Presale tickets available now at www.billetlugen.dk and in Fona storesFree pre-party at Cocktail Box with Mr. Jakobsen aka. DJ Bjarke from 20.00
Ben KlockBerlin born DJ, producer and label owner Ben Klock is without a doubt one of the most influential players in recent Techno history. As a resident at Berghain he has been able to leave his mark on the club’s sound since its opening in 2004. But the relationship is mutual, as this space definitely had an influence on howBen approaches Djing and producing as well. With his hypnotic, heavily grooving dj sets and his tracks released on labels such as Ostgut Ton, Bpitch Control and his own imprint Klockworks, established in 2006, Klock managed to gain an excellent, international reputation. His musical background goes back to his youth. He trained to play the piano at an early stage resulting in his first job aspiration ever: Jazz pianist. Around this time, he encountered the concept of minimalism for the first time by listening to Steve Reich’s „Music For 18 Musicians“, which still holds a strong fascination for Ben up to this day.
In an atmosphere of departure, Berlin’s club scene blossomed in the early 90s capturing young Klock’s attention with full force: „For me the 80s epitomised Pop and a very superficial music in general. I really loved how things went more serious, how all stops were pulled, when the music got more intense and physical.“ In 1994, Ben started to play first gigs in Berlin clubs like Cookies, WMF, Delicious Doughnuts and Tresor, where he held residencies. At first, he mainly spun house, but after a while his sets became more raw and powerful. When Electroclash took over in the late 90s, his interest in nightlife ebbed away for a few years, so he focused on his day job as a graphic designer. The opening of Berghain in 2004 rekindled his passion with a vengeance, though: „The architecture, the sound: That was how this music was meant to be presented. Everything finally fell into place. When I go record shopping, I think in 2 categories: ‚Panorama Bar’ and ‚Berghain’. They are my centre and pulse generator.“
Over the last few year’s Ben Klock’s tracks, be it solo or with his sparring partner Marcel Dettmann, found their way into a lot of DJ’s boxes. His debut album „One“ released in february 2009 on Ostgut Ton, marks the preliminary highlight of his creative output. Similar to his DJ sets, his music is steeped as much in the experience of Techno in the 90s, as it is breathing fresh air into a more than 20 years old genre. Hence, fusing the old with the new comes natural to him. He also learned how to adapt to different expectations brought to him in clubs outside of Berlin. „My development as a DJ in the last two years has been dominated by playing two hour sets, which pretty much are the standard in clubs all over the world. I’ve learned how to play shorter, compact sets keeping the energy up throughout. Being able to play very long set still is very important to me, though, as you can tell a longer story. But I really enjoy taking this kind of feeling abroad, where people sometimes literally hunger for it.“
ShedYou simply cannot pinpoint the moment in history when Techno established itself as a new genre in dance music. Not anymore, anyway. Go ahead and try telling the story "the migration of the bassdrum". You'll realise quickly that all you get is a very pale picture, watered down by not-to-be-trusted records of oral history from the cities, which played a major role in Techno. Historic developments are overshadowed by local characteristics and gossip.
The bomb exploded. It splintered into thousands of little pieces, was absorbed by the mainstream or took the next available flight back into the underground. While House re-established itself over the course of the last couple of years as a clearly defined term for a very specific pool of ideas, the term Techno is still in hibernation. Too many genres and micro-trends are blocking the way. All the more important that there are producers out there who work hard to bring that primordial soup, of which hardly anybody knows anything anymore, back into the focus of the dance floor, taking cover behind the ecstatic firebrands. Shed is one of them. His background is as classic as his music. Born in Frankfurt/Oder in 1975, he was fascinated by the new music played on the radio in the early 90s - a very typical thing for anyone from this generation who grew up in Berlin or its surrounding counties. DJ's as diverse as Westbam, Marusha or Monika Dietl mixed styles and genres into a musical encyclopaedia. While everybody around Shed focussed on HipHop, he himself was addicted to the sample-based sound of UK-hardcore. Then there was a quick liaison with Gabba and through the back catalogue of Djax Up, he finally discovered Chicago and then Detroit. Deep inside the ever-fascinating triangle of beats, breaks and samples, he today identifies 1996/97 as the most important time in Techno for him, although he hit the brakes straight afterwards. While the mainstream did what it could to commercialise the music, Shed closed the door on the Love Parade, cheesy? remixes and mega raves. Between 1998 and 2002 he did not buy a single record.
However, he never lost the love for the music, which had changed his life. He used these years to focus his own productions. Around 2000, he had finished some tracks, which combined and contained everything close to his Techno heart, things which were almost extinct in the real world. "I'm a techno-kid, through and through", he says and laughs. When he started shopping his demos around, the idea of his own label was already lurking behind the door. "I suddenly realised how important it was to really do it all by myself."
What followed was not rocket science. His first EP on his own Soloaction imprint sold well, soon after that he recorded two EPs for the Amsterdam-based Delsin label, and the more he released, the clearer his musical vision became, now culminating in his debut album "Shedding The Past" on OstGut Ton. On this album, he melts and merges rough and demanding dance floor skeletons with shockingly detailed melodies, harmonic structures, irresistible hooks and airy arrangements. A formula you also expose yourself to when attending one of his DJ or live gigs. A never-ending climax of the groove. Like it was in the founding days of the music, which today is a part of our culture. Shed is one of the few producers and DJs out there who knows that you cannot write about the future without a nod to tradition.
TeleseenBased in Brooklyn, but nomadic in geographies real and imagined, Teleseen is the primary alias of producer and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Cyr. Since releasing his debut album WAR to critical acclaim in 2007 Teleseen has fast become one of the leading producers on the vangaurd of combining dub and reggae with experimental electronic music, without falling into the narrow genre ghettos defined by dubstep or so called "dub techno". Pitchfork has called him "an electronic MC Escher", the Wire called "Fear of the Forest" his newest album "just short of epic" and XLR8R's Kid Kameleon called it "the best album of the year". Cyr has brought his live PA and dj sets to clubs all over Europe, the Americas and Africa and hosts a thrice monthly radio on New York's free103point9.
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