Coke DJ Culture Berlin Engelbrot from Nachtagenten

So run to the record stores and get it while it’s hot! You can watch some pictures from the gig at Engelbrot in Berlin on Nachtagenten.

“Seid ihr schon einmal morgens aus dem Haus gegangen, habt am nächsten Kiosk euch ein Bier geholt und damit zur Arbeit gegangen?
- keine Panik. Ich auch nicht. Es fällt mir aber wieder auf, wie viele Leute das hier tun. Auch Mädels, die keine zwanzig sind.
Dafür aber magersüchtig.”

Simone Schlindwein, Spiegel-Korrespondentin in Moskau bloggt ausgiebig und anschaulich. Unbedingt regelmäßig lesen: Russland im Spiegelbild.

Sehr schön ist ihr Survival-Trainer für Moskau: Laut diesem sind es gar nicht so sehr die “Tschekisten, Terroristen, Extremisten, Putinisten, ehemaligen Kommunisten, Bolschewisten und all die anderen -Isten”, die Gefahr für Leib und Leben darstellen, sondern vielmehr Pfützen, die so tief sind, dass man darin ertrinken kann, schnappende Metroschranken, rasenden Rolltreppen, keifende Straßenköter, fünf bis sechs Hinterhöfe und Ampeln in drei Kilometern Entfernung und daraus folgenden Mittelstreckensprints über die xspurigen Straßen.

Great guys (Pit, for example) behind this passionate little webshop, selling stuff from Berlin they like to people they like. We all live in a pink coloured world, you know..

And for you leisure fashion lovers, here are some cool ressources: Selekkt and Addicteed are two very nice shirt blogs I found via Matthias. Und hier ist ein richtig geiler Sneakerblog, der auch so heißt: Sneakerblog.de.

(nach der Politik die letzten Tage komme ich mir irgendwie so oberflächlich vor. Aber tut auch mal ganz gut.)

Abe Duque
Alex Smoke
Anajo
Autechre*
Booka Shade
Cereal Killers (Sid Le Rock vs. Metope vs. Ada vs. Jake Fairley)**
ClickClickDecker Deichkind vs. Snap! feat. Special Guests**
Dendemann
Digitalism
Dizzee Rascal*
DJ Koze
DJ Major Taylor
Erase Errata
The Faint
Final Fantasy
Frankie Says: Melt! (formally known as Frankie Goes To Hollywood)*
Goldie & MC Lowquie
Goose
Hell
Hey Willpower*
I’m From Barcelona*
The Jai-Alai Savant
Jake The Rapper
Jeans Team
Lady Sovereign
Le Hammond Inferno
Lo-Fi-Fnk
Magda
Marc Houle
Mathias Kaden vs. Onur Özer
Michael Mayer
Motorpsycho**
Mouse On Mars
The Notwist**
Polarkreis 18
The Presets
Puppetmastaz
Ragazzi
Richie Hawtin
The Rifles*
Shitdisco
Shout Out Louds
Simian Mobile Disco (live)*
Stereo Total
The Thermals
Tiefschwarz
Tiga*
Tobias Thomas
Tocotronic
Trentemøller w/Band**
Troy Pierce
Virginia Jetzt!
Von Südenfed
Werle & Stankowski
Wighnomy Brothers

Patrick Gräser shows how he has developed in his months spinning at Weekend on “Basic” nights. It’s a mix with the courage to push the people even further early in the morning. This thing is talking to you. And you better not talk to anybody else. Patrick Gräser - Basic, have a nice holiday.
Download audio file (patrickgraeser_basic.mp3)

Downloadlink

As friends do, we share the same interests, so watch Johnny post some Taipeh street art.

Moreover, Marco Delvai is going to play in Berlin, Yaneq invited him to Berliner Wald: spoken word unlimited with Wolf Hogekamp, Bas Böttcher, FlowinIMMO and Jim Dunloop at the funky Rhodes on thursday, 21.9.!

And from tomorrow I’ll be going to the Wizards of OS to see Lawrence Lessig and meet Yochai Benkler for a short interview. Not to talk about the party on saturday. So, some pretty interesting days coming up, stay tuned for some stories!

Download audio file (DJsAnon06_BenMono.mp3)

Downloadlink

Do you need to know more to be sure he knows what he’s doing? Check out the two mixes at the bottom and another blogpost! This guy is on the rise and you could be part of it. He will be here september 21st (thursday) to sep 26th (tuesday), drop me a mail and we’ll talk about the details!

Mix 1 (may 2006):
Download audio file (marco_delvai_mix_may_2006.mp3)

Downloadlink

Mix 2 (july 2006) “The Key to Our Soul”
Download audio file (marco_delvai_keytooursoul_mix_072006.mp3)

Downloadlink

Definetely hedonistic, definetely dirty (not really sfw), definitely full of life. Reminds of the Cobra Snake and apparently Bronques, the head behind the site has been dancing at Cobra Snake parties.

Here’s another story on stylewalker.net about lastnightsparty or go the homepage to find more party and music coverage.

Enlarge Weekend-Site Screenshot

The same day Suzi Wong is celebrating her birthday at Kiki Blofeld with friends (e.g. Andrea Parker)

I guess, this will end in the morning when Patrick is playing into the sunrise..

Deichkind Photo by Substrat@Flickr

Yes, I am totally excited about Melt!, not only because I had a great time and met so many interesting people; it’s just this feeling to be part of something special and to share moments to remember. And thanks to YouTube and Flickr I can document all those exciting moments with (moving) images. One year ago, that was not possible.

Mediengruppe Telekommander Photo by BBY@FlickrFirst, I took care of Hot Chip who were really annoyed by one sound technician who started argueing with them in quite an arrogant way, still, in the end, there were flashed by the audience and had a really nice gig. Also, I was surprised by DJ Hells massive set and very amused by the typical munich party gang he was accompanied by (highheels galore!)..

Before, Mediengruppe Telekommander, another “protégés” of mine rocked the stage with their straight-forward electro-punk. Very nice guys, as well.

But the big bang was yet to come, and again, it were one of “my artists”, Deichkind, that in the early saturday morning performed a show which is already called “concert of the century” on YouTube. After their energized and highly psychedelic beginning with a bouncy castle, pyramid hats, pogo sticks and a trampoline they decided to let the crowd enter the stage. Watch this moment of collective ecstasy which caused concern beyond the securities, quite some damage on stage but that feeds Melt!’s myth as an extraordinary place to be..

The second day on a festival always is a special one. People get to know each other, some kind of “common vibe” starts growing and everything seems to be even more fluid and smooth. “My” bands that day were Peter Licht who gave out text sheets so that the people could sing along, and two of the most influentious electronic musicians of the last decade: Aphex Twin and Roni Size. The first one involved wheel chair basketballers on stage who danced and moved and played some ball. Again, a really special moment on the festival, I was especially surprised that so many people (many, many more than for the Pet Shop Boys a day before, I have to say) stayed concentrated and listened to Aphex’ difficult and cumbersome music. Here’s a little video:

My personal highlight was to meet Roni Size and DJ Dynamite. They arrived late, ordered some brandy, Sprite and ice and got on stage. Somewhat stressed they seemed to be, yet very professional, there were some problems with the turntables and they had to start with quite a delay. DJ Dynamite was so annoyed, he even asked me, if they could stop earlier. “Wait for the sunrise, man”, I told him, and I was right. In the end, they played one hour more than they were supposed to, really amazed by the euphoric audience and the sunrise. “It’s been so long, I didn’t play in the sun..!”, Roni Size said afterwards and drove home to Brighton, a little ill, but definetely with some good memories of Melt! Here’s a video.

Roni Size:

So, my work was done, 7h on sunday morning, but the party was about to begin. With all the Intro-crew and festival organizers we celebrated a successful festival and took a final bath in the lake after having danced “Krawall und Remmi Demmi” one last time.

One great festival, one great people, thank you all for being there!

Last but not least, a video in good quality (it’s just a matter of time until every internetvideo looks like this) from the Dominik Eulberg set:

On Flickr there’s thousands of fotos, try the Melt-Cluster and on YouTube you will find many Melt!06-videos.

Like last year, I am working as an artist host and am responsible for the well being of the musicians on the festival. Bring towels, organize soccer balls, explain the area, etc. This year I will receive Hot Chip, Aphex Twin, Deichkind, Roni Size, Mediengruppe Telekommander and Peter Licht. Yeah!

I am looking forward to the next two days, if you are close, come around, it is going to be great! There is a lake, you can even go swimming and if you are interested in media contacts, well, I think the whole German music industry will be here.. See you!

http://meltfestival.de/

Suzi Wong will be kicking in with Jeff Pils a brutall elekkktroset, Al Haca will demonstrate their laptop breakbeat punch and finally, Tolcha with DJ Shir Khan will present their new album “Gestalt”. For an idea of their dub-electro-reggae-grimy music, listen to their hit: “Streetvibes”:
Download audio file (Streetvibes.mp3)

Party Arty @ Lovelite Thu 13april Simplonstr. 38/40 Berlin-Friedrichshain

You start listening and might think, “well, this is nice summer house music..” but wait until it starts hypnotically screwing its sawtooth synths into your ear. Hands up on the dancefloor guaranteed.

With selected records by, amongst others: Audiomontage (Freerange), Steve Bug (Pokerflat), Samim&Michal (Freizeitglauben), Phage (Highgrade 31): Contemporary Berlin house music, just the style I love.

DJ Patrique plays in different clubs in and around Berlin. He is playing records for ten years. He is part of the Stylewalker-artists.

Download audio file (djpatrique0406.mp3)

Downloadlink

Members pay 1,20€ an hour and get coffee or tee for free!
Click More for a map!

Anyway, this does not really lift my mood for going to a conncert. Even less, when it is like a journey with the metro, but I really want to see them. Their name is Catalounge and the reason I want to go basically is that I met one of the musicians at Bread and butter and we had very good time working the cables there..

Their concept is nice (and pretty fashionable as well, I must admit): “Electro mestizaje” - It’s a very broad and versatile mix of all sorts of lounge, drum’n'bass, down and breakbeat spheres with snippets of guitars and minimal vocals. I especially liked their track Encantador de serpientes.

Tonight they play in Hospitalet which is not exactly Barcelona, but I’ll still go. They better be good!! I wanted to go tomorrow but the police shut down the place where they were supposed to play. Man, Barcelona really is getting conservative..

You can also download a 2:40 video in wmv (7,5Mb) and in mov (18Mb). (I have no idea why that one is so big, I just encoded it and do not have the time to make it any smaller right now.)

A short description: ” illuminated neon-letters are spread all over several layers in the entry-hall space. viewed from one perspective they form the word OBSCURITAT (darkness) playing on the essential contradictional concepts of light and darkness important especially in wintertime. “. And again he made it to We make money not art..

But here is something: I met a designer who studied in Utrecht and Cologne, he is really good, has a lot of skills, spontaneously we made ourselves business cards to step up into the professional circle of Barcelona’s freelancers and spontaneously I made him a webpage: www.christiandegen.de is a simple, fast and easy onlineportfolio, I hope it will be of use for him.

“Aperture” is a facade installation consisting of an iris diaphragm matrix (which you can find in cameras as well)made by students of the Universität der Künste (UdK), Berlin. digital media class. These artificial eyelike irises are able to react to their environment and create a moving surface by closing and opening.( Click for a video!)
Very impressive and clever are the projects “Moving Canvas” and “Sonderzüge”

Both are installations that play with moving trains. “Sonderzüge” (Click for the video) projects the names of concentration camps on the roof of trains passing beneath a bridge.

“Moving canvas” (Click for the video) is a video projector with a mirror placed on the surface of a metrotrain, projecting movies to the tunnel walls, adjusted to the speed of the train which can be seen by the travellers. Very easy and effective. Will the future’s advertisment look like this? This project is a good opportunity to think about it..

The artists name is Frédéric Eyl and now he is in Barcelona. I got to know him through a friend and he wanted me to tell him about Barcelona life. I did and could give him good advice: A friend put him in contact with people in Gracia that were looking for a flatmate and he was not sure if he should just take the offer or go and look on his own. “In Barcelona”, I told him “the things just emerge on their own. This offer is a sign. You should take it.” He did and now he is very happy.

Deutsch

Interaktive Wände, die lebendig scheinen und die Realität reflektieren können. Eine Form des Minimalismus, eine sehr formalistische und reduzierende Darstellung. Und sieht unglaublich stylish aus.. Hätte ich eine Bar, das wäre das Highlight.

“Aperture” ist von Studenten der UdK Berlin, Klasse Digitale Mediengestaltung . Einer von ihnen ist jetzt in Barcelona und bringt die hiesige Medienkunst in Bewegung. Zwei weitere schöne Projekte sind die “Sonderzüge” und “Parasite”. Projektionen in Verbindung mit sich bewegenden Zügen. Städtenamen tauchen auf unter einer Brück hindurchfahrenden Zügfen auf, im U-Bahntunnel wähnen sich die Passagiere auf einmal unter Wasser. Werbeform der Zukunft? Dieses Projekt ist ein guter Grund, mal über Pro und Contra nachzudenken..

Sie machen viel mit Kunst, Kultur und Design und immer wieder gibt es schöne Ausstellungen im Cc:Room, ihrer Galerie. So haben sie auch ihr Blog genannt, das in Zukunft als Präsentationsplattform für Projekte und Ausstellungen dienen soll und die Webseite Circleculture.com komplettiert. Lange hat es gedauert, aber nun genügt es den hohen Ansprüchen der Geschäftsführer.

Inzwischen sind sie eine feste Größe im Berliner Lifestyle, in die Clubs kommen sie umsonst, weil sie einfach jeden kennen. Wer in Berlin-Mitte Fuß fassen will und schnell Zugang zur kreativen Szene sucht, kommt an ihnen nicht vorbei, Schlagworte wie “Below-the-line-Maßnahmen” und “Spitze Zielgruppen” füllen sie mit Leben.
Ich habe ihnen ein kleines Wordpress-Blog angepasst, war stressig (die Jungs wollen eben viel und das schnell und günstig) aber hat Spaß gemacht, jetzt müssen sie nur noch anfangen zu bloggen. Viel Spaß und Erfolg, Johann, Staudi, Nici, Julia und alle anderen!

Benny Sings is something in between Jamiroquai and D’Angelo, I enjoyed a soulful concert that put the audience in a dancing mood. I love Benny Sings and now I am the proud owner of a 12″ signed by all members (except the keyboarder Andy, where were you?!).
Enjoy a video, I am sorry, mobile phone quality, next time I’ll bring a better camera.
More pictures

Playlist
Imagine this on a boat, in the morning, in the sun..

1.vernon&dacosta -under my skin
2.james duncan -peoples are peoples
3.luna city express -white russian
4.laid -punchup
5.alexander east -aqualung 2 come
6.trevor loveys and jesse rose -played out ep
7.earth people -reach up to mars
8.claude vonstroke -deep throat
9.phage & daniel dreier -slipping mask
10.tokyo black star -psyche dance ep dixon edit

Dates
sternradio berlin-mittwoch den 10.08.05
my bar house lab
eintritt frei
dj’s Patrique
Rydell
Deyster
www.sternradio-berlin.de

SonneMondSterne saalburg thüringen bleilochtalsperre
12.13.14 august
Patrique 13.08.05 freshboat playtime steht noch nicht genau fest,zwischen
11.00uhr-14.00uhr

Check his website and listen to his mixes! I like especially the Sweatshop Remix in its urban and modern funkyness!

.. are a band from Amsterdam and very good. The play live Nujazz ala 4Hero and Jazzanova. The drummer is an old and very good friend of mine. I built a little site for them you should check out. http://outernationals.stylewalker.net

If you want to join, please go to www.rote-wahlmannschaft.de and become a member! We will send you exclusive information and lots of possibilities to get active for politics (We care about your privacy).

First thing you can do to help: Take one of these banners(click “more” to view all) and link us from your webpage!

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Take fashion, photo, music, Italy and Germany (especially the fashionable Berlin) and you have a very stylish mix. More info here: www.berliscana05.com. (A hint: Click on the language to enter the page)

And: I will be playing music there!

I was invited to a friends place with access to a rooftop. It was great, brilliant view, an interesting game and a barbecue. Nice evening, really.

Please enjoy: The Shang Hai Weblog.

In the photos you see them testing a model in a wave tunnel. Taken at the technical university Berlin, faculty of hydraulic engineering.

Is this upsode down or downside up?

Last changes before water

It is actually swimming!

I think I can see where the DJ is going to be..

With a little fantasy you can actually imagine all the casinos and little people dancing across the aisle of the island, right?!

Second Movie “Wir waren niemals hier”/”We were never here” is about the rockband “Mutter”, who are surprisingly unsuccesful, since they never obeyed any rule of business. It´s a funny and interesting movie about punk music, artistic expression and unusual ideas.
Find lots of free “Mutter”-music on their homepage Muttermusik.

I certainly enjoyed the glamorous atmosphere around the festival. In contrast to the typical DJ environment, a dark and dirty club, you walk on red carpets. Nice.

If there´s just two things I can say about her: She is absolutely dedicated to whatever she is doing. If she´ll be your Spanish-teacher it will be her personal concern to make you speak and understand. And she is one of the persons with the most outstanding feeling for language I know.
Moreover, she is my Spanish-teacher. And I won´t hesitate to be her first testimonial. She is perfect!