Rainy jazz

Later this week, the infamous free Bergmannstraßen Jazz Fest will take place again. I'll be honest with you, most of the acts on the five stages will not appeal to the majority of our readers. However, because you may snub the event altogether, I felt compelled to let you know about a few things I find noteworthy. May the rain be with us!

Saturday

4pm (Mehringdamm stage) - Mike Russell & Band: Originally from Washington, D.C., Mike Russell is a jazz and funk institution since the 1970s, when he played for Warhol among others. A lot of today's free jazz and world music groups remind me of his guitar sound and use of African rhythms. If you like it funky, consider this.
6pm (Nostizstraße theatre stage) - Blockflöte des Todes: I have featured this comedian musician before. His intelligent German lyrics with a satirical take on Berlin, relationships, and allsorts make me smile.

Sunday

3pm (Zossener Str. stage) - Reverend Shine Snake Oil Company: This prompted me to post about the jazz fest in the first place. Reverend Shine Snake Oil Co play raw, party improvised jazz with a lot of garage influence. I honestly think this will be worth your trip out to the fest. With some good food in hand, see these cats do their magic.

blogged

BBC 6music's 'Now Playing' programme yesterday revealed the 25 most blogged about artists so far this year according to data compiled by blog aggregator The Hype Machine. 

Glad we could serve the online community by having blogged about 45 % of these ourselves. 

1. Grimes
2. Lana Del Rey
3. Miike Snow
4. Beach House
5. Sleigh Bells
6. SBTRKT
7. Lower Dens
8. Bear In Heaven
9. Santigold
10. Gotye
11. Azealia Banks
12. The Walkmen
13. Frankie Rose
14. Tanlines
15. M83
16. La Sera
17. Purity Ring
18. Andrew Brid
19. Diplo
20. The Shins
21. Father John Misty
22. Chromatics
23. Alabama Shakes
24. Sharon Van Etten
25. Twin Shadow

Quick review: Thee Oh Sees + La Sera

Some bands are really good on record but never quite live up to it live. With others, the records are okayish but the live experience is unmissable. La Sera are the former. Thee Oh Sees are the latter.

Hot and steamy - Thee Oh Sees

La Sera's songs are very well crafted pop pearls, influenced by girl groups and garage music. Live however, this just doesn't quite carry in the same way. It's good, but not as good as one would wish for. Highlight: a beautiful cover of Nirvana's Lithium.

Thee Oh Sees are the best live band on the planet right now. There is no other band around that gets the crowd moving this much from the moment of the first chord played. There is currently no other band where the venue gets trashed at every single gig. There is no band that brings with them this much fun and mayhem without contributing much to it themselves. They play and people go insane. Those boys just rock those songs live, period.

What a night. Fistfights in the audience, storming of the stage, girls shaking their hair wildly, boys jumping up and down, stage-diving when there is no real stage at White Trash, walking on the ceiling (for real), ripping pieces off the walls. You name it, we had it. 

If you want to get an idea of a Thee Oh Sees concert, read my review from last time, and watch this video from their gig in London last year.

Mad July

Traditionally, July is a rather quiet gig month in Berlin. But have you recently looked at our calendar? It's insane and will see me out on the town more nights than I have time for really. Just some of the names on my list: Japanther, Screaming Females, Lee Ranaldo, Patti Smith, Ben Butler & Mousepad, ... (imagine voice getting quieter and eventually fading out)

Preview: the week ahead (25th Jun - 1st Jul)

We had the longest night of the year this week and the summer break started for school children. Summer should be truly here, though we don't really feel it. In the meantime, we have a highly intellectual music week ahead for you. Feel your brain cells grow while you attend any of the following performances.

Monday

Gravenhurst at Comet Club: We have featured Nick Talbot's project on Warp Records before. His melancholic tunes, sometimes quiet, sometimes rocking, appeal to any real fan of intelligent independent music. It's not experimental or ground-breaking, just plain good.

Tuesday
Embryo at Friedenskirche Charlottenburg: These experimental noise Krautrock legends are celebrated their 40 year anniversary a couple of years back. Not many bands can claim that. They are giving a rare couple of concerts in Berlin this week. Highly recommended.

Jack White at Tempodrom: Some might say that you either love or hate Jack White. I beg to differ. I think there is a Jack White lover in everyone of us. May it be his rebel streak that we admire or the quirkiness or his art and design sense. Or plain simple his music. Though always influenced by the blues, his music spans across genres and turns anyone from kids to football fans (what is that about?) to old men into fans. The man is giving a performance at Tempodrom tonight in support of his recently released solo record. A "you cannot miss" kinda gig, if you have the cash or connections that is.

Wednesday

Embryo at Sowieso: See Tuesday's preview!

Friday

VUK and All We Are at Schokoladen: VUK is a Finnish-American artist and reminds me of Björk crossed with African music. Pretty special. Support from UK based group All We Are. Be there before 8 - it's Schokoladen.

Wooden Shjips at Festsaal Kreuzberg: Finally, the week of the highly anticipated Wooden Shjips gig has approached. Psychedelic rock music at its very best. Dance, dance the night away. I cannot wait!!

XXL and Zea at Marie-Antoinette: XXL is basically a combined project of the groups Xiu Xiu and Larsen. A beautiful experimental extravanganza. When we refer to Zea, we don't mean the South Korean boy band but the Dutch electric solo project by The Ex member Arnold de Boer. J.'s gig of the week!

Saturday

Kool Thing and NAADYN at Marie-Antoinette: Kool Thing is a Berlin based two-piece with an obvious Sonic Youth reference in their band name. As much as they seem to admire post punk, their music reminds me more of current female electronic artists Grimes, Zola Jesus or Coco Rosie. If you are into this thing, this band fits in nicely.

Quick review: New Order

I think a lot of people will testify that New Order holds a special place in their lives. In my case, New Order is the band that embodies my childhood. My mother was a big fan and I associate New Order's Blue Monday, the greatest dance hit of all time, with large-scale Goa parties by the Indian Ocean in the early mornings. So it was rather odd to see my mum off home to Belgium in the morning and then be invited to watch New Order at Tempdrom in the evening.

And what's not to like? Seeing Blue Monday or Joy Division classics like Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart perform live by those who wrote these pearls of music is a prizeless experience. Even if it's at a large venue, even if the light show was way over the top (albeit fascinating), even if a cinema screen size projection didn't quite fit the simplicity of Joy Division's Isolation. Even if. It's New Order / Joy Division live, in front of my eyes, playing those songs to perfection.

And just to see Stephen Morris solo would have made my week, month, year. What a drummer! Make love to me - now!

Bliss.