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Berlin’s music scene, like the weather, is heating up this month, with some well-worn classics (PJ Harvey, Laurie Anderson, Branford Marsalis, Toots and the Maytals, ZZ Top) coming through along with a few of today’s latest phenomenons (Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Beyonce, Metric, Thunderheist). Check out our two top picks for this month:

Andrew Bird, Laura Marling
Wednesday May 6 (9 pm) @ Admiralspalast
(Indie, folk)
www.myspace.com/andrewbird

Chicago-born, classically-trained Andrew Bird has been playing and recording for over a decade now, marching ever forward toward perfecting his operatic folk-pop sound. Instrumentally, Bird is known for his violin, glockenspiel, picked guitar, mellifluous whistling and signature looping. At his high-wire live shows, Bird is a one-man orchestra; feverishly switching from instrument to instrument and using foot pedals to loop and layer noise, Bird slowly builds a thick, complicated wall of sound.

Lyrically, Bird joins the hyperliterary indie cadre of those such as The Decemberists or The Weakerthans. His songs, full of word play, are often labyrinthine, requiring dedicated listening to decipher all the resonances. “The vicious fish was caught unawares in the tenderest of tendrils /Underneath her tender gills,” he sings in “Anonanimal,” off his latest album Noble Beast. While this density can sometimes work against Bird, on his best songs it is also deeply rewarding. On the enigmatic “Not A Robot, But A Ghost,” for instance, Bird fuses Cold War spy imagery with a story of a relationship, producing a surrealist picture of encrypted telephone numbers dripping off bathroom stalls and codes emanating out of someone’s pores.  

Joining him in Berlin is equally compelling folk-pop artist Laura Marling, just off the heels of her Mercury Prize-nominated album Alas, I Cannot Swim.

Other dates in Germany:

Tuesday May 5 (8:00 pm) @ Uebel & Gefahrlich, Hamburg
Sunday May 17 (8:00 pm) @ Rote Fabrik – solo, Zurich

Great Lake Swimmers
Sunday May 10 (9:00 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Ambient, folk)
http://www.myspace.com/greatlakeswimmers

The Toronto-based Great Lake Swimmers, named for Canada’s major bodies of water, make the kind of warmly melancholic folk music that makes you dream of lilting summer days and good books. Their songs, often poetically economic, are also entrancing – enveloping listeners in their soft melodies and simple lyrics. In keeping with their name, GLS’ songs often meditate on the connections between humans and nature. In one song, for instance, lead singer Tony Dekker assumes a bear-like persona who hibernates from the world. “I've been under the ground,” he sings, “Eating prayers from this old book I found / Under the ground / Saving it up / And spending it all.”

Having toured with the likes of Feist and Andrew Bird, GLS is on the road once again with their new album, Lost Channels. The album is more upbeat and dynamic than their previous releases, with songs like the catchy “Pulling On A Line” benefiting from backing by GLS’ 5-piece band. In a city of ubiquitous techno, Berliners looking for a genre change should definitely check out GLS.
 
Other dates in Germany:

Monday May 11 @ UT Connewitz, Leipzig
Tuesday May 12 @ Beatpol, Dresden
Wednesday May 13 @ Kreuz, Fulda
Thursday May 14 @ Manufaktur, Schorndorf

Listings:

Les Reines Prochaines
Saturday May 2 (9:00) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Experimental)
www.myspace.com/lesreinesprochaines

Andrew Bird, Laura Marling
Wednesday May 6 (9 pm) @ Admiralspalast
(Indie, folk)
www.myspace.com/andrewbird

Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
Wednesday May 6 (9 pm) @ Columbiahalle
www.myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs

PJ Harvey
Thursday May 7 (8:00 pm) @ Passionkirche
(Alt, indie)
www.myspace.com/pjharvey

Weasel Walter
Thursday May 7 (9:00 pm) @ Ausland
(Jazz, black metal)
www.myspace.com/weaselwalter

Beyonce
Friday May 8 (8:00 pm) @ O2 World
(Pop)
http://www.myspace.com/beyonce

Laurie Anderson
Friday May 8 (8:00 pm) @ UDK
(Experimental)
www.myspace.com/officialaurieanderson

Richard Swift
Friday May 8 (8:00 pm) @ Privatclub
(Indie)
www.myspace.com/richardswift
 

Metric    
Saturday May 9 (9:00 pm) @ Magnet
(Indie rock)
www.myspace.com/metricband

Snax
Saturday May 2 (9:00) @ Tape Club
(Electro, soul)
www.myspace.com/givemesnax

Peaches
Saturday May 9 (9:00 pm) @ Astra
(Electro, rock, hip hop)
www.myspace.com/peaches

Great Lake Swimmers
Sunday May 10 (9:00 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Ambient, folk)
http://www.myspace.com/greatlakeswimmers

 

Sophie Hunger, Secret Hiding Place
Monday May 11 (8:00 pm) @ Live at Dot
(Acoustic, soul)
http://www.myspace.com/sophiehunger

Ben Kweller    
Monday May 11 (8:00 pm) @ Postbahnhof
(Rock, country)
www.myspace.com/benkweller

Juliette Lewis, The New Romantics
Tuesday May 12 (9:00 pm) @ Kesselhaus
(Rock)
www.myspace.com/juliettelewis

Handsome Furs, Scanner
Wednesday May 13 (8:00 pm) @ Bang Bang Club
(Indie rock)
www.myspace.com/handsomefurs

Check out Expatica’s review of Handsome Furs:

click here Berlin-noise_-This-month_s-hottest-concerts

Art Brut
Friday May 15 (8:00 pm) @ Lido
(Indie, pop, punk)
www.myspace.com/artbrut

Branford Marsalis
Friday May 15 (8:00 pm) @ UdK
(Jazz)
www.myspace.com/branfordmarsalis

United Steel Workers of Montreal
Saturday May 16 (8:00 pm) @ Café Zapata
(Blue grass, roots)
www.myspace.com/unitedsteelworkersofmontreal

Vibratanghissimo “Astor”
Saturday May 16 (9:30 pm) @ Schlot
(Jazz)
http://www.kunstfabrik-schlot.de/

Client, Chicks on Speed DJ-Set
Sunday May 17 (8:00 pm) @ Lido
(Electro, alternative)
http://www.myspace.com/client

Barbara Panther    
Monday May 18 (8:00 pm) @ Bassy
(Electro pop)
www.myspace.com/barbarapanther

Check out Expatica’s review of Barbara Panther:

CLICK HERE Berlin-noise_-April_s-hottest-concerts

Toots and the Maytals
Tuesday May 19 (9:00 pm) @ Kesselhaus
(Reggae)
www.myspace.com/tatm

Jamie Stewart
Wednesday May 20 (9:00 pm) @ Privatclub
(Experimental pop)
www.myspace.com/xiuxiuforlife

Fever Ray
Thursday May 21 (11:00 pm) @ Berghain/Panorama
(Black metal, folk, electroacoustic)
www.myspace.com/feverray

The Gossip, Filthy Dukes, Cortney Tidwell
Friday May 22 (8:00 pm) @ Astra
(Punk, soul, experimental)
www.myspace.com/gossipband

A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Saturday May 23 (9:00 pm) @ Maschinenhaus in the Kulturbrauerei
(Acapella, grunge, disco house)
www.myspace.com/ahawkandahacksaw

Ariel Pink, Icy Demons
Monday May 25 (8:00 pm) @ West Germany
(Pop)
www.myspace.com/arielpink

Reverend Peyton Big Damn Band
Monday May 25 (8:00 pm) @ White Trash
(Blues)
www.myspace.com/therevpeytonsbigdamnband

 

Dandelion Wine, Helene Gehin
Wednesday May 27 (8:00 pm) @ Schokoladen
(Alternative, folk)
www.myspace.com/aninexactscience

K’naan
Friday May 29 (8:00 pm) @ Live at Dot
(Hip hop, folk, afro beat)
www.myspace.com/knaanmusic

ZZ Top
Friday May 29 (6:30 pm) @ Zitadelle Spandau
(Psychedelic rock)
www.myspace.com/zztop

Thunderheist
Saturday May 30 (8:00 pm) @ Villa
(Electro, thrash, power pop)
www.myspace.com/thunderheist

Jessica Dorrance/Expatica