Young Turks

A Little Bit of Night Music in Berlin04 August 2008by Caius Pawson

I spent the weekend just gone in Berlin. Weekends there are an electronic music fans dirty dream. DJs play from Thursday night through to Monday afternoon, without respite, in clubs, bars, abandoned buildings, parks, houses and anywhere else they can fit a sound system. Berlin houses some of the worlds greatest record stores which, open all week, are complemented by the cities many flea markets, full to the brim with untapped treasures.

(Bar 25)

One of the main reasons I went out to Berlin was to see Riton and JG Wilkes from Optimo DJ at Broken Hearts Club, a monthly night of rotating music policy and venue that provides a constant stream of high quality guest djs and eclecticism. This month the club was held at Bar 25, a pretty special spot, set in the secluded riverside of Friedrichshain. The venue is made up of 3 wooden shack-like bars, an outdoor cinema/circus and an excellent restaurant. With the nights psychedelic dress code and the surroundings somewhat resembling a Germanic Neverland, the music policy of Krautrock, Cosmic Rock/Soul/Disco was the perfect soundtrack to a rather hot night.

(JG Wilkes from Optimo and Riton aka Eine Kleine Nachtmusik with Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – the movie, being screened behind)

As ever, JG Wilkes played a wonderfully diverse set, but it was all round great guy Henry Smithson who provided the highlight of the night for me. As you might have read, Henry has just made a superb tribute to 1970’s Krautrock with his new album/project Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and his set much reflected this. The 10 minute movie he made with Phantom for the album, (CHECK IT OUT NOW HERE) was continuously projected onto a screen behind the decks whilst he played a set made up of anything German and from the 1970’s (apart from a few choice cuts from his own album.) He kept a slow chugging groove throughout, that peaked (much to the crowds delight) in both tempo and selection quality, with Neu’s classic Hallo Gallo.

A great guide to the inspirations behind Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and the sound of the DJ set is this excellent new mixtape. Get it here:

Eine Kleine Tonite Music chosen, edited and mixed by Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Track Listing:

Eroc – Zimperlein
Edgar Froese – Pinnacles
Intence – Jump on Velvet Paws
Kraftwerk – Boing Boom Tschak
Kraftwerk – Neonlicht
Tone Band – This is Germany Calling
Toy Planet – Two Dophins go Dancing
Faust – Its a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl
Guru Guru – Globetrotter
Conrad Schnitzler- Das Tier
Peter Bauman – The Third State
Cluster – Caramel
Cluster – Grosses Vasses
Holger Czukay – On the Way to the Peak of Normal
Die Grüne Reise – Ich Bin
Baffo Banfi – Indian
Rheingold- Dreiklangsdimensionen
Canaxis 5 – Boat Woman Song
Amon Düül –
Uberfällig – Puls
Neu! – Hallo Gallo
Eloy – Impressions
Holger Czukay – Persian Love
Tangerine Dream – Love on a Real Train
Segius Golowin – Die Weibe Aim

(Tic at Picknick, Mitte)

Another nightlife highlight of our trip was Mitte’s half legal Picknick. During the summer Picknick is held in two connected courtyards that split the musical responsibility between italo-disco/disco/80’s electro in one area and techno/house in the other. Both sets of DJs were great but even though I was assured that this was the ‘fun, laid-back place to go’ I still didn’t see one Berliner smile all night. I can’t find any addresses, maps, or websites for the party as I fear it’s not strictly legal, but it takes place every Saturday and can be found by asking any local record shop/bar/scenester about it. One word of warning: watch out for the door guy, he’s a moody stuck up so-and-so. Be nice to him with the aim of getting in and then forget he ever existed.

Just as the sun came up, the DJ played Detroit Techno legend, Kevin Saunderson’s ‘Heavenly’ (1997). A great moment/track.

Keving Saunderson – Heavenly

(I’ve also uploaded Juan Atkin’s brilliant mix of Kevin Saunderson’s Heavenly for you to download if you please.)

Not quite having the same stamina as the locals I did actually sleep a bit and was even active in daylight hours. This led me to stumbling across what is now one of my favourite record stores:

(Audio-In, Friedrichshain)

Audio-In (Libauerstraße 19, Friedrichshain, Berlin) is one of those small record stores that only has a few sections, but for every 10 records: you want 9. The staff are hugely knowledgeable music lovers and are desperate to help/recommend/educate/debate about pretty much any genre in there (specialties include: Techno, Italo Disco, House, Synth Rock and Electro). If you buy enough vinyl/spend enough time, they might just give you the odd free record.

One of the jewels amongst the records I bought was this 1979 classic by The Warlord:

The Immortals – The Ultimate Warlord (1979 Version)
(Check the 1981 Version’s cover. I inexplicably bought both)

(Credit has to go to the guy who spent all that time sourcing and editing the footage for that homage to The Ultimate Warlord.

Here are two records I heard in London’s excellent Disco Bloodbath, failed to find in London but found in brilliant condition at Audio-In:

Shelia B. Devotion – Spacer

(On further listens, Spacer sounds like the certain inspiration for my all time favourite Cutters Crew song Died in Your Arms.)

Voyage – I Love You Dancer
(To see the back cover click here)

I may as well admit that this has descended into my mini guide to Berlin, so, finally, if you spend enough time in Audio-In and build up a good appetite, you can head across the road to the great Italian place. Calzone comes highly recommended:

(Tic and the Calzonesaurus)

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