Preview addition: Civil Civic

Dear friends of The Craze. If you are a regular follower, you will know my undying love for Civil Civic. Well, I found out yesterday (!) that they are playing Urban Spree this Thursday (!!). Read my review from last time they hit Berlin at Kantine and meet me at Urban Spree on Thursday. Bring your best friend and your best dance moves!

Preview: the month ahead (September)

With the rather slow August finally over, September is here to bring us some pretty awesome bands. We’re going to upload a few more additions in a couple of days, until then check out what’s going on and as usual be sure to check our calendar below.

Sat, Sep 6th: The Nightingales + AUF at West Germany: The Nightingales have been on and off around since 1979 and according to Wikipedia they "played more sessions on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show than any other band excluding The Fall". They don’t sound unlike the Fall, early and raw post-punk is probably the best reference for what they still mostly sound like. Support will be Berlin based AUF, a guitar and drum duo, playing something that reminds me of noisy Hamburger Schule.

Sun, Sep 7th: Audacity + Häxxan at bei Ruth: Raw and in your face Garage Punk with a huge melodic hint is your thing? Well what are you waiting for? This sounds ecstatic and wild and will definitely be the right soundtrack for a nice end of the weekend dance at bei Ruth!

Mon, Sep 8th: Chad VanGaalen + Cousins at Kantine: Chad VanGaalen from Alberta Canada plays beatiful yet somehow broken singer songwriter music. He very nicely combines folk elements and melodies with fragile vocals and some noisy and electronic parts. His lyrics are somewhere between disturbing and uplifting and if you've got a thing for beautifully designed record covers and music videos, Chad VanGallen is your type of guy.

Thu, Sep 11th: Alte Sau + Johnny Kurt vs. Hank the Tank at bei Ruth: Alte Sau is another new band featuring Jens Rachut (ex-Oma Hans, Kommando Sonne-nmilch, Dackelblut, Angeschissen etc.), Rebecca Oehms (from Amtrak and die Charts) and Raoul Doré (whom you probably know from Jeniger or Amtrak and also as the guy who does the amazing visuals for Digger Barnes' Diamond Road Show!). They just released their debut record and it’s absolutely great. It’s musically quite minimalistic, just straight drums, an organ, sometimes a ‘choir’ plus Rachuts cryptic lyrics and nagging vocals.

Sat, Sep 13th: Aaron Dilloway + Evol + Naturkunde Museum Ostbayern + DJ MFK at NK: Aaron Dilloway might be best known for being a founding member of Wolf Eyes. Still he also released a shitload of solo records and side projects. Expect something loud and noisy from him, probably involving tape loops and weird analog electronic instruments. Naturkunde Museum Ostbayern (also known as N.M.O.) are a great addition to this, read our review about one of their shows here. All in all, if you are remotely into experimental noise music, there’s no way around paying NK another visit.

Mon, Sep 15th: Hammerhead (US) + Antihairball at bei Ruth: Wow, this came unexpected. Hammerhead from the US, not to be confused with the German Hardcore band, haven’t really been together since they originally broke up in the late 90s. They went on to form the also great Vaz and sort of reunited in 2010 but somehow still went under the radar. So the announcement of a European tour including a Berlin show not only came a bit surprising but also left me rather excited. Hammerhead play edgy noise rock including hectic, yet melodic drumming and heavy guitars and bass. If 90s sound à la Melvins is your thing, you should absolutely not miss this opportunity. Support will be Antihairball from Berlin who play a sort of nervous Lightning Bolt, Melt Banana and Action Beat influenced noise rock. 

Mon, Sep 15th: Helmet at SO36: Two 'old guys playing heavy music' shows on the same night may not be a rarity. But one of them being Helmet might make this a bit more interesting. If you sort of grew up listening to bands like this, Helmet performing their whole record Betty may be reason enough to lure you to SO36 this night.

Wed, Sep 17th: Blonde Redhead at Frannz: Blonde Redhead just released a new record and are on tout to promote it. They seemingly don’t play in Europe very often so we’re pretty excited about this one! They play beautiful and intriguing indie music without ever sounding too catchy or pleasing - there’s always this rest of experiment and edge in their sound and that’s probably what keeps them interesting even on their ninth studio record. 

Thu, Sep 18th: Datashock + Pretty Lightning + Sun Worship + Bird People at bei Ruth: This is like a family meeting and it’s certainly getting a cozy one! Datashock, a “grusel” psychedelic kraut collective and Pretty Lightning, a duo playing psychedelic raw blues are on tour again and pay bei Ruth another visit. This time, Sun Worship and Bird People will complete the bill. So prepare for a night somewhere between “Black Metal”, ambient drone noise and experimental Krautrock inspired acts. Sounds about right.

Mon, Sep 22nd: Helm + Bill Kouligas + Puce Mary at NK: Another interesting experimental NK night. Helm is a project of Luke Younger, he plays ambient drone music somewhere between musique concrete and industrial music. Also playing will be Bill Kouligas (who runs the great PAN label) who will present a new electronic live set. Finally, Puce Mary will complete the line up. She’s on Posh Isolation records and plays deep and intense industrial influenced electronica. Check her out, this is really great stuff!

Competition: Thee Oh Sees

Oh yeah, less than a week to go, oh yeah. Are we excited! We are? Yes, we are! 27 August, Berghain, Thee Oh Sees, Dance.

You (and your friend, lover, precious enemy you cannot stay away from) could be lucky and join us for this show with the highest gig-of-the-year-potential, and little chance of a let down, by entering our stunning competition.

Easy as pie: Tell us by Tuesday midday (that's 12 pm), 26 August 2014, the most wildest and possibly destructive show you have ever been to. Sure, you can back this up with evidence, too. Why not. It might get you browny points. But it's not really necessary, we believe you and all.The competition email address is still win at thecraze dot de

Let the rubmle begin!

3 Points Review: Quintron & Miss Pussycat

1) It was awesome. The puppet show was great fun as always (a cake contest!). We then danced so much and he played my favourite songs.

2) It was possibly the hottest concert I have ever been to. People were topless and still everybody was just dripping with sweat.

3) A "gig of the year" contender and a nice return to West Germany for me.

small preview addition: Dead Western

If you're still free tomorrow you might consider visiting Klunkerkranich for a treat. Klunkerkranich is a sort of open-air bar location on top of the Neukölln Arcaden parking deck and to my knowledge they don't often organize live shows there. Yet, this Thursday (tomorrow), Dead Western is going to play there. He play's an intriguing style of dark singer songwriter folk, characterized by his mesmerizing and unique voice. If you haven't seen him before, don't miss this great opportunity to catch him in an unusual location.

Here's the facebook event for more info.

Preview: the month ahead (August)

Usually, August is a dead month for live music in Berlin, but you know, we are making the best of it. Schokoladen is showing a nice “don’t care if anybody else is on holiday, we are having a great time” attitude and is putting on quite a few nice gigs this month. Be aware though, any Schokoladen gigs start strictly at 8 pm, so be there for 7 pm and have a cold drink with us in one of Berlin’s most cosy venues. Other than that, see you around town, on a bike, in the middle of the night, in short sleeves, loving it. Heat - may you stay forever!

Tue, Aug 5th: Perfect Pussy + Business Lunch + PISS at Kantine am Berghain: Vocalist Meredith Graves is getting a lot of media attention these days. And people are begrudging her the way they used to begrudge Kathleen Hannah or Beth Ditto. Well screw them. Nobody ever begrudged Stephen Malkmus or Josh Homme for being in the limelight. But women, they better not hog it. Whatever. Another anecdote I can mention in connection with Perfect Pussy is a line written about them on Wikipedia: “The band is known for its "frenetic brand of punk and raucous live shows"and has been described as "the most important punk band to come out of Syracuse since Earth Crisis." This is so funny, it actually brings tears to my eyes. My sense of humour. Anyhoo, about Perfect Pussy, really: They’re pretty awesome. You like Dag Nasty and Bikini Kill? Swing on by! Added bonus: our favourites PISS as support!

Thu, Aug 7th: Sabar - A night of West African Drumming at Arena Badeschiff: This is the second West African Drumming event curated by Colin Hacklander. He invites friends to play drums with him, making this “a spontaneous gathering with drum kits, Sabar drums and talking drum”. Definitely a show worth visiting, especially in such an interesting location.

Fri, Aug 8th: Schrein + City Hands  + Hexeneich + Arvind Ganga at Bei Ruth: Another night of weird, noisy and experimental music. Schrein is a side project of people involved in Datashock and Sun Worship and although they’re regular guests at bei Ruth, their shows are definitely well worth a visit. This night promises tapes, effects, voice and electro-acoustics, drones and experiments on the tension between structure and chaos.

Sat, Aug 9th: Cranky Fest IV at Antje Öklesund: Cranky Booking, a Berlin institution and ⅓ of the fantastic Späti Palace Label, is putting on a great night of live music and freshly served crêpes. I mean, you are not seriously going to say no to fresh crêpes, are you?

Tue, Aug 12th: Big Ups + Creams at bei Ruth: After the cancelled Big Ups show in May they now return to play at bei Ruth. They play melodic and noisy punk with a hint of Shellac. Probably a pretty good way of spending a Tuesday night.

Thu, Aug 14th: EA80 at SO36: EA80 are celebrating their 35th year as a band. They’ve been an important constant in the German punk scene and their music is still as intense and melancholic as it was in their beginnings. They don’t play live very often so don’t miss this.

Fri, Aug 15th: The Lo-Fi Punk Rock Motherfuckers at Schokoladen: Eddie Argos of Art Brut fame and his lo-fi punk rock motherfuckers were Gary and my wedding band (see video below). A fine job they did. You can now also enjoy their British sense of humour and swing your punk rock legs this Friday at Schokoladen. Recommended! Incidentally, you have another chance to see them at Torstraßen Festival (see below).

Sun, Aug 17th: Thurston Moore at Lido: What is there to say? It’s Thurston Moore so it can only be grand. Also, there are rumours spreading about a very special band line-up on tour with Mr. Moore. See us there!

Wed, Aug 27th: Thee Oh Sees at Berghain: Gig of the month, the year, all time. Whether you would listen to Thee Oh Sees on record or not, it’s hard to argue against this band being one of the best live bands to have ever graced this planet. I mean, at the last two Berlin gigs, the ceiling came down both times. Both times! They are splitting up for good and this is your last chance to party like there is no tomorrow with the best garage punk live act there is. We have our tickets. Watch out for our very special competition later this month. Boy oh boy, are we excited!

Sat, Aug 30th: Torstraßen Festival: This was so much fun last year, Gary and I are still raving on about it. Join us this year for a day filled of fun and music. Hooray, a great final to a fine August.