If you’re an electronica fan visiting a strange town, what could be cooler than having a DJ play you some cool tracks and show you around town?
That’s the basic premise of Time Out’s The Other Side Berlin. The release combines a CD and a DVD to create a multimedia blitzkreig that introduces you to the sounds and sights of Berlin.
DJ Ellen Allien is your personal guide. The CD features a really varied set of tracks, including Helden, David Bowie’s Heroes auf Deutsch and some Berlin-themed tracks by Quarks, Âme, Miss Kittin, Plastikman, Monolake and Ricardo Villalobos.
But that’s just half of the package. The DVD takes you one a visual tour of Berlin, with Allien as the guide. The soundtrack is full of more great electronica, and Allien shows you her favorite spots for getting cheap jeans, silk baby dolls, clothes for clubbing and great food.
She even takes a visit to an international shrine of analogue gear, Schneiders Buero, where she checks out their Future-Retro Revolution, some anal-offenders from Metasonix and even some German gear from Curetronic. After that, she takes you crate-digging.
My type of tour-guide.
In addition to Allien’s tour, the DVD features a selection of visual tours of Berlin, with sections on Shopping, Food, Nightlife, etc.
All in all, the The Other Side CD+DVD series is a great idea, and Ellen Allien makes a perfect guide to the sites and sounds of Berlin for fans of electronic music.
I would have like to have seen a booklet with a track listing for the DVD and also a directory to the locations visited. Nevertheless, for the price of a standard CD, Time Out gives you a solid CD plus a DVD, making this a great deal.
I hope these are a success for Time Out, because it would be fantastic to have guides like this available to more cities.
Tracks:
- Helden – David Bowie
- In White Rooms [Neo Mix] – Booka Shade
- Königin – Quarks
- Rej – Âme,
- Poor People Must Work [Carl Craig Remix] – Rhythm & Sound, Bobo Shanti
- Neukollin 2 – Miss Kittin
- I Don’t Know – Plastikman
- Bombing Bastards – Terranova, , Tricky
- Berlin – Wayne County, Wayne County, Electric Chairs
- Invisible – Monolake
- Ichso – Ricardo Villalobos
- Way Out – Ellen Allien, Ellen Allien,
- You with Now – AGF, , Delay
