Half a century ago, the label Free Music Production (FMP) was founded in Berlin by musicians like Peter Brötzmann, Peter Kowald or Alexander Schlippenbach. An initiative of independent musicians, FMP proposed free improvisation as an alternate societal concept, as a conscious opposition to the mainstream.
Improvisation as protest, as a caesura in cultural self-perception. Music as a corrective, a strike against established cultural practices and structures. Events like the Total Music Meeting illustrate the postulation for musical extremism at the time – 50 years ago.
https://soundcloud.com/sunshinesoldier/sets/spoiler
Today, with the KIM Collective announcing their 2018 festival, the backdrop seems similar. A circle of independent musicians joins forces and interjects improvisation into the societal discourse. However, the conditions are vastly different. The agenda is no longer dissociating oneself from society via improvisation. Rather, it is to celebrate the multiplex spectrum of improvisational musics and by that, ensuring the survival of an endangered art form in the labyrinth of today’s online streaming culture.
Life has become more complex, and so has music. Instead of simply bashing prevailing conditions, subversion nowadays has to be done in a more subtle way. Compared to 50 years ago, the concept at work here is more risky, while being equally radical. In an age in which even the postmodern ‚anything goes‘ belongs to the past, getting oneself heard with the unheard-of isn’t a humble project.
It’s about attitude, not about genres; about perspectives versus places of origin. Among the many exciting Berlin-based projects on the festival is Lederkoralle, which combines the aesthetics of Free Jazz with technoid linearity.
KIM Fest
04-05 & 07.04.2018 | Doors 19:30 CET | Starts 20:00 CET
Werkstatt der Kulturen | Wissmanstrasse 32 | 12049 Berlin
kimcollective.com | presale tickets | Event @ Facebook
