Fri, 10 February 2012
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Berlin concert listings for the young and restless.
Their latest album Sainthood, which brings back former producers Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie and Howard Redekopp (one of the men behind the console for So Jealous), continues this conversation about love but with a sound that is thicker and more muscular than their previous efforts. Sainthood is steeped in the legacy of the 80s. The record blends post-punk and post-new wave influences, as well as references to 80s icons like Madonna and The Cure, to produce a catchy – if highly produced – soundscape of heavy synth, electro beats, dirty bass lines and brazen vocals. The effect is welcome; the band’s beefed up sound lends their songs more urgency and reflects the maturing ideas expressed in them. Nowhere is this evolving perspective more clear than on “Hell,” where heartache can’t be felt without a biting awareness that love – everyone’s love – is at once banal. “I know you feel it too / These words get overused,” the sisters intone in the chorus. Yet despite the fact that it’s all been said before, Tegan and Sara make entertaining pop out of saying it again.
Gossip
Thursday 26 November (8 pm) @ Columbiahalle
(Punk, soul, experimental)
www.myspace.com/gossipband
If part of the ecstasy of listening to early hip hop records was revelling at how acts like Public Enemy and Eric B. & Rakim sampled and transformed soul and funk music, then at least one reason to love the Gossip is for the way that the band dexterously fuses influences from punk, dance, disco, soul and beyond into eminently gripping and surprising hits. Fronted by queer and body-positive icon Beth Ditto, the Portland-based band broke into the mainstream in 2006 with their gay rights anthem “Standing in the Way of Control,” which Ditto wrote in response to a Bush-era amendment that would have constitutionally outlawed same-sex marriage in the United States. Now, Ditto, guitarist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Billie are back with their first major studio album, Music for Men, produced by the bearded heavyweight Rick Rubin. 
Reviews of the album have been split – with some deploring the band’s departure from their lo-fi, DIY punk roots and others content to go along for the ride. Genre-allegiances aside, the record does suffer from a glossing over of Ditto’s fierce, take-no-prisoners vocals that were left deliciously raw on previous releases.
But there is still much to savour on Music. Such as when Ditto, singing about the difficulties of long distance relationships on “Love Long Distance,” knowingly quotes Marvin Gaye, whispering, “I heard it through the bassline / Not much longer would you be my baby.” Or when listening to the literal bassline pulsating seductively on “Dimestore Diamond.” Despite its flaws, Music is still an album of well-executed, idiosyncratic dance floor hits.
Other dates in Germany:
Wednesday November 18 @ Palladium, Cologne
Thursday November 19 @ Stadhalle, Offenbach
Wednesday November 25 @ Tonhalle, Munich
Listings:
The Dead Weather
Monday 2 November @ Astra
(Alt rock)
http://www.thedeadweather.com/
Lily Allen
Tuesday 3 November (8 pm) @ Astra
(Pop, ska)
www.myspace.com/lilymusic
Juliette Lewis
Wednesday 4 November (8 pm) @ Kesselhaus
(Punk, pop)
http://www.myspace.com/juliettelewis
Masha Qrella
Wednesday 4 November (8 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Pop)
http://www.myspace.com/mashaqrella
Brendan Benson
Thursday 5 November (8 pm) @ Magnet Club
(Rock, pop)
www.myspace.com/brendanbenson
Fat Boy Slim
Thursday 5 November (8 pm) @ Weekend Club
(Electronica, house, big beat)
http://www.myspace.com/fatboyslim
Psychic TV & Rome
Friday 6 November (8 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Psychedelic, experimental, glam)
www.myspace.com/ptv3
White Lies
Saturday 7 November (8 pm) @ Astra
(Indie rock)
www.myspace.com/whitelies
The Twilight Sad
Saturday 7 November (8 pm) @ Bang Bang Club
(Indie rock)
www.myspace.com/thetwilightsad
Arctic Monkeys
Sunday 8 November (8 pm) @ Arena
(Trip hop, rock, indie)
www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys
Kettcar
Sunday 8 November (8 pm) @ Astra
http://www.myspace.com/kettcar
John Scofield
Sunday 8 November (8 pm) @ Haus der Berliner Festspiele
(Jazz, experimental)
http://www.myspace.com/officialjohnscofield
The Horrors
Tuesday 10 November (8 pm) @ Lido
(Garage rock, shoegaze)
www.myspace.com/thehorrors 
Friska Viljor
Tuesday 10 November (8 pm) @ Maria am Ostbahnhof
(Alt, rock, pop)
www.myspace.com/friskaviljor
Grizzly Bear
Wednesday 11 November (8 pm) Fritzclub im Postbahnhof
(Indie, acoustic, experimental)
www.myspace.com/grizzlybear
Electrosexual
Friday 13 November (11 pm) @ SO36
(Electronica)
www.myspace.com/electrosexual
Dizzee Rascal
Saturday 14 November (9 pm) @ Astra
(Garage, hip hop, rap)
www.myspace.com/dizzeerascal
Morrisey
Monday 16 November (8 pm) @ Temprodrom
(Alt, indie, rock)
www.myspace.com/morrissey
Do Make Say Think
Monday 16 November (8 pm) @ Magnet Club
(Indie, rock, experimental)
www.myspace.com/domakesaythink
Thirty Seconds to Mars
Friday 20 November (8 pm) @ Astra
(Alt, prog rock)
www.myspace.com/thirtysecondstomars
Yo La Tengo
Monday 23 November (8 pm) @ Astra
(Rock, alt, experimental)
www.myspace.com/yolatengo
Franz Ferdinand
Tuesday 24 November (8 pm) @ Berlin Arena
(Pop, indie)
www.myspace.com/franzferdinand
Great Lake Swimmers
Tuesday 24 November (8 pm) @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
(Ambient, folk)
www.myspace.com/greatlakeswimmers
Check out Expatica’s review of the Great Lake Swimmers here.
Wild Beasts
Tuesday 24 November (8 pm) @ Karrera Club
(Pop)
www.myspace.com/wildbeasts
Patrick Watson
Tuesday 24 November (8 pm) @ Postbahnhof
(Alt, electro, ambient)
www.myspace.com/patrickwatson
Tegan and Sara
Thursday 26 November (8 pm) @ Astra
(Indie, pop, alt)
www.myspace.com/teganandsara
Gossip
Thursday 26 November (8 pm) @ Columbiahalle
(Punk, soul, experimental)
www.myspace.com/gossipband
Basia Bulat
Monday 30 November (8 pm) @ Privatclub
(Folk, pop)
www.myspace.com/basiamyspace
Devendra Banhart
Tuesday 1 December (8 pm) @ Passionkirche
(Lo-fi, folk)
www.myspace.com/devendrabanhart
Jessica Dorrance/Expatica
Expatica's Getting Started section will provide practical information on how you can open a bank account, exchange your driving licence, improve your Spanish, and more.
Here's a guide to an extensive list of groups and clubs in Madrid for expats, from sports groups to social and family gatherings.
A brief introduction to our Tax section for Spain, from help with inheritance tax to accounting advice.
Here's a short introduction to our Banking section for those living in Spain, from what to ask the experts to opening a Spanish bank account.
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