How To Pop-Kultur

How to Pop-Kultur with … Chris Köver

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Chris Köver

Pop-Kultur 2016 is approaching fast and we’re pretty sure that you already faced our module plan, right? Chris Köver did and we’re happy to share her ideas in a new edition of “How to Pop-Kultur.” The founder of Missy Magazine is also writing for WIRED Germany these days and likes to call her self part feminist/ part tech. And you can also sense that in her plan for September the 1st, so get ready to get excited with these recommendations.

On Thursday, I’ll go to see Fatima Al Qadiri’s talk. I loved to read her Global.Wav columns in DIS magazine. And when an Arab artist makes an album on police brutality in the USA, I want to hear what she has to say about it.

Thereafter, I’m totally looking forward to seeing Skinny Girl Diet. I read about them in a British Fanzine a year ago and had an immediate crush on them. Postpunk’s feminist daughters, I want more.

If I’ve got enough energy left, I’ll watch Tellavision, Fee Kuerten’s solo project. In Hamburg, I saw her rule the audience with her self-hacked machines during a concert in the Hanseplatte record shop. That really impressed me. After that, I’ll probably be happy, drunk, and tired and I’ll haul myself back home because there are going to be texts that will have to be written the next day.

Wer sich den Pop-Kultur Plan von Chris Köver selber zusammenstellen möchte, der bekommt mit dem »Wahl-Abo« einen Rabatt von 10%. Und ab 5 Tickets gibt es sogar ganze 20% Rabatt.




How to Pop-Kultur with … Michel Abdollahi

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Foto: Tim Bruening
Photo: Tim Bruening

Performance artist, painter, journalist – Michel Abdollahi is many things but mostly a person full of surprises. His humorous and investigative reports clearly help to support the intercultural feeling in Germany. He’s putting his finger in the wounds of right-wring parties and fights those forces with irony. Since Pop-Kultur is packed with diversity in terms of the origins of our artists and their musical variety it makes total sense to have Michel Abdollahi on board for a new edition of “How To Pop-Kultur” right here.

Well, at first I wanted to see Phil Collins on Wednesday until I saw that it isn’t the singing frog from Genesis, but the British video artist. Now more than ever. After that, I’m going to relax with The Weather Station (I hope it will be very tender) and get drunk, to be strengthened for listening to Kathrin Weßling. I love listening to Kathrin. She is such a good storyteller. We have known each other for so long. I hope, she’ll be a little drunk too. Then sleep.

On Thursday it’s Selda Bağcan & Boom Pam, wild mix, gotta hear that. She reminds me of so many things. And I like that Anatolia and Israel meet on a musical basis. Friday is Heimathafen day. This time, with Algiers. Feels like delicate Brit-Pop, but comes from Atlanta. I hope it’s gonna rain. Then it’ll fit even better.

If you want to compile the schedule of Michel Abdollahi for yourself you can get a discount of 10% with the almighty »Wahl-Abo«.




How to Pop-Kultur with … Sonja Eismann

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Foto: Alicia Kassebohm

If you need to ask yourself the important gender questions, why not doing it with a proper expert? Sonja Eismann is not just co-editor of acclaimed German Missy Magazine but also likes to deal with the representation of gender in popular culture, feminist and journalistic writing and fashion studies. The diverse line-up of Pop-Kultur 2016 is just way too perfect for her to have a closer look on it. For our newest “How to Pop-Kultur” we got Sonja Eismann selecting her favourite gigs for Thursday, September 1. These are her tips.

As someone who stays in her quarter – a Kiezbody as opposed to a Kiezhopper if you will, or is that something supposedly outing me as an uncool not-long-established Berliner, like Kreuzkölln, where I live and that’s supposedly not called that at all? It doesn’t matter – in the end, it’s the ideal. On September first, I’ll just have to hop on my bike and roll down Karl-Marx-Straße (Beware of the traffic!), and that’s where everything goes down. I would like to start with Fatima Al Qadiri’s talk in Passage Kino and do hope that she not only talks about her Hipster-Fashion-Friends such as Telfar Clemens and if Berlin is now going to participate in their glory (which the Berlin Biennale-merch seems to suggest), but also gives enlightening input on Gulf Modernism.

In Heimathafen Neukölln, I’ll then be waiting in suspense for A-Wa, just like everyone else I guess. They immediately got me with their desert chic video for „Habib Galbi“. Maybe I’ll even get to see some of ESKA, the „singing mother“. That would be awesome, and not only, because I’m a „writing mother“ myself.

Afterward, I’ll quickly check out SassyBlack, and I look forward to finding out how her afro-futuristic sound, also known as „Granola Hip Hop“, sounds in a solo DJ-set outside of the TheeSatisfaction context.

Then I’ll hurry into the Keller to see Skinny Girl Diet. I want to know how WoC-Riot-Grrrl sounds and is performed in 2016, even if not primarily sound-wise, definitely in its political aspects.

I’d like to see at least a bit of Fishbach because the french magazine Les Inrocks has proposed them to me as the hype of the hour more than once. And of course, I’ll have to check out Fatima Al Qadiri’s DJ-set.

Sona Eismann’s Pop-Kultur Plan for September the 1st

18.30h – 20h Passage Kino, Talk Fatima Al Qadiri
19h – 22h Heimathafen Neukölln, ESKA und A-Wa
22h – 1h Keller, Skinny Girl Diet
22h – 4h SchwuZ, Fishbach, Fatima Al Qadiri, DJ SassyBlack

If you want to compile the plan of Sonja Eismann for yourself you can get 10% off with the »Wahl-Abo« for Thursday.




 

How to Pop-Kultur with … Birger Schmidt

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Birger Schmidt
What a tournament! The battle calls of the Icelandic vikings, the crazy Irish fans and the almost endless penalty shootout between Germany and Italy. Well, okay, some people might not be thaaaat interested in the current European Championship but Birger Schmidt definitely isn’t part of that group of people. He is the head of the football film festival “11mm” as well as the founder of Lernort Stadion e.V. and a well-known figure and popular expert whenever you are taking about football. So, there’s no need to seperate pop and football and that’s why we asked Birger Schmidt for his Friday plans for Pop-Kultur 2016.

How am I looking forward to September 2nd and a whole lot of Pop-Kultur!

I’ll begin my tour in the Prachtwerk at the reading by Jens Balzer whom I deeply appreciate for his well-meaning tone and for gifting us with golden observations from the lowlands of Pop. Thereafter, the trip goes to Malcolm Middleton at the Heimathafen. I really liked the subtle electronics and the strumming charm of Arab Strap and I will enjoy ballads such as „of fuck all“.

21:20h: Huxleys Neue Welt, Incredible 35 years after the founding of the amazing Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore and his band will enter the stage. It’ll surely get loud when they’ll celebrate finest New York „Noise Rock“. And to be able to level with my music-crazy daughters, the day is ending in the Keller with Pins and Best Friends, yet unbeknownst to me. .

If you want to compile the plan of Birger Schmidt for yourself you can get 10% off with the »Wahl-Abo« for Friday.

How to Pop-Kultur with … Mirna Funk

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Mirna Funk
Foto: Jessica Barthel

Everybody’s becoming a party animal for Pop-Kultur and prepares itself for the conquest of Neukölln’s nightlife. Author Mirna Funk is not exception to the rule. The East German-born lady is the latest participant in our “How to Pop-Kultur”-series and took care of Thursday, September the 1st. These are her recommendations.

I used to be a wild party girl, but nowadays no one gets me out of my apartment after 19:00 h. You’d have to shackle and kidnap me. But I’ll make an exception for Pop-Kultur. Well, I’ll begin early and quiet and end early and half-way loud. I’ll watch Mark Farrow and Scott King talking about graphics design at 17:40 h. I guess I’ll take my husband and our daughter. Thereafter, I’ll take in another talk on my own, cause talking is good for the brain. Fatima Al Qadiri shall tell me something about Kuwait. I’d like that. Or about art. Or about how you make art in Kuwait. That kinda stuff.

Because I usually go to bed at 21:00 h, my strength leaves me, but I’m going to watch A-WA. That’s simply a must. If I’m lucky, these Yemeni super girls from Israel play first. If not, I’ll stay until they come up, get a cab after the last chord is played and close my eyes on the way home.

Mirna Funk worked as a freelance journalist for »Neon«, »L’Officiel Germany« and »Süddeutsche Magazin«, as she writes about culture and life between Berlin and Tel Avid. Her debut novel “Winternähe” was released back in 2015 and awarded with the acclaimed Uwe-Johnson Prize for the best German debut. A film version is currently in the making. More information on her homepage. If you want to compile the plan of Mirna Funk or your own schedule for Pop-Kultur you can get 10 % off with the »Wahl-Abo« for Thursday.




How to Pop-Kultur with… Sibylle Berg

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Sibylle Berg by Katherina Lütscher
Photo: Katherina Lütscher

More than 60 different acts will appear over the course of three days at six venues during our festivals. Now, friends of Pop-Kultur are recommending their personal favourites out of one day’s line-up.

»Fragen Sie Frau Sibylle« (Ask Miss Sibylle) is the title of a very popular German column. And so we did. Hence author, theatre director and our most favourite twitter person, Sibylle Berg, guides you through the programme: »On Thursday I will –either mentally or for real– attend the talk with Dr. Tom Fritz at Berghain Garderobe. I have a soft spot for neuo science as for pretty much everything I don’t know anything about. Afterwards I stop by at Kantine for Mary Ocher. After all I’m the producer of one of her songs, which you can listen to below, there you go! And then all these DJs and… what’s the political correct female term again? I have no idea, but they are all to slow for me anyway. When it comes to my musical taste I’m still deeply stuck in the loops of gabber – but what’s most likely to sound like some noise seems to be Girl Band, again at Kantine. So I’ll take them along and then I’ll probably get pretty hungry and will have to leave urgently.«

 

The complete programme of Thursday and the rest of the festival can be found here. If you want to turn Sibylle Berg’s recommendations into a ticket for yourself you can safe 10% with our combo-ticket option called »Wahl-Abo« for Thursday. There’s currently a crowdfunding campaign to bring the English version of her feminist play »Und jetzt: Die Welt!« on a tour through the UK.

How to Pop-Kultur mit … Dirk von Lowtzow

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Dirk von Lowtzow

Über 60 verschiedene Acts treten bei unserem Festival in sechs Venues auf. Pop-Kultur-Freunde stellen von nun an ihre Favoriten vor.

Den Auftakt macht Tocotronics Dirk von Lowtzow: »Am Freitag gehe ich zunächst zur Lesung von Bernard Sumner in der Garderobe. Ich bin großer New-Order-Fan, wie man vielleicht auf dem neuen, roten Tocotronic-Album hören kann. Dann besuche ich meine Freundin Sophie Hunger in der Halle am Berghain. Wir verstehen uns prima, leider verpasste ich ihre Konzerte in der Vergangenheit regelmässig. Später schlendere ich ins Berghain, ich will das Duo 18+ sehen. Ich glaube die sind sehr modern und sollen toll sein. Danach bin ich voraussichtlich betrunken und gehe nach Hause.«

 

Das gesamte Programm für das Festival und den Freitag sowie den Timetable findet Ihr hier. Wer sich Dirk von Lowtzows Empfehlungen in einem Ticket zusammenstellen will, bekommt mit dem »Wahl-Abo« für den Freitag einen Rabatt von 10%. »Tocotronic«, das neue Album der Band, ist bei Vertigo / Universal erschienen.