Indieberlin’s muisc mix for the week is now up on 8tracks.com! Music from Led Zep, Dots and Stops, Rival Sons, Motorpsycho, Korey Dane and more! Click here NOW to get into the mood! What mood? You know, “the” mood. Go on. Click the link. Go on. You know you want to. Go on.
xx
PS (whispered:) go on. click it. go on.
The name of inventor Hiram S. Dotts is now less well known that it once was. So, too, are his inventions, two of which—perhaps Dotts’s most enduringly influential—are described here.
Detail from the patent for Dotts’s improved egg-opener.
Be it known that I, HIRAM S. DOTTS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Thoburn, in the county of Marion, State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Egg-Openers, of which the following is a specification.
So begins the text to U.S. patent #696,016, granted March 25, 1902 to Hiram S. Dotts. Mr. Dotts’s description, despite dealing with a subject of great technical complexity, is nearly poetical. Dotts (and/or his lawyer, E.B. Stocking) reduces the device, and its place in the world, to just 41 words:
This invention relates to egg-openers, and to particularly to a construction embodying jaws movable in their relation to each other and toward an egg in order to fracture the shell thereof upon a peripheral line extending in a single horizontal plane.
by Alan Scott: You heard it here first!
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I seem to have become a commuter. We sway gently with the movement of the train, we travel through and under the city scape without speaking, we do not find this strange. We distract ourselves with gadgets, we try to find ways to use the time wisely. Routine numbs our sense of the moment,we do not wish to have anythng disturb it. We want to be switched off, for a time. We long so for dullness, we long for quiet.
I determine to make a list of ways to wake myself up every day. A little schedule of unexpected happenings, programmed surprises to spring on myself, ways to take myself unawares. It’s nice to nap, but we must defend ourselves against the danger of falling asleep forever, no one coming to kiss us awake.
rant by Noel Maurice
Planet Bohemia is a Berlin-based independent music label and a promotions platform for alternative events and culture that has recently initiated its quest for beauty in the German capital. This fledgling indie arts collective has proudly unleashed the debut long player of a little British band called the Dots & Stops, curiously entitled “If I Look Uncomfortable, It’s Only Coz I need to DO IT!” (BOHM2). The PB label aims to bring you sparkling, experimental, psychedelic sounds and a loose, free place to experience creativity, beauty and joy, all with the noble aim of combating the gloom and pessimism of our times. This first vinyl offering forms part of a proposed series of limited edition releases of independent acts as part of the “Planet Bohemia Music Club”.
The Dots & Stops are a grouping of musicians and creative types in Reading, England based around chief songwriter and spokesman James Petersen Hahn plus committed associate in exile, the crestfallen high-society dandy and bon vivant Raphael Storm. They share a common musical education in experimental, psychedelic sounds fused with post-punk, indie and electronica. The Dots & Stops LP, complete with artwork by the group members themselves and unfolding over 12 inches of majestic white vinyl, reflects on the heady days of long gone psychedelic summers whilst simultaneously exploring more angular, aggressive soundscapes. The record introduces the listener to a multitude of unusual, enticing places and characters; from the unlikely gathering of esoteric celebrities at “Colin’s Tea Party”, a stream-of-consciousness tale of caffeine-induced delirium, to the driving psychedelic dance hall mayhem of “Life is a Yellow Pepper” and the menacing “Sister Gestapo”; a post-punk reading of “Venus in Furs” with echoes of “Da Capo”-era Love fused with driving John McGeoch-style guitars.
Prior to the new release on Planet Bohemia, The Dots & Stops have previously distributed the CD single “Life is a Yellow Pepper” b/w the storming “Jelly Voilà” to sympathizers at live shows plus released the chaotic, intriguing “These Stupid People, They Wear Their Brains on the Outside” mini-album in 2007.
A joyous, trashy explosion of experimental pop, The Dots & Stops’ debut album is soon to be joined by other releases from Berlin as part of the “Planet Bohemia Music Club”, as well as staging live happenings featuring experimental and dance acts from the UK, Berlin, Budapest and Vienna. The first “Planet Bohemia Be-In” complete with live acts, DJ’s and visual infotainment is scheduled for January 2012.
Irreverent, suspicious of dreary conformity, common sense and “generating value”, Planet Bohemia promises an escape route to the FUTURE, an open platform for independent creativity, an unfettered voice for those who revel in the joy of creation. The Berlin label is also more than interested in receiving demos from bands as well as proposals for a wide range of events to stage in the German capital. For more information about the project, check out the PB website: www.planetbohemia.com.
by Hotdog
NoelMaurice.com
Hi again! this is Noel Maurice with the blog for people who’ve just turned up in Berlin and need a hand finding things: this blog we’re talking about music instrument shops, for the musicians among us:
Music shops – the biggest and easiest is Just Music, in the Kulturbrauerei in Prenzlauerberg. U-Bahnhof Eberswalder Str, cross the road to Danziger Strasse, walk up it until the next corner on the right, turn into this street and again on the right almost immediately through a large entryway, and you’ve found the Kulturbrauerei. Brauerei translates as brewery, and of course this place was once upon a time exactly that; then, as with so many buildings in Berlin, for a while it lay empty, until some bright spark decided to use the buildings ringing the large central yard and devote the whole place to the pursuit of culture. So set around this large cobblestoned yard are a theatre, a small music venue, a large music venue; another underground music venue – NBI, more about this later – a cinema (only German language films here, sorry), a supermarket (art and alcahol do tend to cuddle up quite often), a couple of bars and that kind of thing. And Just Music. As you walk through the Kulturbrauerei entryway you’ll come into the yard and turn left, keep walking about fifty metres and you’ll see the door to the place on your left. Just Music has an upstairs and a downstairs. Downstairs you’ll find electric and acoustic guitars, basses and keyboards. Upstairs is for drums and percussion as well as PA’s. Also at the top of the stairs you’ll find that all-important thing for new musicians in town: A musician’s noticeboard. There’s always new stuff going up so if you’re looking for a band, for gigs, for instruments or for musicians, it’s worth checking in here every now and then.
Much smaller but homelier is Takt und Ton on Invaliden Strasse 148 … The shop has been there at least since the early 90s (actually I’ve just seen on the website that it’s been there 60 years now..) but has quite recently changed hands. The people there before were really a very odd lot. Nice, but…odd. It was a second hand shop and dealt in all manner of instruments. To be honest I never really found anything really cool there, but since I lived around the corner in my early days in the city I’d still go in and try to buy spare strings and what have you (of which they very seldom had much of a stock), speaking English in those days, and these were proper East Berliners, which meant of course that their second languge was Russian thank you very much and communication was, shall we say, difficult.
Anyway, the new man in there is selling guitars, he’s a very nice guy, young and knowledgeable and easy to talk to – also in English – and you’ll probably be able to find what you’re looking for in there. Also interesting to electric guitarists is that he specialises in obscure guitar pedals, all the weird and wonderful things that you could hope for. So: definitely worth a look.
That’s the East; for the West I’d recommend The American Guitar Shop on Goethe Str. 49, across the road from Nollendorfplatz U-Bahnhof. This man is American but has been here since the 80s or longer, and what’s also interesting is that he also books well-visited gigs, specialising in acoustic/folk stuff. The guitars he has in here are extremely good quality and, quite unnusually as I’ve found, perfectly set up, meaning that he knows his stuff, and that he cares.
That should keep you happy for the moment as regards music shops (as with everything else here, I’m happy for you to drop me a line if you need any extra advice on finding a particular thing that isn’t listed here) – or to add something that I’ve overlooked.
by Noel Maurice (noelmaurice.com)
for Indieberlin
Hi, this is Noel Maurice, I first moved to Berlin in 1991 and have survived here as an independent musician since then. The city’s changed dramatically over the two decades – as to be almost unrecognisable – and it’s still an amazing town. But as with all cities, it takes a while after you get here before you can find your way into the scene, find your way around, figure out how the place ticks.
And in the last few years I’ve seen that the well-kept-secret that was Berlin, is a secret no more – English speaking people looking for a good creative place to live with (still relatively) low rents and a whole lot of stuff going on 24/7 are turning up in droves. More every year. But it’s nice to see you all! It’s a fact that a lot of people, after a while of enjoying the freedom of our lovely town, slow up, get lazy, end up too easily spending more time sitting around in cafes talking about art and music than doing it. Because the place is somehow conducive to that, and I think it’s also a fact that if you’ve been used to the level of struggle that you need to go through in New York or London or similar places to keep on living the independent creative lifestyle, you’re just so goddamned relieved that you don’t need to do that all here, that people tend often to just sink into the place like it’s a nice big feather bed, one that after your travels you want to lie down on and rest up for a while. Just for a while. But like in any fairy story, this is where the danger is.
But the new faces turning up from other international art towns bring in a whole lot of new energy, energy that we people who’ve been here a longer time need, over and over, to keep us refreshed, eager and ready for action. So, fresh blood: Bring it on. And I’m going to try and help you ease into the place. In the next few posts I’ll try and give you some tips on how to find the things you need….stay in tune to Berlin for Beginners!
by Noel Maurice (noelmaurice.com)
for Indieberlin.de
Ja, ich bin verliebt! Nicht zum ersten und hoffentlich auch nicht zum letzten Mal. Gestern Abend hatten wir unser erstes Date im Tempodrom. Ich war aufgeregt wie nie und mein Herz schlug mir bis zum Hals. Punkt 21 Uhr war es dann soweit. Mit einem schüchternen Lächeln kam Sie um die Ecke, schaute mir tief in die Augen und spielte dann 90 Minuten nur für mich!!! Naja, vielleicht nur für mich, sondern wahrscheinlich auf für die anderen 3999 Besucher. Aber für einen kurzen Moment war ich nur mit Ihr allein und dafür liebe ich dich Feist! Wir sehen uns wieder, keine Frage!
Review by Norman Zielasko home
Hellfire in Berlin!
Just short of seventy years old, the god of hellfire has not dimmed his flame. Psychedelic legend Arthur Brown, backed by the Hamburg Blues Band, dominated the stage of Berlin’s Quasimodo jazz club with multiple costume changes, wizardly struts and spell casting, a short throat-singing interlude and a voice stronger than most rock singers at the peak of their careers. All that and a falsetto that continues to tear our ears off.
He knows how to mix humour and improvisation into his genuine mastery of his voice and theatrics to make the experience feel truly unique. Despite the fact we were probably hearing his twelve millionth renditions of “Fire,” “The Devil’s Grip” and “I Put a Spell on You,” these songs felt as fresh as if they came to him in a burst of inspiration on his plane ride over here. The opening monologue of “Fire” became a eulogy to Capitalism: “When the Euro has crumbled / and the dollar has died…” and lyrics were shouted, spoken, buzzed or sung on his whim.
The mid-sized basement club was packed, mostly, it seemed, with people who had been around in 1968 when “Fire” was a hit, though a few younger faces could be seen thrashing about. There were no pyrotechnics, but the ceiling was a little low and I suppose at some point a man gets tired of lighting his hair on fire.
Before Brown came on, there was an hour set by the Hamburg Blues Band, a hard-hitting blue rock band who were quite good as far as hard-hitting blues rock bands go. They knew how to play and were not your typical Eric Clapton cover band at a bar’s blues jam night. Personally though, my favorite part of their set was watching their keyboardist slink around like a muppet.
They pleased the audience, though no laments were heard when the star of the night came out to take over lead vocals. As Brown’s backing band, they perfectly captured all the eeriness and energy of his music and brought attention to the blues-based nature of his songs.
They finished off the set with a sing-along to Brown’s version of the old soul song, “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” a call-and-response with the audience which ended with Brown narrating his plans to go back to the hotel and get some sleep. What really made the whole thing work was that Brown himself, decades into his career, looked like he was genuinely enjoying every second of the show.
Review by Kevin Sexton
Vor ein paar Tagen war ich im Postbahnhof am Ostbahnhof und habe mir Kunst angeschaut. Nein, nicht nur einfach Kunst, sondern “Kunst für das 21. Jahrhundert”. Das war nämlich das Thema der “Stroke.Artfair”. Auf der Messe für Urbane Kunst konnte man viele bekannte Streetartkünstler wie z.b. Banksy entdecken, sich aber auch in die die liebenswerten Figuren von z.b. Mateo vergucken. Wer nicht nur die Kunst betrachten, sondern auch selbst kreativ werden wollte, der nahm einfach an einem der zahlreichen Workshops teil und konnte z.b. die hohe Kunst der Kalligrafie erlernen. Es hat sich also sehr gelohnt und für mich heisst es ab sofort, dass ich mit noch mehr Aufmerksamkeit durch die Stadt spaziere und mich an der Kunst an den Häuserwänden, an Ampeln und in der Bahn erfreuen werde! Ich hatte ein paar schöne Stunden im Postbahnhof und freue mich schon jetzt auf die nächste Stroke.Artfair.
Zozoville at Art.Stroke Fair Berlin 2011
Box-32 at Stroke.Art Fair 2011 Berlin
A look at arthouse concerts, Berlin independent musician Noel Maurice and his dark, disgraceful past. Indieberlin.de By Nicky Slater
Noel Maurice – the artist formerly known as Idiotchild
I thought that since Noel Maurice killed the Idiotchild and went back to performing under his own name (“too old for that nonsense”, apparently), and since he seems to have conventionalised his approach to music as well as his sound, it might be a good time to take a quick look back at what he used to be doing, back before the three-piece, way back in time before anyone had even heard of al-Qaeda, back before anyone dreamed that a black man called Barack might become the next President of the US (yes, that once sounded like crazy talk! Remember?)
Yes folks, back in the day, Noel Maurice called himself Idiotchild and played in an electro two-piece with a German woman with scary make-up in a leapordskin one-piece who played naive bass, sang and called herself Mercedes December, and their band was a small 80s drum machine and a loop box. The songs were still conventional verse-chorus-verse things, and Noel still played guitar, but the whole set-up was extremely different to what we see Noel and his acolytes doing today.
They trawled the smaller and seedier clubs ofBerlinand won and lost fans with the erratic genius of their musical vision. It’s true that almost every concert involved at least one incident of the machines breaking down (which left Noel fiddling around with on/off switches and tangled cables hissing “Tell them a joke! Tell them anything!” and the like to the somewhat bemused Mercedes – but somehow that was all part of it. Hey, it was the 90s, it wasEast Berlin, and as I remember those days, so many people were on drugs that it probably all made perfect sense to them. Hell, I liked it. When else can you go get a beer while the concert is on? Thank god for malfunctioning stage equipment!
Where was I? Oh yes. What I like about the Noel Maurice Band these days is that they get up, they play, they “rock the house” (from now on all Americanisms will be in quotation marks), nothing goes wrong, the musicians can actually play their instruments well (rarer than you might think around here, let me tell you), and generally do their job thoroughly and professionally. That’s what I like. It’s a relief somehow – great fan of arthouse concerts though I remain – to listen to a whole set of well-written songs, played competently, without losing that edge of enthusiasm, seen…read more home
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