Preview: the week ahead (20 - 26th Aug)

Another rather slow week, summer hole apparently now arrived at full impact and I'm definitely spending some good amount of time at a nearby lake or in some swimming pool. But then again there are some pretty interesting shows taking place, so here's another small preview for the upcoming seven days.

Monday

Aidan Baker at Mme Claude: Although Aidan Baker plays pretty often in Berlin, this is a nice chance to see him in a small and cozy venue. You might want to take it if you're up to some drony post metal guitar music.

Tuesday

JEFF the Brotherhood at White Trash: C*s hopes to see JEFF The Brotherhood again soon in a more appropriate setting sadly have to go unfulfilled, as they play at White Trash again. After C*s experiences from their last gig there you might wonder why they even want to play the same venue again.

Friday

Terror Bird, Molly Nillson and DJ Marcelle at bei Roy: this is going to be a pretty good mix between two heavily 80s influenced synthi pop bands/musicians and one of the best DJs I've ever seen performing. Definite party and dance guarantee for this Friday bei Roy show!

Saturday

Messer and Trümmer at Monarch: Messer are being hyped an awful lot right now. They play something like clever poppy punk with german lyrics. Of course that's not new, but then again what else is? I've heard they're good live as often as I heard they suck, so why not check it out first hand?

Preview: the week ahead (13 - 19th Aug)

This must be a record low: we have exactly four live music events in our calendar for the coming week. Any additions by pro-active readers are welcome.

Monday

Jonathan Richman at Festsaal: The most amazing folk singer-songwriter and comic genius that is sure to make you smile is coming to Kreuzberg and I will be there, laughing and dancing. And when he sings how he most fancies his wife in everyday T-Shirts and cut-off shorts, you might see me storm the stage trying to steal a kiss. It was so mighty hard to choose which video to show you but rather than choosing a current representative one (and they're all amazing, too, believe me) I am going with this really old number because I like a bit of black and white. Do check out his footage from the Conan O'Brian show from the mid 90s. I watch that stuff whenever I feel down. It just cheers you up so much.

Wednesday

Embryo and Masters of Africa at Monarch: A mix between krautrock and world music, Embryo have been around since the late 60s. So how amazing will it be to see them perform at our small living room that is Monarch?

Saturday

Man Meets Bear and William Kudahl Sorensen at Antje Öklesund: Man Meets Bear is another one of those "one man in his bedroom" kinda projects and there is a reason why he is being championed by Dirty Beaches, among others. This is really good folk music mixed with experimental ambient and drone sounds, albeit surprisingly accessible. Head over to Antje on Saturday.

Oh Zombie

The French cats in Zombie Zombie will play Festsaal in November. I am currently obsessed with this video for their song "Driving this road until death sets you free". Incredible.

Quick review: Patti Smith

I had waited for this gig for oh so long. When the day finally arrived I was not sure I was ready to really appreciate the enormousness of seeing Patti Smith perform live in front of my eyes.

We had gone through the trouble of reserving seats at Tempodrom, we made sure to be early, heck, we even bought a t-shirt. This was fandom unlike us. But this is because this woman has been so inspiring over the years, has shown so many women the way, has stuck to her ideals and roots unlike many other musicians.

And it was that kind of performance, too. There was no stage design as such, just her, her band (whom she has been with since way into the last century) and a cup of tea to sooth an aching throat. She looked wild with her straggly hair and her pirate-inspired clothes. They played all the hits, she corresponded with the audience and near the end she gave her famous freedom speech. All that you expected but better.

This was one of the few shows that I have been to where the majority of attendees was female and many were over 60. During the rockier anthems women would get up from their seats and start dancing wildly, the grey hair flowing, fists raised into the air. It was so inspiring. I have taken away from this to be more myself, true to myself, stick to my ideals best as I can.

As an afternote: I watched A Man Within, a documentary about the personal life of William S. Burroughs, this week and Patti Smith plays a large part in this. It shows her with Burroughs in the 70s and the way she sang for him, how he admired her and edged her on. It says a lot about Patti Smith, as much as it does about Burroughs.

Last minute Camera

For some reason, we didn't get invited or were told about this event until a minute ago, when FB suggested I took a look. Camera, that most famous of Berlin U-Bahn bands, is playing in support of its record release tonight at Katerholzig. The album is entitled Radiate! and you can purchase it there while the band plays. Oh, this promises so much fun, I can hardly believe it!

Event FB page

Review: Father Murphy and Mysticats

Okay, sometimes when a venue announces a secret surprise act and for some reason they can't tell you who it is, you should go anyway. Father Murphy alone would have been well worth the visit to bei Roy yesterday, but having Carla Bozulich (Evangelista), Jhno and Aidan Baker (Nadja) playing as support trio made it even better...

Unfortunately, due to technical problems, the first support act of the evening couldn't play. Sometimes it obviously sucks to be dependent on a hard drive to be able to play your music.

Anyway Mysticats, the "top secret super surprise project" started the evening. I had no idea what they were going to do, but having seen Carla Bozulich and Jhno together as support for Thurston Moore (C* wrote about that here) at Volksbühne and also Carla collaborating with some other musicians at Ausland earlier this year, I was sure this couldn't go wrong. They played a mesmerizing and very drony set of experimental and postrock influenced music. You could definitely hear Aidan Bakers influence on this and adding Carlas distinctive and intriguing voice worked very well, creating a pretty dense atmosphere. They collaborated live for the first time ever but seemed to have a deep musical understanding for each other and their different musical backgrounds and styles added up so nicely. I'm glad to have witnessed this.

Next on were Father Murphy whom I already was looking forward to see again. I already saw them twice, so this was nothing totally new for me. But nonetheless I was excited to hear them perform material of their newest record, which just came out pretty recently. They've been on a US tour with Xiu Xiu and Dirty Beaches and also released a split 7" with Xiu Xiu lately. So this italian band is finally getting a bit more attention and they totally deserve it! 

They're getting somehow more accessible musically but that does in no way mean they're getting worse. Quite the contrary. I had the feeling that they got better and better over the time. They play together more harmonically and they sound way more mature. It seems that they've become a totally consistent entity in which every member complements one another. Their deep and sometimes sacral sounding vocals together with a very incisive guitar add up perfectly with the processed synths and drums and create a dark and intense atmosphere. It's really hard to compare their music to other bands because over the years of their existence, they created a pretty unique sound and style. Also they seriously are one of the most unpretentious, friendly and nicest bands I've ever met. I hope they'll be back soon and I'm looking forward to see what they do in the future.

Oh and by the way, you can listen to their newest record in it's entity on their bandcamp page.