Unscene Berlin

There are two reasons why I haven't been blogging regularly about Berlin's party scene lately: one good, one bad.  The good reason is that I've been extremely busy plugging away at a book about the rise and fall (and rise again) of London's underground party scene.  I will be publishing that novel in E-book format this spring, with free excerpts and a special price for all Unscene Berlin readers.  Stay posted for updates! The 'bad' reason is that, to be honest, nothing much has changed in Berlin's party scene in a-g-e-s.  There are still tons of parties in Berlin every weekend, and they are still as cheap and liberal as ever, but the sound hasn't changed.  The DJ's haven't changed.  The venues and party names haven't really changed very much either.  Thrill-seeking novelty-junkies like myself are hard-pressed to find a fix in this town, these days.   I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a bit of consistency, but wh...

At the moment I'm working on a book so I probably won't have much time for entries over the coming weeks but a glance at the party calendar indicates that August is already brimming with parties. With the amount of people in town for the city's peak tourism month, even the alternative events I've listed are guaranteed to be splashy. .. So, there is no need to settle for run of the mill 'techno' parties that all sound the same; plenty of other subcultures within the electronic genre - psytrance, gabber, hard industrial techno and flower-power free parties - are present and accounted for this month. Saturday August 4th T t here will be a free openair at 'the Devil's Hill' from 12 p.m. Despite the scary name, it will probably be a fluffy (glittery and neon-y, too) party. The site itself is also an icon for urban explorers so you can kill two strange birds with one stone by going there. There is also a BGE parade on the 4th which, as far as I u...

At this time of year, when the solar cycle gets to its darkest point, I empathize deeply with the angst that our ancient ancestors felt about the winter solstice. They saw midwinter as a time when the sun almost died. As darkness edged up on both sides of the day, they thought the light might disappear for good and frantically paid homage to their goddesses and gods in the hopes of bringing it back. When the days finally stopped getting shorter, a frenzy of celebration ensued - hence the traditions of Silvester, New Year, Hogmanay, et al. Logically, I may understand that the 'death of the sun' is caused by the Earth tilting on its axis; I may also understand that the solar system is still functioning and the summer will return, but I still feel my ancestors' creeping dread as the days get shorter. Clearly there is some deeper, primal consciousness inside me that can't be reasoned with. This embedded instinct only seems to recognize the fact that the light is missing...