Berlin, Berlin or Lock, Stock and Two Smokin' Vaginas.

I played the new Tresor club last Friday night. What an experience to be one of the first to play the new club! I played the new bunker, the techno room. It's 100% concrete. It's very reminiscent of an old, Cold War bunker where the bureaucrats were supposed to go in case of nuclear attack. They've got prison bars in front of the DJ booth just like the old club, the same ones. I took a few pictures as you can see, but a lack of light and the omnipresent fog machine made photos difficult.



Sound system and DJ set-up was top-notch as you would expect. The old professionalism was still there.

Played alongside my old friends Dash and Dry, just like the old days.

Pacou and Mike Huckaby were in the crowd as well.

It felt really good to just flat-out blast some shit. Just go off. And my Berliners were havin' it, every bit of it. Going crazy on the dancefloor. I haven't played a party that good since, why, since the old Tresor closed! =) Real techno is back, ladies and gentlemen.


I pulled off a mix I've gotta tell you about, though. You know I like to break it down into minimal in the middle of my set. Well, I had a DE9 loop running and I put Falco's "Auf Der Flucht" on top of it. I found a copy in a second hand store in Kreuzberg for €5. I knew when the German lyrics kicked in, the crowd would go insane. Most were too young to remember that track and rushed the booth to see what it was, LOL.

You'll hear it on Livesets.com sometime this week =)

The rest of the club was very impressive, too, especially the Batterieraum, a.k.a. the new Globus.

I've just got to say that Berlin saves my life and always brings back my faith in music. I love this place, love coming here, love the people, and love playing here. Berlin is like nowhere else in the world, to me.

OK, so I got out of there at about 5:00 am, came home, took a shower, threw some stuff in a bag and went straight to my 8:30 am flight to Leeds via Liverpool, to play a night called Joy. No sleep, baby.


After checking into my five-star (!) room and sleeping all day like a vamp, I ended up going out for a pint with those guys. Walking around Leeds with them was like living inside a Guy Ritchie movie. It was crazy.

We went to this one pub to get some beers. I knew something was amiss when the bartender looked like a tranny.

Then I looked over and the MC was a drag queen. The DJ was playing "Dontcha" by Pussycat Dolls and the MC was singing over it, "Dontcha wish your girlfriend sucked cock like me."

Ooookay.

We stayed for awhile, though. I thought the whole thing was hilarious.

We later ended up at this other pub where a cover band was playing '80s rock hits. The crowd was going crazy, these '80s burnouts. You'd think it was really Bon Jovi in there. Buncha drunks. LOL.

The north of England is surreal to say the least.

Next night was the gig. Small-ish room, great light and sound system. I got on and banged it. I had a ball. Perfect mixes, no mistakes, and it was recorded.




After my set this girl came over to say hello. She had been dancing all night. The chick was like 6'3" or 6'4" in white, strappy heels. You know how tall women kill me. And dark hair like Wonder Woman. Anyway, dig this. I had packed up to leave and this girl said "You deserve an escort out of here," and picked up my record box without even thinking about it. Didn't use the wheels at all. When I'm at the airport and the security people have to lift it, they act like it's 500 lbs and shit. But this girl just picks it up like it wasn't nothing.

I was like goddamn! I like a girl like that.

Planes, trains and automobiles, and now I'm back in Berlin, getting packed to head back to Chicago where a couple of summer gigs, art jobs, studio time and some belated birthday celebrations await. I'll be back in my dear Berlin again soon, though =)

We Get Letters.

I got this letter today. It was really, really nice. Thanks to Todd for sending it.

Hello Alan,

I was surfing a few of the old party sites and I came across your post on New Rave Order. I'm about as far from a regular on there as you can get, but I stop by every once and a while to see if any interesting sets have been posted.

In any case, I just wanted to say thank you for the much enjoyment you've brought me over the years from your music and mixing. I guess you could say I'm an "old timer", having seen you at UNITY in New York in 1996 and Believe in New Jersey (I even remember the damn kids shaking the tables) among several others. To this day I still listen to a mix of yours from Motor that I came across many years ago.

You've always been "what is right" with techno in my eyes, and I commend you that you are still doing it after all these years.

Best of luck to you and perhaps I'll see you out again one of these days.

Best,
Todd
Sent via BlackBerry wireless handheld.

Three-Fucking-Hundred.

I know I'm way late on this, but I saw "300" today at the Sony Center.

OK, let me get this part out of the way for the cynics: we've basically seen bits and pieces of this movie before. "Gladiator," "Troy," "Alexander," "Kingdom of Heaven," even "Stargate" and "The Ten Commandments" (sexually-ambiguous, vaguely Egyptian warlord-slash-Pharoah-slash-rock star-slash bad guys).

But it's not about the influences, it's how they executed the film. And it was the complete shit.

The cinematography and direction of this film was hot, all CGI a la "Sin City" (another Frank Miller creation). This is ultimately what sets "300" apart from all those other sword and sandal movies. If it had been shot straight, it would have been boring and probably would have flopped like most of the movies listed above did.

I loved the washed-out colors and visual textures of the piece. They shot this movie like hell. There was also extensive use of post-"Matrix" slow/fast, stop/start action/battle scenes, which I loved. I still think those "Matrix" effects can be hot in the right context.

The CGI blood splatters were the shit too, especially when the drops hung there and the camera moved through them.

Another thing that struck me was the fucking MOMENTS in the film. Like freeze-frame, movie poster moments. Like they stop the story for a minute to show you how bad-ass King Leonidas is. I didn't count, but there were a lot of those moments in the flick. Wait 'till the DVD so you can stop it and see for yourself.

I think another one of the reasons "300" got over was because it was a rock-hard ab fest. Giaxia e-mailed me she saw the movie in Chicago, and went insane. In the original comic, the Spartans were naked under their big, red capes. I don't think the ladies (or men for that matter) could have handled all that dick flying around.

Speaking of dick, there are no awkward, unintentionally-funny homoerotic moments in this movie like there were in "Alexander" and others of this genre. It's established right upfront in the narrative that these 300 guys are straight, damn it, all with wives and sons that can carry on their names.

Storywise, it followed the comic pretty closely. A few shots they lifted right out of it. There was a "Gladiator"-esque subplot with the Queen that wasn't in the original, though. It ends with a real female-empowering moment.

Also dug the end credits, directly inspired by Miller's cover art.

People on the Internet have read into "300" that it's an allegory for US foreign policy. King goes to war against the wishes of his senators, defends "justice and reason" against dark, swarthy, decadent hordes who practice "mysticism" (a.k.a. Islam).

Calm down, people. Miller wrote this thing back in '95, deep in the heyday of Bill Clinton. So everybody relax.

But then again, there's got to be a reason why "300" opened at $100 million in the States.

Maybe it was the abs.

Glasgow.

Was in Glasgow over the weekend. Glasgow is always fun and interesting. I always have to tell my hosts to slow down when they talk. I can understand German more than Scottish sometimes.


Gig was in a small venue, Maggie May's Basement. There's a restaurant upstairs where we had the pre-show dinner (which was great, by the way). The older I get, the more I like small places like that as opposed to big parties. I like the big-party paydays though =)

An old friend of mine, Tim Barr, rolled through. Tim did one of the first big UK articles on me when I first started out, years ago. He also wrote "The Rough Guide to Techno" among other things. I haven't seen him in the flesh since those days. I didn't recognize him at first. It was nice to see him, though.

Graham from Seventh Sign came by, too. I do artwork for his label.

Aril Brikha and Dave Angel were both playing the same night as me, so attendance was a little low, but it wasn't an outright flop, either, which I appreciated. I've lived through my share of those so trust me, I know the difference. The crowd that was there were well into it. I like playing to UK crowds in those rare occasions because they know their music from the beginning. When I dropped "We Call it Acieed" by D-Mob (1988), they knew the track and loved it. Same with Suburban Knight's "The Art of Stalking," which I play out regularly.


This was also the first time I played "I Told You Not To Stop" by Final Cut out, the remix version with the Chris Connelly vocals. I recently dug it out of my grandmother's basement back in Detroit. That track is almost 20 years old and it still works.

You won't be hearing any of this, though, due to the fact that somebody forgot to press "record." =P

I was very pleased to discover that pretty girls like techno in Glasgow. They like it hard, too, Tresor-style. They were screaming like it was a boy-band concert.


As always, the trip was too quick. I was back in Berlin by 12 pm the next day. I even got to hit up my little Sunday brunch spot. I went there straight from the airport, complete with records. All you can eat for € 7. Plus they let you take a plate home (In America, they charge extra). Can't beat that deal. It was a beautiful sunny day, too, after a solid week of rain, so I got to eat outside. I love Berlin.

Thanks to Sean Matthews and crew for a great night.

PS: The Generator website is now online courtesy of Giaxia. Check it out here.

PPS: My birthday is coming up next week, find some gift ideas here, LOL.

Spiderman 3.

I went to my very first movie here in Berlin today. I've been coming here for almost 10 years off and on, and have never actually gone to the cinema. So I went to the Sony Center with my friend Antje to check out "Spiderman 3" in English.

American moviegoers, consider yourselves lucky. There's a solid half-hour of commercials before the flick begins, with a meager two coming attractions.

Like the first two Spidey flicks, this one brought tears to my eyes once again, the true spirit and magic of the old-time Marvel Comics right up there on the screen (I am old enough to remember all the bunk super-hero shows and cartoons there were before CGI and Japanese/Korean animation was invented). I was concerned with how they'd fit both Sandman and Venom into the flick, not to mention the ongoing Green Goblin plotline and the addition of Gwen Stacy (the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard; hard to believe her father is Opie!), but they did it.

Action and fight sequences were off the fucking hook. As good or better than the first two films. The Spidey/Hobgoblin fight at the beginning of the film was worth the price of admission alone. Just the right balance of action, character bits, comedy, and schmaltz. A lot of close-ups and watery eyes. Great, great stuff.

And this one scene where Spidey swings into the frame to save the day, with the American flag behind him (a la the last frame of the first flick) and the NYC crowd cheering him, was the money shot of the year. See, I still believe in stuff like that. It's what superheroes are all about. Protecting America. I was disappointed when in "Superman Returns," Perry White dismissed what Superman stood for as "truth, justice, and all that other stuff." Just waved it off like it wasn't shit, you know.

Put it this way, though, the Spidey flicks, which borrowed heavily from the 1978 "Superman" movie, out Superman-ed "Superman Returns."

Which is messed up when you think about it.

But anyway, I read on the 'net that "Spidey 3" did the biggest opening of all time. It's well-deserved. There are still lots of threads for a fourth "Spidey," (Dr. Curt Conners has yet to become The Lizard, the death of Gwen Stacy, etc.) but if they end it here it would be great.

Definitely a go-see at full price. Don't wait for the DVD.

Speaking of Superman, I saw "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" before I left the States. I guess I'm not a good fanboy, 'cause I liked Richard Lester's version a lot better.

The only thing Donner's version had going for it were the Brando scenes that weren't used in the released version due to money issues. But the way Lester handled the escape of the Phantom Zone criminals was way better in my opinion. And Lester's version had a better ending.

The Birthday Party.

So I went to Stephi's place on Monday for her birthday party. Tuesday was a holiday so it was a big party weekend around Berlin. I started out OK but I ended up getting a little blasted off screwdrivers. Stephi was a fun hostess, telling cute little stories in German. I understood her, which means I've been here awhile.



There was also another Steffi there. She was like 6' tall in flats. I am fascinated with tall women (my business partner Giaxia is tall also). Nice little international crowd. I ended up talking to a guy from Sweden and this chick from Russia.

Conna came by. I've known her for a long time around Berlin. The plan was to go to Watergate, but her and her friend Irie ended up kidnapping me to Kino International where there was a party (rave) with Mijk van Dijk, Hardy Hard and Dr. Motte (Conna put me on the list for Kino and I wasn't on the list at Watergate so there you go). Music was a little commercial, but the crowd was great. Again, a lot of tall women. A theme is emerging here. I must be in that time of life where I'm getting shorter because people tower over me lately. Or maybe it's just because I'm in Germany.

I met Mijk and Hardy for the first time, gracious guys and Berlin legends from the early days. Motte started his set with that Marc Houle record and the crowd went berserk. That record is huge here.

I stumbled out of there at 5 a.m. or so and had to catch the U-Bahn home. It was freezing. I actually got on the U1 and after three stops figured out I was going the wrong way! LOL. It took me an hour to get home. Sun was rising and birds were singing when I went to bed. I did nothing the next day at all.

That next day was Mayday here, the international worker's holiday. There are always clashes with the police and stuff which is part of the reason I stayed in. If I wanted to get my head bashed in by cops, I can just stay in America for that.

Just kidding.