überlin

[EDIT: I’ve disabled autoplay on the videos as it was *super* annoying. To experience Berlin Calling: Symphony of a Great City, click the two play buttons above in quick succession. Enjoy!]

I’ve always loved mashups, and recently Zoë and I taken to blending Berlin content. We started by turning Fuckparade icon Techno Viking into a 1920s silent movie, and now I’ve mashed together two famous visions of Berlin past and present – Berlin: Symphony of a Great City and the soundtrack to Paul Kalkbrenner’s Berlin Calling.

I’ve had my eyes on Walter Ruttmann’s “city symphony” for some time, harbouring vague plans to replace its lost score with sounds recorded in modern-day Berlin. In the meantime, Kalkbrenner will do nicely (although I’m still pleased with my shortlist of possible soundtracks, local dub techno pioneer Monolake, Mogwai and Boys Noize at last year’s Berlin Festival, and Jimi Hendrix’s 1970 performance at Deutschlandhalle). I was able to knock together these video mashups with the help of the neat tool YouTube Doubler, and our Tweep 12pt9 who introduced us to it. Danke schön!

Think you have a better soundtrack for Symphony of a Great City? Got any ideas for other Berlin video mashups? Drop us a link in the comments below and we’ll check them out!