überlin

“She is such a cuddly sweet puppy and I think she’ll always remain a puppy.”

Planningtorock by Teri Pengilley

Tune into the latest edition of Expatriarch Radio to hear the intriguing performer/producer Planningtorock speak to her protégé, New York expat James K. Selected for mentoring and support under the awesome Expatriarch Generations programme, K has delivered guest vocals for Physical Therapy and Mykki Blanco, and her own self-released EP (available at name-your-price on her Bandcamp). Originally broadcast on Berlin Community Radio, their conversation covers performing live, inhabiting characters, living up to audiences’ expectations and honesty in music. Oh, and it includes tracks from Hyenaz, Sarah Silverman and Donna Summer!

James K is performing live, with DJ backup from Planningtorock, at HOT TOPIC vs. Expatriarch Generations tomorrow night at SchwuZ. If the previous event, featuring Peaches, Ziur and Ellen Allien is any indicator, the night will be unmissable – so check out the full details here.

I’m a fan of loaded, tragically romantic lyrics in my music. One of my favourite lines begins Elbow’s stunning “Newborn”: “I’ll be the corpse in your bathtub / Useless.” And another appears in the title track of CREATURES‘ new EP, New Campaigns: “I want promises running like trackmarks down my arm.” Damn. We’ve featured the Berlin-based two-piece on überlin before, but their new release (out now on Wait What? Records and Motor Entertainment!) seems to be plumbing new depths of despair. In a good way.

If that sounds good to you, check out New Campaigns on iTunes, Amazon or Spotify. And if it’s a tad too emo for you (you weirdo), then maybe you’d prefer the swelling, lush sound of “Supposedly”, the lead single from the same EP. Beautiful.

CREATURES play live at the Schokoladen’s Lofi Lounge this Wednesday, 19th November – full details here.

There are some places in Berlin that you can’t quite believe really exist. The Museum of Things is certainly one of them, Spreepark another, and now… Der Adlershofer Fundus. This prop house is completely unassuming from the outside, the exterior giving away nothing of the size and scale of what lies within. Walk down a few flights of stairs and the first thing you’re greeted with is the cutest little dog called Fundus… awwww. Once Fundus gives you the OK, you head into a warren of corridors. Filled to the brim with objects, clothes, set pieces and weird oddities from almost every decade, the sheer scale of the collection is jaw-dropping.

We wandered for hours, soaking it all up – around every corner a new era or object or mannequin to be terrified of. It just kept going, so I kept snapping. If you’re in the film industry or you need to build sets, then this place needs to be on your radar. I will most certainly be coming here when I need props for my next photo shoot, that’s for sure!

[EDIT: this competition is now closed. Click here to see if we’re running any open competitions]

Open Mike Eagle and Homeboy Sandman are two of the hottest rappers on the US hip hop circuit, and they’re headed to Berlin! The Swim Team crew member and Stones Throw’s Sandman are part of that amorphous emcee scene which the former likes to call “art rap”. And they’re bringing their intelligent, intense brand of wordplay to Berghain’s little sister venue Kantine next week. Scroll down past Open Mike Eagle’s video for “Dark Comedy Morning Show” to find out how to win a pair of tickets!

Speaking of comedy, Open Mike’s also performed at shows by hilarious people like Matt Besser (UCB) and Paul F. Tompkins because, hey, these dudes are pretty fucking funny too. For proof, just check out his and Homeboy’s appearance on our favourite hip hop podcast, Shots Fired:

HOW TO WIN 2 TICKETS FOR OPEN MIKE EAGLE AND HOMEBOY SANDMAN AT BERGHAIN KANTINE ON MONDAY NOVEMBER 17TH (full event details):

Just leave us a comment below with the answer to this easy question:

Who’s the funniest rapper you can think of? Drop us some lyrics that will make us LOL.

You have until midnight on Thursday 13th November to enter. GOOD LUCK!

The Boring Bit (yawn, RULES):

1. You must be 18 years or older to enter.
2. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON!
3. We will keep a record of each comment in a database and then a random number generator picks the winner.
4. Remember to include your full (real) name and email address, so we can contact you if you win.
6. We will notify the winner via email on Friday 14th November.

It’s hard to believe that our coworking space has already been open for five months! It seems like just yesterday that we announced our new venture and started collecting furniture, equipment and, most importantly, awesome people with which to fill our space. We’ve kept things pretty quiet since our super-successful opening party, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy. Zoë, myself, and the wonderful community we’ve gathered around ourselves, have been plugging away, producing, promoting and photographing awesome stuff from within our converted biscuit factory.

Here are just a few of the great things to come out of the überlin coworking space and studio in its first five months:

• Berlin Besetzt, an interactive map showing the development of Berlin’s squatting scene, a work in progress by developer Eike
• Cumulus Diaries, a beautiful blog by Aussie expat Rachael, all about design, style, people and adventure
• Our resident startup, Descape, which offers brief getaways into exciting professions. You can even sign up to spend a day with Zoë and find out what it’s really like to be a photographer!
• Speaking of which, Zoë’s been using our studio to shoot for clients like Etsy, sisterMAG, Alpha Cruxis and Ableton, as well as her own fashion editorial shoots (check them out here)
• Freelance recipe developer Sophie has relaunched Das Brunch, a pop-up breakfast experience (nom)
• And Arielle, Desi and the INgrooves team have distributed a bunch of awesome records from Berlin labels Hotflush and Seppuku, and our personal favourite – Octave Minds, a collaboration between Boys Noize and Chilly Gonzales. Here’s a selection for your listening pleasure:

Want to join us? We’re adding a few more desks into our intimate little coworking space. If you’d like to be in the best place to do your best work – or to rent out our photographic studio – just drop us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!