Unscene Berlin

What would you say if somebody told you that you had to like the same music as everybody else? Or wear the same clothes, or sleep with the same kind of people? You would think they were a mad throwback to the Quaker era, wouldn't you? Especially here in Berlin. In Berlin there is a dazzling variety of individual tastes on display at all times: in music, art, fashion, film, friends, lovers... you name it. And there seems to be a tacit agreement that all variations in taste are accepted automatically, especially around Christopher Street Day. And yet it seems that this same capacity for variety and individual taste is not applied to what goes on inside of people's heads. Expressing my political opinions to other people has led to me being labelled fanciful, confrontational, novel - basically, anything but normal. It seems that mainstream Berlin is not that different from the rest of the Western world on the inside. It can look however it wants and consume whatever it wants but...

The rain  pandemic god has blessed Berlin with a deluge  novel coronavirus this weekend  decade, but the crappy weather  lockdown situation does have its upside: it gives party animals like me an excuse to stay home and catch up on missing sleep, and relax with a good book. Or a movie. Or twelve! In this post, I've listed 12 films which will bring a little slice of club or party lifestyle straight into your living room... for better or for worse! I've listed them in order of preference. So, get your furry antelope slippers on and join me on the sofa for a virtual dance-athon. The party vibe doesn't have to evaporate just because your desire  legal right to go outside has!* 1. It's All Gone Pete Tong - 2004 The only reason this is number one instead of Trainspotting is that it is entirely about club culture, whereas Trainspotting merely crosses paths with it. It’s All Gone Pete Tong is hilarious, surreal and it satirizes Ibiza's club scene with lethal...

Much as I love the heat, it is Kryptonite to my chilly Northern blood. Since the beginning of this endless heatwave that we call 'summer', the nearest thing I've had to real sleep has been brief, feverish spells of near consciousness between 23.00 (when the last grey light disappears from the sky) and dawn. My salvation during this sleep-deprived period has been the abundance of outdoor parties available down Rummelsberg way. The reason why I have not been recording them is due to a simple refusal to sit inside, typing entries when I could be sitting - or dancing - on the Spree. Plus, my heat-exhausted brain just hasn't been up to the exertion of creating and editing sentences. Anyway, enough excuses. Please read on for a sample of what I have been getting up to over the past two weeks! Right: 'Avin it corporate style at Astra Kulturhaus, May 28. After searching aimlessly for an open-air on Saturday May 27th, a friend and I were somehow teleported into the...