Unscene Berlin

A few years ago, I did a post about the weird party names in Berlin. Things have obviously come full circle because now, I'm noticing names again but this time, it's business names. Today, I saw this place in Friedrichshain called "Sound & Cocktails". Like, how much more non-committal can you get? The only thing you know for sure about that place is that you'll have cocktails in a space that isn't a sonic vacuum.  Later, on my way home, I tried to list some even more non-committal names that these people could use for their next location: Sonic Frequencies And Fun Appliances And Atmosphere Dinner And Dimensional Space Liquids And Luminescence -  (because if you specify 'light', people might get their hopes up for nothing) Vibes & Vertebrates -  (because if you specify 'people', people might get their hopes up for nothing) Or, my personal favourite: Molecular Structures And Motion I can i...

"Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide." I just found out that I am going to be working at the Garbicz festival this year. This is good news! I've heard a fair few people around town whinging that it's too expensive / fancy / hippy / slow mo [delete as appropriate] but I found it to be a very experiential and grown up Bacchanal. By which I mean, it focusses whatever it's good at into a high intensity beam that illuminates a very personal, but alluring vision of what openair raving could be.  It's at a really lovely location on an ancient Polish river, with azure waters that look like something from Neolithic times... or a backdrop for a Neolithic fashion shoot, if you will. There are some very decked out modern primitives in this wilderness, as my dusty photos from last year suggest.  The place has a brilliant energy that feels right for working magic of whatever kind: dancing, delirious, holistic chaos magick, but without sacri...

Berlin's authorities expect the public to be mere bystanders in the refugee crisis. "We stand for [support in the civil community] and I think that is why the whole raid happened that night." - Nele, a party organiser at Mensch Meier club.   It's nearing dusk on an unseasonably warm, late March day. The sun is slowly setting over the Neptune Fountain by the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz. A number of trucks, pumping out all different shades of dance music - jungle, house, techno, punk - are pulling up at a courtyard behind Alexanderplatz. Many of them are already switching off their sound systems after a long haul through the streets of Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg and Mitte. Several of the trucks, and their fanatically dancing supporters, are already preparing to leave. One of the mobile sound systems is still going strong, pumping with hard house and trance. The Sea Watch van is being run in cooperation with Mensch Meier, a left-wing club based in East Ber...