This month: Beatles great Paul McCartney says good evening, Berlin; Swedish garage rock heavyweights The Hives make a bid to become your new favourite band; fellow Swedes The Sounds pop in with their perky brand of new wave; American dance music phenomenon Hercules and Love Affair blind us with their talent; winsome wordsmith Regina Spektor drops by to weave her tales; iconic Japanoise artist Merzbow plays Berlin for the first time in six years; and Berlin’s own icon Peaches plays Columbiahalle.

Check out our top pick this month:

Merzbow & Balázs Pándi
Monday 14 December (8 pm) @ HAU 2
(Japanoise)
www.myspace.com/merzbox

Merzbow, the stage name for Tokyo-born noise artist Masami Akita, is the quintessential post-modern Renaissance man.

One of most influential figures in noise music today (he is often credited with single-handedly founding Japanoise, the portmanteau for Japan’s bustling noise scene), the 52-year-old musician draws on an impressive range of cultural and sonic movements to craft his sound: from collage, junk art, Dada, Art Brut and Surrealism to progressive rock, psychedelic music, Japanese radio pop and the porn and bondage scene.

The result, as the title of one of his albums wryly points out, is often “uneasy listening.” Yet, for the large and dedicated cult of fans that worship Merzbow, this auditory concentration pays off in a big way. Merzbow has been seminal to the evolution of noise music. As one reviewer noted in Dusted Magazine, “Merzbow's music stands not just arguably but definitively at the forefront of noise.” 

Buffering his Renaissance man qualifications, Merzbow also runs two music labels, writes books on art, the avant-garde and postmodernism and is the editor of various Japanese magazines.

Since popping up in Japan’s underground tape trading community in 1979, Merzbow has released literally hundreds of works. The Wikipedia page dedicated exclusively to his discography currently counts his studio releases at 187 and his live albums at 30.

If anything binds these musical entities together, it is his dedication to constant innovation. Merzbow launched his career using tape loops and closely recorded sounds, started using digital technologies in the 1990s and, in 2000, began integrating laptops into his performances.

The Raveonettes

Monday 7 December (8 pm) @ Lido
(Alt rock)
www.myspace.com/theraveonettes









Beak>

Monday 7 December (8 pm) @ Magnet
(Prog rock)
www.myspace.com/beak2009









Wavves    

Tuesday 8 December (9 pm) @ Bang Bang Club
(Pop)
www.myspace.com/wavves

Kristofer Åström

Tuesday 8 December (8 pm) @ Magnet
(Alt, acoustic, punk)
www.myspace.com/kastrom









The Notwist

Wednesday 9 December (8 pm) @ Astra
(Ambient, indie, punk)    
www.myspace.com/thenotwistnow









Julian Plenti

Wednesday 9 December (8 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Indie rock, alt rock)
www.myspace.com/julianplenti








Escape the Fate

Wednesday 9 December (8 pm) @ Magnet
(Rock)
www.myspace.com/escapethefate









The Sounds

Thursday 10 December (8 pm) @ Fritzclub im Ostbahnhof
(New wave)
www.myspace.com/thesounds









The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble

Thursday 10 December (8 pm) @ Maria im Ostbahnhof
(Jazz, post-rock, electronica)
www.myspace.com/tkde









Hercules and Love Affair

Thursday 10 December (8 pm) @ Berghain
(Experimental, dance)
www.myspace.com/herculesandloveaffair









Biffy Clyro

Sunday 13 December (8 pm) @ Postbahnhof
(Alt, pop, rock)
www.myspace.com/biffyclyro









Regina Spektor    

Monday 14 December (8 pm) @ Huxley’s
(Acoustic, alt, pop)
www.myspace.com/reginaspektor









Merzbow & Balasz Pandi

Monday 14 December (8 pm) @ HAU 2
(Japanoise)
www.myspace.com/merzbox









Die Goldenen Zitronen

Wednesday 16 December (8 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Punk rock)
www.myspace.com/goldenenzitronen








Peaches

Wednesday 16 December (8 pm) @ Columbiahalle
(Electro, rock)
www.myspace.com/peaches









K.I.Z.

Friday 18 December (8 pm) @ Astra
(Hip hop)
www.myspace.com/kannibaleninzivil










Chris Wollard & The Ship Thieves

Monday 21 December (8 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Indie, folk)
www.myspace.com/shipthieves









Superpunk

Wednesday 30 December (8 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Punk)
www.myspace.com/einmalsuperpunkbitte






Jessica Dorrance/Expatica