In their attempt to avoid the classical visual image, which would mean to “hang pictures on the wall”, the artists re-interpret this gesture in a new way. Even when their works do not produce something visual, an image appears to be their only possible form.

Sanela Jahić | Fire Painting

Both sound sculptures and performances that include many amenities, fire-spectacles or housefly-installations experimenting with controlled “randomness”, all these works deal with the movement of drawing, letting this technical spectacle become the ultimate image itself.

Within these subjects, the role of the artist gains more and more importance. The different interpretations of the observer not only provoke the question “Who is the artist?”, but also reiterate it over and over. In this constellation the image neither represents a result nor a starting point.

It appears to be much more a “porous membrane”, both present and obsolete; dominant and invisible at the same time. In this manner, the exhibition focuses on the artist and not primarily on the artworks, expatiating upon the whole system as machinery.

With works by Sanela Jahić (SI), Takahiro Yamaguchi (JP), Julius Stahl (DE), Daniel Franke (DE), David Bowen (US).

The exhibition DRAWING IN THE AGE OF ELECTRONIC EXPRESSIONS is part of the Transmediale & CTM’s Vorspiel, January 26-29.
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Exhibition Opening: Drawing In The Age Of Electronic Expression
presented by LEAP & CTM.12

Saturday, 28 January 2012 | 20:00 CET
LEAP | (Berlin Carré, 1. Floor) Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13 | 10178 Berlin/Mitte

drawing in the age … at transmediale.de  |  leapknecht.de
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Furthermore the Argentinian, Berlin based duo Mueran Humanos will perform. They are an electronic band in the vein of Suicide, Coil and Silver Apples, but with a unique personality. Experimental but pop, or the other way around. In short, punk psychedelia for the XXI century.

Mueran Humanos | Monstruo

Moreover, Ghazi Barakat (Golden Showers, Boy from Brazil, the Assassinations) introduces his new mutant ethno-psych-doom Pharoah Chromium project.

Last but not least, Kulku complete the evening with their magical mix of primitive music, drones and hoodoo blues, played on acoustic and handmade instruments.
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Jochen Arbeit & Schneider TM, Mueran Humanos, Pharoah Chromium & Kulku LIVE
presented by Future Days Booking, amStart and deli.kolder

Dance Performance: Elle Erdman
DJs: Steve Morell, Abraxas Rebels

Saturday, 28 January 2012 | 21:00 CET
.HBC | Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 9 | 10178 Berlin/Mitte

jochenarbeit.com | schneidertm.net | mueranhumanos.com | myspace.com/kulku | hbc-berlin.de
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The Mindpirates will celebrate with Lionel Williams, a hippie sun child from California, during the greyest of days of Berlin winter 2012. Lionel William’s art, his bright, imaginative world of colors, forms and mystical sensationalism is an exploration into the ancient wisdom and sacred locations of Egyptian priests, Sufi mystics, Indian philosophers, Mexican healers, Asian Buddhists, occultists and many more of the planet’s religious and visionary peoples.

Vinyl Williams | Open Your Mind

His music (produced under the moniker Vinyl Williams) is an attempt at creating “sonic matrices,” which are combinations of sounds that beneficially affect the body. The effects are released at the points where frequencies intersect, where certain tones, chords, and patterns come together to tap into the human psyche.

You are invited to share his stunning artwork — collages on paper and film — and to come together with a musical community for a seven-night series of one-off jam sessions.

For each of these seven nights a great pool of musicians and artists has been invited, like Raz Ohara and the Odd Orchestra, Jochen Arbeit (Einstürzende Neubauten), Verity Susman (Electrelane), Manfred Kage, Jens Zygar, Valerie Renay (Noblesse Oblige), Travis Stewart aka Machinedrum, Miguel De Pedro aka Kid 606, Infinite Livez, Sergei, Anika (Annika Henderson), Hopek Quirin, Sneak-Thief and more.

During the course of the week, all the musicians will join and jam with Lionel Williams and the Mindpirates, leading a trip into the undefined beautiful nowhere.
Session 1: Sun, 22nd / 18:00 – with LW, Jens Zygar & Manfred Kage
Session 2: Mon, 23rd / 19:00 - with LW & Raz Ohara and the Odd Orchestra
Session 3: Tue, 24th / 19:00 – with LW, Sergei & Anika
Session 4: Wed, 25th / 19:00 – with LW, Jochen Arbeit & Noblesse Oblige
Session 5: Thu, 26th / 19:00 – with LW, Machinedrum & Kid 606
Session 6: Fri, 27th / 20:00 – with LW, Infinite Livez & V. Susman (Electrelane)
Session 7: Sat, 28th / 21:00 – with LW, the Mindpirates, Sneak-Thief & friends
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Exhibition: Lionel Williams – Let The Sun Shine In
presented my the Mindpirates

Opening: Sunday, 22 January 2012
Exhibition: 22 January – 28 January 2012

Sunday, 22 January 2012 | 18:00 CET
Mindpirates | Schlesische Strasse 38, Haus F (3rd Hinterhof) | 10997 Berlin/Kreuzberg

lionelwilliams.com | mindpirates.org
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In his stream-of-consciousness monologues combined with beautifully mastered beatbox interludes, Reggie shifts seamlessly between different personas, musical styles, accents, voices, and even – yes – bodies.

He may be speaking in British cockney to explain how many Xanax he has taken, or as a ghetto youth with extensive knowledge of economic theory (“this world be fucking crazy, when you be looking at some virtualized numbers that symbolize shit that don’t exist”). Whoever witnesses this hilarious psychotic maze, goes through a succession of mental orgasms accompanied by endless fits of laughter.

Hailed as the “man of towering genius” by Brian Eno and a “comic genius” by GQ, Reggie Watts won the 2006 Andy Kaufman Comedy Award and regularly performs as the opening act for the popular Conan O’Brien TV show in the US. He also contributed two tracks to DFA Records’ Spaghetti Circus and performed with dance- punk band LCD Soundsystem at their final shows in Madison Square Garden. Reggie regularly performs at PS122 in NY.

Reggie’s first ever show in Berlin will be supported by the amazing mysterious witchcraft genius locally-brewed music performance project that will carefully prepare your mind and your body for Reggie’s psychedelic mental trip and then will blow off whatever it is that is remaining.

Based in Berlin, Germany, WIOTCH is Baltimore-native Kandis Williams and New Yorker Jordan Nassar. Taking inspiration from the industrial, noise and goth elements and sounds of the Witch House genre, WIOTCH creates chopped-and-screwed originals and mangled covers with slow, dirty grind beats for a more hood-witch experience.

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Reggie Watts LIVE
Support by WIOTCH

Sunday, 29 Januar 2012 | 20:00 CET
Festsaal Kreuzberg | Skalitzer Str. 130 | 10999 Berlin/Kreuzberg

reggiewatts.com | festsaal-kreuzberg.de
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The sonic works of John Wiese categorised as harsh noise create feelings of unease in even the most seasoned experimental music audience. They can be recognised by their constant, idiosyncratic and unpredictable changes in dynamics – from total loudness to absolute silence – and cuts between drastically different sound materials.

John Wiese | Sad Psychics

Eli Keszler is a composer, artist and multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. In performance, he often plays drums, bowed crotales and guitar in conjunction with his installations. In his ensemble compositions, he uses extended strings, motors, crotales, horns and mechanical devices to create his sound.

He balances intense harmonic formations with acoustic sustain, fast jarring rhythm, mechanical propulsion, dense textures and detailed visual presentations.

Bill Kouligas is a sound artist, composer and designer who also runs the sound art label PAN. He has collaborated with the likes of Joseph Hammer, Destroy All Monsters, C Spencer Yeh, John Olson, Christian Weber, Chris Corsano, RLW, Kouhei Matsunaga among others.

Dirk Paesmans is a part of the Jodi collective together with Joan Heemskerk, and has since the mid-1990s been creating original artworks for the World Wide Web.
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The Immanent Lie:
John Duncan, John Wiese, Eli Keszler, Bill Kouligas & Dirk Paesmans  LIVE

Sunday, 29 January 2012 | 19:30 CET
NK Projekt | Elsenstr. 52/ 2nd rear building, 2nd floor | 12059 Berlin/Neukölln

johnduncan.org | john-wiese.com | elikeszler.com | nkprojekt.de
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In addition to a comprehensive music program at HAU, Berghain, Passionskirche, Gretchen, Kater Holzig and Horst Krzbrg, a discourse series developed in collaboration with the philosopher, psycho-historian and author Andreas L. Hofbauer will address the festival’s theme by pursuing questions concerning art, theory, and music.

Jana Winderen | Isolation/Measurement

A few of the many highlights are:
30 years of Touch: a birthday celebration of experimental music’s most forward-thinking imprint with Eleh, Jana Winderen, Hildur Gudnadottir (photo below), Charles Matthews, Marcus Davidson and The Eternal Chord.

A revisitation of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab with Works by Conrad Schnitzler, Wolfgang Seidel and his Free Arts Lab project, Qluster (Hans-Joachim Roedelius + Onnen Bock; photo below), Borngräber & Strüver and Köhn.

Nurturing open experimentation between music, art, and performance in the late 1960s, the Zodiak Free Arts Lab provided one of the crucial focal points for the musical awakening of artists and bands such as Kluster, Ash-Ra Temple, Tangerine Dream, Human Being, and more.

The multi-day program will begin by highlighting several of the Zodiak’s key figures and includes Wolfgang Seidel performing Conrad Schnitzler’s “Cassette Concert”, as well as Schnitzler’s rarely presented automated performance on disklavier, the “Piano Works”.

Later on in the week, other contemporary artists with a similar experimental rigour will transform the HAU 2 venue into a special listening environment: Grouper & Jefre Cantu Ledesma; Catherine Christer Hennix and the Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, Pre-Cert Home Entertainment (photo below).

Also performing: Mouse on Mars, Mohn (Wolfgang Voigt aka GAS & Jörg Burger aka The Modernist), Ben Frost with Borgar Magnason and Shazad Ismaily, Sendai (Peter van Hoesen + Yves de Mey), Éliane Radigue, Balam Acab, Tim Hecker and many many more. Check out the whole program on the CTM2012 website.
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Club Transmediale 2012 – CTM.12 – Festival

Monday, 30.01.2012 to Sunday, 05.01.2012
Different Venues | Berlin

ctm-festival.de
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He performed in various covers bands and temporarily studied jazz at the Royal Academy of Music and pop music at Westminster University, until an outtake recording of Otis Redding’s “The Dock of the Bay” inspired him to take a more stripped-back direction.

After performing as a session musician for former Bill Withers drummer James Gadson and Tinie Tempah producer Labrinth, he began performing across the capital’s live circuit, where he was discovered by the Bees’ Paul Butler, who invited him to record material at his Isle of Wight studio.

Michael Kiwanuka  | Tell Me A Tale

After signing to Mumford & Sons’ Communion label in 2011, he released two EPs, Tell Me a Tale and I’m Getting Ready, before supporting Adele on her U.K. tour and finishing third behind Emeli Sandé and Maverick Sabre on the Brits Critics Choice short list.

A year later, he followed in the footsteps of Jessie J, Florence + the Machine, and Ellie Goulding when he was announced as the winner of the prestigious BBC Sound of 2012 poll and shortly thereafter released his debut single and album, both titled Home Again.
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Michael Kiwanuka  LIVE

Monday, 30 January 2012 | 20:00 CET
Roter Salon in der Volksbühne | Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz | 10178 Berlin/Mitte

michaelkiwanuka.com | roter-salon-berlin.de
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They put up a MySpace page for Teengirl Fantasy, but it was when their songs were featured on the blog 20 Jazz Funk Greats that they gained an audience.

Remixes of artists including tourmates Telepathe and a radically reworked version of Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body,” along with the downloadable EP TGIF and singles on Dick Move and Merok, furthered the buzz around the band.

Teengirl Fantasy | Dancing in Slow Motion

Takahashi and Weiss moved to the Netherlands to study at Amsterdam’s Gerrit Rietveld Academie for four months, but returned to Oberlin for 2010′s spring semester.

Teengirl Fantasy’s full-length debut, 7AM, arrived in September of that year on True Panther/Merok.

ButterClock is a young Parisian who makes some great gothic downtempo along the lines of The XX or Bat For Lashes. It’s atmospheric and slow and very French, though according to Facebook they’re a «gathering of creatures from Nevada».

ButterClock takes you off on a blurred red wine coma of journey that leaves you curled up asleep in the back of a deserted theatre, the strains of the sub base from next doors club filtering through the dusty walls.
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Teengirl Fantasy & Butterclock  LIVE

Dj: Green Flash

Wednesday, 01 February 2012 | 21:00 CET
Naherholung Sternchen | Beolinastrasse 7 | 10178 Berlin/Mitte

myspace.com/teengirlfantasy | myspace.com/lauraandtheclock | naherholung-sternchen.de
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In Christy & Emilys music, we find unconventional rockers with Brazilian baiao rhythms seated in a psychedelic netherworld, suicide ballads invoking the sordid tales in the Harry Smith Anthology and chords borrowed from Schumann and Liszt with a chorus that nods to Brian Wilson.

Christy & Emily | Kings & Monsters

Christy learned to play guitar from a “Metallica – Ride The Lightning” tablature book, and started playing in bands during her stay at the Rhode Island School of Design. She got exposed to a lot of good and noisy bands going to shows at the now extinct Fort Thunder.

Christy also plays guitar and sings in a punk band called the Totallys that gigs regularly in NYC. In addition she was the drummer for a psych rock band called the Sumerians.

Emily is a classically trained pianist who has studied at the New England Conservatory, the Oberlin Conservatory and Columbia University. In September 2009 her recording of the entire works of Anton Webern for soprano and piano with Jody Pou was released on the Shsk’h label to international acclaim.

She has contributed to the recordings and liveperformances of Brooklyn rock bands Oneida (Jagjaguar) and Oakley Hall (Merge) and has premiered the music of Elliott Sharp, Susie Ibarra, Matt Welch and many others.

Digital in Berlin recommended! We are giving away 2 x 2 tickets for “Christy & Emily”. Just send a mail to win@digitalinberlin.de with “Christy & Emily” as the subject.
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Christy & Emily  LIVE

Sunday, 12 February 2012 | 19:00 CET
Roter Salon in der Volksbühne | Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz | 10178 Berlin/Mitte

christyandemily.com | roter-salon-berlin.de
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Born on April 5, 1990, in Gnas, Austria, and raised on a pig farm, Plaschg began writing and performing music on piano as a teenager and ultimately went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

Soap&Skin | Marche Funèbre

She made her commercial recording debut as Soap & Skin in 2008 with an eponymous four-track EP. The following year at age 18 she released her debut album. Comparisons were often drawing between Plaschg and celebrated female singer/songwriters such as Cat Power, Nico, Kate Bush, and Björk.

Now 21, her new album features a cover of Desireless’ Europop hit ‘Voyage Voyage’, and was also apparently inspired by the sudden death of her father in 2009.
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Soap&Skin  LIVE
with Ensemble

Dj: Falko Teichmann

Sunday, 12 February 2012 | 19:00 CET
Volksbühne | Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz | 10178 Berlin/Mitte

soapandskin.com | volksbuehne-berlin.de
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He has released numerous albums on labels from around the world & has authored several books of prose and poetry. Even though he likes to keep the arts well seperated, both his poems as well as his music share the same freeness of approach and can either represent a “stream of consciousness”, “spontaneous composition” or a carefully edited and fully composed work.

Aidan Baker | Twentyfour Hours

On his various recordings, he has explored many different sounds, structures and sources, but he is mostly associated with the minimal guitar patterns, delicately treated to create tender drones, which have become his trademark.

Time slowly looses its meaning, but if you listen carefully, you will hear a distant beat, a rhytmical recital and themes locking into each other like rhymes.

Baker shares the stage of the West Germany club with A-sun Amissa. The trio produces a dense, drone-like atmosphere accompanying evocative, melodic string sections and intertwining guitars.

The live show features sections of the recorded output combined with improvisation to unlock new movements and progressions in the music.
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Aidan Baker & A-Sun Amissa  LIVE

Wednesday, 15 January 2012 | 20:00 CET
West Germany | Skalitzer Str. 133 | 10999 Berlin/Kreuzberg

brokenspineprods.wordpress.com | slowsecret.com/a-sun-amissa | West Germany at lastfm
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Being the first Domino French signing, Fránçois and The Atlas Mountains are ready to spread their wings over indie pop’s vast international landscape. With vivid looks and a slender body, Fránçois builds up castles in Saintonge with Moroccan mountains, British phlegm and sturdy friendships.

Francois & the Atlas Mountains | Royan

After seven years of passionate gigs and road trips across Europe, Fránçois & The Atlas Mountains convey a magnetic presence on stage. A deep sense of lightness and sincerity sets in as voices, keyboards and African percussion blend in an instant pop.

Written between Bristol, Bordeaux and Saintes and weathered on the road and polished in Dakar, the songs on the new album reflect a strong bond between the band’s members and their relatives. Recorded live in an old wooden dance hall of Saintonge, the backbone of these tracks stresses the instinctive nature of the recording.
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Francois & the Atlas Mountains  LIVE

Thursday, 16 February 2012 | 20:00 CET
Festsaal Kreuzberg | Skalitzer Str. 130 | 10999 Berlin/Kreuzberg

myspace.com/francoisinbristol | festsaal-kreuzberg.de
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Madlib, J Dilla (RIP), 3 Chairs, 4 Hero, Mark Ernestus, ?uestlove, François K, Flying Lotus – the list is endless – have all blessed the turntables. It’s no surprise that Theo Parrish has his only EU monthly residency there. Floating Points too.

Floating Points | Sais

All this has been made possible thanks to the vision of one man, Abdul Forsyth – better known as Ade, almost 2 decades ago. Originally from Nigeria, the Plastic People owner is an incredible DJ too.

Highly respected and renowned for his unique style, playing a Jay Dee or Moodymann record together with some obscure avant-garde jazz or beautiful rare Ethiopian soul.

So to give a proper tribute to a place that had a huge influence on our musical choices, we are more than blessed to welcome Abdul Forsyth together with the young and talented producer, Sam Shepherd aka Floating Points for a special back to back session on the 21st January.

Besides the night, a selection of some of the legendary line-ups and greatest artworks made by the designer Ali Augur for the London club will be exhibited from mid-December at HHV Record store.
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Plastic People Special – with Floating Points & Abdul Forsyth  LIVE
presented by J.A.W.

Saturday, 21 January 2012 | 23:00 CET
Festsaal Kreuzberg | Skalitzer Str. 130 | 10999 Berlin/Kreuzberg

soundcloud.com/floatingpoints | plasticpeople.co.uk | festsaal-kreuzberg.de
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In addition the Feedbackorchester can be regarded as a Berlin Noise Supergroup, featuring Guenther Schickert (Samtvogel), Dario Lehner (Metabolismus), Hendrik Kröz (Miwon), Andreas Meyer (Antihairball), Giles Schumm (Les Hommes Sauvages), Kerl Fieser (Ex-Mutter) and the renowned artist Anselm Reyle.

Feedbackorchester | Live in Berlin

The concert places of the Feedbackorchester are always deliberately chosen. They already performed at the Stasi headquarters and the Parochialkirche in Berlin, the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig, and now at the Friedenskirche Charlottenburg.
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Feedbackorchester  LIVE

Sunday, 22 Januar 2012 | 18:00 CET
Friedenskirche | Bismarckstr. 40 | 10627 Berlin/Charlottenburg

feedbackorchester.de | die-friedenskirche.de
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Jim Avignon has long been a trademark , myth and legend as a painter of cartoonish big city panoramas, while as Neoangin he delivers playful songs with multi-layered structures that derive from any genre.

Both his gaudy pictures and his one-and-a half-minute long pop gems, contribute to his particular appeal but above all it is his unique talent to make serious issues consumable as catchy art. A laptop, a microphone and a whimsical melody – the one-man-big-band doesn’t need more to produce the magic balance between melancholy and high spirits.

Neoangin | Middle Class Hell

Günter Reznicek is Nova Huta. A unique character: he, his Casio keyboard and what he defines as “datschadelic music”. All in one. A showman and at the same time a sonorous investigator.

Creator of unstoppable, magnificent and subversive songs that could be defined as gum-robot-pop-disco-electro-dada and at the same time a musician with a long history in noisy experimentation and in the most radical electroacoustic.

Deriving from a secret government project Krach der Roboter was develloped in the early years of the third millenium.

After experiments with self-similarity based code structures, Krach refused to provide it s artificial intelligence to maintain authoritarian society structures and devoted himself relentlessly to music, cooking and feeding ducks.
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Neoangin & Nova Huta & Krach der Roboter  LIVE

Sunday, 22 January 2012 | 20:00 CET
Monarch | Skalitzer STr. 134 | 10999 Berlin/Kreuzberg

jimavignon.com | myspace.com/novahuta | myspace.com/krachderroboter
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