Unscene Berlin

Winter is the season when Berlin gets that famous post-apocalyptic look to it:   the streets are empty, the wrecked buildings that people used to work in loom visibly over the more discreet, tidy ones they now live in; everywhere you look, the city's mottled grey shell is exposed by bare branches.   In the streets, nothing seems to move except a few furtive pedestrians, camouflaged in dark clothes that blend in with the post-industrial grime.   The crows and sparrows are silent, saving their energy to keep warm; the pigeons sip spilled beer and peck fallen drugs outside of clubs to blot out their existential despair.   Even the trains seem to have a touch of winter blues as they sluggishly creak their way between stations.  It's a bit bleak, if you get my drift. These weather conditions are perfect for checking out an exhibition like X Lab’s solo show of Ken Plotbot's work , this Saturday the 26th.  The show's “ dark nuclear graphic and post industrial atmosphere”

Above picture by Katie Brook When I told my Berlin friends and colleagues that I was going to London for New Year’s, many of them stared at me like I was mad. “My Gott...  why ? It’s so expensive there!” said one. "The last time I went to London, it was about 25 pounds to get in to one club!” said another. Other comments I got were: “London parties there are great... but they always finish too early.” “You cannot drink in London. One Prosecco and you’re broke!” “And the men in the clubs there are slimy. They just don’t leave you alone.” I said the same thing to them all: "I'll be fine... I know places that aren't like that." I mean, who needs clubs when you have the squat party scene? Exhibit A: North London.  January 1st.  12:30 a.m.   My friend Al and I are sitting on a bus, headed to a gabba/breakcore/drum n’ bass party in an abandoned church in North London. Not a rented, renovated or otherwise gentrified old church, just an