Thursday, September 28, 2006

Imagine That It's Eleventh Grade, But Nothing's Cool At All

000_0966

Thanks JAPANTHER. I think i have a crush on you.
They played last night at WestGermany, with THE GOOD GOOD openin' up for them.
The awesome Japanther banner was hanging behind the stage. Big and black with the silver letters. It's very impressive. The almighty gallons of sweat, the pink and yellow telephone receiver-mics, the bart simpson t shirt, the nasty stage dive, also very impressive.

000_0969

The Good Good were amazing and great. Their lead singer lady said, "it's really cool to see all these rad ladies up in the front." She sings and plays her keyboard, guitar and siren with the fervour of a child at play. A sample they used in one of their songs was a recorded conversation she had with her father from when she was 5. The band have this frenetic energy, lead by their insanely fast drummer. Shouting, clapping, drumming, bleeps and bloops coming from a siren thingy with buttons. THIS BAND IS SO CLASS. I loved their ghetto equipment:

Check out this high-hat. It looks like it got attacked by a dinosaur.
000_0960

The floor tom kept falling over. the lead singer of Japanther was on hand to hop over fix it. he was up the front rocking out for the whole thing.

And the drum machine thing. Held together with those elastic-y bike things with hooks at the end. Aw!
000_0962

Twas a great night in Dr Pong on Tuesday.

Were you there?
Thanks for comin'.
There was alot of people. It got really hot. And i was a bit nervous.

It looks like i'll be djing at the inaugural opening of the Curators Without Borders gallery this Saturday night, Brunnen Str. 5. It starts at 6 and i'm djing from 7 til 11 (if it doesn't get shut down). It's not confirmed but maybe im djing at the party afterwards...somewhere..

LOTS of live Sonic Youth mp3s HERE.

Monday, September 25, 2006

i know that you feel

i met kate boss tonight in monster ronson's. it was magnificent. he is from sao paulo and while i was talking to him he played the klaxons, cansei de ser sexy and the presets.

SWOON.

i like to play all them songs too.
so come along.

tomorrow (tonight - tuesday) night from 11 - Almost Tropical @ Dr. Pong, Eberswalder Str 21.

lovelovelove.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Are You the Juan?

I got home on Friday night from a week spent on tour with Planningtorock.

Planningtorock is opening for Peaches during her European jaunt this September/October.

Planningtorock is also opening for the Knife on their selection of European dates and also IN AMERICA!

Shows, shows, shows, road trips, too much whiskey. backstage, hotel bar, tour bus..when i get around to figuring out how to explain it, i will.

Check it out.

Anyways, on Friday night, after an 8 hour car trip from Munich totally squashed into a Renault with 4 complete strangers, the only thing i wanted to do was get on my bike and cycle to Rio to catch the Presets playing a show as part of the Gigolo records night.

By some nice good luck, i bumped into Peaches boyfriend at the door and he waved me in. He had accompanied his lovely girlfriend earlier that week for some of her "business trip". It was really nice of him to do that. Yay.

Rio was teaming. I gulped down a leitungswasser after my speedy bike ride and stood around. I might have looked a bit odd. My friends couldnt make it at the last minute and there was some baaaad music on that everyone was dancing to. I didn't reall care though, I just wanted to see the band!

Which was good because they came onstage pretty soon. The Presetsin all their glory ARE REALLY REALLY GREAT AND THEY DO THIS ELECTRO/LIVE PERFORMANCE THING THAT
DRIVES
ME
CRAZY

and every one else too.

Drums that will knock your socks off and dance-antics that will make you giddy like when you had too much ice-cream in your coke that one time at your best friend's 9th birthday party in 1991. REMEMBER THOSE GOOD TIMES?!

All to be repeated THIS FRIDAY in bleughMAGNETbleugh where im sure nowt of the atmosphere, but as much, if not more of the sweat will be present. I'm gettin' up the front. I don't want to miss the chance to witness Kim's fancy A$$ drumming one more time.

During the show they morphed one of their songs into a Daft Punk tune from Homework. It was genius. And they finished us off with "I Go Hard I Go Home"

I'm reposting this video BECAUSE I HAVE TO.

Friday, September 15, 2006

POWERS


At 8MM Bar you may have seen a notice that hangs precariously behind the counter; hastily scribbled and attached in a rather desultory fashion to a shelf bearing the weight of alcohol.

Powers 7” 6euros, the notice says.

This is the first ever release from Powers, featuring two startling songs, “Butchers Arms” and “Battery”, which mingle their dark and atmospheric charms in an enchanting blend of eerie vocals, noisy guitar and some seriously demented drumming.

They remind me of My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and sometimes the Pixies.
Behold the power of Powers! They make a lot of noise for a threepiece. A band of three: drums, guitar and moog - the small size belies their big sound. Though based in beautiful Berlin the three members of the band came from England, Ireland and America. They all arrived in the city around the same time and got together to form Powers nearly a year ago. Joe used to be play drums for Add N to X, Paul is also a member of Boy$ and Jessica has been on tour lately playing moog for IAMX.

(ok, how class is that? the still from the video which is displayed until you press "play" is Jessica! It's actually my favourite shot aswell. Deadly.)



Elsewhere in Berlin, the record can also be bought at:

Freak Out
Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free
Downtown Records
Leila M
Dense,
Drehmoment
8MM BAR


In Hamburg, the record can be found in:
Zardoz
Rekord
Michelle
Burnout


the beautiful cover art was designed by Paul and his girlfriend. The band is currently working on recording new material and putting together a tour. So watch out!

Be their friend

Monday, September 11, 2006

White Trash Fast Food

Hello. I just wanted to pop in here and say I highly recommend to all of you a Sunday evening spent in White Trash Fast Food; it is surely a delightful thing.

See, on Sundays it gets real fancy at WTFF. From the glamourous broad who greets you at the door to the yummy candlelit dining and the burlesque dancer who fans her feathers at you at end of the night, fancy and fun are two really good words to describe the experience. I mean, it's still White Trash. Your maitre'd may be poised elegantly in a pin stripe suit, sipping from a glass of red wine - but check out his tats, yo. It's certainly bustling and the dj will keep you jiving in your seat as you await your Marquis de Fuck burger.

Apart from the restaurant there's a venue downstairs in a sort of cave. Bands who have played there recently include the Things, Two Gallants and Liars. And it's not just Sundays when its gonna be a good time:

**Swedish heart-melters Lampshade are playing there on October 23. Listen to "New Legs".

**And Italian dancefloor punks Hot Gossip are playing 18 Oct. Listen to "Haarp" (even though it's just a clip. It's a very tantalising clip..

I think you should go.


WTFF DOT COM

Yum.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

AND WE LOVE IT!

WOAH!!!

Peaches came to town and put on a very good show. There was a giant inflatable penis, there was J.D Samson in a shiny silver get-up, swinging her keytar with a groove that made Peaches want to hump her leg alot, there was Peaches on a bike and Peaches stage-diving and there were two roadies, whose job specification seemed only to be to undress her as the show went on.

It wasn't really the theatrics of the show that really impressed me though. I'm not that familiar with previous fruits born from the Peaches tree, apart from the obvious ones...but anyway, I really like her new album. It is really good! Josh Homme and Beth Ditto are on there. YO. Her voice is gorgeous and she plays the guitar like a rock goddess. With a full band backing her up there's an almighty kick to the album and the live show is like a glam rock opera extravaganza. She finished up with that one, "Fuck the Pain Away". My favourites from the night were new one "Boys Wanna Be Her" and "Give 'Er", which Peaches definitely did.

The show attracted quite a few of the the underground Berlin musician folk. While i was working merch i saw IAMX, Robots in Disguise and one half of the Knife walking about. Swoon, thud. The after party was on in Rio. While hanging about in the dingy corridor waiting for my friend to come out of the loo I somehow rescued Peaches from the toilet she'd locked herself into. She was happy to get out...The band had Rio as a practise space for a week before this first date of the tour in Berlin. I wish i'd known..

Basically the night was quite like this video. Minus the blood! I think..Watchout it's a bit gorey.



this week was really mad and alot of stuff happened. mostly good! i dont want to say anything, i dont want to jinx it. i guess im overwhelmed and it kind of all hit me today, i didnt get up to much apart from going out for a sushi dinner and so i guess im missing out on all the fun tonight. It's the first Ca$h Money Party after the summer break, tonight in 103 Club. Dance!

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Thinking That Thought

There's an unmissable show happening in Postbahnhof tomorrow night. Peaches
+
PLANNINGTOROCK.

The Show starts at 8 pm and if you're planning to go, i would be there on time as I know for a fact that venue has an early curfew and is bound to start on time.

PLANNINGTOROCK is an amazing lady. A visual artist who escaped to Berlin and started making music, she is a classically trained violinist, and her love of strings has resulted in a special issue of "Have it All" being released: a purely string (violin, cello and double bass) + accappella version of the album. Aswell as deeply rooted love for classical music, PTR's circle of friends, which includes Mocky, Kevin Blechdom and the Knife has no doubt influenced the sounds on her album.

CHECK IT OUT:

PLANNINGTOROCK - Bolton Wanderer

PLANNINGTOROCK-Think That Thought

PLANNINGTOROCK-Have it All

Peaches will have a full band with her. That means Samantha Maloney (Hole, Motley Crue, Eagles of Death Metal), Radio Sloan (Hole) and JD Samson from Le Tigre on keytar and sequencing. JD's already been spotted in Berlin this week doing some shopping in Immaculate Heart, a great little vintage/thrift store in Mitte. (Em, on a sidenote, the owner of the shop, Meg, moonlights as hairdresser, cutting hair in 8MM bar. Make an appointment!

I'm gonna be working the merch stand tomorrow night. So come over, say hi and buy some stuff. There will be some amazing t shirts designed by Kristian Goddard and also some eccentric hoodies by Chicks on Speed designer Cathi Glas. Plus special edition white vinyl copies of "Have it All" and lots, lots more...

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

I Started Out Strong and My Hopes Were High


SIMPLE KID DOT COM.

IT'S NEW! IT'S NICE TO LOOK AT! IT'S ABSOLUTELY LOVELY!

Upcoming SIMPLE KID Shows, Swit Swoo!
Sep 16 End Of The Road Festival Dorset near Shaftesbury
Sep 27 ICA London London
Sep 29 GALWAY Roisin Dubh Galway
Sep 30 LIMERICK Dolans Warehouse Limerick
Oct 1 CORK An Cruiscin Lan Cork
Oct 4 DUBLIN The Village Dublin
Oct 5 BELFAST Spring & Airbrake Belfast
Oct 6 DERRY Nerve Centre Derry
Oct 7 DUNDALK Spirit Store Dundalk
Oct 31 BIRMINGHAM barfly BIRMINGHAM
Nov 1 GLASGOW barfly GLASGOW
Nov 2 LEEDS The Brudenell Social Club Leeds
Nov 3 LIVERPOOL barfly LIVERPOOL
Nov 4 MANCHESTER night and day MANCHESTER
Nov 5 CARDIFF barfly CARDIFF

None in Berlin, though.

Anyways, apart from Simple Kid here are some hot dates that are actually happening in Berlin this month: woah.

Hot Chip Lido 19.09.06
The Rapture Lido 20.09.06
The Black Keys Magnet 23.09.06
JAPANTHER WestGermany 27.09.06
The Presets Magnet 29.09.06

..a rapidly diminishing bank balance + no job = me = this video = yeh.

Check it out, "Staring at the Sun" by Simple Kid...From 2003. How is it that old? i dunno, it doesn't seem like it.



THE SIMPLE KID NEWS HEADLINES:

Simple Kid will be releasing 'Serotonin' & 'The Ballad
of Elton John' at the beginning of September, it will
be available as a ltd edition 7in and digital
download.

It will be the first release on Country Gentleman
Recordings and will initially be available in the UK
and Eire. The album will follow a few weeks later and
is called 'Simple Kid 2'. The album comes with a 24 page booklet. Nice.


Full track listing:

Lil' King Kong
Self-Help Book
The Twentysomething
Old Domestic Cat
Serotonin
A Song of Stone
Mommy n Daddy
Oh Heart Don't Be Bitter
You
Love's An Enigma (pt II)

Sunday, September 03, 2006

What Are You Doing Later On?

000_0927
It was really sweaty in Rio last night.You Say Party! We Say Die! were on the Saturday night bill. She sings good. They have some good songs. She's not afraid to grab silly boys by the necktie, if they so much as dare to manhandle her tambourine.

In about three weeks, the Presets will play Rio.

YES.
Though, that might be a secret.
Anyways, a week LATER they'll be playing Magnet aswell. YES YES.



Exciting.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Music is My Hot Hot Sex

000_0921

If you were out last night and were at Dr. Pong, THANKS!!! It was my first time djing there on such a busy night, so I was a bit scared...And then there were some hiccups (double booked djs + the sound was a bit dodgy) so i felt a bit anxious for a while. But then it was alright, and I'd like to say thanks because, well, noone threw their ping pong bat at me or anything. (Unless it was when i was bending over to flip through records and you missed, ha.) And there was dancing, and I got alot of smiles and one offer to be in a music video.

For future reference, from now on at Dr. Pong, every Thursday night is MOVIE NIGHT! (Last night's screening was "Adaptation".) Film should be over by 11ish and then PING PONG playoffs resume of course & there'll be guest djs.