The Flaming Lips

We’re a bit starved for really awesome festivals here in Berlin, so the likes of you and I are going to have to travel a little bit. Since you’re probably working for €6 an hour in a backpacker hostel or sumfink, money is important to you (although in today’s wintery economice climate, who is that not true for, I ask), so cheap is best.

With one of the strongest lineups of the european festival calendar and held in one of the cheaper of the states local to us, OFF FESTIVAL in Katovice, Poland is perfect for you. I don’t really know you, but I stand behind my wild allegations. €30 for a three day pass is absurdly thrifty, and check out the lineup:

THE FLAMING LIPS (USA)
DINOSAUR JR. (USA)
TINDERSTICKS (UK)
THE FALL (UK)
LENNY VALENTINO (PL)
19 WIOSEN (PL)
A HAWK AND A HACKSAW (USA)
A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS (USA)
ANTI-POP CONSORTIUM (USA)
APTEKA (PL)
ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT (UK)
ART BRUT (UK)
ATLAS SOUND (USA)
BEAR IN HEAVEN (USA)
CASIOKIDS (NO)
CIEŚLAK I KSIĘŻNICZKI (PL)
DAMON AND NAOMI (USA)
DARKSTAR (UK)
DIGITAL MYSTIKZ (UK)
DUM DUM GIRLS (USA)
EFTERKLANG (DK)
ECSTATIC SUNSHINE (USA)
FENNESZ (AUT)
FM BELFAST (IS)
HAPPY PILLS (PL)
HEY (PL)
INDIGO TREE (PL)
JOKER feat. NOMAD (UK)
KIM NOWAK (PL)
KRYZYS (PL)
KUCZ/KULKA (PL)
LACHOWICZ (PL)
LALI PUNA (DE)
LAO CHE (PL)
MATMOS (USA)
MEMORY TAPES (USA)
MEW (DK)
MITCH AND MITCH WITH THEIR INCREDIBLE COMBO (PL)
MUCHY (PL)
NATHALIE AND THE LONERS (PL)
NIWEA (PL)
NO AGE (USA)
O.S.T.R (PL)
PABLOPAVO I LUDZIKI (PL)
PHILIP JECK (UK)
PINK FREUD feat. JERZY MILIAN (PL)
PLUM (PL)
PRAWATT & MIRNA RAY (PL)
PULLED APART BY HORSES (UK)
PUSTKI (PL)
RADIO DEPT. (SE)
RAEKWON (USA)
SHEARWATER (USA)
SHINING (UK)
SOMETHING LIKE ELVIS (PL)
SZELEST SPADAJĄCYCH PAPIERKÓW (PL)
TAKEN BY TREES (SE)
THE HORRORS (UK)
THE PSYCHIC PARAMOUNT (USA)
THE RAVEONETTES (DK)
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH (SE)
THE VERY BEST (MW/UK)
THESE ARE POWERS (USA)
TIDES FROM NEBULA (PL)
TORO Y MOI (USA)
TRANS AM (USA)
TUNE-YARDS (USA)
TUNNG (UK)
VOO VOO plays “SNO-POWIĄZAŁKA” (PL)
WILLIAM BASIŃSKI (USA)
ZS (USA)
ZU (ITA)

…I’d pay thirty quid alone to see Trans Am, but headlined by Flaming Lips with The Raveonettes and The Fall, holy shit.

You can grab tickets from the website here: http://2010.off-festival.pl/?dz=13

…with all the infos that you could ever eat here: http://2010.off-festival.pl/?

This is some dark stuff, I’m not sure what a person should do at a Cold Cave gig, do we all wear black and mourn the loss of our psychological innocence, or just get drunk and weep quietly as the music passes through. In any respect, if you listen to a band and can think that they’re really achieving what they’ve set out to do, then they’re a good band, and these guys have done exactly that. And that’s hard to find.

The gig’s moved to the new Comet Club. Important to know.

Here’s some tracks, to dampen your mood, which is actually the opposite to what it normally means, since if your mood isn’t damp before you get to a Cold Cave gig in Berlin, it certainly will be afterwards.

Cold Cave – Life Magazine

Cold Cave – Life Magazine (Pantha Du Prince remix)

Gig Details

• Artist: Cold Cave
• Date: Thursday, May 20th 2010
• Time: 9:00pm
• Venue: Comet Club
• Address: Falckensteinstr. 47, 10997
• Admission: €12+
• Notes: Moved to the Comet club! from Wikipedia: Cold Cave is an experimental synthpop musical group that formed in Philadelphia and is now based in Manhattan. According to Pitchfork Media the band’s sound “weaves incomprehensibly distorted vocals with bits of synthetic feedback”, but some songs “also come bearing serious hooks.”[1] Cold Cave was founded by Wesley Eisold, former vocalist of several hardcore groups including Some Girls, American Nightmare, XO Skeletons, and Give Up the Ghost[2], and also the founder of publisher Heartworm Press. The group represents his first venture into instrumentation.[1] Cold Cave started as a solo project. It now includes additional live members, Jennifer Clavin, Guy Licatta, and Dominick Fernow (Prurient). After initial releases on Hospital Productions, What’s Your Rupture?, and Heartworm Press, the group is currently signed to Matador Records.[3] who re-released their debut LP, Love Comes Close on November 3, 2009. Cold Cave was among the bands chosen by Matt Groening to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival he is curating in May 2010 in Minehead, England. In February 2010, former Mika Miko frontwoman Jennifer Clavin officially joined Cold Cave, replacing Caralee McElroy.
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Video of a normal Saturday morning in the Black Lips House.

They’re supported by King Kahn and his troops, check this out:

Wicked!

Gig Details

• Artist: Black Lips
• Date: Saturday, May 15th 2010
• Time: 8:00pm
• Venue: Festsaal Kreuzberg
• Address: Skalitzer Straße 130, 10999
• Admission: €15+
• Notes: Black Lips, King Khan & BBQ Show…together at last! From Wikipedia: The Black Lips have a reputation for crazy live shows that have included vomiting (Cole’s medical condition), urination, nudity, band members kissing, electric R.C. car races, fireworks, a chicken, and flaming guitars. The frequency of the group’s outrageous stage antics has declined, as they claim to have matured “a little bit”. Regarding these stage antics, the band said: “People and other bands and club owners can get really mad. We have gotten kicked out of a lot of clubs. Sometimes they want to fight us when it happens. People run away and act scared. But theres nothing to be scared of, its all natural bodily functions. I think it’s funny when people get mad.” Despite frequent media attention surrounding their antics, Swilley says “it doesn’t seem all that crazy to me. It’s not like we have ever done a human sacrifice on stage or anything like that.”
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Gig Details

• Artist: Nada Surf
• Date: Monday, April 26th 2010
• Time: 9:00pm
• Venue: Lido
• Address: Cuvrystraße 7, 10997
• Admission: €21+
• Notes: After the sensational Evergreen album “Lucky” with the timeless classic “Whose Authority” is reported from the three Big Apple with a new album for a visit to Berlin. But this time everything is different: NADA SURF surprise with an album full of cover versions. “If I Had A Hi-Fi” is an ode to her musical socialization and also a nice palindrome. The selection of songs gathered together a wide and sometimes unusual range of artists, ranging from Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Moody Blues, The Go Betweens to lesser-known talents like Mecromina and Bill Fox. Recorded in September of last year in Austin, Texas by Louie Lino, who in the past worked closely with the band and they supported on tour as a keyboardist. Concert attendees can first acquire the new plant as a record before it is published regularly. So it is worth twice the concert not to miss!
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Gig Details

• Artist: We Were Promised Jetpacks
• Date: Saturday, April 24th 2010
• Time: 9:00pm
• Venue: Lido
• Address: Cuvrystraße 7, 10997
• Admission: €12+
• Notes: We Were Promised Jetpacks The Debutalbumvon “These Four Walls” (Fat Cat / PIAS / Rough Trade) was released in June 2009 and since then reaping heady reviewers. The album is discharged, the youthful energy of the band from Scotland (average age 21 years) thundered into the powerful, relentless refrain. Atmospheric guitar walls, tension-building melodies and a memorable Glasgow accent. Even before the first single was released, which reaped a lot Vorschussloorbeeren jetpacks, which let an idea of what a great talent behind the four modest Scots. Meanwhile include contributions the NME, Q magazine and “New Talent bows Guru” Zane Lowe from BBC of the band. Appearances at the SXSW, The Great Escape and support shows with bands such as Glasvegas, The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit led ultimately to the fact that We Were Promised Jetpacks in September 2009 also the leap onto the European mainland venture. The first tour in Germany was sold out, since then the band is also with us in the Kitchen. Press reviews: INTRO: “After the first Hördurchgängen of” These Four Walls “by We Were Promised Jetpacks clears the fog only sparingly. Nevertheless, a thought: That was good. And somehow large. Again and hear again. And again and again. The ubiquitous mix of New Wave and Emorock ignites huge. ” UNCLE SALLY’S: “The comparison may have its weaknesses, but if the new Glasgow Sheffield would then would We Were Promised Jetpacks the new Arctic Monkeys … This band will lie down, even without the promised jet packs a ballistic missile launch. “
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Sarah Blasko out of Sydney is one of Australia’s best kept secrets, maybe that won’t be quite so true however, following her 29 date European tour.

I’ll be the first to say that there’s already too much indie girl with a dream diary pop vocal art pop going around right now, probably always really, but Sarah B presents  the material in a way that’s smart and cool and yet at the same time, still giving the opportunity for a good sing-along, if that’s what you’re all about. And aren’t we all, time after time, here, here, here, here and so on… After having bleached your eyes after seeing them, here’s some real talent:

Gig Details

• Artist: Sarah Blasko
• Date: Thursday, April 22nd 2010
• Time: 8:30pm
• Venue: Frannz Club
• Address: Schoenhauser Allee 36 (Kulturbrauerei), D-10435
• Admission: €18+
• Notes: The charming artist from Australia released their third album, “As Day Follows Night for the first time in Germany. The album produced by Björn Yttling saw at the 5th Continent a sensation and was awarded the prestigious ARIA award. In the world of contemporary pop music Sarah Blasko is a rare phenomenon. On the one hand it is an independent thinker who loves to travel because it broadens the horizon, but hates the Facebook has its own online blog, and you also like to twitters and her penchant for the retro style of the 80s, is found both in their clothing as even in their homes again. The music she hears, but is also related to the spectacular music that makes them go to the critics of the superlatives. On the other hand, the 33-year-old Australian woman with heart and soul of a musician whose album has already been awarded with multiple platinum, whose mantel is constantly pushing for new awards.
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