Berlin’s “Down by the River Festival” is celebrating its 5th anniversary edition on July 6th, 2013.
Again, it’s not about just consuming music but instead about offering a meeting point for bands and fans – without any barrier between them.
All styles and genres are welcome – it’s about “how” and not about “what”, about DIY, community and a wide musical range representing Berlin’s musical diversity and the city’s various niches and scenes.
The Anna Thompsons | Bleeding Through
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=U3lUXJnqYbw
It has to be unheard of – and the quality has to be right. There’s a lot to discover! After being being held at Bar25 and Kater Holzig, the festival is moving again.
The move away from the banks of the river Spree is painful – but the new location, ://about blank right at Ostkreuz promises a spacious, Elysian, paradise-like garden.
Thunderegg | They Kissed, They Kissed
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=tFFTyKMWKhw
11 bands and solo acts will play on 2 stages, followed by an after party at nearby underground club Antje Øklesund with 3 additional live acts.
Phoebe Kreutz blends super-tight lyrics with catchy little melodies to create literate, bittersweet songs about all kinds of stuff- Russian literature, cave paintings, tacos and, of course, kissing.
Phoebe Kreutz | Oh Elizabeth I
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=F2tMIZuW0YU
Dibs aka Dibson T Hoffweiler is a musician living in Oakland, California after an eight year tenure as a fixture in New York City’s anti-folk scene. He’s performed with Huggabroomstik, Urban Barnyard, Cheese on Bread, Old Hat, and plenty of other acts. Since moving west in 2010, he’s focused on acoustic guitar as a solo instrument.
Islaja is Merja Kokkonen, a visual artist and musician living and working in Berlin, Germany. Islaja records her music at home using a rainbow of instruments to accompany her personal vocal delivery sang in Finnish. She has already played numerous large festivals including All Tomorrows Parties curated by Thurston Moore.
Islaja | Pimeyttä Kohti
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=8nerC4QhU2g
Thunderegg is a band/recording project, led by Will Georgantas, that has been around since 1995. They started in Connecticut, were based in and around Brooklyn for fifteen years, and now Will is operating out of San Francisco. Depending on how you count, there are somewhere between twelve and a gazillion Thunderegg albums, and hundreds of songs.
MyKey is a singer/songwriter from the Southern German mountains who landed in Sweden via Berlin. Her debut cassette “Thinking of Roofs” is not that unlike the long undiscovered records by “lost legends” like Sibylle Baier or Connie Converse. It has the potential to be re-discovered, in about three decades, and people will be excited to get a glimpse into these sweet and personal songs, all glued together by field recordings and tape hiss.
Steffen Basho-Junghans
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=1lgHrGV9ZeY
German acoustic guitarist Steffen Basho-Junghans has so convincingly furthered the Takoma-era steel string concepts of John Fahey and Robbie Basho that in his hands the instrument’s potential once more feels limitless.
Toby Goodshank made his high-profile musical debut playing acoustic guitar in The Moldy Peaches. Goodshanks style, while usually centered around his solo guitar and singing abilities, draws from a variety of pop and underground art and musical influences and employs many instrumental textures.
Toby Goodshank | Truth Jump Fall
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=P5MrPQGpHOk
If adoptive Berliner Allie with a voice like a whisper has just revived Jeddy 3 as the title track to his third album “Uncanny Valley”, it’s not only to give a heartfelt nod to Grandaddy, the recently re-grouped garage-space-combo headed by analog synth disciple Jason Lytle. It’s also a reference to the underlying theme at the core of his debut for Clouds Hill. Namely: deep within this uncanny valley of mystical promise lies the easy frustration of disappointment.
The Anna Thompsons are a Canadian/Spanish four scoop banana split topped with potato chips from Berlin. Inspired by a vast spectrum of music that ranges from Heart’s Dreamboat Annie, to Dead Moon, to The Zit Remedy, their corpus touches on many themes that include Grace Jones, creepy guys, unicorns, and the economic crisis in Spain.
A.J. Holmes & The Hackney Empire | A 13 Trunk Road to the Sea
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=hdXsm81FkBo
From the depths of Hackney come a band that are taking over the world with their unique blend of Afro pop with a home grown British sensibility. They are A.J. Holmes & The Hackney Empire. Fusing African influences with classic London narratives in the vein of Ian Dury and Squeeze, AJ Holmes and The Hackney Empire have created a feel-good soundtrack for 21st century tropical pearly kings and queens.
Futuristic nostalgia with minimal percussion and echoey guitar riffs with a lyrical bent towards the macabre dada world of dreams. FENSTER plays de-constructed pop music, layering subtle distortions, melodic chords and city soundscapes under dream narratives. Their sound and recording style has analog warmth, exploring the relationship between machine errors in their circuit bended beats and the tactile use of objects and instrumentation.
The Burning Hell | Grown-Ups
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=nEEqkT6GCW8
The Burning Hell is the alter-ego of songwriter and ukulele-slinger Mathias Kom. He and his band have garnered acclaim for their hyperactive live shows and their caustic yet sincere lyrics, believing as they do that songs about the inevitability of death can also be fun to dance to.
For the complete lineup and a lot more information, visit the website: downbytheriverberlin.tumblr.com
Down By The River Festival 2013
presented by Fourtrack on Stage, Mohair Sam & amSTARt
Saturday, 06 July 2013 | 14:00 CET
:// about blank | Markgrafendamm 24C | 10245 Berlin/Friedrichshain
downbytheriverberlin.tumblr.com | aboutband.net
