Oceanic

The dreaded minimal monster has stamped its slick ex-pat feet all over Berlin to such an extent that the rest of the world has a tendency to forget about the array of other music which has sprung forth from the city in recent years. But although they might often be overshadowed by the headline-grabbing party DJ scenesters, there is such a considerable list of homegrown Berlin labels who are doing their bit for free-thinking independent music with releases that are seriously impressive in terms of both quality and variety that I have often wondered exactly why and when the minimal beast gained the upper hand: labels like Shitkatapult, Kitty Yo, K7, DiskoB, BPitch Control, Monika Enterprise…

The afore-mentioned Monika Enterprise is run by the rather legendary Gudrun Gut, former Einsturzende Neubauten member and fitting ambassador to Berlin for all things eclectic, open-minded and musical. Together with the equally legendary Thomas Fehlmann (of Kompakt / The Orb fame), she hosts the Ocean Club Radio show on RBB‘s Radio Eins station, where the pair play a weekly dose of “Musica Obscura” from recent decades. Minimal is by no means banned, but thankfully nor are any other genres, with a music policy that is refreshingly wide-ranging and inclusive. If you don’t happen to live in Berlin to listen live from 1am on Sunday night / Monday morning, you can catch up with recent shows in the audio archive (streaming only unfortunately – but I know I for one would appreciate a podcast!).

And if you click on the 25th July show before it slips off the bottom of the list, about half an hour in you will find a special DJ set from our own Nathan Fake, the tracklist for which is below. “Nathan Fake is not a DJ, and probably never will be,” you may remember Nathan once wrote on his website, around the time that he first started taking live bookings. You may also have noticed a smattering of Nathan Fake DJ outings here and there since then, which shouldn’t be interpreted as any kind of inconsistency on his part: whilst Nathan certainly isn’t about to climb onto the superstar techno DJ hamster wheel, it turns out he does occasionally like playing records that he likes at people. But hey, doesn’t everyone?

1) ‘I’m Not Comfortable…’ – John Callaghan
2) ‘Bwoon Dub’ – Analord
3) ‘Formenverwandler’ – Der Zyklus
4) ‘Nlogax’ – Boards of Canada
5) ‘Dance-floor stalker’ – Flying Lotus
6) ‘Bang Bang’ – Drexciya
7) ‘Oolaa’ – Orbital
8) ‘Gates’ – Luke Abbott
9) ‘Timing, Forget the Timing’ (Kerrier District Remix) – Black Devil Disco Club
10) ‘Times is Weird’ – John Maus
11) ‘Cold War Acid’ – Ceephax
12) ‘Where’s Your Girlfriend’ – Analord

The Ocean Club Radio show meanwhile is about to clock up 500 episodes, an occasion which Gudrun and Thomas have chosen to celebrate with a special concert at Berlin’s Kantine / Berghain on September 5th, featuring live performances from them both and also Monika’s leading light Barbara Morgenstern, alongside contributions from other members of Gudrun’s Ocean Club: Chica Paula and Shitkatapult-man Daniel Meteo on DJ duty, poetry from art-man Wolfgang Betke, and a spot of mermaid-ness from nightlife character Mermaid Jaculin. Sounds like a riot.