Review: Nohome

Seeing bands or musicians that you have loved since forever and then getting disappointed is a pretty tricky thing. Like all new Sonic Youth solo projects - Chelsea Light Moving, Body/Head, or Lee Ranaldo's new band. It almost seems like they want to destroy their own legacy.

Anyway, I wannt to tell you about Caspar Brötzmann's latest band project Nohome. They played last Friday at Volksbühne. They formed as a improvisational trio for last year's A L'Arme Festival and played a mindblowing set. A couple of month later all three and FM Einheit (of Einstürzende Neubauten fame) recorded a live-album at Radialsystem - if you listen carefully can hear me going mental on that record. Together with drummer Michael Wertmüller and bass player Marino Piakas, Nohome is a heavy (sic!) more-Free Jazz-than-Rock (sicsic!) explosion. 

So, seeing them twice before, I was psyched when I heard they will play again. I got my ticket quickly to avoid standing on the wrong side of a sold-out show. Hmm, but when I arrived Friday evening at Rosa-Luxenburg-Platz and heard only 100 tickets were sold I was really surprised. Strange, I thought, more people are interested in this band and opening act Robert Lippok. Seems like I'm always wrong with prognoses.

Robert Lippok, who founded electronic post rock trio To Rococo Rot in the early 90s in Berlin, played a solo set as opener. His set-up with a strangely installed bass looked very promising. Bouncing beats combined with dark electronic sounds could be good, but maybe I wasn't in the right mood or it wasn't that good. Can't decide. Don't get me wrong his 45 minutes set was probably a good opener and didn't hurt at all.

But I was there because of Caspar Brötzmann. His Caspar Brötzmann Massaker was the soundtrack of my rebellious adolescence. I hadn't heard such a unique guitar sound anywhere else. I'm a fan! He plays more with feedbacks than actual chords and creates thereby a haunting, loud and confusing sound. 

Review: Om + Pole

Finally, Om paid Berlin another visit. I missed their last show at Berghain but luckily this show took place at Volksbühne, another location I really like, so I was quite looking forward to this event.

We were a little early since we weren't exactly sure when the show would start and didn't want to be late, but hanging around a bit in the comfy Volksbühne foyer only helped to build up our excitement. When the doors opened we grabbed a seat in one of the front rows. The room filled quickly and it didn't take Pole that long to come on stage and start playing. I wasn't really familiar with his music and to be honest I also didn't care much before the concert because I just really really wanted to see Om. 

Pole began to play and I have to say that it did not take long for his music to really get to me. It was bass-line driven and experimental electronic music with very strong dub influences. So even though it was something completely different in it's form, the music itself wasn't that far away from what Om do. Additionally I found the combination of these artists really interesting. Letting an electro-musician play before a band with a doom metal/stoner background might be challenging for some, and quite a few people in fact left the room during Pole's set, but it's definitely way more interesting than just add another "heavy" or "rock" act to the line-up. Pole's set was very diversified and I have to say that in total it was a very positive surprise and positive experience for me. Musically it was a great mixture of minimalistic and repetitive dub-bass lines with ambient sounds and elements of electro-acoustic experimental music. The sound was really great and intense, you could hear every small click and crack and the deep bass sounded pretty massive and good. Pole played for around an hour I guess and the only annoying thing during his set were the few people in front of us chatting loudly, not even stopping when they were asked to. So even though Pole wasn't that interesting to watch - I mean he was a guy behind a laptop and mixer - he was even more exciting to listen to.

Review: Austra

Sometimes, missing out can be lucky. When you then get the perfect performance later on. Which is what happened to me with Austra.

Not only had I missed about a million of their previous Berlin shows but I also wasn't able to watch their performance at the Berlin Festival. It looked like Austra and I were never going to happen. To my delight, they were this year's choice for the legendary New Year's concert at Volksbühne. And lucky for me, my boyfriend had secured tickets well in advance. It turned out that despite hangovers, people had showed up in great numbers. Volksbühne was sold out and people were not only occupying all the seats but the stairs as well. It was that busy and the atomosphere that electric. Well, when I say sitting...

So what is it about Austra that makes people ignore their headaches after a night of New Year's Eve dancing? What can possibly draw that big a crowd on New Year's Day? To summarise: for me, Austra do everything right that Zola Jesus doesn't. Now I realise that many people love Zola Jesus and, as J. likes to point out, she is involved in many interesting projects. I'm not here to diss Zola Jesus, far from it, even if I didn't enjoy her concert. But Austra and Zola Jesus are often named in the same breath, given that both artists make dance music with dark theatrical vocals. For me, this is where the similarities end, because Austra do it oh so much better.

Austra is actually a Canadian three people project, consisting of singer Katie Stelmanis, drummer Maya Postepski and bass player Dorian Wolf. However, they triple their number for their live show, adding a keyboard player and two singers. In addition, when available, and it was at Volksbühne, Miss Stelmanis plays the piano on a couple of their downtempo numbers. Given this is dance music, there is an unexpected amount of stuff going on onstage. And that's why this group is so much fun to watch. You get the beat to dance to but you are also offered a feast for the eyes. Turkish inspired costumes and perfomance dancing by the additional twin sister singers really added to show. Take note, dance groups.

Volksbühne was already bubbling with excitement once Touchy Mob had played. This Berlin-based one-man project isn't my cup of tea at all, too much "teenager who likes to experiment in his bedroom", but the audience seemed to be appreciative. When Austra came on, first with a piano number, then moving on to their trademark dark dance music, people didn't stay in their seats for long. Very quickly, the first people got up and jigged freely, and by the fifth song nobody was seated any longer. The entire room was up and dancing. Some sang along to the lyrics. The reception Austra received was heart-warming and contagious.

They played a relatively long set with a piano encore. And we were happy. What they do right is that they include live instrumentation in their dance music, and that they appreciate the visuals as well as the music, which they perform extremely well. They are likable and anything but off-standish, despite the success they have achieved in a relatively short span of time. But mainly, what makes Austra stand out is their talent to write really good songs and to be able to perform them convincingly. Talent does count for a lot after all, especially when paired with good performance ideas and an appreciation for art.

I admit, I left positively surprised. I never expected anything but a good performance, but I was maybe a tad wary of gothy dance music, of a seated concert, of yet another female voice backed by keyboards sounds. We didn't get any of these things and I for one will watch this band very closely. I also have to give credit to Volksbühne, who provided such a nice setting and perfect lighting.

A sterling start to the year. May many amazing concerts like this one follow in 2012.

Review: Thurston Moore + Carla Bozulich

John Maus on Saturday, Hot Snakes on Sunday. Nothing could possibly top this. Think again. Monday night, J. and I went on a date at Volksbühne, where Thurston Moore would make this an unforgettable evening for us.

People have been wary of his solo endeavors. What if they would be too experimental? Or in contrast, what if he would just turn into an old ex-punk folk dude? And isn't Beck the producer on Thurston's album? What if he's turned LA funky? But his solo album is wonderful and one of the best albums of this year. Mr Moore's soothing voice, dark folk tunes, noisy endeavors and all spiced up with a good portion of Beck's production genius. However, we were unsure as to what was going to await us in terms of a live performance.

Our worries were dumbfounded. Once Carla Bozulich had given a startling performance with her two-people-project and an array of instrumentation, Thurston Moore took the stage with a full band consisting of a harp player, a violinist, a drummer and an additional guitarist. The man himself needed exactly five items to perform: two acoustic guitars, between which he would alternate throughout the set, a microphone, a music stand and a lot of water. Neatly dressed with a suit jacket and tie (but jeans and trainers), he immediately made an impression on the audience that was intently listening to every word he would say or sing. Yes, he is admired. Rightly so, I may add.

The darkened room at Volksbühne and the comfortable theatre chairs made me a little sleepy. But the moment this man entered the room and grabbed his guitar, he received my fullest attention. His music is as youthfulness as his looks (there is something odd about looking 15 years old for your entire life, and who knows how he does that). Yes, it is folky but kind of dark, and at least every second song would turn into a noise fest, which sounds great when a harp and a violin are involved. And you can hear Sonic Youth in there, intentionally or not. Inbetween songs, he would sometimes read out beat poetry. I assume he wrote those words himself or I presume he would have credited the author. This lyrical component to the evening made the performance more interesting, not that it needed it. But it made you realise that there is a true artist in front of you onstage.

Thurston Moore is so unpretentious. He doesn't need a guitar technician with him; he just stops the song and tunes the guitar. He made sure to introduce his band to the audience, twice. And then there were those encores. He played a fairly long set, then came back twice for encores. But no, this audience wasn't going to let him go. When the lights had already been switched on, when the first people were already leaving the room, the majority of the audience was still clapping and shouting so much, he actually came back for a third encore of two songs. Now that is dedication!

When I left Volksbühne, high from what I'd just witnessed, I was surprised by another performance that took place outside on the steps of the building. A three-piece, of which I never got to know the name, were playing with a guitar, a drum set up and some computer/keyboard equipment. It was freezing cold outside but a considerable amount of people had gathered around this group and were dancing and celebrating this rhytmic post-punk music. I stayed for two songs and loved it. All of it. The really good music, the fact that it was so unexpected, outside in the cold, the fact that people were actually stopping and dancing despite the weather, the fact that this was taking place in the centre of Berlin.

John Maus, Hot Snakes, Thurston Moore, and spontaneous music on the steps of Volksbühne: people of Berlin, we are so privileged.

Review: Greg MacPherson

I almost missed this one and only found out that Greg MacPherson was playing at Roter Salon in the Volksbühne, because friends of mine asked if they could visit me on an extended weekend to see the show on Monday. I saw Greg before several (four, to be exact) years ago and I like a good deal of his records, so I went with them and didn't regret it.
We were quite early as I thought Volksbühne is more strict with their schedule. So we hung out in front of the building a bit and waited until the entry was open. Surprisingly there was nearly no one else attending, so everyone of the only about ten (!) people who came could get a nice comfy armchair directly in front of the stage. Roter Salon really lives up to its name with red curtains, red chairs and red light and I have never came so close to a real life Twin Peaks experience than in this room. The only things missing were the backwards dancing person of short stature and the Twin Peaks music...

There was no support act, so it was just Greg MacPherson with a microphone, guitar and amplifier. But this gig wasn't just reduced to the essentials, it was also very intense and good. Greg enjoyed the intimate atmosphere and chatted with the audience, from which he funnily knew most of the people. He filled several song requests and told some background stories behind the songs which was quite nice.

All in all this was a pleasantly relaxed concert. I heard all the songs I hoped to hear and had a good time so I didn't mind paying a relatively high entry price of 10€ for just one solo act. But despite Roter Salon being a seriously beautiful venue, I somehow wish he had played somewhere else. This didn't seem to be the right surrounding and I think in another venue there would have been a lot more people attending. I also think Roter Salon/Volksbühne isn't particularly great in promoting small concerts like this... As I said, if it wasn't by chance I would have certainly missed this. Hopefully next time he plays under better circumstances.