Monday 24 March 2014

Preview: the week ahead (24th Mar - 30th Mar)

Sorry for being late yet again. Hopefully you figured out a Tuxedomoon show would be worth attending without us having to tell you so...

Monday
  • Tuxdomoon at K17: Art rock survivors Tuxedomoon first started playing in 1977 and have gone through a wide swathe of experimental and musical styles since then. Their second awesome and upbeat single, No Tears, is a post-punk classic that’s recently been revived by the youth of today. But it would be extremely unwise to expect a whole evening of that kind of thing. These days you’re more likely to hear violins with guitars, strange and distinctive noises from the post-punk 80s, oblique references to art and culture and literature, plus a bit of performance artiness. Some of it might make you want to move, other bits will make you want to stroke your beard contemplatively. It’s going to be a fine and interesting night.
Tuesday
  • Wye Oak at Privatclub: Interesting folk-popsters at Private Club, Kreuzberg. Having not seen them live before it’s hard to judge but other reviewers say that this talented duo make a lot more noise than one might expect from two folks. Judging by their album, Civilian, this is certainly a possibility as it is far more interesting compositionally than your average “dream-pop”; they’ve been compared to fellow Baltimore band, Beach House, before as well as Neil Young and Yo La Tengo. They’ve also supported the Dirty Projectors who, although pretty different musically, have a similar vibe. During most recent gigs, Wye Oak have apparently been getting way more synth and bass in on their act, and there’s a new synth-poppy direction for the new album, Shriek, due out late April. Even if you don’t get to the gig – maybe you’re going to see Joan As A Policewoman instead – make sure you listen to the last album, Civilian, during a mellow Sunday evening just as the sun’s going down. 


Wednesday
  • The Warlocks at Bassy: If you like the Dandy Warhols, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Black Angels, Spacemen 3 and yeah, etcetera etcetera etcetera, you should definitely catch these guys. They’ve been around for about the same amount of time of many of the above and come from the same school of garage-rocking-psych. They tend to jam out a little more than the likes of BJM – in fact, they’re probably closer to the Black Angels. If you like psych rockers that move between garage and psychedelic melt downs, you’re pretty much guaranteed a fuzzed out, smog-infested, guitar-lashed good time at the perfect-size-for-this-band-venue, Bassy, on Wednesday night.

  • Staer + Batalj + Horacio Pollard at bei Ruth: This package seems like the perfect way to turn your dull Wednesday evening into an intense noise rock experience. We previewed all of these bands before but we never get enough of Batalj, who are again playing with a newish line-up. Staer are also no uncommon visitors to Berlin, they also played bei Ruth before and if you are remotely into Skingraft records influenced noise rock, you should absolutely not miss this. Horacio Pollard plays music that’s a tad more on the experimental side, ranging from harsh noise to more ambient sounds.
  • Capsula at Urban Spree: Capsula play music that’s heavily influenced by 70s psychedelic rock but without sounding only “retro”. They combine garage sounds with modern noisy rock elements, creating something that sounds like a mix between Sonic Youth and the White Stripes. This will be their first Berlin show ever!

Saturday
  • Angel Olsen + Allie at HAU: Angel Olsen is coming to Berlin to present her second record Burn Your Fire For No Witness. She’s a versatile artist and sometimes sounds like a very fragile and intimate folk singer while other songs have a quirky indie rock touch. Her newest record was released on Jagjaguwar and fits perfectly in their eccentric rooster of striking melodic and lo-fi tunes.
  • Michael Gira at Kantine am Berghain: Swans singer Michael Gira stops by and plays an acoustic show. While this naturally doesn’t sound as noisy as Swans do, it’s still intense and profound.

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