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Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

theguardian.com

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Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#131

Post by easyThrowaway »

Tenoke wrote: post #91
easyThrowaway wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dunno. Sven & friends at Berghain never looked particularly lefty. Tbh They always gave me a a strong...erhh... "Aryan" vibe if you know what I mean.

They aren't super 'lefty' but "Aryan" is completely unfair. Berghain cares a lot about diversity, and non-straight and non-white people have a sligtly higher chance of getting in (never any guarantees for non-regulars of course), which is the opposite of what a nazi place would promote.

Non-white and non-straight as long as they looked like they were coming right from a balenciaga catwalk. And they weren't shy in the past of hosting notoriously hard-right aligned djs and artists.

Berghain antics aside, the point I was trying to make it's that Berlin club scene isn't exactly as "welcoming" of outsiders as a whole as the OP was suggesting.

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#132

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

treprinum wrote: post #20

OK, how are they going to preserve it? Where can I visit 1999 Berlin techno scene and experience the rave?

Fortunately, Odessa in Ukraine is also under the protection of UNESCO.

When the russians hit Odessa with missiles today, only 14 people died.

Thanks UNESCO!

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#133

Post by helloplanets »

"Der Klang der Familie: Berlin, Techno and the Fall of the Wall" [0] is a good book on the origins of the Berlin Techno scene. It's based on interviews and discussions by the people originally setting up the whole thing, making it a pretty breezy read that you don't necessarily have to go through chronologically.

No city can really replicate the absurd situation Berlin was in after the second world war. The absolute oppressive atmosphere, with one day the whole city getting flipped upside down. Anyone being able to take over a building on the East side and throw a party there. When before you could end up in a cell overnight for playing a boombox too loud on the street. The original location for Tresor (club) was the literal translation of the German word: A big old safe in a bank. That you had to climb down a ladder to get to.

An unexpected connection of cities is between Berlin and Detroit: Underground Resistance (a group of Detroit born Techno producers) among many others playing gigs in Tresor going back to the early nineties.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Klang-Familie-Felix-Denk/dp/373860429...

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#134

Post by _bohm »

technotarek wrote: post #112

We need an acknowledgment of the past, the origins, which may no longer be present. Detroit starting in the ‘80s and into the 90s would be the prime example. I wrote a short essay about the latter : https://technotarek.com/shows/richie-hawtin

In the US it seems there's still a decent appetite to connect to the history of the genre. Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins, Jeff Mills, etc. still tour regularly. In NYC, DJ Assault is currently holding a residency at Market Hotel. Nowadays has been running a series of "Foundations Nights" where they book a group of DJs representing the lineage of a particular style, which have been great. The Dweller festival has also been running for a few years which is a wonderful initiative (the name paying homage to Drexciya).

I agree that it's worth considering why Berlin has been chosen without acknowledgement to its roots (no shade to Berlin, I love that city and much of the music it has produced).

I enjoyed reading you essay. Coincidentally, U Street Music Hall was one of the venues that shaped my teenage years and served as my gateway into the electronic music scene.

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#135

Post by ziddoap »

vidarh wrote: post #93
The_Colonel wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This insistence on these officialities is frustrating, because the city limits are pretty arbitrary and have no bearing on the discussion at hand. Did you know that London (City of London) has less than 10 000 inhabitants? Apart from being a legal and historical peculiarity, it's largely irrelevant in most discussions. For this discussion (cultural centers of Europe), Greater Paris, Greater London and Berlin (they ha…

London and City of London are two different entities entirely so that comparison does not work. London at its largest refers to the 32 boroughs and City of London that makes up Greater London, not the City, to those of us who live here. At it's smallest, it still refers to most of that, not just City. If we want to shorten the name of City of London, the short form is the City, not London. The only people who ever ca…

>If we want to shorten the name of City of London, the short form is the City, not London

This seems almost obnoxiously confusing when talking online to people from all over the world.

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#136

Post by baxuz »

larodi wrote: post #4

According to many people, including record shop owners I’ve talked to, Berlin’s scene is actually not so underground and not so cool anymore as a result of tourism and immigration. Rich people nowadays buy property in Potsdam, and the scene is moving towards Leipzig. In a more general sense the old rave cities are making way, and have been making way, to other cities. A movement spanning more than 20 years now, thank…

Zagreb. Seriously?

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#137

Post by randomopining »

input_sh wrote: post #103
ricksunny wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you distinguish these two? In my head EDM & techno occupy the same space.

> In my head EDM & techno occupy the same space. That's the case for a lot of "normies", but it really feels insulting to the electronic music fans in general. Unlike say rock nobody's gonna ask you to know every band in existence and every album they put out decades ago, but you should be able to distinguish between major electronic music genres like house, techno, drum and bass, trance, hardstyle and what not. Some…

Netherlands is top in Europe overall. Most Berlin people are migrating to Amsterdam.

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#138

Post by bnralt »

input_sh wrote: post #103
ricksunny wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you distinguish these two? In my head EDM & techno occupy the same space.

> In my head EDM & techno occupy the same space. That's the case for a lot of "normies", but it really feels insulting to the electronic music fans in general. Unlike say rock nobody's gonna ask you to know every band in existence and every album they put out decades ago, but you should be able to distinguish between major electronic music genres like house, techno, drum and bass, trance, hardstyle and what not. Some…

> That's the case for a lot of "normies", but it really feels insulting to the electronic music fans in general. Unlike say rock nobody's gonna ask you to know every band in existence and every album they put out decades ago, but you should be able to distinguish between major electronic music genres like house, techno, drum and bass, trance, hardstyle and what not.

Plenty of people are able to enjoy music without getting caught up in nomenclature. The idea that those people aren't real fans always feels very snobbish.

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#139

Post by profstasiak »

pantalaimon wrote: post #110
huseyinkeles wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoyed Zur Klappe when I visited Berlin pre-pandemic times. It's literally underground and used to be a public toilet. And it's very close to the famous Mustafa's Gemuse Kebab, so you can try that afterwards.

Just don’t queue an hour at Mustafa's - it’s good Kebap, but it’s not that extraordinary. Rüya(m), Superhahn or Servet's make the same style of Gemüsekebap and are just as good.

Hey, my friend moved to Berlin 2 years ago and he takes everyone to Mustafa - is this a tourist attraction / internet one? I don't know why he does this, the kebap is original but nothing special tastewise.

Re: Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

#140

Post by lenerdenator »

ryukafalz wrote: post #57
jamil7 wrote: post #55

How exactly does the city and federal Government square this with their plan to build a huge (unwanted) freeway through the city and bulldoze multiple clubs and music venues?

I just looked this up because I was surprised to hear about this. Context for those unfamiliar: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-07/berlin-pl... This is the kind of mistake that we made in the US decades ago, and the results are plain to see today in any neighborhood bisected by a freeway.

Considering the US chose an interstate highway system in large part due to Eisenhower's exposure to the Autobahn during WWII, there's sort of a karmic quality to this.
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