Music tip: Gotye

Source: gotye.com

Except of Belgian beer, chocolate and cheese I usually don't really recommend anything coming from Belgium and much less if it's about music. But my tip today is about a Belgian musician called Gotye. Wouter De Backer, as he is called with real name, was born in Bruges in 1980 and moved with his family to Australia when he was two years old, where he started his musical career at an early age. De Backer performed first with his band "Downstares", before continuing solo as the musician, singer and songwriter Gotye.

You might have heard already his current song "Somebody I used to know", which is the first single from his third studio album "Making Mirrors". The album was released in August this year and contains thirteen composed songs which can be classified somewhere between indie rock/pop, experimental rock and electronic chill-out music with fanciful lyrics; very pleasant to listen to! 

Source: gotye.com

T.G.I.S.

The weekend is coming to its end. Bottom line of these past three days: banging head, gran's silver ring lost and simply happy for getting back home in one piece. What a weekend! Such fun! SUCH FUN. But even such a weekend has something educational: Don't put a Falaffel in your handbag, also not when thinking "oh, I will eat it later!", cause NO, you will not remember later...

Enjoy the rest of the first Sunday in Advent and good night!

T.G.I.F.

Thank God It's Friday!!! Here the events where you most probably will find me this weekend:

My friend Jakob is calling for another "Electro Dörte"-party in my at all times favourite club Hotel Europa in Aachen (Germany). All kinds of electronic music are expecting you in nice living room-atmosphere and in the clubbing-basement!

20 Years of Psycho Thrill is hosting the Detroit Trio (D3) and other friends from Underground Resistance in Cologne (Germany) tomorrow night. Looking at the line-up I'm sure the venue "Stadtgarten" will be shaking from the techno-, house-, electro- and halfstep-beats!! Facebook has more details.

In this sipirit: Namaste and take it easy!!!

Dickheads everywhere!

Who hasn’t heard "Barbara Streisand" from Duck Sauce, the song that was number 1 in Australia and Netherlands, and number 3 in the UK. Anyway, this post is neither about the gayest song from 2010 (I mean even Glee covered it!) nor a music tip, it is more a video tRip; honestly, the person who made this video needs to tell me the colour of his/her pills! The new song of the American-Canadian DJ-duo, released on 18th October, is called "Big Bad Wolf", and I have to say the video is pretty disturbing - if in a good or bad way, I leave it for you to decide! For me it is hilarious and disgusting at the same time. I just don’t know if I want to be around those dickheads...!

Enjoy the video...

Music tip: Me, Myself and I

I know I neglected the blog a bit this month, but I had good reason for it, which I wanna finally present!!!

I posted a few weeks ago about my purchase, the Denon DJ-controller DN-MC6000. Finally now I set up my SoundCloud and uploaded my very first two mixes. More are following soon!

Till then, enjoy listening!!!

Practising in Dublin with my friend and mentor Matthew Agius from U-Bahn music

T.G.I.F.

Not long ago this year Marcel Fengler, music producer and Resident DJ in Berlin's club Berghain, became a talking point because of his studio mix "Berghain05", which I can absolutely recommend.

Well, Thank God It's Friday, cause tomorrow Fengler is playing not in Berghain, but therefore in London's favoured club Fabric. Another favourite, Luke Slater, gonna be of the party as well, performing this time under his pseudonym Planetary Assault Systems. Remembering my last party where I saw Slater playing in Dublin a few months ago, damn sure a sick night is coming up with tomorrow's program.

In this spirit: Namaste and keep oiling your ears!!!

meets

Source: stilroutine.de

I always knew that Merkel and Sarkozy....

Source: unhate.benetton.com

Ooh la laaa...!!! Are those about the newest "behind the scene"-shots from the last G8 summit?! Unfortunately not exactly - that would be probably the biggest scandal of the 21st-century (and I would love it!). Merkel making out with Sarkozy, Obama kissing both Chavez and Hu Jintao, and Abbas and Netanyahu, as well as North Korea's Supreme Leader Jong-il and South Korea's President Myung-bak kissing and making it up - nightmare or desirable reality after all?! Well, so far only happening in "Unhate", the new campaign of United colors of Benetton. The Italian label, not my favourite one, but known since years for sensational and provocative campaigns to draw attention to grievances as wars, Aids or death penalty, published his current campaign yesterday under the slogan "Unhate". The pictures of the campaign show some of the most powerful heads of states kissing each other, "with the aim of contrasting the culture of hatred and promoting closeness between people, faiths, cultures, and the peaceful understanding of each other's motivations, using a global call to action and the latest communication tools", as explained on their website. 

In this spirit: Don't hate. Unhate.

Source: unhate.benetton.com

Between vision and trend mania

I'm back from the German capital with a lot of different impressions, new ideas and inspiration, ready to be creative myself again. Since the Fall of the Wall, Berlin is going through a permanent development in all different kinds of fields. Long it's not a secret anymore, that Berlin is a mecca for contemporary artists in numerous different fields. Overloaded by students, DJs, designers, painters, any kind of artist collectives, who are all trying, beside their art, to create their work spaces, exhibition rooms and other platforms to meet, exchange and present themselves in any possible infrastructure that the city offers them from old times. The concepts and styles thereby are always puristic, minimalistic, cold and industrial, white but at the same time also dirty and scrawled with the typical graffiti. The trend "the more f*cked up, the better" seems really to rule - volitional or unintentional remains to be seen. Former warehouses serve as the hippest nightclubs now and buildings threatened by demolition are occupied, such as the Kunsthaus Tacheles (Art House Tacheles). The building situated in Oranienstraße, Berlin Mitte, was constructed in 1907/1908 and was used amongst others by the National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP), as well as by the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB), till in 1990 then, two months before its detonation, the building was occupied by a group of artists called Künstlerinitiative Tacheles. Today the house hosts painters, installation artists, jewellery artisans and designers over several floors. However, the building itself, a cold shell of building totally full with graffiti and urine odour, shows that its high periods are over. The Tacheles is threatened by demolition again and with it numerous artists would lose their studios and showrooms. Different campaigns like petitions (we gave our signature as well) are undertaken - the Tacheles is fighting for survival. It's really a pity and hurts to see how talented artists are struggling. Maybe the Tacheles is the result of simply artist-overload (if this exists) in a city where the art scene develops and moves incredibly fast. Districts that were hip five years ago, are now not anymore - the scene is permanently moving, as well as the favourable styles. But serious art is a long-winded process and developement, which can't really agree with such fast changes. Berlin doesn't have this old tradition as e.g. London or Paris; Berlin is still on its way to become a representative place and definitely has a huge potential considering how much creativity is gathered in this city. However it seems that a real, convincing concept behind all is still missing in some way, and I think this concerns also the Tacheles.  For a person from outside it is not clear what the whole Kunsthaus Tacheles represents and aims for. It is not enough to just host different artists. There must be one concept behind the whole project to be able to maintain it and keep it appealing.

For some of you these might be hard words or seem even unfair and unjustified. I noticed that this is definitely a topic that opens extensive discussions.

T.G.I.F.

Holy sh... time for "Thank God It's Friday" again! I have three events to recommend for this weekend, all taking place tomorrow:

Our new friend Charlie Smooth and his colleagues from Get Deep gonna spin the tables in Berlin's club about blank tomorrow - it's time for Soulphiction again! Facebook has more details.

This year's "I lOVE TECHNO" in Ghent takes place tomorrow. The line-up contains big names in elecrtonic music, which is why for some people this event is again "too commercial" or "mainstream". However, I like the idea of raving live to Katy B, Birdy Nam Nam (abso cool guys!) or my favourite Paul Kalkbrenner, all in the same night at the same place.

Monkey's club in Düsseldorf hosts another Juicy Nights tomorrow, where amongst others my very helpful DJ-friend Mike Van der Viven (MVDV) gonna play the "hottest housetunes".

In this spirit: Namaste and dance badly!!!

T.G.I.F.

I know, it was quite here this week, but "Thank God It's Friday" today! While half of our editorial staff moved to Berlin this week, I'm on my way to the German capital as well, ready for metropolis-madness! The BERlin MUsic DAys (Bermuda) are on since Wednesday and go till tomorrow. A week of the finest elecronic music in Berlin's best clubs!

In this spirit: Namaste and see you in BERLIN!!! 

Source: bermuda-berlin.de

Happy HALLOWEEN, bitches and witches!!!