Our friend Blackmoonchild was DJ’ing this afternoon easy breezy affair. Biked over with Chinendum, enjoying the wind and sun. We got there and ran into Blackmoonchild herself looking for the entrance. Made sense we were all together because she sent a dropped pin. She tried calling the number she had for the place. I didn’t hear thumping bass so I figured we weren’t exactly close (real heads know that’s how you find a “secret party”).
After a little to-do we found the route down a long twisty path through the skate park, past the shipping containers. Inside an open air dance party space that reminded me of some of the parties in Kingston perhaps.
Blackmoonchild jumped into it with detroit with techno, Detroit house and even a bit of footwork thrown in. Some highlights include a rework of Art of Noise - Moments of Love and a couple tracks I didn’t know from DJ Assault that were unmistakably his.
I have to say, I danced the full 2 hour set top to bottom and then some, and not just because she was a friend. The crowd was up and down, looked good, having food, enjoying the weather, sipping and dancing, ambling around, and lounging. Perfect sunday afternoon ‘brunch’ dancing vibe.
“This is what berlin was like 20 years ago.” This was a packed place, some kind of Berlin cohousing association that had recently taken over the space and would be modernising it.
It was a kind of celebratory party, with attendees from all of the other cohousing spaces. There was a silly passphrase to get in, in English, that I didn’t take seriously, but then there was a large group of people that couldn’t get in because they didn’t know the password. Legit.
I was confused because everyone looked, hmmm, don’t know how to describe it… I had been told most of the people were artists but they didn’t dress like artists from the US, which of course makes sense, and so I couldn’t quite place things at first. There was a disconnect (only in my head, not for anyone else) between the dingy, graffiti-covered walls everywhere, makeshift bathrooms in landings, worndown century old building - and the dress of the people. Maybe to state the obvious: no one wears jeans or t-shirts. All wear dresses, skirts, trousers, button down shirts. Nothing wrong with that, but fairly different from what I see back home, and definitely different than the club scene here I’m used to.
Let’s talk about the music and the hang. The genres listed were the usual suspects: electro, techno, house, eclectic, disco, and mutant pop. Actually, I didn’t get to hear mutant pop I don’t think, and I’m not sure what that would mean (Negativland? Evolution Control Committee? Danger Mouse? Neil Cicierega? Bootie? Girl Talk? Are you impressed?). Inside were different rooms with DJs, mostly house. I wanted to find but couldn’t find the techno. There were also bar rooms. Out back another bar, a fire people were sitting around, and then a couple hundred people sitting anyplace they could. Inside the place was pretty packed as well. The house DJ was not bad, and despite being fairly tired, I made a best effort at dancing for an hour or so before taking a break to sit by the fire outside and later heading out.
If you don’t know floating try to picture the ewok village. With half a dozen bamboo and “eco-village” x hippie burner buildings are constructed semi-permanently, connected via a series of piers and walkways suspended just above a gross miasma pond of runoff from Tempelhofer airport / field.
You enter on a back road at the park. The path looks confusing, why are all these cars parked everywhere? There are like 1970s veedubs and caravans (“do people live in these?”) parked all around. I saw some lady looking confused and so I asked her if she was looking for Floating. Yes she was. Visiting from Estonia. Ok. So I led her and Xiapei with me up the path til we got to the 3 story staircase/jungle lookout over the expanse of the mires of Floating U.
The name and description of the event made it sound archaic and spacey and it lived up to its name, but in a good way. In the afternoon was a workshop where people built all kinds of radio antennas to transmit and receive from. At least that’s my understanding. The workshop sounded cool but I didn’t want to be at this thing all day from 2pm to 11pm so figured I’d check out the performances. We arrived a couple minutes into the first set. It was nice, packed, but hard to hear standing so far back. For the second set I grabbed some wine and sat down next to Stefan Hainbach the synthfluencer. I introduced myself to him and his partner and we hit it off. They were really nice, and super knowledgeable. We talked for a while and exchanged contact info. Will invite them to open studios next month.
Haven’t mentioned the music. I think I missed Kris Kuldkepp’s performance. They used the constructed antennae from the workshops made during the day I believe. The performer Wouter Jaspers (founder of Koma Elektronik) basically was tuning into all these transmissions scattered around the Floating University Property. There were dipoles, monopoles, and many others I don’t know the name with eccentric antenna patterns (didn’t see a Yagi). The sounds of the animals (birds, frogs, crickets) blended with the radiophonics making a warm, pleasing semi-alien planet soundscape. So lovely. I actually almost fell asleep I was so relaxed. It went on a for a long while. and at the end, peace. Hainbach was pleased. (Can you spot him in the photo?)
This was a trip. Doors opened at 11 and we made it there a bit later. Trouble getting in, their machines with ticket info were down but eventually okay. Organized by AN(8)X which represents and supports subcultural groups within the Asian diasporic and LGBTQ communities in Berlin.
Held in a warehouse ruins converted to decadent spa-club. For the music think techno, gabber, nightcore, brazilian funk, rap. Emphasis on the hardstyles. Almost all women DJs and a dance floor that reflected the music. Total goth-town. They even played the classic goth rave footage projected while everyone danced. There were two rooms, pretty loud. Outside was a huge outdoor with cabanas and such. There was also homemade chinese vegan food, which was really tasty. We went dancing for a couple hours, then swam in the pool with the giant floaties. It was freezing at first but soon we got used to it. When we came out, I didn’t feel like paying 5 euro for a towel so used another item of clothing to dry off and went back into the dance floor.
This was when the real brainmelting beats started. DJ Sarah Bonito played an extreme but pleasurable 2 hour set of hard style music, particularly gabber, with lots of interludes, breakdowns, etc. Somehow she kept the energy up for 2 hours. The crowd was so fired up, lots of jumping, hands, screaming. Forgot to mention the hands hanging down in the passageway to the second room.
Only other thing they could have added is an outdoor pool-side ambient DJ but it’s okay. Our friends left but we kept dancing a bit longer before we were ready to go. Made it home right around sunrise, satisfied.
TBH arrived very late with Stepan, he bookin’ it on scooter and me on the bike. Before I was in another event at Z and he had arrived and was looking for something to do. Both of us like party concerts, especially free ones, so we were ready to move even tho we’d get there late. Each place, nation, space, zone has their own formal and informal rules and our travel was somewhat between the de facto and de jure, so we made good time and arrived at the second to last performer.
Found our friends easy enough and became part of front left crew. Scene was a crowd but def not elbow to elbow like at the Hamburger Banhof Stingray and Ellen Allien. It was fairly dark as we arrived and Berlin crowd was in their 3am outfits. NGL i liked it better than HB. And we could actually hang. Evita Manji did some dark Crystal Castles-esque (showing my age here) singing overtop broken plastic sounds from the laptop. I particularly dug the hyperpop ballad of a couple tracks with sparkly glitchy voice but i didn’t mind the depressing sadxgirl stuff either.
There’s a red light glowing outside, not that kind. Ambience. It’s the liminal space kind. Me and another dude approach the area carrying instrument cases. We size each other up. He’s got 5 years on me easy, maybe 10 years, but his face is friendly. Anyway we’re all older than small children, who should not be out right now carrying synthesizers to a… a what? a jam band thing? “It’s my first time.” Despite looking like the “right” place and Google maps agreeing, it’s unclear to me how to get in. It’s all sealed up. “Two minutes” says the other guy. Oh, we’re two minutes early.”
Which is the door? Two minutes later a portal opens, more like a vault door swinging out. I’m hungry and should have gotten kebab already (I don’t and stay famished til I leave 3+? hours later).
Inside a few people are clustered around a table. How’d they get in? It’s amateur night in that our names aren’t on the bill but we don’t say that and I go to the table to unpack. I think Jayrope told me to show up on time so there’d be table space left. Ah, they plug me in. More people showing up. They ask my name and see that I am running stereo so label two spaces Lee Mod for modular. More people arrive by the minute. It’s true. They come on time. 15 men! A woman is also participating too. She doesn’t set up on the table with us. Is this her way of staying apart, or does she feel pushed away? Oh, she’s doing video synthesis. Another two people show up with Vidiots stuff too and the three of them are sequestered away from all of us making the noise.
Someone asks if I take midi. I don’t. Do I want a pulse? It would be rude to say no. I tell them I mostly make ambient music, washes, pads. But I take the cord and plug it into a mult. I ignore it for a couple minutes and just drone with the Plinky
The pulse increases, there are a dozen of us making noise, a quarter on modular, half on drum machines and the like, and another quarter on other hardware like pedals and boxes. It’s working. We are beating and breathing as a hive. For the next 3 hours we slacken and pulse and fly and slow and throb and dub. We break beats.
The guy two to my left mutters something at me. He doesn’t like my English. He starts smoking and ignores me. I have a compressor that no one else has and can dominate if I need to. but I am a good boy and play along. We have spectators! That’s nice. An audience is very into it. Dancing breaks out. I take some breaks to move around the space and just listen. At some point I grow weary. I am hangry and need kebab. I pack up, say goodbye to new friends, nod and tschuss everyone. “See you next time!”
I show up about 20 minutes after start and the tiny shop is packed with people. Believe me there are seats for 15 and maybe another 10 of us standing or sitting on the floor somehow. I have my arms wrapped around my knees to compress myself. First acts are warm and inviting. Guitar, peaceful, soaring, naked sound at first. Then a duo of beautiful improv, highlight is the bowed electric bass. A talk on building an electric guitar from scratch. I didn’t fully follow it but accepted it was happening. Everyone had a short set, so be it.
The headliners were Silver Galaxy, consisting of Anna-Maria Van Reusel on synth and Dennis Slypen on guitar and pedals. They were absolutely incredible - my ears in pure pleasure, even more than if my mouth was eating ice cream or my favorite pizza. That’s very happy. One of the best performances I’ve heard in years. Both are virtuosic musicians. Totally “in the pocket.” OMG, I had to play after them. Thank goodness there was a break first. I played a short set, which received a good response, and afterwards I enjoyed talking with folks about the music. Thanks to Pedalmarkt for putting together such a cool event and to Anna-Maria and Dennis for giving me a ride home with my synth. We live two blocks from each other!