THURSDAY 25.07

Berlin Atonal @ Kraftwerk 

This new old festival really couldn't go wrong with the combination of an amazing location and a great lineup, and it even surpassed the high expectations. When I first felt that impressive wall of sound that relocated my internal organs and gave a nice brain massage, I regretted not buying the festival ticket. Now I think I should've just sneaked in their cold cavernous basement and live there for a couple of days; at least I wouldn't complain about the heat like everybody else. But instead I kept coming to this "cathedral" as they called it, day by day, as if I finally saw Jesus. Vladislav Delay might be the holy son in this analogy, and if we keep playing with that idea, Glenn Branca would probably end up being god. I should also mention Murcof whose show was teamed up with gorgeous visualisations by Simon Geilfus, Juan Atkins+Moritz von Oswald, Kangding Ray and the noise makers from Subtext Recordings label. Also, I was happy to see the performance of Kurt Schwitters' Ursonate. I didn't feel like the jolly round-bellied guy was suitable for that piece though, since I first saw it performed by a very serious and very skinny Samuel Beckett lookalike who recited that dada nonsense as if it was his mother tongue.

There are actually so many more things I could say about the sounds and sights, the place and the people there... I will leave it for next Monday - part II - there are still 2 evenings to go!

FRIDAY 26.07

TALES °F TOMORROW | OVOPOP @ Team Titanic

This was an unplanned visit to an opening at Team Titanic that happened on my way to U8 while in a hurry. Hence the quality and quantity of photos. But here's how it was. If you haven't been there yet, you might want to go for a drink. I wonder if it's going to end up as a bar eventually; I think I'm not the only one who passed by it and made a mental note to check that bar when they finally open it. But it's just a matter of my inflected perspective. They do put up shows regularly and the nice space serves the purpose well.

Some works in their current show reminded be a bit of David Shrigley; the humor is not at the same level but it shares that aesthetic and charm. I would love to see more of those comic-like drawings and videos.

SATURDAY 27.07

Ralf Baecker - "In Search of Pecise Pleasures" @ LEAP

I was planning to avoid the weather talk these days because, for us who come from places that have 3 months of proper sweaty summer, it's just ridiculous. But then I experienced the Berlin interiors, completely unprepared for high temperatures, turning into saunas. One of them was LEAP, significantly less attended than usual, or maybe it just seemed so while actually everybody migrated to the terrace in order to live and let live. An interesting show though, and you should pick a day to see it according to the weather forecast.