This weekend edition of Kiezsalon returns to our familiar stomping grounds, the Musikbrauerei. Following Friday’s lineup of Svitlana Nianio, Romarna Campbell and Atsuko Hatano, it continues Saturday with a focus on Irish music. Traversing the nation’s diverse artistic landscape, we will present dreamy folk musician Anna Mieke, blues revivalist Muireann Bradley making her Berlin debut, electronic music newcomer producer Conor and Gash Collective founder and DJ ELLLL.
Originally from Wicklow, Ireland, Anna Mieke is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist whose lyricism and enveloping compositions straddle the line between folk forms and vivid dreamscapes, drawing on traditional and contemporary motifs. The duality of reality and romanticism forms the thematic core of Theatre, her second album issued by Nettwerk in 2022 that “mines a rich seam of nostalgia and loss – and her extensive travels” as The Guardian summarised in their four-star review of the record.
Muireann Bradley is a 17-year-old fingerpicking guitarist and singer from County Donegal, Ireland, specialising in country, ragtime, and Piedmont blues from the 1920s and 1930s. During the 2020 lockdowns, she began uploading videos to YouTube and quickly gained attention with her rendition of Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues”, leading to an album offer from Tompkins Square. Her album I Kept These Old Blues was released in late 2023, featuring live studio recordings that echo the classic country blues artists of the early 20th century. The Irish Times gave the “impressive and hugely promising” debut four stars.
In his latest musical endeavour, Berlin-based Irish artist Conor is driven by an exploration of dancefloor sounds that juxtapose functionality and abstraction. From ambient and downtempo to industrial and glitch, his eclectic taste converges into a singular, forward-thinking sound that defies easy categorisation.
Utilising pulsating and morphing rhythms, his productions are tied together by sparse melodic ideas complemented by melancholic timbres. With the premiere of his live set, Conor is also celebrating the upcoming release of his debut album on Digital in Berlin.
We are always happy to be back at the 120-year-old building of the Musikbrauerei in Prenzlauer Berg. Tucked away between Greifswalder Straße and Volkspark Friedrichshain, the former Schneider brewery is a rare building in former East Berlin for having survived, unspoiled, the creeping tide of gentrification. As we usually sell out, we recommend booking tickets in advance.
