Of all the musicians of the Leo family, Ted is my favourite. I ran an interview with him 15 years ago in my zine when he toured with his band The Sin-Eaters and it was one of the nicest conversations I have had with anyone ever. We have bumped into each other a couple of times since but his European appearances have become rare. So how excited am I to see his name and that of Rebecca Gates on the Monarch programm for 24 September? Well, you have to take a wild guess, but let's just say The Pointer Sisters are blasting from my stereo right now.
This is not his best song *but* the video features a fantastic cast and a few minutes of really good fun!
Ok, so really, it has been two months since Wooden Shjips brought out the beardy ones to Festsaal? You know what they say: time flies when you're having fun. Anyhow, I will give you the lowdown anyway, even if it is now a little dated.
Basically, I categorise music listeners into two: There are those that like to be constantly challenged within a song, through tempo changes, unusual elements thrown in or multiple singers. Those people generally go wet when hearing jazz or The Blood Brothers. And then there are those that like to get into a song, immerse into the song, through long repetitive patterns. These folks are appreciative of electronic music and not seldomly like Isis. I am sure I have laid this theory on you before. And needless to say, I belong to the former type of music listener.
So I never gave Wooden Shjips a second thought. Let's say I did not even give them a chance. Psychedelic, repetitive music with doodly guitars? That could not be my kind of thing. Then I saw Moon Duo last year and it gave me a revelation. There is repetitive music and there is repetitive music. A doodly guitar can drag and a doodly guitar can suck you in. Moon Duo's Mazes album quickly became my soundtrack of the year. Naturally, this drew me to Wooden Shjips, given these are both Ripley Johnson projects. And would you know it? Wooden Shjips, loved so much by beardy guys in their 50s and progressive rock listeners of all ages, took this little girl's heart by storm. To cut a long story short: I was as excited to go to this gig as I was when going on a first date.
Hey y'all, here is a nice event for you that just reached us here at the craze. This Saturday, there is going to be a tribute to Norwegian singer-songwriter Thomas Hansen at Kantine / Berghain. The evening will premier the documentary film made about his life (in English) as well as an array of interesting live music. Check out the event website - this might be for you.
The folks at Puschen agency are the best! Not that we needed any proof, but they've gone ahead and booked a second night of DIIV at Monarch tomorrow, Monday 27 Aug, doors 9 pm. So if you were unlucky and didn't get a ticket for Tuesday, now is your chance to see this hyped band in the cozy setting of Monarch. Make sure to reserve a ticket at diiv@puschen.net, just to be sure. More information can be found on the facebook event page.
There is no reason for me to wish summer would leave us early. No reason, except the offering of live music in this town. I cannot wait for all the amazing gigs autumn will bring, festivals and music weeks. So I salute you September. You are finally here.
Tuesday
DIIV at Monarch: Sold out and highly anticipated. DIIV are the new hip post-punk indie rock band to be listening to. And I am into the hype, embracing it, and dancing in the living room called Monarch on Tuesday. If you like Crystal Stilts, The Drums, Wild Nothing or other recent wave and shoegaze revival bands, you'll dig this. It's good old indie music, made with instruments, and we have been missing this lately, what with all that newly found electro-indie scene in the U.S.. Gig of the week, y'all!
Thursday
206 at SO36:If I was given a cent each time someone says "there is no good German music" I would be owning a house in LA with that swimming pool my son desires so much. Well, I rent a flat in Kreuzberg and there are lots of good German bands, even those that sing in German. 206 is one of them, sitting somewhere between Deutschpunk and Deutsche Welle, defying critics of German music. Go to this and be enlightened because this group is well worth your every attention this Thursday.
Moralens Väktare and The Brunettez at bei Roy: If, despite my above plea, you still don't feel like going to see German punks, Swedish garage rock may be more your thing. Head over to bei Roy.
Friday Dad Rocks! at St. Oberholz (Rosenthaler Straße 72a): This is a little special thing here, an early gig (starts at 7 pm) ahead of Torstraßenfestival. Dad Rocks! may sound like the name of a fun punk project or maybe hip hop. Wrong! This gentleman quite obviously likes Elliot Smith but doesn't mind some Beirut either. It's singer-songwriter music with a nice twist.
Sons of Noel and Adrian at Roter Salon: There is folk music and there is folk music, if you know what I mean. This is the good kind, with virtuous guitar play, choral singing and classical instrumentation. Sounds hippie? It somehow manages to stay cool and accessible all the while. If you like Beirut you are bound to love this, too. Roter Salon = perfect venue for this. Felix Kubin,On+Brr, Broca Arealand Gelbart at bei Roy: I loved Kubin's "Filmmusik" and its weird fake 1960s space music when it came out in the late 90s. Felix Kubin has now ventured into doing a label and is doing a night of it at bei Roy. This can only be amazing.
Saturday
House of Wolves and Mez Medallion at Madame Claude: The soft-spoken tunes from Mexican-Italian LA native House of Wolves will provide the perfect atmosphere for those of you who have had a rough week and can do with some relaxation. Cute indie disco pop support from Mez Medallion.
The Magnificent Brotherhood at Roter Salon: Surf rock in the classic sense. These guys must be so frustrated to be born 50 years too late, because they are good at this 60s stuff but, presumably, nobody buys those paper-cased 7"s anymore or watches the Monkees on TV. But nevermind, don a big hairstyle, a stripy top, some boots and shake those hips at Roter Salon on Saturday.
Friday to Sunday Indie Pop Days at Marie-Antoinette: For the first time at Marie-Antoinette's but for the third time in Berlin, the Indie Pop Days festival promises another array of talented twee music artists from all over Europe, as well as one group from Canada. It's a sweet little fest that we like to support on an annual basis. The selection of artists is always good (look at the linked website) and Berlin could do with more of these type of events. Support and enjoy it and do a little jig while there.
We already mentioned the You Are Here aka the Maze festival here a couple of times. It's going to be a two week long festival taking place at West Germany from Sept 15th until Sept 29th. The program is gradually getting completed and it already looks pretty neat!
Now the Maze still needs some help and you can play an important part in that by supporting them on their Vision Bakery crowd funding site. You can find the Vision Bakery site here and you'll find more detailed info on the Maze on their tumblr blog, where you can also find a tentative preview of the full Maze program.
Please help them out if you can, this is going to be an awesome project that deserves to be supported!
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