Festival Editions
Xeno III
Berghain, Am Wriezener Bahnhof, 10243 Berlin → MapTickets: 22 €
29
ThuOn Thursday night, Berghain will be home to an eclectic mix of performers and DJs, each bringing their own attitudes towards and interpretations of an ever-evolving genre.
Certain sound worlds can penetrate somatic tissues so deeply that they turn those tissues inside-out. Gazelle Twin, a British artist fascinated by the duality of decaying body / healthy mind, “was interested in recording [her]self to give the impression of the listener being internalised.” Her visceral musical project comes to Berghain and will display “a constant element of breath-based percussion and gasps which helps get a cross a sense of anxiety – which is usually experienced in the mouth, throat, and chest.” (interview with The Wire).
Joining the same bill will be James Prudhomme aka Suicideyear, a 19-year old native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Prudhomme made a name for himself with the release of his 2013 mixtape, Japan, which mixed trappy hi-hat crystal formations with loops nodding to American mid-century minimalism. Following his Remembrance LP on Daniel Lopatin’s Software Recording Co., he has produced tracks for Yung Lean, Rome Furtune, Main Attrakionz, and Antwon a.o. and remixed even more. The potency of the melancholy-steeped tracks is remarkable for such a young producer, and the penchant for sweet lamentation is just one of the things Suicideyear shares with his equally young colleague Lean – he’s the honourary Sad Boy on the muggier side of the pond.
This programme will also see the new live performance from Evian Christ, who, since the release of his breakthrough mixtape Kings and Them (Tri Angle, 2012), set up a relentless pace of touring and producing several solo follow-up releases, as well as taking part in collaborations ranging from a sound art installation with Matthew Barney to producing a track for Kanye West and remixing a track of Ben Frost’s stunning A U R O R A release. Having last graced the city with his muscular productions back in 2012, Evian will reappear with his latest heavy live A/V performance.
CTM has worked in conjunction with Unsound to host We Will Fail from Warsaw, who will deliver her unique techno aesthetic built from field recordings, tape samples, synthesizers, and electronic drum kits.
London-based experimental techno curator and DJ Volte-Face will play in anticipation of his first EP in March on the affiliated label of his own event series, BleeD.
Amnesia Scanner[INT]
Despite an ever-growing international fan base, little is known about the “Xperienz Designer” duo Amnesia Scanner, which “hails from the anterior cortex of Berlin’s electronic hivemind” (Boomkat). They produced Mykki Blanco’s hit “Booty Bamboo” in late 2013, via which they established reputed ties with UNO NYC.
Volte-Face[UK]
Volte-Face is Casper Clark incarnate: a DJ, promoter, inchoate producer, and the driving force behind London's experimental electronic music event series BleeD.
Gazelle Twin[UK]
Demonic, guttural, and frighteningly astute, Gazelle Twin is the nightmarish figure with a penchant for distorted vocals. She will appear following the release of her most recent release, Pastoral - an acerbic album not for the squeamish.
Suicideyear[US]
In a hypersaturated, post-Internet/post-everything moment in music, Suicideyear's bracingly singular take on Southern rap and trap stands apart. The young Baton Rouge-based producer born James Prudhomme collects sounds and textures from a glut of online sources and style archives, transforming them (as Pitchfork notes) into something of his own.
Evian Christ[UK]
Evian Christ is the formidable moniker of a young British producer making big noise in the dubstep experimental wash that is emerging from today’s bass and electronic scene. Landing almost immediate representation, with his breakthrough mixtape of melodic hip-hop chops, Kings And Them, Joshua Leary was swooped up by TriAngle Records in 2012.
We Will Fail[PL]
Annotated as “peculiar techno” by the artist herself, Aleksandra Grünholz’s We Will Fail pseudonym brings a unique aesthetic of collaged sound work that sentimentally oscillates between grainy drone rattle and atmospheric fragility. Born of a synthesis in field recordings, tape samples, synthesizers and electronic drum kits, Grunholz’s second life is braided into her expression as a graphic designer.
