EXBERLINER Issue 148 April 2016

PREVIEW
The great indoors
Just a few weeks before Berlin’s abundance of
open-air shenanigans lures the vampiric winter
club crowd towards sunnier pastures, showery
April is packed with indoor festivals of all
genres. The month starts with a rather mixed
affair, DENOVALI FESTIVAL’s fourth edition at
Heimathafen Neukölln. From April 1–2, Denovali
Records showcases label acts from the pop side
of the spectrum, such as Esben and the Witch,
to the obscurer industrial palette of Demdike
Stare and sombre ambient acts like Grouper and
Subheim. Yet another label presents its talents on
stage with UNCLE M FEST 2016. The Westphalian
imprint travels east to bring labelmates from UK
pop-punkers Muncie Girls to indie rockers Foxing
and ska punks The Bennies, amongst others, to
Cassiopeia on April 22. Meanwhile,
if you couldn’t get enough of punk
after the Too Drunk to Watch fi lm
fest (see page 30), PUNK & DISOR-
DERLY (photo), Europe’s biggest
indoor punk festival, takes over
Astra Kulturhaus from April 15–17
with such acts as The Last Resort,
Discipline, Angelic Upstarts and
The Partisans. A couple weeks
later (Apr 28-30) that same venue
fi lls with all variations of rock and
metal (and no small amount of pot
smoke) for DESERTFEST. Not foreboding
enough for you? The fi fth
edition of Hamburg’s DRONEBERG
festival takes over SO36 for a long
night of doom metal on April 16.
Already announced: Celeste, Year
of no Light, Monarch! and more.
If you’re a true hard goth kinda type, the SINCITY
FESTIVAL at Frannz Club (Apr 29-30) is your cup
of tea – or blood for that matter. Catering to your
dancing needs will be Ben Bloodygrave, Forced
to Mode and other dark souls. Finally, if you need
additional sensory stimulation with your music, 04_AZ_B_Exberliner_April16.indd 1 10.03.16 12:09
the Volksbühne invites you to DECESSION (Apr
30), an evening of electronica and performance
art with a smashing selection of Berlin’s fi nest
up-and-coming producers. Beats by Amnesia Scanner,
M.E.S.H., Physical Therapy, Why Be and more
complement 3D videos, lasers, sperm-scented
perfume, 30-year-old Japanese tea and other
bizarre-sounding delights. So, take your pick and
simultaneously bid farewell to the indoor side of
Berlin nightlife for at least fi ve months. MH
PREVIEW
Pop goes HKW
Another month, another Haus der Kulturen der Welt
festival with a vague curatorial premise and impressive
global roster of performers. This time it’s POP
16, part of the four-year cross-disciplinary project
100 Years of Now. The programme, which proposes
to tackle the roots of pop music from 1900-1930,
is even more eclectic than usual, stretching from
interpretations of Egyptian “golden age” music to
Polish cabaret. Don’t miss 80-year-old Ghanaian
guitarist and music legend EBO TAYLOR (photo; Apr
28, 20:30), whose new ensemble Konkoma revives
the century-old proto-Afrobeat music style of the
same name. Japanese pop singer and Yellow Magic
Orchestra collaborator MIHARU KOSHI, known for
turning Western music into kitsch-bordering J-pop
gems, will delve deep into European music’s back
catalogue and reinterpret everyone from Friedrich
Hollaender to Paul Hindemith to Charles Trenet (Apr
29, 21:30). Veering over to America and Africa, Chicago
house and techno producer Jamal Moss aka
HIEROGLYPHIC BEING will perform his exclusively
commissioned composition The Sirius Mysteries
about the Dogon people of eastern Mali, involving
vocals, African percussion and classical piano. (Apr
30, 22:00). Bringing it all back to Berlin, a guided
tour (Apr 29-30, 14:00) will reveal the city’s forgotten
past as one of the world’s recording industry
capitals. All this plus lectures, installations and
much more; see the full programme at www.hkw.
de. NB POP 16 Apr 28-May 1 | Haus der Kulturen der Welt,
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee-10, Tiergarten, U-Bhf Bundestag
WIM HEUTNIK
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apr
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