The creators of the project Pop im ausland (PIA) came forth in 2015 to revive the Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg as a location for pop – and even they were surprised by the success of their concert series. Guests from the next neighborhood or a little further afield discovered that there is a friendly club with an exciting program practically right in front of their doorstep. Others traveled from distant districts to experience particular concerts.
The extremely diverse program of PIA, a crucial factor for any organizer, proved to be an audience magnet. And the combinations were indeed rather daring. Postpunk from Geneva and Grime from London may at least seem to have something in common, but serious 1920s Hula and Japanese Power-Noise Pop? Improv on drums and turntables followed by Acid-Klezmer? It turned out that not only the regular crowd, but particularly the curious neighbors are much more open minded than one might have expected.
Such a diverse music program makes an overly homogenous audience impossible, as was seen at PIA 2015. And it was precisely the broadly mixed and enthusiastic audiences that showed just how much a location for exciting pop music is needed around the Helmholtzplatz neighborhood in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district.
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PIA will be opening on Thursday 10.11.16 with:
Gelbart (live)
group A (live)
Freak Ass E (DJ)
Adi Gelbart, who moved from Tel Aviv to Berlin in 2006, is a master of imaginary science fiction soundtracks. In their baroque complexity, his compositions resemble eccentric laboratory test arrangements. His concerts are like experiments that spiral out of control.
The Japanese Avant Synth duo group A is fervently acclaimed for its hypnotic loops of dark synth bass, digitally distorted voice and sharp accents on the violin. Concerts by group A are trips assembled from Neo-Wave, Neo-Boogie and Japanese performance. Accompanied by disturbing visuals, the music of the two women from Tokyo is captivating from the first to the last moment..
DJ Freak Ass E, a native of West Berlin and part-time Israeli, is a big fan and infallible connoisseur of Arabic Wedding music, Tropical Bass and Greek Rembetiko. He is a co-operator of an unnamed Kreuzberger cellar club and a party activist of the highest degree. Above all, he is an extremely versatile and competent entertainer on the decks, especially when it comes to hypnotic pearls from the Orient and Turkish 70s Funk.
Friday, 11.11.16:
Leichtmetall (live)
Felix Kubin and Pia Burnette (live)
Miss Vergnügen (DJ)
Marion Dimbath and Anja Morell make their charming DaDa Pop with brass instruments, ukulele, accordion, bells and electronic beats from the early years of homemade Electro. Leichtmetall, as the Munich duo is called, stands for whimsical poetry, stereo singing and docile floral dresses.
The political, economic and existential long-term crisis offers optimal conditions for the end-of- days visionary Felix Kubin. His agitatorial machinations have multiplied in recent years and there is no end in sight. He is like an octopus between Sci-Fi Pop, conceptual Neo-Classical, radio plays, theater and film. With each of his tentacles, he conducts another collaboration, publication, or performance. His collaboration with the congenial Pia Burnette on vocals is a match made in heaven. The two are supported by Andrew Krell on bass.
Anika Johannsen aka Miss Vergnügen stands for intentional volatility. The resident DJane at the Eschloraque in Berlin Mitte combines amusing cassette recordings of forgotten New German Wave bands with sultry disco-bangers and uptempo waltzes with Elektro Trash. Where she has dug up all of this music will forever remain a secret. Her artist name – a play on words between “Miss Pleasure” and “displeasure” – could not have been more appropriately chosen, because she’s always great fun.
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Saturday, 12.11.16:
Gablé (live)
Nicholas Desamory (live)
Nicholas Desamory (DJ)
Gablé are unpredictability in band format. With the highest level of skill, the French group performs the cheerful deconstruction of every conceivable pop style, from Songwriting to Postrock to Hardcore. They do this with the same deliberate innocence with which they discreetly throw in complex rhythms and lyricism. Gablé concerts are chock full of energy and inventiveness.
The most exciting House album this year is from Nicholas Bussmann and Lucile Desamory, alias Nicholas Desamory: “You only need to know how it feels to believe” is full of warm and simultaneously raw elegance. Dominated by voice, strings and genre-typical basses and filter sweeps, the arrangements on this album unfold their magic through reduction. Desamory and Bussmann will transition virtually seamlessly from their live set into duo DJ set of uplifting dance music. Carte Blanche for Nicholas Desamory!
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Sunday, 13.11.16:
Dennis Wong
Hatam\Hacklander
Dennis Wong / Yan Jun
Dennis Wong aka Sin:Ned / Wong Chung-fai, is an improviser, experimentalist and noise activist from Hong Kong. Wong describes himself as a sound medium and his music as a manifestation of hidden aspects of his personality. His musical practice between sound and noise is characterized by his search for physicality.
The electronics and drums duo Hatam\Hacklander stands for an uncompromising sound in which the depths of rhythmic and unrhythmic sequences are explored. Colin Hacklander and Farahnaz Hatam are the former operators of the NK in Neukölln and as such are closely intertwined with the musical underground of the city. The two connoisseurs of the Berlin improv and noise scene seem to have absorbed the essence of the countless concerts that have taken place on the stage of the NK over the years, then bundled it all in their own music.
To conclude the “Noisy Sunday”, Dennis Wong meets his fellow countryman Yan Jun. Jun’s aesthetic is like a reflection of his personal non-hierarchical musical melting pot, where anything seems possible. His main sound materials are field recordings and noises, with sonic characteristics focusing on high frequencies and the investigation of silence. As an improvising duo, Wong and Jun will musically circle each other in order to bring out each of their unique and special characteristics.
Pop im Ausland
Thursday 10th November – Sunday 13th November 2016 | 21:00 CET Th-Sa + 15:00 CET Sunday
ausland | Lychener Str. 60 | 10437 Berlin/Prenzlauer Berg
ausland-berlin.de/pia-pop-im-ausland
