Preview: the week ahead (12th - 18th Nov)

What were we thinking when we started out with this blog? I think it went along the lines of "There are so many good gigs in this town and people don't even realise or appreciate it. We are going to dedicate some space to just that". We were probably not thinking "There are so many gigs in this town, we could spend our Sundays just listing them for the world to read". That is exactly what is happening. There are so many good and diverse live music happenings in Berlin this week, it is taking up a lot of our time just picking out the most bestest ones for you. Wild and exciting.

Monday
Here We Go Magic at Comet Club: HWGM are another fine Secretely Canadian product and they do indie-pop. There is no other way to describe it, even if I tried to be clever and music journalist intellectual about it. HWGM, however, create little pearls of songs that invoke emotions in you, like joy, ease or dreamy. You will like them, it's very hard not to.



Tuesday
Japanther and Die Eternias at Marie Antoinette: Japanther are rad! They play lo-fi garage punk tunes, not unlike bands like No Age or Thee Oh Sees. They're so much fun to watch live and I keep my last Japanther show at West Germany in good memory. Die Eternias play 60s influenced indie rock, sounds like a good mixture for that night.
Zechs Marquise at West Germany: A little instrumental metal math core gem at West Germany tonight. Stray from the known acts tonight and head to Kotti to have your mind blown by these dudes. Recommended.
Shabazz Palaces and THEESatisfaction at Festsaal Kreuzberg: An alternative and experimental hip hop extravanganza. There is a lot of talk around town about this gig, and rightly so. This can only be amazing, with both acts being worth your attention, if you appreciate good hip hop at all. Don't miss out!




Wednesday
Doldrums, Blood Diamonds and Clay Hooves at Monarch: Doldrums are supporting Purity Ring at Berghain first, before pleasing the after party crowds at Monarch, with electronica wunderkind Blood Diamonds in tow. If you like your theatrical independent electro music, head to Kotti at 11 pm and dance the night away.  
Al Doum & the Faryds at Loophole: Experimental music, influenced by Arabic sounds and psychedelic imagery. Not for the easy listening crowd but mind-expanding for those interested in experimental music. Btw, they play again on Thursday, at Shangl Hangl, Schönstedtstrasse 14.

Thursday
XRay Eyeballs at Monarch: Slowish garage rock with an old sound. Très cool and one that C* is excited about. It's a tough choice which gig to hit tonight.
Wild Nothing and Grey Television at White Trash: Sort of an odd location for this one I think. While White Trash usually hosts more trashy and rocky live acts, Wild Nothing do nothing like that. They play dreamy and very melodic indie pop. You can definitely hear their 80s pop influences, think of a more contemporary indie version of the Smiths. Grey Television add pretty nicely to that and if you missed their last showcase at a clothing store in Mitte some weeks ago, here's your next chance.
Zombie Zombie, Camera, Saroos and Eagle Boston at Festsaal Kreuzberg: C*'s gig of the week. So f**king excited to see Zombie Zombie live. Rhythmic electronic and drum heavy alt-dance music, dark in sense and with a coolness factor of a thousand. You may be into Battles, Liars, Civil Civic, Mi Ami or Health's remix albums - Zombie Zombie will suck you in. They are playing as part of the Polyhymnia Festival, with a solid line-up for show. See you there.

 

Friday
Otto von Schirach at Berghain: If you can take Berghain on a Friday night, this week might be a week worth trecking out there as the special guest is going to be Otto von Schirach, extrovert whacky one-man electronic music project with a faible for trash culture. His own website calls him a "dance music oddball". I saw OvS a few years ago in Brussels when he was supporting The Locust and actually featured Locust drummer Gabe Serbian in his show. There were masks, capes and adults only crazy dancing. Not to be missed, really. Excpect a Vice kinda crowd.
Great Lake Swimmers at BiNuu: This show got moved from Magnet to the nearby BiNuu. Great Lake Swimmers are definitely worth watching. They play folky indie singer songwriter music and somehow they have this ability to just write great songs. The perfect fall music!

Saturday
Hundred Waters and Pacific Strings at Berghain's Kantine: This gig is the choice of our Puschen competition winner, which in turn got Puschen agency very excited. People are really behind Hundred Waters and it is not hard to see why. This group could go really far. Of course you never really know what a band is influenced by but I can hear Björk and CocoRosie in there just as much as classic American soul music. Very soulful with an undeniable beauty.
Singapore Sling, Wall Of Death and The Lucid Dream at White Trash: Singapore Sling fit nicely into the current wave of Neu! sounding bands, like Dead Skeletons. Interestingly, both bands are from Iceland. I am not quite sure what to expect of them live but if they are going to be just anywhere near as good as DS, then Saturday night at White Trash might turn out rather swell.  

Sunday
Lætitia Sadier at Berghain's Kantine: Stereolab fans listen up! Stereolab's chanteuse and composer, Lætitia Sadier, is making an appearance in Berlin in support of her solo project. And it is one of those "if you like one, you like the other" kind of things. Very distinctly Stereolab. A relaxing Sunday evening with the wonderful voice of Miss Sadier. What else can you ask for?
Gossip and Austra at Velodrom: Have we gone completely gaga that we are now featuring Velodrom concerts? Well, as the case may be C* is very intrigued by Velodrom as a building. The reason for the feature is, however, that Gossip and Austra make such a fantastic double bill, how could we not mention that to you? Read C*'s Gossip and Austra reviews from earlier this year to understand why this is exciting. We would like to say "Meet C* there" but chances are that if you tried you could as well stay home and look for someone with the description of a hipster on Maybachufer on a Friday afternoon.