…So sang Marlene Dietrich in the 1940s, harking back to her homeland.
Over the last few months of chatting to musicians and browsing networking sites, it’s dawned how many Irish musicians are upping sticks and choosing to gig away from home: Berlin in Germany, to precise.
Perhaps Ireland shares a subconcious affinity with the Germans, having also rebuilt a ravaged economy into a thriving hub of exciting artistic development? Berlin was always a highly cultural city: classical composers Bach and Mendelssohn called it home and today there are a staggering seven symphonic orchestras in the city. Although schmaltzy, the gloriously hedonistic image portrayed in Liza Minelli’s Oscar-winning Cabaret was supposedly an honest representation of the city’s nightlife prior to the horrors of WWII, cementing a reputation as an open community for artists, musicians and those of an independent disposition. The 60s/70s style known as ‘Berlin School’ furthered progressive music with offerings from John Peel’s favourite conceptualists Tangerine Dream whose early forays paved the way for Techno, the biggest revolution in pop music since jive rock in the Fifties. A few years later David Bowie and Brian Eno sought refuge in the city’s creative haven and produced some of the most critically acclaimed material of their careers.

When the wall dividing East from West was demolished in 1989 and the nation’s reunification began, derelict buildings on the old west side, many untouched since the war, were reclaimed by young people looking for seclusion in which to play the ultra-loud Techno. Hundreds of galleries and museums, low cost of living and tolerance for individuality meant that the creative reputation gathered momentum and expanded into continental Europe’s unofficial capital of culture with musicians and artists from all over the world flocking to lay roots there. Several of our home-grown artists now use the capital as a base: Humanzi took a break from the Dubscene rock’n'roll for R’n'R of a different nature and ended up recording the as-yet unreleased follow-up to 2006’s succesful Tremors there. I tracked down some others to find out what influenced their choices in making the move.

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Radio City always has deadly club/gig nights and the trend is set to continue in season Nollaig with what’s looking to be a brilliant do: taking a break from usual DJ duties, Analog Dublin present the city’s first Post-Rock/Shoegaze night, ClubAC30, coming to town on December 15th with home-brew Sweet Jane, Dae Kim and TwinKranes gigging loud alongside a special DJ set by Amusement Parks On Fire.

I have a guestlist give-away for this blinder of a night and all you gotta do is be in it to win it! First person to mail me (naymca [at] gmail.com) with the answer to this pifflin’ easy Q finds their name on da list:
“Which famous Irish shoegaze group recently announced a reunion tour?”

I can’t wait to hear what APoF choose to spin for us from the dark corners…it’s looking to be a spellbinding start to the club. Defo gonna be a great pre-Christmas night out!
Seeya there with long hair!

At 1:30 on Sunday afternoon I was checking MySpace and saw a bulletin from Ham Sandwich: they were playing a free all-ages show as the final 2fm 2moro 2our in less than an hour’s time. I’d promised to bring my kids ice-skating but took a rain-check due to lack of funds (€14 for a child?! Madness!) so instead we whizzled our way to Wexford Street for my six- and seven-year olds’ first concert: Ham Sandwich, Concerto for Constantine and David Geraghty.
We arrived half-way through the Hambo’s second-last song and the kids were wide-eyed and overwhelmed at the front of stage as Podge, Darcy and John ground out the heavy melodies they’re known for, while Niamh gave good writhing and seems to have adopted a very Dirty Epics style of dancing….

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