Matt Shea
RubySoho
Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
Und So Weite: Berlin Calling and the fade away from the club scene
March 30th 2009 23:25
This week, I reviewed "Berlin Calling", an entertaining, introspective look into a fictional DJ played by real life DJ Paul Kalkbrenner. Directed by Hannes Stohr, the film steps away from glorifying the lifestyle of drugs and sweaty bathroom stall sex, but manages to avoid the pitfalls of proselytizing against the pursuit of pleasure.
The main character, DJ Ickarus, is a substance abuser, off his head, to the point where his blood tests positive for everything except heroin. It's easy for an outsider to look at DJ Ickarus, playing to a cheering crowd of enthralled, cacophonic youngsters - and dismiss it all as wanton hedonism.
I remember reading about the dangers of ecstasy and the rave scene before I even went to high school. It was in the local paper, an entire page devoted to the horrors that your kids were involved with. My mom looked at me with a suspicious eye, as well she should have; there was a picture of scantily clad raver girls, dancing to strobe lights, and I was intrigued, though I had no idea what it meant.
Years later, I attended a lecture at a local university by a graduate student who did his thesis on electronic music... the lecturer gave a passionate speech about the beauty of electronic music. Whereas most of our traditional and contemporary musical forms are easy to define, due to their intrinsic use of melody, he argued, electronic music was often demonized as repetitive and monotonous.
Instead of melody, though, he continued, electronica used samples as its melody, changing forms subtly, then accelerating through the barriers to euphoria. If you've ever been to a big party, you'd understand... the combination of human body heat and the visuals enhance the music, speeding along at 120 beats per minute, until that big, fat bass drum kicks in.
"Berlin Calling" builds on this idea - DJ Ickarus records the bleep-beep of a subway door opening, then layers it on his tracker, altering the pitch to fit with the synths. The end result is something so pure and comforting, the sounds of our modern life churned into components of music, able to extract emotions and moods.
Or another track, written by Kalkbrenner for the soundtrack, where the low thump of the rhythm line builds up speed, adding drum component one-by-one, increasing the topmost frequency as your eyes flicker back and forth. This is repetition, but it's the repetition that comforts us and allows for this sublime cascade of dance floor samples. As it moves, it takes on a quality, a personality, almost - then, suddenly, then there's a moment to breath as the bottom stops - and it all comes rushing back.
Listen to it:
I was so hesitant to watch "Berlin Calling", willing to wipe away the memories and emotions linked to the pursuit of that moment of rapturous joy, aware that that time faded away a long time ago.
Seeing Kalkbrenner at the decks, leading his revellers through the night, then stumbling outside for a look at the rising sun over the canal - well, that was a throwback, and one that I followed eagerly to its conclusion.
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