Preview: the week ahead (9th - 15th Jul)

I really can't think of anything clever to introduce our preview with this week. But I did watch the Woody Allen documentary this week and enjoyed it and was disappointed at the same time. Here is what to do in the coming week.

Monday

CocoRosie at Heimathafen Neukölln: Take three on this one. See our preview from last week to get the gist on this. 

Xaddax and Hai Noon at bei Roy: What better way is there to start the week than with a good portion of chaotic noise rock. Xaddax from New York are on Skin Graft records and sound not unlike their label mates like Aids Wolf, Gay Beast and Yowie. Support will be Hai Noon (totally euphoric review of me seeing them at Altes Finanzamt here). They're a bass/drums duo from Berlin and they play highly rhythmical noise rock. If you're into Lightning Bolt you have to give these guys a chance.

Wednesday
Patti Smith at Tempodrom: We literally got our tickets months ago. The great heroine Patti Smith will perform and will have c* in awe. There is literally no more to say about this.

Friday

Ben Butler & Mousepad, Roro, Ferreira Doyle Duo and Ti Femme at bei Roy: I remember the days when Ben Butler & Mousepad played in Berlin all the time, e.g. that time when they supported Gay Beast. That's because this Scottish duo used to live in Berlin. These days, they reside in the Northern part of the United Kingdom again and only come to Berlin once a year. This means party time for those of you that know Ben Butler. Those of you who don't: read our review from their last gig at bei Roy.

Animales Varios at Sowieso: This is an interesting mix between experimental sound collages and improvised free jazzy elements. Featuring Els Vandeweyer, an awesome Vibrapohone player, as special guest that night.

Saturday

Excepter at West Germany: This is definitely my gig of the week. Excepter are awesome! They already released a bunch of very different sounding records in their 10 year band history, so it's kind of hard to be sure what to expect from this. It will probably be something between drone noise stuff and weird experimental dub influences. Either way I'm pretty sure it will be well worth a visit at West Germany. Be sure to check the linked bandcamp page, you can listen to a lot of awesome stuff on there.

Sunday

Kimya Dawson at Heimathafen Neukölln: Ms. Dawson is one half of Moldy Peaches and part of the K Records family. Twee singer-songwriter music to please. You will like. I thought Heimathafen sounded like a tall order for this, but I have actually not been to Heimathafen yet, so I have no idea what I'm talking about. Ha!

Review: Beak>

This was a bit crazy, I just found out a day before that Beak> were playing at Berghain Kantine and I was pretty excited about it. I totally love their first record so I was even more excited to learn that they were going to present their newest record that night.

We had a nice bike ride to Berghain and we were pretty early, so we grabbed something to drink and spent some time outside. Anika (read our review from her last Berlin show here) was DJing before and after the concert but I wasn't really in the mood of staying in a dark and hot room any longer than I'd have to. So we just went inside shortly before Beak> started to play.

It was my first time at Berghain Kantine and I have to say I've seen worse venues. I liked the low stage. There's nothing fancy about it but it's also not uncomfortable in any way. It probably doesn't really live up to people's expectations when you try to link it to Berghain itself, but for smaller concerts it's actually a pretty neat location. The entry price of 15€ for just one band (plus Djing, but yeah...) wasn't that cheap but since I really wanted to see the band I didn't care too much.

Review: XXL + Zea

I was pretty excited about this show. A part of Xiu Xiu performing, a part of the Ex (previous review of their last Marie Antoinette gig here) performing, what could go wrong? So I headed to Marie Antoinette with quite high expectations that in the end didn't get disappointed but also weren't fully met.

I have been to a few Marie Antoinette shows and every time something was different. This time again, the stage was located facing towards the windows in the middle of the room. Everything looked very professional with nice curtains and lights. Nonetheless, Marie Antoinette isn't uncomfortable at all and I would say it's definitely part of the circle of Berlin venues with the best view (definitely counting Monarch and bei Roy into that as well). Where else do you see the Spree at eye level with ships going by and everything?

Perverted By Language

O' Tannenbaum has another "Disco Universe" showing, a part of their program to show music documentaries and films. This Sunday they show "Perverted Language" a documentary on The Fall.

Definitely much more worth seeing than another boring and pointless Tatort if you ask me.

Here's the Facebook event page.

Beak>

I'm not sure how this happened but until this morning, I had no idea that Beak> are playing at Berghain Kantine tomorrow!
Beak> is a UK based band featuring Geoff Barrow from Portishead, who also plays in Anika (review of their last Berlin gig here). They play experimental and dubby music and are pretty much awesome! You definitely should check them out if you like bands like Anika, Excepter or Peaking Lights.

Preview: the week ahead (2nd - 8th Jul)

Trying not to post about the weather for once (how shit and brilliant can it be in one week?), the other note-worthy thing to mention is how brilliant all the gigs that J. and I went to were this week. Reviews to follow shortly. In the meantime, we will let you know where to spend your nights during the busiest week of July. And we don't mean fashion week.

Monday

Emperor X and William Nein at Schokoladen: Emperor X is the solo project of C.R. Mathen. He plays fluffy and poppy indie music somewhere between the Shins and Chad VanGaalen. William Nein, originally from London and apparently now residing in Berlin, plays more calm, sad and minimalistic singer songwriter music. I'm usually pretty picky about this, but he has a great voice and apparently also a feeling for great melodies and songs. Give him a try, you can listen to loads of his stuff on the bandcamp site linked above!

Tuesday

Japanther and Jimmy Trash at Marie Antoinette: Another chance for a wild Japanther party. See our previous review!

Wednesday

Screaming Females and Opa at Marie Antoinette: Again, not the first time this amazing band plays in Berlin. Go see them, but read our latest review and the one before that first!
Las Kellies at White Trash: Again, we've seen this girl group before and we liked it. The ladies know how to rock and entertain. A promising night and possibly one where you'll see me dance.

Thursday

Lee Ranaldo at Lido: After Thurston Moore graced the Volksbühne stage a while back, it's now time for this Sonic Youth comrade to perform in Berlin. The album is actually really good (yes, I was a little surprised). A "not to be missed" kinda night.
Julia Holter at .hbc: Another chance to see this Domino Recordings signee and new star on the electronic female experimental pop horizon. After she sold out Berghain's Kantine earlier in the year, chances of getting into this one will most likely be slim but if you can make it, all the better.

Friday

Allah-Las + Blousons Noir at White Trash: Allah-Las = psychedelic garage rock from California that sounds a lot like it was recorded in 1967. Pretty amazing.

Saturday

Mrs Conception at ExRotaprint Kantine: the ExRotaprint Kantine is an interesting project and art space in Wedding. They have a monthly combination of concerts (mostly something you could label free jazz somehow) and Indonesian food. Check this blog for more info, you can also find their website in the sidebar on the right. This time, Mrs Conception are going to release their new record, it's a trumpet/saxophone/double bass/drums band with Axel Dörner on trumpet. We have a review of him playing with the Ex last year, you can read it here.
Mikal Cronin at White Trash: When you enter Mikal Cronin on YouTube you get as many recommendations for Ty Segall as you do for the man Cronin. And that is about right. Not only have they released a record together and collaborate regularly, they do sound very similar, too. Both do punky garage rock with a lo-fi sound, a punk rock edge and singer-songwriter elements. I bet this will rock!

Saturday + Sunday

CocoRosie featuring Rajasthan Roots and TEZ at Heimathafen Neukölln: The two elf sisters that are CocoRosie are finally returning to Berlin; it's been long enough. They bring with them the Indian folk collective Rajasthan Roots, which should give these two experimental folk electronica nights at Heimathafen a special edge. Furthermore, they have one-man show TEZ with them for the entire tour. These nights will be pretty special and have been highly anticipated.