Berlin Calling

I only recently learned of the German film Berlin Calling after hearing the track Sky and Sand, by Paul & Fritz Kalkbrenner. It's the title track to the flick, directed by Hannes Stoehr. It's about a real musician (Paul), but rather than being a biopic "...draws a ficticious portrait of a muscian in todays Berlin." Heres the official synopisis...

Berlin electronic music composer Martin (Paul Kalkbrenner), known as DJ Ickarus, is touring with his manager and girlfriend Mathilde (Rita Lengyel) from club to club around the globe and is about to release their biggest album to date. However, all of his plans are thrown out of kilter after Ickarus is submitted to the emergency ward of a psychiatric clinic high on drugs after a gig- A tragicomedy in Berlin of today.

The film is already in it's 35th week of screenings around Europe, and will soon be headed to North America. I'm looking forward to checking out another story about a drug riddled musician..along with co-star favorite Ableton Live.

Paul and Fritz Kalkbrenner - Sky and Sand (Extended Version)

New Music Monday: Balmorhea

I recently stumbled across a great music-related social media site entitled theSIXTYONE, a great site where users promote the music they enjoy and discover music enjoyed by others.  For the time being, the majority of the music is independently released, so thesixtyone serves as another vehicle for exposing these artists.

One such artist I fell in love with, Balmorhea, are not necesarilly new, but new to me.  Their latest album All is Wild, All is Silent, as well as the previous, Rivers Arms, are incredibly soothing musical adventures.  Think about Sigur Ros, stripped down to keys, acoustic guitar, and strings.

Balmorhea - Settler

Balmorhea - Coahuila

Balmorhea - San Soloman

Free ticket for Shearwater/The Cave Singers @ Union Chapel

BTA has a free ticket to give away for The Cave Singers and Shearwater tonight at London's lovely Union Chapel. Simply email bridgingtheatlantic@gmail.com to claim it. First come, first served.

Shearwater - Leviathan, Bound
The Cave Singers - Dancing On Our Graves

The Cave Singers - Dancing On Our Graves (Live @ The BBC):

European Music Festivals 2009

My stay in Norway over the past few months has been great so far. Good weather, a better scooter (despite minor complications) and the fact that soon enough there will be several great summer festivals practically at my doorstep to attend. Here’s a little preview of some of Europe’s 2009 festivals which myself and other BTA correspondents hope to cover.

Roskilde Festival
Roskilde, Denmark
July 2nd – 5th

One of Europe’s biggest festivals, known for the great atmosphere and greater line-up. The best part about these massive three days is the fact that the ‘warm-up’ begins on June 28th, with bands gearing up for the event by performing right in the campgrounds. Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, First Aid Kit, Mars Volta, and the list goes on and on…

SUMMERJAM Festival
Cologne, Germany
July 3rd – 5th

If the laid back islander vibes and hip-hop are more your thing. Germany has a great few days lined up the same week. For more than 20 years this festival has been bringing the good vibes, this year with artists such as Buju Banton, Bunny Wailer, Atmosphere, Ozomatli, and BTA favorites from down under Hilltop Hoods.

Oya Festival
Oslo, Norway
August 11th - 15th

With over 200 bands performing on four stages and in 30 venues, Oslo is sure going to be the place to be come August. Arctic Monkeys, Royksopp, Datarock, Band of Horses, Crystal Castles. Need I say more?

...So just a taste of things to come this summer. Hopefully us BTA folk will get a chance to cover them all! If you are planning to be in the area this season. You know what to do.

Let's Pretend It's Friday Five!

Five tracks that have been rocking my world lately:

Evangelicals - Party Crashin'
The Oklahoma band's second LP The Evening Descends was released way back in January but until now I've neglected to share anything with you guys. My bad - Evangelicals have crafted one of my favourite albums of '09.

The Gossip - Heavy Cross
The Gossip's fourth album Music For Men will be out next month; 'Heavy Cross' is the first single and I like what I hear so far.

Kurt Vile - Freeways
I don't know much about Kurt Vile, except that he's from Philly and Pitchfork seem to like him a lot. This cut is from last year's Constant Hitmaker.

Bombay Bicycle Club - Always Like This
This first single from their forthcoming debut I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose continues to raise hopes that BBC will create one of this year's finest albums.

Basement Jaxx - Raindrops
Basement Jaxx just keep on going and going. A tour of the whole wide world is currently underway in support of the as-yet-unreleased Scars and the album is rumoured to feature contributions from Lightspeed Champion, Yo! Majesty, Santigold and Yoko Ono. They've still got it - first single 'Raindrops' is so damn catchy it hurts.