Outbreak of a rare and unidentified contagious disease

The power of the moment: "Last night in Central London, a reported outbreak of a rare and unidentified contagious disease took place at the Vescovo Clinic. The outbreak is said to have been contained. One patient, an unnamed man, was taken away for further testing and is said to be in a stable condition."

http://www.thirdmanrecords.com/news/view/outbreak-of-a-rare-and-unidentified-contagious-disease

Love this.

Camera competition results: a video extravaganza

The Camera competition has by far been our most fun competition to date. We received so many fantastic entries. Here is a selection (!) to sweeten your day the way ours were while the competition ran.

We received the same video for two separate entries, which have showed me a side of Beach House of which I was not really aware.

Here are a couple of entries that both feel very summery and made me want to get on a plane this instance.

The right tone for this autumn weather:

But the winner was this number that made us smile so hard and the song is amazing. A clear winner indeed:

This was just a selection. Like I said, we had plenty of submissions and a great time watching them. Finally, if I had been able to enter, this is the video I would have chosen. I love everything about this:

December cannot come early enough

Wooden Shjips have just released this amazing video. Not only is it filmed by a Berlin based film crew and features many local friends, it is also a superb film - yet again. Cannot wait until 3 December, when Wooden Shjips will perform at Berghain, the most suitable of venues.

Rocking out in my living room to this.

When searching for Metz videos for our preview, I came across this classic. There are a lot of various associations you hear about Nirvana. I suppose "fantastic performers" is a seldom one. Yet when watching this, one is reminded of their live power and maybe also of the less comfortable fact that Dave Grohl has always been a rockstar kinda drummer. I have a soft spot for rockstars.

the National live in Berlin videos

Check this blog post from BrooklynVegan for some of the latest the National news. For all of you (sadly including me) who couldn't make it to their free show in Berlin on Thursday, they have three videos of new songs from the upcoming record on there. See them in the original post or below here.

Also you'll have another chance of seeing the National live in Berlin this year, they play a show on the 4th of November at Max-Schmeling-Halle.

The National tonight and for free

The National are playing tonight. In Berlin. For free. They posted this message on their facebook not an hour ago:

We're in Berlin tonight and will be playing some new songs. If you're free at 9:00 pm, we have a few tickets to giveaway. Email troublewillfindmentnl@gmail.com to enter and we'll let you know if you've won tickets by 5:00 pm Berlin time.

stream two new Beak> songs

Not strictly live music related, but we featured this band here so many times (reviews here and here) that I figured it was worth mentioning: 

Beak> contribute a limited to song 10" to this years Record Store Day. Although I'm not that fond of the concept of this 'event', these two songs, including a Pink Floyd cover, are certainly way too good to just not listen to them.

You can stream the whole 10" here and good luck getting hold of one of the limited 1000 vinyl copies...

Teen songs

Whether you are going to join us for the one and only Teen on Sunday or not is your choice of course. But we strongly believe that everybody needs some teenage kicks every now and so often. Here is what our competition winners felt were the songs that represented them most when they were teenagers. What an eclectic mix - I like!

Teen love

For all my feminist musings, I must admit with shame that most of my favourite bands consist of men. Finally, my latest obsession is a female one. Teen are women. Not angry little girls, not the token female in a band of blokes, not electro clash punks and not folk elves. They are grown-up women making music that has got me oh-so-hooked. I listen to this album every single day and that's been going for a few months now. Currently, the band are at SXSW and I am virtually following their every step (shouting at my screen "please please may I be in your band"). I absolutely cannot wait for their Berlin show next week Sunday at Comet Club. Join me for some really good music and dancing. See you there!

Quick review: Tea Time

I had worked 11 days straight at the Berlinale and feared that, due to lack of organisational time on my part, this could turn out a desaster. I needn't be worried. All the Craze crew worked together to create a wonderful afternoon. We had such a great time. Great cakes, good music, nice folks, nice art. Expect repeat occurences.

Wavvey saviour

Ok, this week's mood is set. Wavves have released their new video and, oh boy, I love everything about it. Nathan Williams, hurry on up to Berlin!

Robin's draws

Our in-house illustrator Robin has updated her website and I it's addictive. Check it out! http://robineisenberg.com/

Shellac at Berghain

Woah, I just found out that Shellac are playing at Berghain on May 29th. I think there's no Berlin venue that could be more appropriate for this and I bet it's going to sound amazing.

There are lots of videos of their last Berlin show at Maria am Ostbahnhof in 2008, have a look:

Good morning Thurston

Perfect morning music from Sonic Youth veteran Thurston Moore's new band Chelsea Light Moving. Let's hope they are visiting Berlin soon! Love.

NPR online streaming link for the whole album.

Cake or death - today at West Germany at 4.

Today 4 pm Tea Time!

Hey everybody, today's the day. J., XNormanX and I will be setting up a cake and tea buffet at our beloved West Germany from 4 pm for a couple of hours or so. There will be music from XNormanX's fantastic record collection and West Germany are opening their bar for the occasion, too. 

Entry, cake and tea is free but donations are very welcome. The bar will of course need your petty cash.

Do join us, and if it's just for a few minutes to say hello. We are celebrating our unexpected growth over the past months and we would really want you to be part of it. And anyway, we don't need a reason to eat cake and drink tea, we'll make up any excuse.

See you later!

Last minute Martha

I am working on the Berlinale this week and my head has rather been filled with film. Though we all know, film and music are not exclusive of each other. Not only do I get to see the one and only Mr. Nick Cave tonight, himself involved with film and fiction on a regular basis, but this Saturday, Mrs. Martha Wainwright (yes, thee Martha Wainwright) will take an evening out of her busy Berlinale schedule to give an exclusive performance at Haus Ungarn (ex HBC). Show up early to make sure you get in and feel (hear) the magic.

new Liars video

Check out the new Liars video below, according to the band it's like the "basketball version of the Sisyphos myth". We still have their last live appearance at Festsaal Kreuzberg in good memory, read our review from that show here and let's hope they'll be back soon!

Orchestrated geniuses

I still have a birthday card a friend once gave me that reads "Beck will be yours one day." When I was younger, I was convinced I was going to meet Beck in person one day and we would get married. Then I found out he was devoted to the church of Scientology. Dreams shattered. Here is the man who unknowingly broke my heart, performing the song of another most admired artist of mine, David Bowie, in the most elaborate setting with over a hundred musicians to an audience of only 160. It's for a car brand and we shall not get into that any further. Just let me tell you, if there was only one gig I could have attended this year, it would have been the recording of this:



Fun fact: The conductor you see at the start is Beck's father.

The Craze Tea Time

The time has come. We have surpassed 50,000 pageviews and we feel rather grown-up for it. So we are throwing an afternoon party of tea and cake and music on February the 17th. Do join us, the tea party starts around 4pm! More details will follow in the coming days, meanwhile you can join in the facebook event.