroom Community. @lyra.000
@lyra.pramuk
Ea r 4t ly B h o ird f M De ay ad 20 lin 20 e:
----Study at Europe’s largest music college Expert tutors First-class facilities Industry work experience All courses taught in English Bachelor Degrees Performance Courses | Songwriting Music & Sound Production Electronic Music Production | Music Business Music Marketing, Media and Communication Masters Degrees MA Learning & Teaching in Creative Industries MA Popular Music Practice Berlin - Hamburg London - Dublin - Manchester Brighton - Bristol - Birmingham
Apply now at bimm-institute.de 11
Katie Gately words: Charlotte Krol photography: Steve Gullick
When LA-based experimental musician and sound designer, Katie Gately was close to finishing the follow-up to her 2016 debut Colour, her world was suddenly shattered. Her mother was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer that would prove terminal. Shortly before the diagnosis in the spring of 2018, Gately’s mother saw her daughter perform live for the first time. She loved a song that would develop as ‘Bracer’, the visceral panic attack lead single from Gately’s new album, Loom. “I got that feedback and I built the album from there,” Gately explains. The producer parked most of the ideas explored before her mother’s diagnosis, finding herself writing intuitively about the multifaceted emotions experienced while dealing with a colossal uprooting. “I haven’t had to experience a lot of grief, which is fortunate, but I wasn’t aware that there was a lot of anger that naturally comes with it,” Gately continues over the phone. “Luckily, I didn’t want to throw that anger at people. I wanted to throw it at sound. A ‘fuck you’ to cancer. I think that’s exactly what my mother would have done.” Gately speaks of being ‘hyperactive’ while looking after her mother in the family’s hometown of Brooklyn, where she would use the small hours to work on Loom. “I got hypervigilant – I couldn’t sleep,” she says. “I was almost in a flow state, like a bad flow state.” The album became her response to her mother’s illness, both musically and lyrically. “Every song is in a minor key, quite funereal,” Gately adds, as if to explain how reality informed the music. “On the other hand, there’s an energy: 12
there’s percussive elements and it’s faster in some parts, slower in others. And lyrically, I really wanted to acknowledge the kaleidoscope of things you feel when you’re having this kind of experience.” She recalls pinballing in panic. “I got very attentive to the way my mother looked, like, ‘uhoh, I think something bad is about to happen,’ and then there was this other side where I was like, ‘Fuck this; fuck cancer.’ But there was also this part where I wanted to understand it: ‘what is this disease, how does it work?’ All of those voices, feelings and memories ended up in the music, she says, such as super processed audio from her parents’ wedding. Loom is a different beast from Gately’s maximalist debut, Colour; the latter is a sensory overload stuffed with inventive field recordings and bold mutations of sound. On Loom, Gately’s voice is positioned front and centre. Sonically speaking, it’s more occupied by drone and deeply ruminative textures. Her wildly creative sampling remains – from bull whips to machine guns – but their dynamics are softer in the mix and are better suited for nighttime listening (perhaps resultant of Gately’s nocturnal writing routine). “I feel like music tells me what I’m feeling before I know how I’m feeling,” she says, touching on the process behind creating songs such as ‘Allay’. The album track is a haunting cacophony of overlapping choral vocals, gongs and actual earthquake recordings – representative of the thing that shook her world – and is sung from the perspective of her mother’s disease. “That idea just came very naturally. It’s true that
“I feel like music tells me what I’m feeling before I know how I’m feeling.” 13
“I didn’t want to throw that anger at people. I wanted to throw it at sound.”
cancer will come for you and you won’t get better sometimes,” Gately says. There’s an acknowledgement that composing helped her face and cope with the ordeal. “On this record, I just sort of intuited what to do,” she continues. “I wouldn’t want to go through the grief process again, but I’m hoping that something about opening up in a big way emotionally will help my future work. I think I feel, oddly, more confident in trusting myself now. All I’ve really had and trusted is my ear. The way I put things together, I feel it’s pre-lingual. Emotions are bumping into each other and I’m just assessing whether or not they feel right.” 14
Ultimately, Gately has made something expressive, beautiful and necessary in Loom. The record may be dedicated to her mother, but there’s ample space for others to seek solace. “I feel dorky saying this, but the primary thing that motivates me is exactly what I get from other people’s music, which is that it makes me feel less alone.” Loom is out now via Houndstooth. @katiegatelymusic
@kgsounds
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“I’m lucky that I can do things on my terms.”
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Waxahatchee words: Danny Wright photography: Molly Matelon “Every record of mine is reflective of a period of my life,” explains Katie Crutchfield. “This is exactly what was going on, this is where I lived, who I was dating. I can look back and think, ‘That was a perfect snapshot of what was happening.’” Saint Cloud then, the fifth album she’s made as Waxahatchee, is a snapshot of the last few years. It’s been a period of transformation, a time of struggle that saw her looking back to her roots for answers. Announcing the album, she revealed she’d been “burning the candle from both ends… and slowly but surely I’ve been working to get closer to myself again.” That meant getting sober and also taking time to make the album. Song titles like ‘War’ and ‘Hell’ (the former’s chorus goes “I’m in a war with myself”) reveal she’s been through a lot. Does she feel she’s changed as a person? “Yeah,” she pauses briefly, before a defiant. “Oh yeah.” “A close friend said, right when you first get sober, you won’t recognise yourself. I remember thinking ‘I don’t know about that,’ but it’s true. It turned my whole life upside down in a really positive way - it forced me to do some work on myself.” That work reveals itself in a beautiful, introspective record that is an intimate journey through places and feelings - and signalled a change in approach from 2017’s Out in the Storm. “My early records pointed the finger inward but that was the exact opposite - it was very angry at something external. The sound of the album reflected that too - very loud and raw. But as soon as I started playing it live, I knew the next thing I did had to be different.”
Work began on the record, but slowly. “I was newly sober and had all this creative energy, but I couldn’t get into it.” That was until she started working with the band Bonny Doon. It was, she says, “a magical experience.” Working with them allowed the sound she had in her mind to bloom. The record, then, seems to be about openness and acceptance: both of herself and the music she was making. In response to the rock of Out In The Storm, Saint Cloud is wonderfully stripped-back country and Americana. You could call it a ‘new’ style, but really it was her returning to “these old influences that I grew up with. When I was younger, I was into punk and underground stuff. I was really fighting my natural tendencies to lean into a more traditional-sounding voice and that conflict created something really cool. But with this record, I leaned back into what’s most natural for me and there’s an ease to it that’s absent in my other records.” Despite the comfort in the songwriting, lyrically the album is unflinching in its self-examination. Yet even this made it simpler. “Weirdly they’re the easiest type of songs to write for me. When you’re writing about another person, there’s a lot of internal dialogue that’s sort of questioning yourself, like, ‘Maybe I’m wrong about them?’. But when you’re questioning yourself, it’s easier to pick things apart.” Amidst the record’s stories of internal struggle, the album’s sparkling centrepiece is ‘Fire’, a love song to herself about self-acceptance. Not that, as it turns out, she’s quite ready to accept herself just yet. “Even though I wrote it as a statement of self-acceptance, it doesn’t mean I accept myself,” she laughs, wryly. “It’s more a reminder of what I need to do.” 17
‘Fire’ captures something beautiful and rare, something which is reflected in its performance: “In the past, I’ve recorded my vocals line by line, obsessing over each one. With ‘Fire’, I was really psyching myself up - telling myself, ‘This is a BIG vocal moment for me’, but when we listened back it just wasn’t right. So I went back in, told myself to chill and did it in one take, and that’s what you hear on the record.” It’s an apt mirroring of the way this album captures moments. Snapshots, you could call 18
them. About life and places and the people around us. It’s the sound of an artist letting layers float away, of a musician who has fallen in love with music again. Saint Cloud is released March 27th via Merge Records Live: Frannz Club, July 9th. @waxahatchee @waxa_katie
@k_crutchfield
Head online for features, playlists and more
Arlo Parks, Tracks of the Week
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Zebra Katz
words: Georgia Evans photography: Larissa Matheus makeup: Sofia Ghezzo Leal The year is 2012. A runway lined with creeping flames fades into view and a pulsating beat begins to fill the room. As models stomp the catwalk in avant-garde fashion, tensions in the track rise over a heavy bassline. Camera shutters fire off and snarling vocals declare, “Ima read that bitch.” This was the pivotal moment in which Zebra Katz became an over‑ night hitmaker. Seven years later, the Berlin-based performer – real name Ojay Morgan – is preparing to release his debut album, LESS IS MOOR, a passion project that reflects his commitment to working as a fully-independent artist. “Most of the time I feel like I’m speaking in hieroglyphics,” he says, while discussing how he had to present himself to the industry after this debut. “I don’t know if it’s because I come from a theatre background, or because I manage myself as an artist.” Katz has always striven to have complete control over his narrative. However, without the backing of a major label providing him with studio time, access to producers or any assistance from marketing teams, it has all had to come from his own finances. Still, he wouldn’t do it any other way. “Labels will say, ‘we like your music but you haven’t put anything out recently and your Spotify numbers are low,’” he reflects. “That’s the kind of thing that turns me off this industry, and why I consistently make work at my own pace, with my own beliefs and my own taste, and I think that’s why this album took so long.” 20
“This album is about me… It’s deeply personal, but it’s my debut and I think it should be.”
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Zebra Katz is a first-generation JamaicanAmerican, born in Florida’s West Palm Beach, whose artistic expression paved the way for this project, years before his Fashion Week debut. A thesis written while at university in New York, titled ‘Moor Contradictions’, acted as the precursor to LESS IS MOOR, with its exploration into issues surrounding the Black experience. Nevertheless, the 2013 Rick Owens show garnered public attention, and the next few years saw Katz tour across the country before being snapped up to appear on the Gorillaz album, Humanz, which also featured his personal hero, Grace Jones. Once this all came to a close in 2017, he settled down in Berlin and immersed himself in his solo projects.
that’s kind of all that people were focused on.” Opening with echoes of his name, samples of speech in different languages, glitching industrial noises and an ominous build-up of gabba-inspired kickdrums, it catapults the listener into this sense of unrest.
Having left New York after 15 years, quitting his catering job and making a fresh start in a foreign country, Katz has built everything up by himself. LESS IS MOOR is the embodiment of his efforts. “This album is about me,” he affirms. “It’s deeply personal, but it’s my debut and I think it should be.”
“I didn’t want to make what people thought I should be making.”
The collection itself feels like a raw patchwork of who Katz is. Perhaps this is because it spans an impressive 15 tracks: “You wanted a fucking album,” he laughs, or perhaps it’s because LESS IS MOOR explores themes of identity, sexuality and ruminations on the life of a star, without the constraints of genre. The dynamic collection jolts between the dark and brooding techno-driven ‘IN IN IN’, via the sexually-charged ‘LICK IT N SPLIT’ featuring Shygirl, and the stripped-back ‘NECKLACE’ with gentle guitars and vulnerable vocals. “It’s kind of what I’ve always done; it has elements of darkness and then there’s light on tracks,” he says. “But I wanted to challenge myself.” “I didn’t want to make what people thought I should be making,” he adds. “The first track, ‘INTRO TO LESS’, is inspired by the [Public Enemy] album, Fear of a Black Planet, and is kind of setting up how I was perceived in 2013, when they were just talking about my sexuality. I was coined as ‘queer rap’ and
“I was labelled as a ‘ballroom’ artist but I wouldn’t call myself that,” he reflects. “I think that’s why I wanted this album to be wellrounded and be genre-nonconformist because I am. I don’t adhere to one sound.” Working with the likes of Sega Bodega, whom he met in London shortly after ‘Ima Read’ came out, Tony Quattro and fellow Red Bull Academy graduate, Torus, Katz has created an album that successfully showcases his versatility.
As a self-managed artist, he has been able to build his own image, create his own sound and decide the time-frame in which he releases new projects. “I have an independent label, where I’m learning how to produce in the correct way,” he says. “Every time I make a choice, that’s my decision. That’s been such a breath of fresh air for me; I feel very proud. I’m very thankful that I didn’t rush it. I didn’t go off any of the fear and doubt that people put into my head.” The amount of control Katz has over the work he puts out is really quite something. Not only did he manage to fund LESS IS MOOR, but he’s also channelled a lot into the visuals too. He comes to life when talking about performance. The tone of his voice exudes a sense of anticipation as he begins to dissect his latest video, ‘ISH’. “The video is kind of me lashing out at the anger I feel,” he explains. “The quote by James Baldwin, ‘to be a negro in this country and to be relatively conscious, is to be in a rage almost all the time,’ is at the centre, and I’m trying to capture that rage.” 23
The video opens with a news report about an escalation in violent homophobic crime, then cuts to a dancer whose expressive movements indicate some kind of torment. Slowly, flashes behind him reveal a crowd jeering. “There’s a shot of a mob, because we’re thinking about all the politics we watch: the farright, Black Lives Matter, anti-vaxxers, there’s always that mob mentality,” he explains. “With the news anchor, we refer to the notion of how the media blackouts are covering up hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, especially against trans black women, and I wanted to say that.” Having the freedom to express through such audio-visual media represents a new chapter for Zebra Katz. He has shed that initial image 24
bestowed upon him back in 2013, and is now able to create how he chooses once more. “I’m getting back to the parts I enjoy: getting on stage, performing and making these tracks have a visual aspect,” he says. “I’m not going to say that I wouldn’t like to be signed to a label and have that support, with people giving me money for my visuals and PR, but that’s just not how the cookie crumbled for me. I’m glad I did it this way because I’ve learned so much more about the industry and my process.” LESS IS MOOR is released via The Vinyl Factory & ZFK Records on March 20th. Live: Prince Charles - 25th March @ZebraKatz
@ZebraKatz
@ZebraKatz
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Album Reviews Fake Laugh Dining Alone State 51 Conspiracy 13th March “The act of dining alone is either awkward and embarrassing or honourable and enjoyable, depending on who you ask,” notes Kamran Khan, aka Fake Laugh, in a press release for his latest full length effort, Dining Alone. That juxtaposition of vulnerability and defiance is perhaps emblematic of Fake Laugh as a project generally. From catchy-sad early singles like ‘Short of Breath’ all the way up to last year’s celebratory but self-deprecating ‘Honesty’, it’s Fake Laugh’s ability to blend light with dark that gives his music its sepia-like quality. On his sophomore album Dining Alone, however, this approach is taken to new, surreal depths, as if a lonely walk had turned into a stroll through a hall of mirrors. That stroll begins right from the start with the circus-y but menacing album opener, ‘Ever Imagine’ through to bashful bop, ‘If You Don’t Wanna Know’. Pensive choruses are interwoven with playful synth lines and jagged rhythms that mark a distinct break from the eager riffs and scuzzy bedroom production of Fake Laugh’s eponymous debut. Fans looking for their fix of shimmering guitars and heartfelt hooks will find much to dig into through Dining Alone, but the jovial panic of ‘Alarm Bells’, the haunting glitches of ‘Dining Alone’ and the gangster majesty of ‘Empty Party’ shows an additional side to Fake Laugh that goes beyond the realms of lo-fi jangle pop. Kazim Gangadin 26
Wajatta Don’t Let You Get Down Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune Out Now Wajatta is the brainchild of ‘disinformationist’ comedian and musician, Reggie Watts, and electronic veteran John Tejada. Following from their previous debut, Casual High Technology, released via Comedy Dynamics, they return in 2020 with Detroit dance record and melodic gem Don’t Let You Get Down on Brainfeeder and Ninja Tune. A synonymous marriage of Watts’ funkinspired, improvisational vocals and Tejada’s highly-focused synth work, the LP keeps in line with Watts’ self-proclamation to “capture the freshness.” The title track makes use of a groovy, Mr Fingers-style hook, employing a whistling loop and lush vibe: an instant hit. Each track flows and moves with a purpose, blending Chicago house grooves and 70s funk to establish an unstoppable flow. A danceready triumph. Esme Bennett
U.S. Girls Heavy Light 4AD March 6th
U.S. Girls’ Meghan Remy assembled a cast of 20 session musicians - including Bruce Springsteen’s right hand man, Jake Clemons - to record her seventh album, Heavy Light live to tape, resulting in a distinctly choral, spacious sound that feels strangely sparse, despite the fact if you listen closely, there are about a million interesting things going on at any one time. Spoken-word interludes reminisce on not entirely pleasant childhood experiences, while the record is concerned more widely with hindsight and its personal and cultural ramifications. Weighty themes indeed, but it’s an uncomplicated treat of a listen that contains some of Remy’s best work. ‘4 American Dollars’ in particular is among her finest songs, ‘And Yet It Moves / Y Se Mueve’ her most formidable groove. Thomas Hannan
Kalipo & Local Suicide Dominator Hold Your Ground Out Now
Along with Bavarian producer Kalipo, Berlin duo, Local Suicide were able to carefully produce a collaborative EP with a clear objective: dance floors and charts. Keeping up a stream of successful releases under a number of labels, their new EP via Hold Your Ground holds true to their signature sound, nodding to EBM and new wave while keeping things fitting for their frequent rides around the Globe. Central tracks, ‘Dominator’ and ‘Crocodile’, in addition to a collection of remixes by Theus Mago, Bufi and Radial Gaze, all feel synergistic and succeed in creating compelling house and techno. Amid its paced vocals and a well-accented rhythm section, ‘Dominator’ carries a tone of jaded seduction, while ‘Crocodile’, with its unyielding marching atmosphere, takes things much darker – becoming almost hypnotic. Francisco Gonçalves Silva
Minor Science Second Language Whities March 20th
Nic Tasker’s label, Whities, is continuously transforming the landscape of electronic music, shapeshifting between dancefloor clangers and emotional ambient sonics from the likes of Avalon Emerson, Leif and Nathan Micay. They’ve also released three leftfield EPs from the British-born, Berlin-based producer, Minor Science, recently issuing his debut, Second Language. Demonstrating anxious techno that varies in intensity and tempo, it’s intricately packed with modular vocal inflexions and experimental electro: the kind of sounds that wouldn’t feel out of place on a release or showcase from Ilian Tape. The timescale of the record is blissfully built, with melodic intervals, jazzily rhapsodic percussion and maddeningly complex sound design, all pieced together in a release that, once again, shows off Whities’ ability to radicalise dance music. Georgia Marsh 27
Porches Ricky Music
Stian Westerhus Redundance
Domino March 13th
House of Mythology March 6th
“I think I was as lost as I was madly in love,” Porches’ Aaron Maine has said of Ricky Music. Across 11 songs, the New Yorker stumbles through heartbreak with looser structures and an undercooked production style that sometimes lands but often misses. Those searching for the slick house grooves of 2016’s Pool or the warped techno-pop flirtations of 2018’s The House won’t find more of the same here.
Killer Norwegian free-form guitarist, Stian Westerhus needs no introduction. He’s the dude who can shred a few perfectlyplaced notes and thereby sustain an entire tune. Adding a second instrument – his voice – into his recent solo albums has provided a less fulfilling, if curious, distraction from his oblique jazz-noise romps.
Ricky Music instead revises the intimacy of Maine’s 2013 debut but imbues his songs with his latter-day electronic turns and pitch-bent vocals. ‘Rangerover’, Maine’s collaboration with Dev Hynes, is by far the highlight: a skulking, rich synth-pop ballad that encapsulates feeling both sorrowful and hopeful post-breakup. More of this please, and a bit less moping, on whatever’s next. Charlotte Krol
Cornershop England Is A Garden Phantasy March 27th
On Redundance, his searching, pained drawl is centre stage as he opens with a pair of eight-minute songs about Chinese state oppression (‘Chase the New Morning’) and a seemingly doomed love (‘All Your Wolves’). There are plenty of clever twists, hot guitar runs and Scott Walker-esque warbles to make it a worthy listen. Yet his singing seems to restrict the music by making the songs about something – instead of creating a limitless sonic journey. You choose. Geoff Cowart
It’s been eight years since Cornershop’s previous album, but their motif hasn’t changed: just strike up a loose two- or three-chord pattern and let it roll, utilising a selection of instruments that seem to have been raided from the school orchestra, while Tjinder Singh delivers astute lyrical maxims. At its windswept best, it’s joyous, and this album is generous in that regard. Northern soul-style opener, ‘St Marie Under Canon’ is peak Cornershop, with perhaps their best hook since, whisper it, ‘Asha’, while ‘No Rock…’ goes flares-and-platforms glam in its tribute to the “concrete California” of Singh’s Midlands roots. ‘Everywhere..’ sets a satire on police brutality to calypso-lite and, though the formula wanes a little thereafter, ‘The Holy Name’ delivers a cynical yet sonically buoyant album closer from this most singular band. Nick Mee
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Little Dragon New Me, Same Us Ninja Tune March 27th
Little Dragon have a pretty consistent scorecard when it comes to reflecting on their output. Whether crafting percussive floorfillers (2011’s Ritual Union) or wonky ‘80s-inspired synth-pop (2017’s Season High) the Gothenburg band seem incapable of letting the quality of their songs dip. On New Me, Same Us, the group pull in more acoustic instrumentation, without abandoning their intoxicating brand of alternative club-ready music. Moreover, the record contains some of singer Yukimi Nagano’s most personal stories, ostensibly about moving on from a long relationship. On ‘New Fiction’, gamelan chimes and a lounge bass underscore the bruising realisation: “We need new fiction / We need to find our own way.” ‘Hold On’, meanwhile, is a certified Little Dragon 101 banger. They’re seemingly incapable of missing the mark. Charlotte Krol
Disq Collector Saddle Creek March 6th
When life gives you lemons, what do you do? The reality has nothing to do with lemonade production, or G&T. You’re usually too melancholy, distracted or over-worked for that. You forget you have lemon juice on your fingers and you wipe it in your eyes. For Disq, on Collector, therein lies the rub: Modern life is regularly rubbish, and it stings. The workaday tedium of staring at screens on ‘Daily Routine’ leads naturally into being “too restless to unwind” on ‘I’m Really Trying’. By the time we hit the penultimate track, we hear them rock out on the exhaustedly bleak ‘I Wanna Die’. Frequently sounding like a blend of the Lemon Twigs and The Lemonheads, Collector balances its lyrical acidity with compositional freshness and zest. Jon Kean
Hilary Woods Birthmarks Sacred Bones March 13th
Enshrouded in spectral mystery, Birthmarks is a deeply sensory, corporeal record. Opening with ominous, droning drums and growling strings, Hilary Woods’ vocals are evocative, whispered incantations that glide amidst the eerie landscapes of the album. Sometimes sparse, sometimes densely textural and populated, the sonic terrains Woods crafts are earnest, haunting, and ritualistic. Recorded while heavily pregnant, between Galway and Oslo last winter, at times the drum beats feel like a pulsating heartbeat, claustrophobic and all-encompassing. And this intensity pervades throughout, as across the eight tracks, Woods explores fluctuating experiences of selfhood and becoming expressed with unbridled ferocity. There’s a visceral, cinematic quality to Birthmarks that further accentuates the internal and external turmoil at the core of the record, leaving a poignant, transcendental impression. Kezia Cochrane 29
Porridge Radio Every Bad Secretly Canadian March 13th
Porridge Radio’s Every Bad plays like a vivisection of the human psyche, each track dredging up anxieties in a way that’s so honest it’s as if no one were ever meant to hear. All instruments are filtered through a cocoon of introspection, and we’re carried along by singer, Dana Margolin’s beautiful and often contradictory vocals. ‘Give/Take’ is a masterclass in garage rock, while the sweeping, transcendental euphoria of ‘Don’t Ask Me Twice’, solipsistic pop of ‘Born Confused’ and building, brooding ‘Lilac’ are equally glorious. An album of extremes, Every Bad achieves the enviable feat of being hopeful and embittered, tangled and immaculate, and as classic sounding as it is relevant to 2020. Henry Wilkinson
MJ Cole Madrugada Decca March 27th
Before you recoil at the prospect of yet another electronic music pioneer stripping back their trademark sound and exploring a new ambient direction, this one’s worth sticking around for. Thanks to MJ Cole’s effortless musicality on the piano, a childhood passion he found himself reconnecting with, there’s a real sincerity (sorry) to Madrugada that elevates it above its contemporaries. Having littered minimal compositions in releases throughout his career, the results across a full album are undeniably powerful. From the swirling electronics that bubble under ‘Reimagination’s dreamy crescendo to ‘Strings For Jodie’ ranking as the album’s emotive high point, there’s no greater privilege as the listener than entering the “meditative state” MJ Cole inhabits when playing. Above all, Madrugada brings peace in the most trying of times. Lee Wakefield
J-Felix Whole Again Hooligan Tru-Thoughts March 8th
Championed by Beats1 tastemaker, Julie Adenuga and BBC6 Music presenter, Lauren Laverne, it’s no surprise that J-Felix’s vivacious take on funk has pulled in thousands of listeners. His second record even comes with a squad Taylor Swift would be envious of, including noteworthy collaborators such as Afua, El Train, Sol Goodman and Andrew Ashong. First single, ‘Mind Up’ demands attention through a heady mix of trumpet, horns and dreamy guitar plucks. His meticulous ear for modern grooves proves crucial in tracks like ‘String Singalong’ and ‘Good Ol’ Love’. Immense potential lies in ‘Choppa Fiesta’ and ‘Check’, which tout him as Bristol/Brighton’s answer to electro-jazz maverick, Thundercat. Whole Again Hooligan serves as a progressive step in the right direction for a world-class underdog. Oliver Evans
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Melt Yourself Down 100% Yes
Johanna Glaza Exile
Decca March 27th
Self-release Out Now
For a band who’ve built a reputation for drawing upon diverse influences and sounds, 100% YES is yet again an incredibly varied listen. Not in an untethered, Mr. Bungle Disco Volante kind of way – everything here maintains a certain cohesion to the band’s beating heart of jazzy tenets and repertoire of bangers. But through an ample touch of creative insanity, you glean the sense that this iteration of Melt Yourself Down has evolved with sufficiently more to say.
With sincerity and truth at its core, the universe Johanna Glaza creates is both delicate and pertinent. It sees her capture her most vulnerable self, utilising the raw emotion of her music at the exclusion of more advanced recording techniques, so as to avoid having her message lost in the conversion process. On her second album, the Londonbased singer offers another peek into this realm, one that feels the most reflective and honest to date.
The first clue that things are predominantly different with this release lies in the cover art, where an arresting psychedelic image from Alex Garant replaces the pyramid logo that adorned past releases. Evolution, not necessarily adaptation, is here conveying the band’s humanistic strength, positivity, and vitality. And that’s something we all need desperately in 2020. Harriet Taylor
Her music, predominantly composed with a piano, skillfully juggles cheerful moments with the gloom of careful self-reflection. From the quirky ‘Isabella’ to the balladry of ‘King’s Alive’ or ‘Lonely Island’, Exile is a wholly worthwhile album that showcases a musician who has honed her craft and taken her blueprint to the next level. Francisco Gonçalves Silva
Daniel Avery & Alessandro Cortini Illusion of Time
Phantasy March 27th
Daniel Avery & Alessandro Cortini’s Illusion of Time sounds a lot like the weather, with soft, swirling synths unfolding into grainy, industrial drone rattles that put me outside on a stormy day. Not unlike Pariah’s excellent 2018 release, Here From Where We Are, but wandering down a longer, less signposted path, each composition evokes a hypnotic bleakness that’s soothing and unsettling. This is a gently self-indulgent collaboration between two heavy‑ weight noise experimentalists that finds itself too ambient for daytime listening yet too edgy for sleeping. I would suggest perhaps meditating or quietly pondering how many leaves are left on all the trees in the world at this very moment, using this record as the perfect accompaniment. Madeleine Wrench 31
MaerzMusik 2020 preview by Thomas Evans
The beginning of time is a subject that scientists, philosophers and artists have obsessed over since… well, the beginning of time. And MaerzMusik 2020 is all about this simple yet rather huge topic. From 20th to 29th March, the Berliner Festspiele presents its ‘Festival for Issues’, taking place in locations throughout the city with concerts, audio-visual performances and an exhibition. Curated by Artistic Director, Berno Odo Polzer, the sixth edition of the festival draws its energy from the poetry and the politics of ‘time immemorial’, what it describes as a “temporality that eludes control and computability: Music and practices rooted in cosmologies not circumscribed by a beginning and end; sounds that reach into the deep space of time, unknowable but sensible; voices that speak, whisper or scream untold stories past and present.” Got that? Good. Because together they form MaerzMusik 2020, ten days of interrelated concerts, audio-visual performances, film screenings, readings, public conversations and an exhibition that destabilise the notions of beginning and origin. Enjoy our picks here and head to berlinerfestspiele.de for the full program.
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The Long Now
The Long Now 28 - 29th Mar. at Kraftwerk Berlin Now in its sixth edition, The Long Now is the grand finale of MaerzMusik, with a marathon 30 hours of programming in collaboration with Berlin Atonal taking place in the imposing surroundings of Kraftwerk Berlin. Concerts, performances and electronic audio-visual installations will be brought together in a large-format composition in both time and space. The musical worlds range from the avant-garde and that of the indigenous population of the Andes, to experimental electronics, ambient music and noise, forming what it calls a “liminal physical and artistic experience.”
Marisol Jiménez
Opening Concert 20th Mar. at Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Juliet Fraser
Trilogie de la Mort / Non-Face 23 - 24 Mar. at Zeiss-Großplanetarium With ‘Trilogy de la Mort’, MaerzMusik presents one of the masterpieces of French electronic music pioneer, Éliane Radigue (1932), diffused by François J. Bonnet (aka Kassel Jaeger) under the starry dome of Berlin’s cutting-edge science theatre. A landmark of minimalism and deep listening, the three-hour cycle was created between 1988 and 1993 and is inspired by texts from the Buddhist ‘Bardo Thodol’, The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
MaerzMusik 2020 opens with The Bolivian Experimental Orchestra of Indigenous Instruments (OEIN) and Berlin-based voice collective PHØNIX16, as they embark on a joint artistic journey around the concept of ‘environment’, covering its various meanings – from the social and the natural, to the political and the philosophical. The two ensembles – altogether over 30 musicians and vocalists – set out to find common ground in mutual exchange through a joint process of research and experimentation, while acknowledging cultural differences and the complex legacy of colonialism.
Time Immemorial 21 Mar. at Haus der Berliner Festspiele This evening of readings and concerts revolves around the idea of the beginning of time. Narratives from a multiplicity of languages, cultures and historical contexts interweave with intimate sonic fabrics to draw a landscape of ideas about the origin of the world, of the universe, and of time itself. ‘Of Time Immemorial’ invites you to settle down for a while and listen to sounds and stories of worlds past, present, and future. The programme includes the world premier of Cassandra Miller & Juliet Fraser’s ‘Modules from Tracery’ for voice and tape (2017-2020). 33
Full Listings early
late
Prices are for advance tickets where applicable and may be subject to fees.
Sunday 1st March Alicia Edelweiss Ausland / 19:30 L’Eclair Auster Club / 13,90€ / 19:00 PVRIS Lido / Sold Out / 20:00 Sunday Club 2nd Birthday: DJs RTG b2b Inara + Sunday Club residents KAKE / 12:00 Syncretism: Eomac + Esther Duijn ://about blank / 18:00 Dune Messiah Urban Spree / 20:00 Weval (full band) Festsaal Kreuzberg / 19:30 Monday 2nd March Berhana Burg Schnabel / 19,55€ / 19:00 Lana Del Ray Mercedes-Benz Arena / From 69,65€ / 20:00
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Electric Monday Showcase: Folklor Lausanne KitKatClub / 23:00 House of Waxx: Orson Wells + 41issa + Candy Pollard Tresor / 23:59 Tuesday 3rd March The Score Frannz Club / 21,40€ / 19:00 Wargirl Auster Club / 17,20€ / 20:00 Wednesday 4th March King Nun Cassiopeia / 16,80€ / 19:00 Tim Tiebel & Die Tiere der Einsamkeit + Aniqo Schokoladen / 6-8€ / 20:00 Wolf Parade (Sub Pop) + Joensuu 1685 Gretchen / 19:00 Thursday 5th March Ash Bi Nuu / 29,75€ / 20:00 Bob Reynolds Group Gretchen / 19:30 Mainfelt + Onk Lou Musik & Frieden / 20,50€ / 19:00 The Hans + Top Down + Ape Rites Loophole / 20:00 Weeeirdos: Lolsnake + Big Leg + John Loveless Klunkerkranich / 16:00
Kelis + FARR ASTRA Kulturhaus / 40,85€ / 20:00 Expeditions N017: Black Lotus + Mary Velo + Lego + Zusan ://about blank / 23:59
Klubnacht: Globus + Legowelt + Lux + No Moon + Cape Tresor / 23:59 Saturday 7th March
Odd Fantastic Pres. Peach & Danielle OHM / 23:00
Jack Garratt Silent Green / Sold Out / 20:00
Säule: Hyperaktivist + Juana + Madalba + marum Berghain / Panorama Bar / 22:00
Money Boy (21 Entertainment) + Hustensaft Jüngling Gretchen / 19:00
Friday 6th March
Mura Masa Columbiahalle / 37,55€ / 20:00
Princess Nokia ASTRA Kulturhaus / 34,25€ / 20:00
Paluch + Major SPZ YAAM / 20€ / 19:00
Shameless/Limitless: Military Genius + Emma Grace Tennis Bar / 20:30
Sibiir + HAVEN Cassiopeia / 17,20€ / 19:00
Tara Nome Doyle Roter Salon der Volksbühne / Sold Out / 20:00 The Deadnotes + itoldyouiwouldeatyou Cassiopeia / 14,70€ / 19:30
Staub ://about blank / 10:00 The Flavians + Ryan O’Reilly Musik & Frieden / 12€ / 19:00
Afrohaus: Marsoul + DJ JC + Chris K + Afro Haus Soundsystem + Haizel + Premps + M.I.K. Musixx Gretchen / 23:00 Finest Friday: Claro Intelecto + DJ Dustin + Lawrence Berghain / Panorama Bar / 23:59 Floorgasm: The Horrorist + Sentimental Rave + Lsdxoxo Trauma Bar und Kino / 12€ / 23:59 Gegen Borders KitKatClub / 23:00 The Flavians (7th, Musik & Frieden) 35
Sunday 8th March DIIV + Chastity Festsaal Kreuzberg / 24,50€ / 20:00 King Krule Columbiahalle / 31,50€ / 20:00 Sam Lewis Musik & Frieden / 17,95€ / 20:00 We Are The City + Hope Musik & Frieden / 18,60€ / 20:00 Monday 9th March Big Thief + Ithaca ASTRA Kulturhaus / 25,97 / 20:00 Florian Ostertag + Mari Mana Schokoladen / 21:00 Shushanopolis - Farbrengen 2020 ACUD MACHT NEU / Free / 21:00 Tuesday 10th March Car Bomb + Conjurer + Frostbitt Cassiopeia / 19€ / 19:00 Wednesday 11th March Boy Pablo Frannz Club / 24,90€ / 19:00 Fourtrack: The Johns + Goblin Prince Schokoladen / 6-8€ / 19:00 Klangstof Bi Nuu / 19,80€ / 20:00
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Odd wednesday: Bauer Piersanti + Lanfredini Maddalena Vural ACUD MACHT NEU / 5€ / 18:30 Rings of Saturn + Guests Cassiopeia / 24,90€ / 18:30 The Big Moon Privatclub / 19,10€ / 20:00 Torres Kantine am Berghain / 20:00 ÄTNA Lido / Sold Out / 19:00 Thursday 12th March Thursday 12th March Azzurra Prachtwerk / 5,70€ / 19:30 Chelsea Wolfe RBB Sendesaal / From 29,65€ / 19:00 Little Dragon Festsaal Kreuzberg / Sold Out / 20:00 Patrick Watson Metropol / 27,50€ / 20:00 Rex Orange County ASTRA Kulturhaus / 29,45€ / 20:00 Shaed Burg Schnabel / 19,10€ / 19:00 Stony Sugarskull Loophole / 20:00 Wooden Peak + Oh No Noh Tennis Bar / 19:30 Corner Klub with Katiusha + Bakläxa + Xantax Diskothek Melancholie 2 / 22:00
Eric D Clark Paloma / 22:00 Saule: Echoes of October + Sugar + Viscerale + VTSS Berghain / Panorama Bar / 22:00 Friday 13th March Born of Osiris GalaxyClub / 26,30€ / 20:00 Grace Carter Lido / 26€ / 19:00 Jay1 Burg Schnabel / 19,55€ / 19:00 Kamilya Jubran + Werner Hasler Silent Green / 14€ / 19:30 Lauren Auder Monarch / 15,70€ / 19:30 TEOREMA Berlin 2020 Urban Spree / 18:00 A Night with Quantic (DJ Set) + Alexander Barck (Jazzanova/ SonarKollektiv) + Eddy Ramisch Gretchen / 23:30
Lili Franko + Prig Schokoladen / 19:00 Mila Mar Frannz Club / 22,70€ / 19:00 Recycle: LTJ Bukem (UK) + Grooverider (Metalheadz/Prototype/UK) + Phat Fred’s Groove + more Gretchen / 14:09 YĪN YĪN (Bongo Joe) + Ephemerals Gretchen / 19:30 Griessmuehle in Exile: Mechatronica x Pinkman Alte Münze / 22:00 Klubnacht: Rødhåd + Answer Code Request + Aurora Halal Berghain / Panorama Bar / 23:59 Popkicker by Jurassica Parka SchwuZ / 23:00 Savour The Moment: Detroit In Effect + Ash Lauryn Salon Zur Wilden Renate / 23:59
Slave To The Rave 19 Alte Münze / 23:59 Saturday 14th March Arcangel Trio + Meral Cihan & Ensebmle Prachtwerk / 11€ / 19:00 jpegmafia Säälchen / 24,50€ / 20:00 Liher Cassiopeia / 20:00
jpegmafia (14th, Säälchen) 37
Sunday 15th March
Tuesday 17th March
Peter Bjorn and John Lido / 27,10€ / 19:00
Bon Entendeur Burg Schnabel / 14,90€ / 19:00
Delusion: Nastya Muravyova & Głós Live AV ://about blank / 10€ / 22:00
Dan Croll Curfew Bar / 17,20€ / 19:00
Monday 16th March
Dan Croll Musik & Frieden / 17,20€ / 20:00
Agnes Obel Admiralspalast / Sold Out / 20:00
Kazy Lambist (Wagram Music/FR) *live* [Electronica, House] Gretchen / 19:30
Gloria Bau + Cloudy June Auster Club / 11,70€ / 19:00
Oddarrang Auster Club / 13,90€ / 19:00
Islandman (Music for Dreams/TR) Gretchen / 19:30
Oh Wonder + Dizzy ASTRA Kulturhaus / 26€ / 20:00
Lola Marsh Bi Nuu / 22,70€ / 20:00
Wednesday 18th March Wednesday 18th March
House of Waxx: Titonton Duvante + S-Max + Christopher Rau Tresor / 8€ / 23:59
Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra & Tim Novikov Berghain / Panorama Bar / 19:00 Bombay Bicycle Club Huxleys Neue Welt / Sold Out / 20:00 Callum Beattie Maze / 15€ / 19:00 Kojey Radical Kantine am Berghain / Sold Out / 20:00 Nocturnal Transmission w/ Bow Church + Hydropsyche live + A/V with Petra Hermanová + Tyler Matthew Oyer KAKE / 20:00 TNGHT (Hudson Mohawke + Lunice) Gretchen / 19:30
Oh Wonder (17th, Säälchen) 38
Thursday 19th March Flavia Coelho Gretchen / 19:30 Anamanaguchi Privatclub / 20:00 IAMDDB Metropol / 29,45€ / 20:00 Kytes + Pool Lido / 18,70€ / 19:00 Modha Prachtwerk / 5€ / 18:30 Friday 20th March Employed To Serve + Giver Maze / 17,20€ / 20:00 Leoi Prachtwerk / 5-8€ / 20:00
IAMDDB (19th, Metropol)
Qian Geng + Anton Kaun ACUD MACHT NEU / 11€ / 20:00
Omar Souleyman Säälchen / 26,50€ / 20:00
Tove Lo Huxleys Neue Welt / 36,85€ / 20:00
Pinegrove + Katy J Pearson Lido / 21,25€ / 19:30
15 Years Cassiopeia Cassiopeia / 23:00
Tim Kamrad Musik & Frieden / 26€ / 19:30
Aguaelulo’s & Panorama Colombia Party 2020 Gretchen / 23:30
ToyToy plays ‘Homework’ by Daftpunk Gretchen / 19:00
Saturday 21st March Emilio Prachtwerk / Sold Out / 18:30
Dengue Dengue Dengue present Kebrada Label Night YAAM / 11€ / 23:59 Organoid: Dub Phizix & Strategy (SenkaSonic/Exit) + Organoid-Crew ft. Deby Cage + Yunis Gretchen / 23:59 39
Monday 23rd March
Wednesday 25th March
Brooke Bentham Privatclub / 17,95€ / 20:00
Hudson Taylor Frannz Club / 22,55€ / 19:00
CocoRosie Festsaal Kreuzberg / 30,70€ / 20:00
Kiezsalon w/ Gigi Masin & Floating Spectrum Musikbraurei / 10€ / 20:00
Dylan LeBlanc Frannz Club / 18,05€ / 19:00 La Pegatina Gretchen / 21:30 M:Soundtrack presents: Melby + Strand Child Schokoladen / 6-8€ / 19:00 Zebra Katz Prince Charles / 20,10€ / 20:00 Tuesday 24th March Berry Sakharof (Nana Disc) Gretchen / 19:00 Hi-Rez + Emilio Rojas Cassiopeia / 15€ / 19:00 Pantha du Prince: Conference of Trees Volksbühne / 26€ / 20:00
Pantha du Prince: Conference of Trees Volksbühne / Sold out / 20:00 Skinny Pelembe (Brownswood Recordings) Gretchen / 19:30 The Hussy Schokoladen / 19:00 Mister Bear: Bustin’ Loose + 1-800-Disco+ Distinctive Jun + Zapata Paloma / 22:00 Thursday 26th March PDOA (Public Display Of Affection) 8MM Bar / 20:00 Danny Brown Bi Nuu / 28,90€ / 20:00 Infini ထ Metaphysik [Label Manifest] ACUD MACHT NEU / 20:30 Samantha Fish Frannz Club / 38,60€ / 20:00 XL Birthday Party: Skiing + Molly Nilsson + DJ Acid Gold Schokoladen / 19:00 Major Lazer + Freak de l’Afrique + Qnoe YAAM / 20,50€ / 22:00
Brooke Bentham (23rd, Privatclub) 40
Клуб: Rune Bagge + Sasha Tsereteli + Sergei German + Textasy Berghain / Panorama Bar / 22:00 Friday 27th March Akua Naru Lido / 24,90€ / 20:00 Beardyman (Sunday Best) Gretchen / 20:30 Manu Delago Ensemble + Alev Lenz Silent Green / 20€ / 19:00 Mayra Andrade Festsaal Kreuzberg / 19:30 Messer Musik & Frieden / 18,60€ / 20:00 Plastic presents: QueerPornScreening #4 SchwuZ / 21:00 Punkfilmfest Berlin: The March + Waste of Water Schokoladen / 18:00 2 Years of Schmutz Magazine Arkaoda / 22:00 Anthony B YAAM / 25€ / 22:00 Finest Friday: David Elimelech Berghain / Panorama Bar / 23:59 Guts (3h DJ-Set) + Frinda Di Lanco + Delfonic Gretchen / 23:59 Humanoid 006 Köpenicker Straße 18 / 23:59 Tresor.Klubnacht: Terrence Dixon + Broken English Club + UVB + More Tresor / 23:59
Danny Brown (26th, Bi Nuu) 41
Saturday 28th March Female Rap Fest: Sa-Rock + Cipherella + Vilify + Lenki Balboa YAAM / 19€ / 21:00 Jax Jones Metropol / 32€ / 19:00 Just Another Bruital Night vol. II Ausland / 19:00 Kid Kapichi Maze / 15€ / 20:00 Lysistrata + Val Sinestra Cassiopeia / 13,70€ / 20:00 Unter Befreundeten Crack Bellmer / 20:00 Cool Whip & Dusty Donuts present – The Legendary Birthday Ball: Funkmaster Ozone + Marc Hype + more Gretchen / 23:30
Joep Beving Silent Green / 29,80€ / 19:00 Nova Twins Cassiopeia / 15€ / 19:00 Monday 30th March Martha + Yaramiso Schokoladen / 19:00 Shafiq Husayn (Eglo/Nature Sounds) Gretchen / 19:30 Staatsballett Berlin: Ekman/Eyal Komische Oper / 19:30 Tuesday 31st March Greg Dulli Lido / 29,45€ / 19:00
Klubnacht: Sebastian Mulllaert + Len Faki + Kris Baha Berghain / Panorama Bar / 23:59 Libertine presents Le Syndicat Electronique live OHM / 23:59 Porn by Pornceptual with PAG TLV Alte Münze / 13€-18€ / 22:30 Sunday 29th March Dominik Baer Auster Club / 9,50€ / 19:00 Dudu Tassa & The Kuwaitis Gretchen / 19:30
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Martha (30th, Schokoladen)
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O U T N O W AT J U S T M U S I C , T H O M A N N & M O R E
T H E U LT I M AT E S O N G W R I T I N G H A N D B O O K
THE MOST PRACTICAL BOOK TO GET STARTED WITH SONGWRITING Teaches the key knowledge using practical tips, with 68 easy-to-understand modules and example songs used in each one.
A HANDS-ON GUIDE INCLUDING: Hooks, Riffs, Chord Progressions, Topline, Lyrics, Song Structure & Sections, Arrangement, plus lots more...
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Thoughts ... by Katie Thomas
In Spite of Laptop Speakers Last month, Shawn Reynaldo used his newsletter, First Floor to ask: are journalists consuming electronic music incorrectly? He admitted that sometimes he listens to music, especially promos, on his laptop speakers. Techno Twitter was up in arms. How dare journalists (who have, one tweet read, “only one job”), be so dismissive as to listen on tinny laptop speakers? Don’t we realise that electronic music is too detailed and too low end-focused to appreciate in this way? Are we all really that lazy? No, is the straight answer. Let me level with you, sometimes I listen to promos on my tinny laptop speakers. Sometimes, god forbid, I even listen to promos through the one-eared headset that I have at my desk. The desk at the part time job I slave away at so that I can, you know, sustain myself as a journalist.
If I want to spend more time with a release, and if I’m going to cover it in some way, then you can rest assured I’ll use my best headphones to appreciate the intricacies in the track as best I can. And yes of course it would be better to experience dance music in the space and atmosphere it was built for (i.e.,a club). But I’m sure I’m not alone in this when I say, I can figure it out. I’ve had enough formative, transcendental even, experiences in the club in my time. I can listen to your new EP at home and imagine how it would feel to hear it on a dance floor, on a proper system, with the energy just right. Lest anyone forget, please, we all live and breathe music in the same way. We’re all in this for the same reason – because we fucking love it. Katie Thomas is Festival/Clubs Editor for London in Stereo, as well as a regular contributor in both Berlin and Bristol.
In defence of every journalist that dares to admit such an irresponsible way of listening, I pose the idea that, like DJs and producers, we too have a pretty fine-tuned ear. We know what we like and we can tell pretty quickly (even through laptop speakers!) if this is a track we’re going to dedicate more time to. 45
in Berlin with Dimitra Zina
When did you move to Berlin? October 16th, 2015. I think it was a Friday and pretty sunny for Berlin standards. Who is your top Berlin artist at the moment? There are many artists whose work I like. Some of my favourite ones include The Polyversal Souls, Àbáse, Dengue Dengue Dengue and, of course, the artists I work with: Alhousseini Anivolla, Farafi and Rasha Nahas, to name a few. Tell us your go-to places to eat and drink. If I had to pick, I’d probably suggest Nathanja & Heinrich for a coffee, Zweiner’s for a drink and good music on vinyl, and YAAM or Gretchen for a concert, as they always have nice bookings. For food, Knödelwirtschaft is a good place for some German flavours. Other than that, there are plenty of good Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurants – just take a walk around Kreuzberg or Neukölln and you’ll rarely go wrong. What’s the best way to spend one really good day here? On a sunny day, I’d definitely recommend taking a walk down the river. The overall Maybachufer area is my favourite: to chill by the canal, have a coffee, and why not, maybe even take a small airboat and have some fun on the Spree. There are plenty of parks and nice areas all over Berlin; one just needs a bike. What’s your favourite thing about the city? The fact that there is everything for every taste: food, cafés, bars, exhibitions, workshops, film screenings, concerts… The city feels truly alive. And of course, those who are in it are the ones that make it so special. I’ve had the luck to meet many great people while living here and to experience so many beautiful things. I guess this is what keeps us all inspired by Berlin at the end of the day. 46
And your least favourite? Lack of sunshine during winter. Plus, the difficult housing situation can unfortunately get quite annoying. What’s the most gratifying thing about working for a label that deals with so much musical diversity? I think exactly what you mentioned. Bringing all those sounds, from literally any place around the world, to the forefront. Giving the space and the means for the various musical cultures and traditions to be heard. And definitely, connecting with all those artists and getting to know their stories, as they always have something beautiful and inspiring to share. Dimitra Zina is Manager/A&R at Berlin’s Piranha Records. More at: www.piranha.de
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