Stepping up with a mix of House with a light touch of ghetto. And as you hum along the basslines, you get cooled down with that stuff we call “dub” and a huge, conspiratorial piano at last. Find some compelling tracks by Tevo Howard, Levon Vincent, Roska, Joy Orbison, Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir …
The next mix has just arrived: The Dusty Cabinets continues with Jeff Pils aka Bogger from Berlin, co-running the small label Digital Gadget / Front. He made a superb technoid Dupstep mix, growling and bubbling with that certain groove. Nice! I will keep you informed when it’s available.
Even more music: a recording of my set during the Watergate night with Nick Höppner and Lee Jones in December 2009 has to be cut. Stay tuned!
Save this date when you are in Berlin: The Dusty Cabinets will happen live at WMF Club on February, 19th. With Scion Versions live (aka Substance & Vainqueur), Errorsmith, John Osborn and me! This is only the beginning, some more events will follow this year. More on this soon. Hope to see you all there!
The year started very calm and smooth. I never expected it to turn out so hectic but it’s packed with a lot of good news that also give JB. some little changes this year. Not to trigger some rumours, but something is on the way and to already realize some of the ideas soon, I would pay some good money for more useful hours added to my day. It’s already February, and the last year seems far away now. But I try to end my short round-up of 2009 quickly.
Normally I wouldn’t review art shows or galleries, but there was one spot that I constantly went that gets a gold medal. Pool Gallery, Berlin. They started the last year with that great guy, one of my favourite artists: Mike Mills. In this exhibition, Mills dealt with is own youth displaying pictures e.g. from LIFE Magazine issues of 1971. His black and white drawings about the history of bears – from California bears to German’s Bruno (remember the “Problem-Bär” in 2006?) – or “Men that My Mother Said She Was Going to Marry in Her Next Life” including Harry Dean Anderson aka McGyver have just been amazingly funny. Read more …
A sad day in 2009 was the closing of the best indoor skatepark that Berlin has seen in a while. This cosy place near the main station was fully covered and perfectly shaped with wood from the bottom up to the roof. “Bernd’s Wohnzimmer” opened the doors for the last session in October. Once built up with much love by the Berlin skateboard legend Till Kemner some years ago, it instantly became the spot for the core of the scene. Such a great place to hang out, right at a channel of the Spree river. Had some really good sessions there, loved the miniramp, people have always been nice, I remember some sweet injuries and muscle soreness … I already miss it really bad!
But with everything that comes to an end there is a new beginning … parts of the wood will find a new home, a new skatepark is being built, with indoor and outdoor space somewhere in the eastern part of Berlin. Hopefully it has something special to offer like “Bernd’s Wohnzimmer”. See you soon!
Finding lists as a review for a passing year at the beginning of December doesn’t feel right. The year isn’t over and the last month is known for some more surprises. As the new year just started, I can now give a résumé about 2009. There won’t be a kind of structure, no numbered lists, just a few memorable moments and so I begin with the first part: music that created some sensations at JB. And it’s no surprise that most of the best music last year came from England … Read more …
Recreation! We took some time off for a little holiday and now we’re back with tons of fresh air and some good energy to push things forward in 2010 here at JB. A happy and healthy new year to all of you and thanks for being with us! We got something on the list …
Everyone is reviewing the past year, also the whole last decade and I really enjoyed reading some of these lists. And recovering things that are seemingly long lost is a lot of fun (or a punch of reality). I love lists but making them by myself sometimes can be an uncomfortable trip. But as I can’t elude from all these lists, I have to make a short round-up of the year for JB. Won’t write another review of the decade, it would make sense though, because JUSTBREATHE. already exists since 2002. But I will merge just a few of these moments of 2009 that have been important or interesting to me. It definitely was a good year: JB. Magazine came back in May 2009 after a three year break!
I’ll share some music, videos, pictures, designs … within the next few days.
Soon to come: Interview with Zach Frechette, Editor-In-Chief of GOOD Magazine & some hot tunes on The Dusty Cabinets!
Emotional. Rough. Funky. Dirty. All applies to a DJ set of Tama Sumo. Her real name is Kerstin Egert, she is the most cheerful and positive person you can meet in the club, both behind the turntables and on the dancefloor. She is celebrating every single track she is playing and the other way round when she finds herself dancing to the tunes of any other good DJ. It’s always nice to be around her, Kerstin’s happiness is simply infectious. Better known to the scene in the last years through her residency at the Panorama Bar (part of Berghain) in Berlin, the club that is still the most talked about these days. Internationally regarded as “the mother of all clubs” … Though she is little known for producing music. Together with Prosumer she put out two records until today, one on OstGut Ton and recently the split 12″ for the “Phantasma” series Diamonds & Pearls Music (with a Marcel Dettmann track on the flipside). But finally she did this mix CD for OstGut Ton that has been released some weeks ago, “Panorama Bar #02″, the follow-up of Cassy’s mix in 2006. Kerstin aka Tama Sumo will be known by a lot more people soon and I bet she is already traveling the globe to get the possibility to share her love and passion for music, especially Housemusic, with the dancing community and the people beyond. She has a lot to give! Read more …
Illustration @ by UNTLD. 2005 (from JB. Issue #03)
Hard Wax, located in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, a pilgrimage for music enthusiasts and vinyl record nerds from all over the world, is aged 20 years now. Founded in 1989, the Hard Wax record store and distribution has been shaping the world of Techno music ever since, and especially building up Berlin as the “Techno-City”. From the outset, they left all doubt about vinyl as a threatened medium, yet a few CDs can be found, they still offer almost only vinyl records today. I know Hard Wax for more than a decade now and it is very impressive over and over again, how the store, the distribution, the inner circle of artists around Hard Wax, is always acting like a magnet for the electronic music community in Berlin. Plus all constant visitors from Europe and the rest of the world. All know where to find the store hidden in the second backyard, an industry loft on the fourth floor somewhere in Kreuzberg, it is hardly imaginable that someone is entering by accident. And not to forget to add the huge net of people that are connected through the internet store, they make a 50% of the bargain.
In a city of constant change, and a very ephemeral yet sometimes superficial electronic music scene, Hard Wax is something like your secure and reliable friend, or the parents to a child … This sounds pathetic to you? Well, it’s not! Some things just mean a lot. Hard Wax has always been up front, pushing things with relevance, putting out statements, believing in new creations and art. In times of clearly audible moanings by the music industry, their courage has always been paying off and they stay unique. I know most of the staff and the musicians around Hard Wax, which is always inspiring. To go there is yet almost a thrill as it was during the first visits. As Torsten recently said about not getting rid of the feeling he had, coming to the store in his early days before he started working there, “being a client, a fan, a Techno-freak” (by the way a nice article in Tagesspiegel, in German). Being friends with some of them, having had countless DJ nights together, the unforgettable time at the small Club Waldohreule and so on has established a special relationship for me.
So, thanks for the possibility of spending all my pocket money for a good reason and making me nervous almost every week when the news arrive! The anniversary party is going to be a very epic night … Below you find the line-up of the party and an interview I did with Torsten Pröfrock, the store manager and buying agent, in 2005 (after their 15th anniversary) that was published in JB. #03 (German language). You can download the PDF right here.
Sa. 05.12.2009 | 20:00 | 3 FLOORS | WMF Club, Berlin HARD WAX XX
Live Floor:
Substance / MMM / Soundhack / DJ Pete & Sleeparchive / Deuce (Marcel Dettmann & Shed) / Electric Indigo (DJ) / Deuce (DJ)
Killasan Floor:
Sascha/ Torsten / Mark Ainley / Mark Ernestus w/ Tikiman and Friends / René Löwe / Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir / Errorsmith / Modeselektor Gernot
Special Interest Floor:
Shed / Prosumer / Soundstream & Prosumer (voc) Read more …
That's what moves us … Joy Orbison is the brightest kid on earth
Do you know a guy called Joy Orbison?
Wax Treatment — One step ahead!
Our friend Errorsmith is flyin' in your face!
