Preview (for the rest of May)

You probably have noticed that we had to make some changes to be able to keep this little blog thing going (if not read about it here). So the next 'regular' preview will appear at the beginning of June. We'll try to cover everything we find worth mentioning for the whole month. For everything we missed in these previews we'll probably throw some short additions in every once in a while.

Now there still are a few shows until the end of the month that are important to mention, so think of this as preview attempt for the rest of May. There are lot's of other great shows going on, have a look at our calendar on the bottom of our main page to find out about them!

• Sun, May 25th, Family Fodder at Roter Salon: This band from the late 70s have their place in the artsy post-punk movement of that time. They sound like it, they look like it but strangely they never really got the attention they probably deserved. Except for sporadic break ups they still exist and recently even their records got reissued. Now they're playing some live shows, one of them taking place at Roter Salon this Sunday. This is for everyone who thinks a mixture of This Heat, the Slits and Talking Heads doesn't sound like a bad thing.
• Sun, May 25th, Owen Pallet + Xiu Xiu at Volksbühne: I loved Owen Pallet's Final Fantasy records and although I didn't really follow his output since then, he still remains a likeable and respectable musician and artist to me. Putting Xiu Xiu on the bill with him for a gig at Volksbühne makes so much sense. They may be musically quite diverse but what they have in common is the ability of creating pop songs that are somehow 'broken' and not only smooth and compliant. Xiu Xiu's live performances always are a bit of a surprise, you never really know if you should expect a more electronica oriented dancy show or an experimental set consisting of mainly noises (or a mixture of both). Which is why they never disappointed me since the first time I saw them live in 2004.

• Mon, May 26th, Sun Araw + Laraaji at Urban Spree: Sun Araw is known for his modern and creative take on dub and psychedelic post-punk like music. His sound relies on deep bass lines and repetitive rhythms. It's quite experimental but not difficult to access and it combines danceable and ambient moods perfectly. He will play a solo show but also a joined live set with Laraaji, who's been around since the 1970s and plays 'improvising trance-inducing jams on a modified autoharp processed through various electronic effects'. See the CTM event page for more info and videos.
• Mon, May 26th, R. Stevie Moore + Brabrabra at Marie Antoinette: R. Stevie Moore is a weird and odd fellow. He's an american singer songwriter and is known for his enormous output of over 400 releases in his now nearly 50 year career. He's mixes (anti-)folk and pop elements with experimental influences and his live performances are as well funny and eccentric. Support will be Berlin based Brabrabra.

• Tue, May 27th, Pharmakon + Ketev + Shaddah Tuum at Berghain Kantine: After Pharmakon's last appearance at Berghain itself, they now play at the smaller Berghain Kantine. If you're into noisy and industrial music in the vein of Throbbing Gristle combined with a modern touch and beautiful female vocals, Pharmakon might be right down your alley. See the facebook event page for more info on the support bands etc.
• Thu, May 29th, Hildegard von Binge Drinking + Erfolg at bei Ruth: Besides of getting 10/10 points for that punny band name, HVBD is an interesting band in many aspects. Consisting of ex-Shokei members, they formed this new project to merge hiphop, electro-synth music and post-punk. Combined with a great live performance, dressed up as two nuns, they break with the seriousness of many bands without being a joke/"fun"-band themselves. Erfolg is the successfully successful project of Johannes v. Weizsäcker, who's also singer and guitarist for the Chap.