8. January

opening of an exhibition

and after, das kleine field recordings festival

End of Part one

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part two starts on 8. January 2010

26. November … AKTION!!! & Destroy your Acoustic Guitar

Vienna is known for its Wiener Wurst, Wiener Blut, Wiener Melange, Wiener Schnitzel, Wiener Schule, Wiener Aktionusmus and of course a direct result of Wiener Aktionism: The Wiener Sängerknaben, a group of boy singers with extreme highpitched voices, that came into existence after a performance with Wiener Würstchen at a Wiener Schule that involved a lot of Wiener Blut. The visitors to tonights evening don’t have to fear dismembering processes or other rituals in which beheaded Beethovens get mixed up with beheaded chicken. I can give a No Blood Guarantee to everyone. But I cannot guarantee lack of anti-intelectual intelectualism. Vienna has its kaffeehauses, not because of its uncountable ways to prepare coffee, but because of the eclecticist quality of their visitors. Okay, start mumbling. The libretto of Michael Pinter (cousin to nobelprice winner Harold) is down below the picture.

“Agro-Drugs, Agro-Drugs-reMIxes und/oder die inverse Induktion 2009

von MI (aka Michael Pinter-Koschell)

‘Tenöre gibt`s nur auf Schallplatten, und die sind alle tot.’

aus: Das letzte Lokal, Helmut Qualtinger, Georg Müller Verlag, 1978

Eine ethnografische Fiktion berichtet von den seltsamen Todesritualen eines unbekannten Volkes, das mit der Beerdigung eines Stammesangehörigen zugleich auch ein Wort ihrer Sprache mitbeerdigt.

Bei einer der nächsten Gelegenheiten dieser Art wünsche ich mir die Beerdigung des Ausdrucks ‘Digitalisierung’ respektive ‘Musikalisierung’. Denn was meinen diese Begriffe? Gewöhnlich wird damit alles und nichts umschrieben, zumeist umgeben vom Nimbus des ‘technoiden 21. Jahrhunderts, der absoluten technischen Machbarkeit in der Zukunft’ et al – ‘Digitalisierung’ gleichsam verinnerlicht als die digitale Kraft schlechthin – einen Rang, den dieser Begriff, wenn er ihn jemals besaß, in den letzten Jahrzehnten nahezu restlos verspielte. Zu einem Nimbus gehört stets auch Mystifikation – eine rätselhafte Verklärung, die in diesem Zusammenhang diverse Spielarten digitaler Kunst begleitet, wenn sie ihre Aktualität aus ihrer Präsenz an jedem Ort und zu jeder Zeit herleitet – und es gehört zu den Selbstinszenierungen dieser Apparatur, in litaneihafter Selbstreferenz auf diese Präsenz überall und jederzeit eigens hinzuweisen. Digitale Kunst in diesem Sinne ein Phantom, ein digitales Trugbild?

Bezeichnend auch, dass oft das Ganze ‘digital’ genannt und im einzelnen von komplexen digitalen Strukturen gesprochen wird, doch ist Totalität weder ein fassbarer Begriff noch eine bestimmbare Form und verweigert sich ihrer Analysierbarkeit.

Indem ‘digitale Kunst’ etwas zeigt, vorführt oder repräsentiert, verbirgt und verdeckt sie zugleich das gesamte Feld ihrer Herkunft und Produktionsbedingungen, sei es der Konzern hinter einem Computersystem, die Hardware eines Computers, die Kanäle, die Mechanismen der Verbreitung und Übertragung und dergleichen. Relevant ist hier einzig die Konfrontation mit digitaler Kunst/elektronischer Musik.

‘Ist es das hohle Klingen von mir selbst, was ich höre?’

aus: Der Scheiszhaufen, Michael Pinter-Koschell

Mein Zugang zu elektronischer Musik hat etwas von einer digitalen Meta-Ironie. Aus technologisch-informationstheoretischer Sicht könnte man meine elektronische Musik als technische Optimierung aller Störquellen bezeichnen. Die eigentliche Aufgabe besteht darin, Hard- und Softwarefehler in Prozessen nicht nur audiovisuell umzusetzen, sondern sie vor allem reproduzierbar zu machen. Störungen – egal ob zufälliger oder gewollter Natur – werden zunächst als Systembestandteile affirmiert und auf ihre Regellosigkeit, ihre Unvorhersehbarkeit, ihren Desinformationsgehalt und/oder ihre Möglichkeiten zur Abstraktion untersucht. Erzeugt werden gewissermaßen dekonstruierte Fehlercodes,

die niemals zu knacken sind. Es sind verstörende Befunde von digitalen Systemen, die auch auf die Unmöglichkeit verweisen, die wahre Struktur des Digitalen zu erfassen. Sie unterliegen in dieser Formulierung selbst der Dialektik dessen, was sie hör- und sichtbar zu machen suchen. Was dargestellt wird, stellt sich selbst außer Frage; ihre Notwendigkeit versteht sich sozusagen von selbst, weil die Selbstreferenz der Fehlercodes ihren eigenen Grund kreiert – sie schaffen in einem Zug mit ihrer Realität auch ihre Legitimität. In meinen aktuellen Arbeiten beschäftige ich mich damit, was ich als inverse Induktion bezeichne.

Dass auch dieser Begriff sich jeglicher Analysierbarkeit entzieht,

versteht sich von selbst.”

Are you still here?

Andre Castro/Martin Aaserud you might have met at NK, where they give a hand at the workshops. But one of them is also very active on street level. Probably he gave you a flyer to their show in person. Why don’t you come then? They will use an acoustic guitar, and especcially this acoustic guitar has a nice story to it:

“Annemarie grew up in a very religious home with piano and as 10-yearold she
was sent to piano classes. Quickly she got tired of the strict piano teacher
and two years later she grabbed her sisters old guitar to make melodies for
the songs she had started to write.”

 

Thursday 26 November start 20.45 ends before the world does

MI (aka Michael Pinter-Koschell)

Andre Castro/Martin Aaserud

Flughafenstrasse 38

U8 Boddinstrasse

U7 Rathaus Neukölln

 

 

25. November…..CELEBRATE!!!

Now, here I was talking to Steve, while the party was riding high on luminescent realities worth of SHAFT filmset details. TomTomClub, Poodles and International Rescue completed the picture. It was all so nice. Sorry, no, I am really sorry you missed it. But, there will be another chance, because this wednesday’s evening comes from the same jar of pickled onions currently holding snippets of paper, screws,rare bavarian beer taps and watercolors. The question was, what they sound like, and his first answer reminded me to put up a signAnd when I asked again, while every one around us was discussing favourite colors like ‘wild pink’ or “see through red”, I got an answer holding a lot of different beats, served with a grin, which made me think of our neighbors, tapdance and mole scaring devices…but honestly boombox beams better beatsThen I gave up and asked him to be my ghost writer. Word to Steven Warwick:

 

“Hi Rinus,

Here’s how i advertised it:
M AX NOI MACH
Bafflingly unique project of Rob Francisco from Philadelphia (of RUBBED RAW (w/DJ Dogdick/ ANGELDUST (w/Nate Davis)). Imagine last man at the bar lo brow performance art over crude baltimore beats and vocal babble and stand up comedy?
yeah exactly!

SYNT.TOFS
NY crude. boombox psychedelic via in the red club beats and Paper Rad worthy keyboards.

YITB
weird EBM project from France.”

Steve himself will come to shuffle through his collection of songs.

 

And please remind, This evening is not dedicated to art, experiments or other insults to good taste.

We are here to celebrate

 

Wednesday 25 November starts 20.00 ends as well

M AX NOI MACH
SYNT.TOFS
YITB

DJ HEATSICK

Flughafenstrasse 38

U8 Boddinstrasse

U7 Rathaus Neukölln

23. November, No Emeralds, But other Jewels shining like Kraut

The name Emeralds did ring some bells here in the shop. ” Really..then you will have two hundred people to come and see it..”So I announced Emeralds in the programme. But then I got a mail. Emeralds are three persons. The third one is in Cleveland. Yeah, then it will be different to them. Or not. Maybe Emerald fans are like their mums and dads to whom it doesn’t matter to see Barry Gibb, when they meant to see the BeeGees. Then..those two hundred Americans will come, unless they prefer to spend a checkmaileveningatStarbucks. You will see and hear Steve Hauschildt in one corner with his synthesizers. Mark McGuire will play his guitar in the front room, and one half of birds of delay, Heatsick will also find a space to play his songs of desire and dustroads. If you normally go out in groups, then here is your chance to make a split appearance. Monday 23. November, start 20.30 ends before the week is over: Steve Hauschildt, Mark McGuire, Heatsick Flughafenstrasse 38 U8 Boddinstrasse U7 Rathaus Neukölln

The next days of your life will soon be gone: 19-21 November

On Thursday 19th November a duo from Brazil will spread out the contents of their suitcases on the floor. Bizarre, common, colourful and joyous objects will be animated and start playing songs that make your bratwurst taste better. I wondered how this strange kind of music had come to their part of the world, to Brazil, a country where dancing and playing football seem to be the same kind of thing… mmm, let’s see, I used to be good at this: I mean, how would their sound relate to Brazilian football? In short, I would say, the audience move to the rhythms all masses move to, and that is easily digestible beats. The Brazilian football, full of tricks and unexpected moments, with its short cuts and long runs, its dribbling and through passes can’t be written down and translated to music in one long score that you could hand over to Gilberto Gil:” sing this, please.” It is way more complex and diverse. It is more close to the carnival of sounds that you can expect from Koll Witz’s performance.  

Along side Koll Witz, a young Italian duo will play. You have to listen to the samples for yourself. One part of them has chosen the name: “Mornings,” a moment of the day filled with splendour and mystery, a great name in fact, simple and yet so full of expectation. Just come, wait for the silence, and then hear what will happen. Together they are Bloodythings/Mornings.

Friday 20th November’s concert, one part of it, is a direct result of the day that thirteen Berlin based improvisers scared our neighbours, and proved that they could not play individually alone together. They looked for each others company in order to conduct some pagan ritual. Or maybe they answered to an unwritten improv law which says, we are here together with our instruments, so now we must make some noise together just for the sake of it. Claudia Risch was there because she thought she would hear something unheard before, because there were such good musicians. ‘Such good musicians’ don’t guarantee you get ‘such good music’ when they come together. Those were my words. From experience I also know that if you put Berlin Improv musicians together you get music for a very few who are able to distinguish the subtleties. Those listeners and players are like scholars who studied the same text over and over again, only to find out variations to interpretations that don’t differ too much from the interpretations of the variations heard before. Yes, I am not a fan. And that is why I am glad that Ignaz Schick, who follows different ways to decode our beloved cataclysms, and his guest, Japanese percussionist Seijiro Murayama share the evening with Claudia Risch’s improv/new music trio. I don’t expect a battle of tastes. I do expect diversities firmly rooted in sincerity. Experiencing the performances will be like travelling from one city to another. On a rather cheap ticket…

The arrival of Alexei Borisov and Olga Nosova on Saturday 21st November brings images and desires of days long gone. These days the computer screen has replaced the face of a bad tempered boss. It is impossible to leave the room without permission. Boredom no longer lures in the soon to be forgotten hours of the day. Laziness is a feeling, not a state of mind; it can materialize itself in a horizontal position on a couch as soft as a lover. The book title says ‘ The Gift.’ The novel is as heavy as a brick, describes the life of Russian immigrants in Berlin Charlottenburg in the nineteen twenties. Now hear a Russian voice. Now hear sounds. Time flies. “Yes, we come and we will do something poetic,” Alexei wrote to me. I have heard some of his works. I should have heard it coming out of an open window, when I walked Rue Morgue in Paris on the day I’d heard Tarkovsky had died.

In a possible world the Russian film maker would have left the remains of a set in the faraway corner of Bavarian territory: a little cabin close to the Czechoslovakian border. Albert Plank found this shelter. The air was still full of cold war signals back then; He built transmitters and receivers. It took him years. In the end the hut looked like the setting of a new film by Tarkovsky, but by then the Soviet Union didn’t exist anymore, the air was filled with different noises, and the film maker had died. Nowadays Albert’s studio is transportable. He will set it up at our space. And then he will receive and transmit.

19. November start 20.45, Koll Witz, + Bloodythings&Mornings

20. November start 20.30, Alexander Frangenheim db, Thorsten Bloedhorn g, Claudia Risch sax, fl + Ignaz Schick/Seijiro Murayama

21. November start 20.39, Albert Plank Road Show, Alexei Borisov+Olga Nosova

wednesday 18 november: Tomoko Sauvage///Momus///Seiji Morimoto

 

The three of them had already been in a room together. It was not exactly a room, though the space had a floor, walls and a ceiling. But it had also a tube system along the wall, which evidently indicated transport of water. The room was a basement. Sound systems were set up, some kind of music was played. It was also evident that for this kind of music it was hard to find other places, those with golden chandeliers pending from the ceiling, plush seats, a place nicely heated and with a faint scent of perfume hanging over the heads.

 

Tomoko Sauvage Miyata played water bowls, a description left without all the wonder that comes over the listener, once her sounds start floating. Seiji Morimoto played peddles he had brought from the Baltic Sea. An unaware reader who comes from the land of labels would tag the ‘music’ experimental. But his country by now is almost a digital one where the young and old are subject to re-education systems such as ‘facebook’ or myspace.’

 

Momus was there as a listener, and as a friend of Tomoko. Together they had performed in a shop window somewhere in Vienna. On that occasion Momus had recited from the complete works of the Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev. If you move in the very margins of a worldwide cultural habitat, then you will find yourself near garbage containers; every community creates its own outcasts.

 

On the evening in the basement a few things became clear. The music was not experimental. This term is as hollow as the contents of a certain kind of discourse where the word is used as an apology for one’s intelectual impotence. The sounds heard were very much rooted in Japanese culture. Even as a non adept to Nipponology I could distinguish such characteristics as discipline, dedication, patience, respect, calm and a sense for beauty that came from an awareness way beyond the superficial every day use we call cosmetics.

 

I cannot value if the evening on which Momus shared the stage with Marc Almond in the Barbican in London, only a few weeks ago, was a cosmetical one, the kind of evening that would garnish the glossy pages of a magazine, blogs and mobile phone screens. I was not there. I cannot even judge if a commemoration of Jacques Brel, by singing his songs in front of an audience in London, not Paris, not Bruxelles, not the port of Amsterdam is a result of respect or an idea on how to raise fundings.

 

I do know that the difference between two thousand and forty two is still almost two thousand. In a world where these kind of numbers decide cultural value an appearance of Momus in Staalplaat Working Space hasn’t any worth what so ever. Unless you want to witness those ancient traditional ones mentioned above. Unless you want to be a silent witness of how simple gestures cause unexplainable beauty.

 

If there is some time for an experiment is to be seen. For me the greatest experiment would be Momus singing one of those Brel songs to the sounds made by Tomoko and Seiji.

 

There will be few of you to witness this. Audience is limited to forty two persons. Admission fee is five euro for the poor and eight euro for the well to do and anything in between it for those who can afford it. Reservations can be made through binnen at staalplaat dot com.

Wednesday 18. November start 20.45, door 20.00

Tomoko Sauvage

Momus

Seiji Morimoto

Flughafenstrasse 38

U8 Boddinstrasse

U7 Rathaus Neukölln

For every Taste there is an Ear//// week programme 11 to 14 November

For all of you who have just opened the windows: monday and tuesday shows at staalplaat have gone for ever. New memories can be found on all other week days. Wednesday 11 November we host  BABILON, this is Luke Munn: a Berlin-based, New Zealand cross-discipline artist who plays at unusual places such as abandoned zoo’s, monumental airports, bell towers or at a soon to be closed back space of a record shop. His set on this evening will be with glass pieces, Nintendo DS, cassette, feedback and vocals. You can hear pieces and live performances, and read more on his website: Other companion for the evening will be: PALATIAL, a new duo by Sascha Mandler and Will Gresson that started in late Summer 2009, Palatial focuses on…can images explain sounds?……Then have a closer look at the black and white picture above.

On Thursday I will play myself with Radio On and Daniella Grim, and since it will piss with rain, you won’t come anyway, so I am not going to announce it further.  We will be on air from 20.30 (CET+1) onwards. Door will be locked at 20.25.

Friday 13th we will eat skulls made from sugar. Sorry, more homework and snacks for you: Mario de Vega is from Mexico City, but lives in Berlin. Have you seen him perform lately? Here is a chance to catch him playing ping pong with Michael Vorfeld. In the Australian corner of the coach we have Germ Studies. And if you like Rubik’s Cube texts, then have some here. Saturday 14th you can come early and shout french obscene words at the opening of a show heralded by Guillaume. From 20.45 you will be asked to keep silent, buy more beer and pay a fee for the artists. If you still don’t speak German you have some days to translate this phrase about Soon Kim & Tetsuya Hori in your own language: Bei der Improvisation wird jeder Musiker vom anderen beeinflusst. Den Musikern ist es freigestellt, in der Improvisation auf den anderen zu achten, bewusst Disharmonie zu erzeugen oder einen Kompromiss aus beidem einzugehen. Das macht zwar jede Aufführung zu einem unkalkulierbaren Risiko, erzeugt aber für Aufführende und Publikum eine hohe musikalische Spannung. Die vorbereitete Sounddatei (etwa das Wasser-Sample) ist die einzige Konstante. Sie kann  nicht reagieren und auf Veränderungen eingehen wie die aufführenden Musiker, ist statisch. Dadurch entsteht noch mal mehr Spannung. I like the delicate balance between formalism and not too straight forward absurdism in this text. Soon Kim plays alt saxophone, Tetsuya Hori plays toy piano, laptop, beer bottle and more. Their conversations are never boring.  On the same evening of the 14th Arnaud Rivière will play a solo set. If you don’t know him yet, then this is another chance to see one of the most inventive, groovy, funny, entertaining, colourfull noise artists of the moment in action. I am glad he will play Staalplaat before I hand in the keys.

All evenings start at 20.45 and will end at 22.00

Flughafenstrasse 38

U8 Boddinstrasse

U7 Rathaus Neukölln

9/11 Illusion of Safety …bleep bleep bleep

The request by Daniel Burke to play at Staalplaat, made me visit a few cassette culture related sites. I found this quote which says a lot about the present day situation of one of the most influential genre’s outside music business:‘BILL DIXON: By now it is quite obvious that those of us whose work is not acceptable to the Establishment are not going to be financially acknowledged. As a result, it is very clear that musicians, in order to survive, create this music, and maintain some semblance of sanity, will have to do it themselves in the future.’

This totally correlates to what has gone on in the noise underground here in the U.S. It’s still not possible to make any semblance of a living from our music and I’ve been at this now for nearly 25 years! What has happened in our community, however, is exactly what Bill Dixon speaks of in the above quote: the DIY ethic has maintained the momentum of the movement. The younger generation, those who’ve embraced this peculiar aesthetic, help keep it’s legacy alive by discussing it’s history, writing about it, reissuing crucial albums and providing basements and other acoustic spaces in which to present it in the live format.’ This quote comes from PBK’s blog called The Sound Genetic.

Another veteran of the cassette culture currently attempts to write a history of this movement. Dan Campau portraits some of their key figures in The Living Archive of Underground Music. One of them is Al Margolis. asked for a quote to describe Illusion of safety’s music, he wrote:“rip snorting blast of noise and vision”

Jeff Surak is the director of the Sonic Circuits Festival. This important festival in Washington DCoffers an annual view on the present day situation of the worldwide existing group of ultra marginalized sound and noise makers. His quote to describe Illusion of Safety is more direct:”IOS ROCKS!”

Apparently the Belin Audience knows none to nothing about the cassette culture. Another act that landed on the shores of Neukölln lately was Big City Orchestra. This group formed by dAS had its 30 year anniversary concert in front of 20 people! Is that ignorance or just a rainy day?

Daniel Burke will play a solo set and an improvisational set with two other musicians who probably haven’t even met before.

Daniel Burke (illusion of safety)

solo set: guitar & electronics improvisation

Improvisation trio 1st time meeting of:

Peter Schlewiniski-drum

Ziv Jacob-analog electronics

Daniel Burke-laptop & guitar

9 November start 20.45 ends 22.00

Flughafenstrasse 38

U8 Boddinstrasse

U7 Rathaus Neukölln

6. November The Bermuda Triangle Festival of Berlin Improv

Catch them before they disappear for ever… wind is patient, but time isn’t…

staalplaat working space presents
a new episode of
The Bermuda Triangle Festival of Berlin Impro
featuring the trombone player David Dove from Houston who plays for the first time in Germany

6. November, starts 20.30 ends 22.00

David Dove (trombone), Anthea Caddy (cello), Chris Abrahams (analogue synthesizer),Magda Mayas (clavinet), Chris Heenan (clarinet/saxophone), Annette Krebs (guitar, objects, mixing board, tapes

(this edition is curated by Annette Krebs)

Flughafenstrasse 38
U8 Boddinstrasse U7 Rathaus Neukölln