Hi everyone, it’s Apripista here again — your lousy, neurotic guide to European music festivals (hopefully one day, worldwide).

It’s been a while since you last heard from me (most of you never have). But I have some updates for you. Last summer, I went to the Lost Festival in northern Italy, which took place in a beautiful location. You can read more about it in my previous text. You’ll also find out there that, at the time, I was convinced I was dying of cancer. Long story short: I wasn’t.

I write in a rather gonzo style, so please don’t expect me to be objective here.

Since Lost, I’ve been to a bunch of music events in Berlin (I live in Germany), ranging from big and boring to small and rather exciting.

The Atonal Festival felt terribly commercial, like it’s lost its soul over the years. There were awful queues for hours, and it felt like the organisers didn’t care. The performance by Forensis and Bill Kouligas, which many had looked forward to, didn’t leave much of an impression on anyone I met there… The theme — genocide in Namibia (which Germany continues to neglect) is, of course, important and highly relevant, especially given the recent rise of the right-wing movement.

I wanted to write a separate piece about Atonal right away (that’s how annoyed I was), but since they didn’t answer my email about press accreditation, they only get a shitty mention in this text about the CTM Festival. Don’t remember much more about the event, just that to get into Ohm club (where the most interesting part of the event was happening), you needed a three-day pass. But that wasn’t mentioned anywhere on the website during ticket purchase (scam alert lol). I understand the club’s capacity is very limited (the place is tiny), but maybe they just shouldn’t have organised a festival for several thousand people there?.. (Karen vibes, sorry).

Although, I found the performance A Forbidden Distance by Saint Abdullah, Ian McDonnell, and Rebecca Salvadori beautifully personal and touching.

And during Atonal, I met my current boyfriend. So I guess it was worth it!

So… what else went down in Berlin since then? Oh! Creamcake events were really memorable: 1. A queery, ambient, cosy morning at the Liquidrom (a huge sauna complex with a large saltwater pool). 2. Their 3rd festival, which featured some great performances. I unexpectedly ran into several of my favourite in the world people there, including actress, writer, and director Betsey Brown, and the London-based, dark and powerful producer/composer Susu Laroche, when I actually came to see harp prodigy Ange Halliwell and performer Sorour Darabi.

Another unforgettable party was the Sad Prompt Engineering fundraising event at Panke, where all profits went to aid people in Palestine and Lebanon. There was a real sense of solidarity, and I get a chance to hear many important producers in one night sauch as: Zuli, MVDOAE, Rama, and more. I also discovered Menšik from Mexico there. That performance was the moment: the crowd was hypnotised for an hour by the their talent.

Last but not least (I promise): the highly aesthetic Opioid Crisis Lookbook, presented at Trauma Bar (one of the last events at the venue before it’s closing). The exhibition (especially the stage design) was truly impressive. Felt like we were inside the set of The Crow (1994). And performance by Evanora Unlimited was iconic, as was the performance by the guy whose name I don’t remember. He came on stage first, sang a cover of Osborne’s The Dreamer, and then left. Iconic.

So, the CTM. Finally! (Sorry)

I started with a performance by Saadet Türköz and Eldar Tati at Silent Green. That was impressive. Born in Istanbul with roots in Kazakh and Uyghur culture, Saadet’s performance felt like a mix of traditional folk spells and incantations with something avant-garde woven in.

After that, on a different stage at the same venue, I saw Dis Fig and Spooky-J. Dis Fig, a singer (now collaborating with The Body) had this raw intensity. Spooky-J, a drummer and percussionist in Nihiloxica (and also a solo artist), brought the kind of rhythmic power I live for. I love good, inventive drums and percussion.

Someone I met there said it was “too punky” for them. For me, it wasn’t punk enough… more like Björk vibes.

That same night, we went to Oxi. I was there for Donna Haringway. His music is described on Bandcamp with phrases like “destructive bangers” and “digital punk” which checks out. The performance was intense and extremely emotional. Screamo-style vocals layered over heavy electronic bangers.
His album Inside the Vampire Castle completely stole my heart last year.

During the concert, I couldn’t think of another show with that kind of energy and power. Well maybe just one. It was at 90mil, part of the Radical Sounds Latin America tour. We originally came for Igor Cavalera lol (because he’s an incredible drummer, and because I listened to Sepultura and Soulfly as a kid, haha).
But that night, we discovered the insanely talented Cuban-American project Lamb K305. What a performance. And I mean performance in every sense: bodily movement, light, screaming, presence, and of course: music. When I posted stories with Lamb on Instagram, one of my followers messaged me saying that stuff like that scares them. Interesting… Stuff like that amazes me the most. So, during Donna Haringway’s concert, I found myself thinking about this conversation again, and realised that these projects are connected (at least in my mind) not so much by genre, but by their reflection of a very subtle and precise sense of modernity, with all its ecological disasters, wars, and genocides.
But they’re also connected by humour and fragility.

All the other artists that night at Oxi: like Genosidra, Lechuga Zafiro, and Gadutra, were also fantastic.
I’m grateful to Zafiro for their sense of humour, their crazy rhythmic play, their ridiculous-yet-cool sounds (like a creaky door?), and their sticky, sweet Latin vibes. Also for creating such a dreamy atmosphere. And OMG I’m such a big fan of all the froggy aesthetics, you should know.

Gadutra opened their set with a remix of Everybody by the Backstreet Boys.
And I just simply love a good proper contemporary remix of any Y2K stuff.

Next, I went to Witch Club Satan at Berghain.
As much as I love black metal, that stuff seemed truly scary… but in a good way. Like a really good modern horror movie that makes you shit your pants.

The performers were naked, with long witchy hair, reciting chants and, I guess, poetry. The lighting, the music, the sound, all of it was spot on. I don’t know what else to add.

My friends suggested I wear Calvin Klein that night.
He wore Calvin, and I wore Klein. To be honest, I think I’m an ambassador.

Then there was a series of sound and theatre performances at Radialsystem.

Eek, Female Wizard and Harrison Hall made an impressive piece as an homage to Tetsuo: The Iron Man or the horror sci-fi genre in general. And Emme… OMG! Another freshly discovered diamond. It was a really poetic and beautiful theatrical screamo performance. Now they are also taking part in a new piece by Florentina Holzinger.

And there I caught a virus or something and got pretty sick. Like, laying in a bed for several days with no power to move, sick.

THE END