My Berlin Soundtrack (Vol 2): 2003 - 2010
(Peaches and I feeling ourselves / Columbiahalle - Berlin 2002)
For the second installment of my Berlin soundtrack, I turn to friends and family.
The following (and again, far from exhaustive) list features tunes that not only recall very specific moments of my early years living in the German capital, but also music that I feel more people should know about.
As I imagine the movie of my life, this is the worldwide smash soundtrack. So seek this stuff out! You’ll be glad you did.
Kid & Khan - Washing Machine
This album is a combo-clash between electronic entertainer (and my partner in Captain Comatose) Khan, and legendary punk musician Kid Congo Powers ( a la Gun Club, Cramps and more). Khan and Kid started dating and making music together, leading to an eventual double album’s worth of material released on Berlin indy label Transolar. This tune repeats the universally relatable lyric ‘I’m not human, I’m a washing machine.’ Bad English, indeed.
Electronicat - Flacon D’Etoile
Fred Bigot, aka Electronicat, was merging noisy drum beats and noisier guitars long before it was trendy, and quite often better than most. One day, he gave me this CD called Birds Want To Have Fun, which is one of his rarer releases. It’s worth seeking out for this gem if you like Jesus and Mary Chain influenced electronic psychedelia. Yup, that’s a thing. Listen.
Jamie Lidell - When I Come Back Around
Some of my fondest Berlin memories involve playing and touring with this magnificent singer, producer and songwriter. By the early naughts, Jamie’s bonkers solo gigs were well known. For his second album, he teamed up with Mocky to deliver a more roots-y yet still modern LP called 'Multiply.' They invited me to pee a keyboard solo on this hot jam. I thought my timing was bad, but they assured me; first take, best take. I’m glad they did.
Kaos - Feel Like I Feel feat. Snax
Collaboration was the word back then and one of the most obvious examples is this guest-star loaded offering from Dennis Kuan aka DJ Kaos. Ironically titled Hello Stranger, this album seemed to have half of Berlin on it. Along with ex-Raptures bassist Matty Safer, I’m featured here on keys and chirping about the ecstasy of feeling. The original here is a dense and echoey thing. There’s also a more spacious remix by The Glimmers worth checking out.
Molly Nilsson - Never Coming Home
I was taken immediately with Molly when a friend invited me along to see her play. She later endeared herself to me by admitting she had to fight herself to not write more songs about drinking. I'm proud to say we performed a couple drum machine and piano cabaret shows together. We would play this one of hers; a beautiful homage to staying out all night, being young and wild, and yes, drinking.
Namosh - Cold Cream
Namosh and I dated for a while my first year here. He was hesitant about sharing his own music to me at first, but that thankfully didn't last when he played me this one. ‘Cold Cream’ is still a staple of his extraordinary one man shows today. I like to think that the cold cream idea comes from the film Mommy Dearest, which I turned him on to. If you’ve seen it, you know what scene I’m talking about.
Snax - Oo She She Wa Wa feat. Peaches
Here's a cover of one of my favorite songs from Prince’s satellite project Apollonia 6. The original was spoke-sung by member Susan and it’s an exhilarating piece of camp bombast. When I arrived in Berlin, I was determined to perform it with one of the only artists I know who would really get it. Peaches, of course. We first performed it at Panorama Bar, where my girl waited around until 6AM to sing it with me. An excerpt from that gig is at the beginning. 'Take something off!'
Cobra Killer - Let’s Have A Problem
Gina V. D'Orio and Annika Line Trost, the two artists behind Cobra Killer, have put on some of the wildest shows I've ever seen. Decked out in chic dresses and high heels, over a soundtrack of ultra noisy 60's garage-style beats, Gina and Annika cover themselves with red wine and bellow incredibly catchy tunes like this one. This song, with the greatest title ever, always reminds me of the cute gay boys that danced to it at Berlin Hilton. But that's another story.
Francois Cactus - You Can’t Put Yours Arms Around A Memory
Francois Cactus is a true Berlin legend. Transplanted from France years ago, she swiftly learned German and established herself in the punk, art, writing and music scene. Fronting the influential and multi lingual electro-pop group Stereo Total along with Brezel Göring, Francois’ voice and humour are instantly recognizable. Here's a great cover of a Johnny Thunders track, where she adds a bit of sweetness to broken hearted melancholy.
Electrosexual feat. Scream Club - Break You Nice (Divider Remix)
Electrosexual is my friend and analogue synth freak Romain Frequency. Unfortunately I never got to see Scream Club, aka Cindy Wonderful and Sarah Adorable, live before they went on hiatus. Released on Romain's excellently named label Rock Machine and remixed by another Berlin resident and so-called 'Italo Disko Master' DJ Divider, this was THE sound for a while. Still is. Get into the chorus and I dare you not to dance to it!