After a lovely trip on the Spree on Captain Jan Sputnik’s boat the team arrived to set up a small exhibition of pages of the brand new mag with the help of Uli Weber, who shot the Alexis fashion editorial for the current issue. Helping hands everywhere and then a nice dinner.

The line up was inimitable, starting the evening with some funky tunes by Johnny Hitmann. Already everybody dancing with the incredible live performance of Onyx Ashanti and to keep on rocking all night long with Sasse and the Degustibus DJ Team (Batongo, Rubini, Toondra) in their fantastic outfits.

The night was a blast, go ahead and take a look yourself.

Berlin Jammers in action next to our beloved Shehannibal.

Degustibus DJ Team & Family.

Our lovely Hoola Hoop mates.

Onyx Ashanti in the house.

DJ Toondra.

Golden Charly Boxing Beautie.

Family.

Some glam among the sport.

Warming chill out fire.

photography: Marina Rosso

BIG THANKS TO BAR 25 TEAM!

BIG THANKS TO ALL  ARTISTS!

BIG THANKS TO EVERYBODY WHO CAME ALONG!

AND OUR SEPCIAL THANKS TO BACKROOM ENTERTAINMENT!

FSM

After 20 years the amazing Roller Disco at Huxleys Neue Welt in Berlin is re-opening.
Our friends at S O U L KO M B I N A T will be rocking the 500sqm of skate/dancefloor.
Bring your old classic roller-skate and get back to the 70s for a night!

Do you remember that crazy drunk guy hanging around at the Luna Park with a kickdrum on his back playing an off-tune guitar and singing bewildered?

Looks like he’s a superstar now, and girls go crazy sitting on his bouncing knees.

Bob Log III is playing in Berlin tomorrow at Kaffee Burger.
A kinky location for a kinky artist. See you there guys.

Bob Log III

Full length documentary on Fela Anikulapo Kuti – the charismatic and talented Godfather of African music, the originator of Afrobeat, who inspired a generation of musicians and nearly started a revolution in Nigeria.

Gazelle feat. Weez – Just Now – filmed by Simon Steuri

“In this modern day satire, while the west is giving money as aid to Africa countless of corrupt African rulers return to the source to exchange the same money for luxury goods.

During Art Basel 2009 Gazelle staged a public performance art piece that commented on this situation in the hope that the wealthy of the world that visits the Art Fair had something to think about (…)”

In the middle of the stage a black framed, rectangular on end screen. On its right a machine with metallic plate. Completely on the right hand, almost on the edge of view, the artists. Before that a seated audience.
The machine is an audio-modulated Tesla coil used as an instrument. Electrical arcs are life generated by the executing artists and displayed (as deflexions) in image and sound.

The fine (noise) storytelling extended from the most organic, energizing beats accompanied by nature like drawings until the limit of the bearable, flustering fusillades of bangs, clicks and flashes. Dramaturgy was grippingly close to perfect and therewith impressive.

We first checked the installation in the main hall, looking like a space ship and made of the doors of an old bulding crafted during German Socialism in the city of Halle. Historic items find use to build a futuristic symbol (ok maybe i m a bit behind with receiving a space ship as futuristic in these days) during the limited present of the festival.

In the Auditorium we were welcomed with thoughts and words of Dr. Bernd Scherer (intendant HKW) Hortensia Völckers (artistic direction governmental culture foundation) Stephen Kovats, artistic director transmediale and Prof. Dr. Herbert W. Franke (artist & author, cofounder of ARS Electronica) regards the festivals topic FUTURITY NOW. From the increasing demand of Utopia during transitional times, over the necessity of acting after perception (rewrite past future codes and win participants) until objectivity (the possibility of configuration of future) meant as an invitation to assist the planned discussions around the theme until the next days.
Afterwards we were invited outside, into the snowstorm, which was painting the city white and quiet since the early afternoon, to enjoy the concert of Charlemagne Palestine, together with the Global Rainbow Installation ”Switch On” by Yvette Mattern. The bell tower concert and the rainbow lacers drown straight horizontal into the night (from HKW to Alexander Platz) in combination with the snow made the experience especially gentle beside unique.

Later on the Exhibition Future Obscura inaugurated.  The works of various artists “explore the complex condition of futurity through the lens of image-making.”  Affectingly the piece Data.Tron of Ryoji Ikeda. A huge projection of computer data, between fainting and (as Alberto said) and wanting to jump into it to become parts as a number.
We still did not had the chance to enter into the Optofonica Capsule that promises to create an encounter wit future via moving image and sound. We surely will do during the next days, exhibition is still open until 7.2.

On Tuesday February 2nd we attended the ¨Music Similarity is not Music Recommendation¨  at the .HBC by Spanish computer scientist and engineer Pedro Cano, who gave us an overview on the newest research and technologies in the field of music recommendation.  Interesting statistics based on a number of new online music services and social interaction are the basis of his system analisis which are all destined to have a great impact in the near future on the reception and distribution of music.  A new way of reflecting the true variety and diversity of the music market introducing upcoming and even unsigned artists in the commercial markets.  The question is, will consumers take the time to investigate new fields that are not commercialized by the larger networks.

words: Alberto Barello

Luckily we arrived to the last bit of the Open Broadcast lecture in the frame of Club Transmediale at .HBC. The presentation of the Swiss software with the aim to create user generated music programs, with a background of culture and science. Invited members share their music archives (songs/records and additional information).  A conventional radio editor needs about 3,5 years to set up a music archive of 50.000 songs, with Open Broadcast an editor could do an archive of 7.000 songs in 7 hours.

The members adopt roles (depending on their knowledge and experience) such as editor, music archive, etc. and work under a schedule. To create 1 year of Open Broadcast 24/7 approximated 5.000 members have to work once per month each.

The difference to similar software is the editing part, the creation of dramaturgy, that requests a creative process, by users. As one of the fathers of the project said: “if a song is poem, a play-list is a short story.”