By Mike T West
This Saturday Kreuzberg will be host to the nostalgic ones and zeroes of French nu-disco wunderkinder, College, or David Grellier as his Mum calls him.
Founder of the "retro-futurist" record label Valerie, College is...read more
Tomorrow night, singer-songwriter Hanni El Khatib is performing his fusion of garage rock, blues and doo-wap at Berlin's Bassy Club. We sent Anastasia Lévy to find out about what the multi-instrumentalist and ex-skateboarder calls...read more
Tomorrow night, OneBeat's experimental sessions goes into its second round, as beatmaker KYSON squares up against visual artist RTZ23. Expect a concert-length audiovisual experience as Kyson's atmospheric downtempo beats blend with RTZ23's animated...read more
By Mike T West.
It is not hard to see why Skindred are popular with the Germans. However, it is clearly hard for them to understand frontman/legend Benji Webbe’s onstage banter. He is, after all, Welsh.
What language the audience does...read more
By Mike T West.
Battles return for the last time for a very long time so while they might be winding down after a hectic year supporting their utterly fantastic second album, Gloss Drop, here are 10 bloody good reasons why you should see them...read more
By Mike T West.
The Death Set (TheDeathSet, Death Set or The DeathSeat or however you spell their name) are back in Deutschland!! YAY!
Rejoice as these TransAltlantic art-rockers cannot clearly get enough of Germany. Visiting earlier...read more
Too much man-ass.
That's my only criticism of the artful new video from "queen of electronic soul" Billie Ray Martin. High concept, high drama, with washed-out colours and abstract cinematography, "Anatomy Of A Plastic Girl"...read more
Saxophone solos, extended fiddle intros, two drumsets and a handful of extra percussionists besides - Bon Iver are unafraid of the overblown. Which is good, because it takes a lot to fill - and even more to move - this cattle-shed of a venue....read more
Admittedly nicht so neue noise, as this has been gathering dust in my inbox for months now. Still, this is warming our cockles despite the oncoming winter bitterness.
The 8 Bit Balkan EP does exactly what it says on the tin, delivering a...read more
As a DJ with limited upper-body strength, I've long favoured digital over vinyl. However, the more the record industry looks to vinyl as a way of offering something valuable and collectible to music fans, and the more I come across stores like...read more
We Berliners are so spoilt for techno. Usually my response to yet another world-class 4/4 pounder is a big fat yawn, but this is something special. I give you Barker & Baumbecker's remix of S.C.U.M's "Whitechapel". Imagine...read more
By Mike T West.
BEWARE! The hour of the beast is nearly upon us and all the greepy ghoulish ghouls want to grab your goolies.
So what better way to ward off Samhain and his eeveel minions than to join DJs Boris und Karloff as they spin...read more
By Mike T West.
The Duke Spirit are really good. For the life of me I can't work out why they’re not huge. I guess ragged, alternative rock is sooo 2005. But I doubt you’re reading this to be convinced - you already know they’re...read more
By Mike T West.
Only boring couples and children are out this early on a breezy Thursday evening. The rest of us are polishing off our 60 cent beers before checking out the tail end of tonight's hypnotising set from Eastern Conference Champions...read more
Sonnenallee in the rain by F4 editions / F4 disques
Pantech was born in a coal-heater in Kreuzberg, although some consider this side of Sonnenallee to be part of Neuköln. Two french producers emerged from the ashes and immediately...read more
Woah. Permit us a momentary freakout at the cosmic small-worldness of this ickle sphere we inhabit. Long-time Bang Bang pick My Panda Shall Fly has been added to the bill of the album launch party of another of our faves, Emika....read more
CCCP Bar is wrong in all the right ways. It looks like a Jersey Shore take on White Trash, just up the road, and the crowd is a boozy cocktail of pissed yukis and scarily-young Hanoi Rocks lookalikes, who may or may not be in fancy dress. Billy Idol...read more
BPitch Control's Dillon is an artist about whom we know refreshingly little. While the singer-songwriter isn't scared of fame, having - apparently - gained her first shows and the attention of Ellen Allien's label with her own YouTube channel, she...read more
By Kristi Genovese of Live For This.
It may have taken a while to get a settled line up, but Berlin-based The Mokkers sure sound as good as they look, playing a mix of psychobilly, garage and punk to make a fresh style. Despite having a slight...read more
SPURIOUS BERLIN LINK ALERT!
The new Spank Rock album was mixed RIGHT HERE by Boys Noize - who also produced the first single "#1 Hit". Well, co-produced with Mark Ronson, which from the results seems to have involved keeping the...read more
By Mike T West
Everyone loves/hates a side project. But who loves a side project of a side project?! Jesse Hughes does, that's who.
Whilst not making sexy music in Eagles Of Death Metal with bessie mate, Josh-ginger-alt-God-Homme, he's busy...read more
The Berlin Festival kicks off on Saturday! And PUBLIC ENEMY are playing! I'm so excited about seeing the hip hop legends again (*smugface*) that when I used the Festival's nifty running order tool to plan the bands I want to see it just...read more
Burn Berlin Burn! OK, so we hear that Emika's latest video was filmed out in darkest (coldest) Russia, but still, she's setting her adopted home's *scene* on fire. Since we last spoke to her, the expat electronic artist has been busy!...read more
By Mike T West
Current indie-pop blog darlings, Cults were here for a balmy show at Comet last week - the first time they had set foot in our fair nation's capital. Although girlfriend-boyfriend song writing team Brian and Madeline were...read more
By Mike T West
If I was in a band I would probably want to be from Austin, Texas. I could be mates with Wes Anderson and Stone Cold Steve Austin. I'd probably also front a dub, psychedelic rock, blues, punk rock, progressive rock, soul, jazz,...read more
