Preview: the upcoming week (21st to 28th Nov)

Whoa! Recovering from this week? Ready for the next?

Sunday
I'm not actually mentioning the City Slang 20 gig because noone I know can afford to pay €50 for it. The same goes for Gorillaz. But there is other good stuff going on, too.
The Drums at Maria am Ostbahnhof: When I picked up my ticket for No Age/Abe Vigoda at KOKA36, there was a line of people all waiting to buy The Drums tickets. Hype. Therefore, I have no idea whether this gig is sold out or not. But if it isn't, head over to Maria where this indie boyband will play Manchester sound à la Factory Records. It's recycled but it's good.Tokyo Sex Destruction at Comet Club: BCore is a very sweet label from Barcelona, Spain, which is still fairly unknown cross-border but whose artists make it over every now and so often. Tonight is such a night. Tokyo Sex Destruction will definitely appeal to fans of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (and probably fans of the Rolling Stones, too). Indie, Soul and Punk mixed into one.
Hans Unstern at Sophiensaele: Jazzy, improvised, sometimes quiet, sometimes noisy, music accompanied by German lyrics, more spoken than sung. You will love this, especially if you like the label Thrill Jockey or used to be a Blumfeld fan. Recommended.

Monday - Sigh. Another day on which it's near impossible to decide on the event to attend. All the bands draw a similar audience as well. I want to see them all. Can't we have a spontaneous festival and move the three gigs together??
Baths and Touchy Mob at Lovelite: Baths do that current dreamy pop genre so well. Reptitive melodies, at times a bit psychedelic, choral singing, but all underlined with a beat to dance, too. This is highly recommended.
dd/mm/yyyy & Action Beat at Marie-Antoinette: spazz math rock that goes into digestible indie pop at intervals, and into noise at other times. Extremely good and very danceable. Also, the Canadians' last Berlin performance convinced us all very much. This is also highly recommenced.
Joan of Arc and Love Of Everything at Bang Bang Club: Joan of Arc (the band that is) is one of the big loves of my life. Their first record was a constant companion for me for many years and I still listen to it very regular these days. Risen from the ashes of Cap'n Jazz, Tim Kinsella took a far more brave and experimental route than the other Cap'n Jazz follow-up group The Promise Ring. There are clear Jazz influences in Joan of Arc's music but mostly, they play intellectual pop pearls which are so well supported by Tim Kinsella's voice. At some point they switched label from Jadetree to Polyvinyl and those two labels will give you a very good idea of what to expect, if you are not yet familiar with Joan of Arc. This is where you will meet me on Monday.
In other news, Youth Brigade, thee Youth Brigade, play Wild At Heart. If you are more the old school punk rock type.




Tuesday
Telekinesis and Tar... Feathers at Lovelite: Gig of the week I reckon. Telekinesis from Seattle = Indie-Pop at its best. Tar... Feathers, Swedes that like to hang out in Berlin, = slightly more experimental indie-pop, very fun live. Highly recommended and meet you there, yeah?
Seabear at Lido: Beautiful Icelandic folky pop pearls. You liked Villagers? You will like this.

Wednesday
Bobby Conn at Bang Bang Club: Funky, funky. At times noisy. Jon Spencer and Quintron fans will get their share just as much as fans of Of Montreal or Mahjongg (since one of those guys is on tour with Mr Conn). Dance.
Milosh and Lucky Paul at Kaffee Burger: relaxed somewhat ambient pop music and possibly a nice chilled evening with a glass of something. Good for a date, too.
Bye Bye Bicycle and Navet at Grüner Salon: If you like pop music, the way it has been produced since the 80s, Sweden should be your mecca. And indeed these bands come from Sweden and do just that.
Smoke Fairies at Comet Club: These girls play guitar based music the way it was known in the late 1960s. Beautiful.
The Strange Boys at White Trash Fast Food: I somehow missed this in my listing originally, I think this is a short-notice date. What a great band! Folky but rocking, kinda Rolling Stones. Meet me at White Trash on Wednesday.

Thursday
Mutate Now! at Dazzle Danzclub: If you like Devo or Man Or Astroman, go to this. Well fun.
Veracrash at White Trash Fast Food: good metal, screamo, psychedelic influenced rock that reminds me of a lot of early Gravity label stuff. This is promising stuff and you may meet me here.

Friday
Peter Broderick at hbc: Berlin local Mr Broderick does the ambient and singer-songwriter thing beautifully and should mesmerize a few that night. Like.
Phonoboy at Roter Salon: German Electro pop rock in English and French and sweet at that.

Saturday
João Orecchia + Zachov at hbc: I seldomly trust MySpace descriptions but Electroacustic/Experimental/Live Electronics is actually very fitting. Hit hbc to chill a bit before you hit your night out.
Chromeo at Maria am Ostbahnhof: D I S C O pop they way they do it in New York. This is mega dance music.
Sunday
The Pyramids and Volcano The Bear at Volksbühne: Distorted ambient sounds and the perfect relaxed and intellectual way to end the weekend and prepare for the week ahead. Jazzy, too.


To end this longest of all previews, here is a classic that may sway you towards Joan Of Arc on Monday.