list beings

Chart Show 2016 – The big KAPUT charts

Lists, everywhere. And usually they are just the same with albums and songs – and of course they’re filled with Radiohead, Beyonce, Solange, Frank Ocean, you name them, we yawn! It’s not that our little pop world hasn’t been affected by those artists as well, but we wanted a little bit more variety. With this in mind: no charts with rigid rules, anything goes. The future is kaput!

Katja Ruge

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Der goldene Pudel is burning
The call that I got from Booty Carell on a Sunday morning in February at 8 o’clock remains unforgotten. Just like I got out of the house in my pyjama to take picture. Everything that followed: Utter madness. This is one of the last pictures that I took at Pudeln: 50Weapons and the Pudel crew.
Please donate: www.pudel.com – I want my living room back.

 

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The very special day in Cologne with Madeleine Girke
I took photos of the studio of the late painter Raimund Girke with his daughter.

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“Ladyflash”
My photo exhibition with many incredible female musicians. Can be seen until 12 January 2017 at Galerie Kulturreich in Hamburg. This is just one of the walls on this photos!

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Gottwood Festival / Nord Wales
It was a long-cherished wish of me to go there, I had my synthesizer exhibition and music with me. Once there I had fries with Andrew W. – there is no picture of this, but on the other hand I got one with him and the Cheshire Cat Move D. It was nice!

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Yello
It feels as if it has been 100 years since our last encounter. Yell, the real and true gentlemen. We were just missing the Bentley this time. Photo by Boris.

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Helena Hauff
Only flying is better. Amazing day with the EB-TV crew on the airfield in Holm.

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Mila Stern
A day of discoveries: not just Mila but also the beautiful city Halle/Saale, where we run around the whole day to take photos for Libertine Magazine.

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Kann denn Liebe Synthie sein? (Can love possibly by synth?)
My regular club night with corresponding blog and exhibition and so much more makes me happy again and again. This year I mad my first own remix, together with Frank Husemann from Synthesizerstudio Hamburg – for Ruede Hagelstein and the Watergate Label. Next year I will release my first track on Bordello A Parigi.

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Tatort
I don’t watch it, but the music is great. Therefor the picture of Klaus Doldinger.

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Telephones “Vibe Telemetry”
Such a great “Mega-Retro-Early-90s-Makes-Me-Happy”-Album. The photo was taken at the Raimund Girke studio in Cologne.

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The mask from the Altern-8 album
After 25 years I have found out that I did hold the legendary mask that adorned the cover of the Altern-8 album in my hands. Completely crazy. Sometimes the grimace-face is good for something.

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DJing at a party in Hamburg from my friends Oliver, Annika and Marcus:
I was the only one wearing cotton 😉

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New status
Since the beginning of the year I’m a Professional at BFF (Berufsverband freischaffender Fotografen und Filmemacher/Professional Association of Freelance Photographers and Film Creators). Very good thing, great exchange with the colleagues and just as great exhibitions. Here is my photo of F.C. Gundlach (photographer and collector) in a photo magazine on account of his ninetieth birthday. As he is a honorary member of the BFF they made a beautiful book for him.

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Mama
The most important and most beautiful moment of the year. Together with my mom at my exhibition “Ladyflash”.

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Papa
Followed immediately by the night with my dad at the award ceremony of the Hamburger Musikpreis.

Alexander Mayor

Ten brilliant things about a year which, let’s face it, has been a bit of a shocker in a number of fairly important regards, which I scarcely need to flag up, as I’m sure you know what they are. Or, I know, let’s just repeatedly watch YouTube videos of ace stuff until it all goes away.

“Love and Friendship” by Whit Stillman. An escapist hoot. A Jane Austen reboot. And the return of the brilliant Kate Beckinsale. Stillman’s so good he even had the temerity to publish his own re-novelisation of Jane’s ‘Lady Susan’.

Louis Cole ‘Mean it’ and ‘Weird part of the night’. Genre-mashing, youth-discovery talent klaxon: what does high-energy, jazz-fusion, freak-pop sound like? It sounds like Louis Cole. In his own words “That’s enough of the ah, not-maximum-shit”. Catch his crazy one man show live if you can. And what about those trousers?


Cory Henry, Jacob ‘jazz wunderkind’ Collier and the Metropole Orkest – Billie Jean. Man, this will make you feel better about the world. A slick, intricate and moving re-work of the MJ classic, backed by Jules Buckley’s ace pop orchestra. Prepped for a tribute to Quincy Jones at the Royal Albert Hall, just listen in wonder as a classic song slowly re-assembles every brilliant element in front of your ears…


Field Music – The noisy days are over (from album Commontime). Another slice of slinky witty pop from the Brewis brothers. An energetic funk workout about staying in the with die kinder.


Vulfpeck – Game Winner. Can you wear out an mp3? Like, do the digital grooves suffer or something? Because I played this to death across the summer. Manages the deft trick of doing what you want an old soul 7” to do without ever sounding like they were trying. Beautiful melodies do not come any more nagging.


Instagram discovery: MONONEON
– Who’s the man behind the mask? Is he truly Prince’s final bass player? I haven’t done due diligence on this claim, but who cares? Mononeon is da funk! He plays along with random YouTube rants and hits them up with a slap bass frenzy. (NB this is good, not terrible). There is much neon. It looks like a fun world, Mononeon’s.
Fear of Tigers – there was loads of new high-gloss meta-pop from bedroom hero Fear of Tigers in 2016. Rather like hearing the best of the KLF, Pet Shop Boys remixes filtered through K-POP and dabs of the French touch. Check out ‘Truth or dare’ or ‘You make me crazy’ from this year’s double-album opus: Hypneotomachia Poliphili


The Pattern Forms  – Peel away the ivy (Ghostbox) – Another great Ghostbox release – this one coming on like the soundtrack to Knightrider, if it had been set just outside early 1980s Nottingham instead of in California. Lovely joint effort in textured and woozy memory-pop from members of Friendly Fires and The Advisory Circle. Samples here:

In further jazz-tinged developments… Jacob Collier had a great year. He’s about 12 years old and already seems capable of all-of-the-musics. Can’t wait to hear what he creates in 2017. Here’s his mind-bending rework of Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm.

 

Christina Mohr

After having lunged into epic “end-of-year-reviews” in word, video and audio several times and just failed to make progress you’ll get to simple lists:

15 favorite albums
Oum Shatt „Oum Shatt“
Kate Tempest „Let Them Eat Chaos“
Half Girl „All Tomorrow’s Monsters“
Roisin Murphy „Take Her Up to Monto“
Masha Qrella „Keys“
Jenny Hval „Blood Bitch“
Die Heiterkeit „Pop & Tod, Teil I & II“
JaKönigJa „Emanzipation im Wald“
A Tribe Called Quest „We Got It From Here…“
Iggy Pop „Post Pop Depression“
Dinosaur Jr „Give A Glimpse of What Yer Not“
Anna Meredith „Varmints“
The Julie Ruin „Hit Reset“
Solange „A Seat at the Table“
Mykki Blanco „Mykki“

15 favorite songs
Mykki Blanco „Like Highschool Never ends“
Half Girl „Girl in a Band“
Christiane Rösinger „Eigentumswohnung“
Oum Shatt „Hot Hot Cold Cold“
Iggy Pop „Gardenia“
Pet Shop Boys „The Pop Kids“
Dinosaur Jr. „I Told Everyone“
Die Heiterkeit „Die Kälte“
Masha Qrella „DJ“
Jacques Palminger „Spanky“
Nouvelle Vague „Love Comes in Spurts“
JaKönigJa „Woher kommst du?“
The Julie Ruin „I Decide“
Warpaint „New Song“
Wild Beasts „Big Cat“

Bonus track as video 

Ok, and when we will meet somewhere soon we can talk about the 2016-pop-subjects, for example:
About dead pop stars as event and why I neither listened to “Blackstar” nor “Skelteton Tree”.
Or about interviews with pop musicians that are/were important to you (in my case those were Kevin Rowland, Masha Qrella, Hinds, Julie Miess, Vivian Goldman, Viv Albertine, Roisin Murphy, Kathleen Hanna in 2016) – and about how uncool I am once more.
About my penchant for compilations such as ”C87“, “PUNK 45“, “Too Slow to Disco“ or “Falscher Ort, falsche Zeit“.
But also about the fact that I listened to a good deal of ROCK in 2016 and how I think a whole lot of records were astonishingly good, for example those of Dinosaur Jr., Iggy Pop, Deap Vally, Half Girl, The Julie Ruin (not good: Metallica).
And why Anohni and Beyoncé didn’t get to be in my top 15
And also about how of all things shows of old favorite bands WERE THE MOST FUN: The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, The Julie Ruin.
About how much I appreciate the considerable attention for “Damaged Goods” from Ventil, not JUST because I also contributed two texts to it.
Or about how I didn’t like an album by PJ Harvey for the first time.
And soon. Stay kaput in 2017!

Thomas Venker

Köln ist Kaput, Gold + Beton, Köln
Our very own series of concerts and one exhibition (for the „Cabinet of Kaput“ series) at Colognes Gold + Beton. So grateful to Sans Gene, Lauter Bäumen, Die Bäume, Stefan Schneider, Colorist and Camp Inc. for having played concerts, Christina Mohr, Miss Stereo, Mario Lasar und Christian S. for djing and so many visual artists for having sent in their works.
This would not have been possible without them, the cultural office of the city Cologne, Carhartt and all my beloved Kaputies. Forever yours!

A journey to the islands of Fiji and Tuvalu
Two sentences are not enough to transport all the feelings this trip brought up in me, so better read the whole story: “Don´t call us Refugees.”

“Água”, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
Another unforgetable trip to Wuppertal. Every performance of the Pina Bausch Ensemble is such a stunning experience, to see discipline and passion dance with each other like they do in this very special theatre they dissolve into each other

Lena Willikens, „Phantom Run 1“, Tuffest Till Dawn Seattle
I haven’t been to Seattle since the early 90s, the heydays of Grunge, so I did not know what to expect. We came upon a super friendly, engaging and very much political community; the same could be said about Portland, with the exceptance that the party there was not as wild as this last stop on Lena Williken’s „Phantom Run No.1“ tour, where she played alongside Umfang. Beyond wild. I have no idea how I made it to the airport, through the customs and to Los Angele where an angel picked me up and brought me to bed safely.

„Stranger Things“
This series has got a special spot in my heart as Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (of Survive) contributed the soundtrack. But besides that fact: Without getting to cheesy Matt and Ross Duffer managed to combine an old school Steven King vibe with the current Neo-Wave-Zeitgeist. Essential viewing. Here comes a little conversation I had with Kyle and Michael: “We want to elicit the demons from the light and make them die in the backstreet.”

DJ Stingray, Berghain, Berlin
I managed to see Sherard Ingram twice this year, once at “Warm Up” at PS1 (where he did not show any doubts about going straight in the pit at 4pm like it was 4am – maybe because Germany played against Italy at that time?), which was impressive. But the real shit was his set at Berghain.

Polymorphism #18: POLYMORPHISM X COSMO RHYTHMATIC, Berghain, Berlin
Speaking of Berghain. This night was fantastic (and especially as I was so lucky to dance into my birthday with some of my best friends) as it featured enlightening performances of folks like Mika Vainio & Franck Vigroux, Xosar and Container.

Phantom Kino Ballett, Jetztmusik Festival, Mannheim
The first of four Phantom Kino Ballett performances this year. What an rewarding experience to see all the efforts of the artists finally being rewarded on stage. This would not have been possible without the fervent input of all involved in Jetztmusik Festival.

CTM / Transmediale Festival, Berlin
Das interessanteste Festival überhaupt zur Zeit. Rückblickend muss ich mich fragen, wo ich all die Nullerjahre verbracht habe (ja, wo?, Thomas, wo?). Aber keine Zeit für Selbstzerfleischung, das Leben findet im hier und jetzt statt und die nächste CTM/Transmediale beginnt ja bereits am 27. Januar.

Moogfest, Durham, North Carolina
This one came all by surprise to me. Of course I did notice the great line ups in the years before (although many festivals these days have those), but from the moment I touched down in Durham I felt blessed and inspired. A marathon of talks, workshops, shows, dances and so many great people.

Analytic and advisory duties for the new album by Sonae
By chance I had the great pleasure to work side by side with the over-talented musician Philipp Janzen (he and I are both teaching at the Institut für Populäre Musik at Folkwang University) on the upcoming album (to be released in 2017 on Monika Enterprises) of Sonia Güttler. A great privilege to be so deeply involved in the process of artistic creativity.

Walking in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s footsteps in Roma
Not one single corner of this city that is not worth taking in a good breath and absorb everything. Those ruins and houses, those artichokes and spaghetti and those people, alive or dead. The interest for the latter brought us to the beach of Ostia where Pier Paolo Pasolini died on 2nd November 1975 under circumstances that are still unclear. The air is still vibrating.

Albums of the year 2016
This might be a little trick, but, hey, that’s what hyperlinks are made for. Follow this path and you can read all about my 21 favorite albums in list form: The 21 best records of the year!

Songs of the year 2016
Oops, I did it again. Follow the link and 23 anthems will be yours: Songs that made my year go boom! Including Playlist!

Robert Mapplethorpe, LACMA, Los Angeles
I saw a few good exhibitions this year, but this one sticked with me in particular as it was connected to a perfect day in Los Angeles. But let’s skip all these emotional moments (this whole look back on 2016 thing is coming with much too many strings attached anyway) and let’s concentrate on the man in focus: Robert Mapplethrope. The author of these lines sometimes thinks he is also a good photographer, but on that very afternoon, standing in front of those pictures and feeling life through the eyes of Mapplethrope…well, this is just another level.

Schlussdanken: As great as it is to write down all those happy memories of art and life, the summary of 2016 does not come without tears: The constant work in progress of the messenger of death, world and local politics and most of all not having enough time to hang ten with my friends and realizing how how much of the time I’m spending with people is connected to my work pattern (and therefore some beloved ones fall behind when you don’t work with them anymore) must definitely be mentioned here.

 

Sarah Szczesny

sarah_01Retrospective
Utagawa Kuniyoshi “Fantastique! Le démon de l’estampe”, Petit Palais, Paris

sarah_02Performance
Grace Jones, E-Werk, Köln

sarah_03Artist
Kai Althoff “Und dann überlasst mich den Mauerseglern/ and then leave me to the common swifts”, MOMA, New York

sarah_04Cabinet of Kaput
Oliver Husain „Popcorn“

sarah_05Conzert
Selma, Pop Kultur Festival, Berlin

sarah_06Screening
Phantom Kino Ballet at Commend, New York

sarah_07Painting
Isabella Fein “Überhörte Signale”, Galerie Paris Kind, Frankfurt

sarah_08Tour
Lena Willikens „Phantom Run

Berghain 
Xosar, Berghain, Berlin

Lecture
Paulina Oliveros, RA Live Exchange with Pauline Oliveros, CTM Festival, Berlin

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Salon des Amateurs 
KPY & YPY (EM Records) Osaka live-Yamato Sekiguchi- Visuals & Toulouse Low Trax

Exchange
Viola Klein “EXCHANGE” EP, Meakusma Nr 21

sarah_10Reissue
Joanna Brouk “Hearing Music” LP, NUM069

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Exhibition
Gerda Scheepers “Body Corporate”, Mary Mary, Glasgow

sarah_12Publication
Vincent Fecteau “You Have Did the Right Thing When You Put That Skylight on”, Galerie Buchholz, Cologne

sarah_13Youtube Clip
Rupaul’s “Drag Race”, Season 8
sarah_14Tourette
Isa Genzken and Total Freedom “Fuck Them All”, Pit Dream / Arena

doctorella

Lyrics
Doctorella “Die Ungeheuer mit den sauberen Händen”

Lars Fleischmann

Die Heiterkeit „Pop & Tod I&II“
From the moment I was allowed to listen to the first lines one thing was clear: the Highlight of the year. Darkness will just never become light.


Lena Willikens, C/O Pop, Köln
50° C, sweaty half-naked bodies and dance music from another star. Epic.

„Adam sucht Eva” (Adam Seeks Eva)
So many chasms of trash TV. RTL proves once again that no one can do it as terrible (and at the same time as great) as them. Barnabas (aka Richter Gnadenlos/Judge Merciless) proves why men of a certain age should probably get castrated.

„Germany’s Next Top Model“
Another TV show. Finally another good season after centuries, with one highlight after the next right up to the finale: Kim’s breakdown, Julia’s sore face, ALEX KEEN. The last burp before the collapse?

„Nijinski“, Ballett, Opernhaus Bonn
Marco Goecke’s choreography on the dance-revolutionary Nijinski was breath taking. Quick, repeated movements that can either be read as stuttering in the grammar of dance or as modern hyperactivity: intensive, wonderful, but not enchanting.

Der Ringer
At the beginning of next year we will finally get an album from this band from Hamburg. Those who were able to listen to it already were delighted. And also during shows they proved that luckily there is a NOW next to RETRO. Personal tip: Add them on IG and FB at all costs.

Angel Olsen „My Woman“
Somewhere I gave this album 9 of 10 points. In retrospect I would like to punch myself for this. My Ass! This album in its entirety is just sublime, unbeatable. Wether Stevie Nicks or Bonny Prince Billy – everything is on this.

Babyfather, Weekend Festival, Köln
Where are the boundaries of the concept live concert? That is the question that has been driving the artist Dean Blunt for years. Next to the tactics of overextension under his own name, now the demystification of the fourth wall is following: a sea of fog and bright light – you don’t need anything else to throw your audience for a loop. Waiting behind the fog is the pleasure and floating in heaven.

My Sister’s Prom
Real-Life-Millenials-Reality-TV. What an event. Afterwards I badly needed to get drunk.

Frank Ocean „Blonde“
One by one: At first Frank Ocean is building a staircase and then he finally and surprisingly releases an album, called “Blonde” but whose cover says “blond”. Super LOL. And on BLACK FRIDAY he sells the much-anticipated vinyl version for just 24 hours. That’s all great. The real highlight is the album itself. The first four tracks are so powerful that I sometimes forget how great the rest is. In its entirety a perfect album; one of those for which 10 out of 10 points was invented. In the best moments it is so good that you could lose your mind.

Festival für junge Menschen, HH
Hell is being raised at Übel & Gefährlich, just for seven acts that hail from the most different musical corners and also couldn’t be more different characterwise. But everything panned out perfectly (against expectation). Special highlight: Candelilla are presenting their new record “Camping”. Additional mention: Die Nerven are rocking a lot.

Messer on Boris Vian, Volksbühne Berlin
Sometimes you tend to glorify or downplay events with some distance. On this instance I can – after comparing it with my article – throw around the same statements months later: Messer remain for German pop music what the rim of a pan is for egg shells. Sometimes you have to destroy to create something new.

Tones in the Stones Festival, Domodossola, Italy
A little notch driven into a mountain in a quarry was the stage for this little festival near Lago Maggiore. During the liberation 1943/44 a socialist republic was proclaimed here for a couple of days and now electronic acts were allowed to play. Aisha Devi’s high-gloss-surrealism-excursions appeared just as impressive as Holly Herndon’s dystopian work environments on the huge marble wall in the background. And musically it was also top notch. Rounded off was the night by the – as far as I could see – by now mostly analogue live set by The Field (which was really fun) and the three hour techno excursion by Dasha Rush. Kept small, thought big. Bravissimo.

Die Goldenen Zitronen, Lieblingsplatte: „Lenin“, Zakk, Düsseldorf
Zakk, the cultural center in Düsseldorf, invited bands like Notwist, Fehlfarben, Mutter or Torch to perform their supposedly most famous album live as part of their “Lieblingsplatte” (favorite record)-series. The Goldies accepted this invitation with their own kind of humor. Dressed in leather jackets – referring to the iconic cover of the album, drawn by Daniel Richter – with inscriptions like “Fuck the Police” and “Fit for Fun”. During the set they were just partly interested in faithfulness to the original. Everything happened true to the unvoiced motto of the Zitronen “I’m not even really sure about this”. In any case next to the still often played “Wenn ich ein Turnschuh wär” (If I were a sneaker) (which hasn’t lost any topicality 11 years after the album’s release) they played quite a few songs that are next to never played live. At the same time and after the show a beamer showed a “best of Zitronen clips”. Extremely well rounded night which above all proved to my why “Lenin” is still one of the most important albums by the Zitronen.

I wondered for a long time if I should mention the fourth season of “Orange Is the New Black”. Or “Westworld”. I’m still unsure. While “Westworld”, just like Lost (Executive Producer: J.J. Abrams), raises, answers, and not answers questions, twistedly creates a wonderful world and is just pure fun, my love for OITNB has another reason. The new season starts with a simple toughening of the situation (accompanied by new inmates – to increase sales); but what is happening in the second half of the season can hardly be retold here – especially to prevent spoilers. Everything is included: “Black Lives Matter”, the conflict between the US and Hispanics and Afro-Americans, neo-liberalization of public institutions (“Good Morning Mr. President Trump. It will surely get better with you.”) and so on. One of the strongest political statements of the last years. Goosebumps.

Denise Oemcke 

Translating
Last year I started translating texts for Kaput into English, out of friendship and fun. In 2016 I realised that this might be the job that brought me the most joy and made me the most patient. Therefore I am now working on making this my main occupation.

“Better Things”
So-called dramedy, from and with Louis CK collaborator Pamela Adlon. Wonderful mixture of absurd jokes and story lines from real life, carried by five amazing female characters of all ages. Sam is the most real and most amazing mother of TV history.

Anderson .Paak
My personal discovery of the year. No matter if solo on “Malibu” or together with Knxwledge as NxWorries, both records made me really happy this year. Sadly I missed his show in Cologne, which still angers me!

Tickled
Documentary on “Competitive Endurance Tickling” that entails everything I’m looking for in a good documentary: absurd subject, tragical personal fates and a twist so unexpected that you couldn’t have imagined it.

“Stranger Things”
This show managed to push all my nostalgia buttons at the same time. But with so much heart and imagination that I willingly let the strong fallbacks on 80s references pass.

Die Heiterkeit “Pop & Tod I+II”
Music made melancholy. Only thinking about it makes me want to weep, for joy.

Almut Klotz “Fotzenfenderschweine”
A beautiful love story, in equal parts heart-wrenching and funny. Almut Klotz’s voice will be missed by me so much more in the future as it already had been.
The reading of the book on 29 September at King Georg accompanied by the Reverend who played songs of Almut and him was one of the best reading nights I had this year in my second living room.

Joe Sudano
The best meme of the year. Although I know what will happen in any new video I will still get a laughing fit sooner or later.

“Swallow”, Schauspiel Köln
I laughed and cried and got scared and shivered and clapped and was delighted by this amazing production of a story about three women hurt by life.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
I love musicals. This study on the obsessive, slightly disturbed psyche of a woman is camouflaged as a musical romcom show. The creators know their musical models, no musical reference from boybands and Fred Astaire to Disney films is left out. Smart, exciting, ridiculous and astonishingly understandable.

The rediscovery of the beach holiday
7 days on Fuerteventura and doing nothing but reading, lying on the beach and letting my ears get burned by the sun.

American Football
I’m usually not a fan of new albums by bands that I used to like when I was younger. But this spring the first American Football had a revival on my record player. So when the new album was released this fall it was exactly what I needed.

Frank Ocean “Blonde”
I devoted myself completely to the anticipation, waiting and hype in the run-up. Luckily Franke once again didn’t disappoint and in the end it was totally worth the tension.

Donald Glover
He might be a genius or the hardest worker in the world: Donald Glover just can do everything. His musically totally unexpected new Childish Gambino album and his TV show Atlanta are both way up there on my best of list.

Search Party
Girls meets the Three Investigators. Narcissistic millenials are looking for a missing college class-mate. I just couldn’t stop watching until I found out what had happened to Chantal Witherbottom.

 

Alexandre Lemieux

Sicily  
That place just rules.

Lena Willikens’s Dekmantel Podcast
Electronic music how it should be, more please.

Roberto De Simone “Secondo Coro Della Lavandaie”
Has been on top for at least 20 years, but this year’s reissue is a blessing.

Herbal Moscow’s fermentiertes Ingwer Bier
Perfect balance of spice and sweetness.

Sardines       
Glad to see those little things make a comeback in oil or grilled, simply the best.

Brandenburg
You have to get out of Berlin’s concrete la la land sometimes, and those lakes!

Westworld     
Yeah, yeah, I know, whatever, this is good tv.

Autechre reissues       
I am now officially old and like old stuff

„débruit ‘débruit & Istanbul“
French dude goes to Istanbul and makes great music with local musicians.

„Manifesto“ by Julian Rosefeldt
Impressive 13 films installation featuring Cate Blanchett.

Selda
Amazing artist, saw her twice this year and even cried.

„Before The Streets“ by Chloé Leriche
Quebec movie featuring Atikamekw actors, personal best of Berlinale this year.

Jessy Lanza
Live and on album. She is so cool – deal with it.

Fridays 
Still the best day of the week in 2016.

Partida Creus’s VN
Very yummy white natural wine, can’t get enough of it.

All the stuff I forgot
You’re cool too!

 

Christian Meyer-Pröpstl

Show 1:
Dean Blunt at Weekend Fest, 26 November, Stadthalle Mülheim, Cologne:
Alarm! Fog up to the stop, lights in the hall are as bright as possible, subsonic basses and a voice repeating “Don’t Panic”. Again at last I’m leaving a show distraught.

Show 2:
Guttersnipe at 10 June, Gold + Beton, Cologne:
Duo from Leeds who fill the small room with infernal noise from drums, guitar, electronic and screaming, to the delight of the 15 audience members. Their first CD-R (sold at the show for two Euros including a drawing by the drummer) immediately ends up on the charts of The Wire.

Show 3:
Steve Reich at 13 November, Cologne Philharmonic
The German premier of his two new pieces “Runner” and “Pulse” by the Ensemble Modern vividly illustrate once again what makes Steve Reich the forebear of minimal techno: Soothingly organically swelling sounds as if someone would move controllers and turn buttons on a mixer.

Comic 1
Oliver Schrauwen „Arsène Schrauwen“ (Reprodukt)
Feverish trip through Africa in the spirit of Joseph Conrad. One way or another all men in hier are depraved creatures. Superb illustration!

Comic 2
Daniel Clowes „Mister Wonderful“ (Reprodukt)
A self-doubting picture of misery is on a date, arranged by friends. From the start his inner monologue is superimposing the conversation between him and his opposite. That’s exactly how Clowes visualizes the speech bubble – in superimpositions that make it impossible to read the complete dialogue.

Comic 3
Max Baitinger „Röhner“ (Rotopolpress)
Röhner is compulsive neurotic – his apartment looks accordingly, his life is organized accordingly tight. When an old friend announces a visit he threatens to dismantle Röhner’s world. At least in Röhner’s head. Graphically Röhner’s fantasy is depicted in cubist distortions, deconstructivist decompositions and finally in exciting deconstructions.

Record 1
Everything by Yung Hurn, K.Ronaldo and Fiona Swarowski Jr. (Live from Earth): If Helge Schneider’s anarchism meets HipHop/Trap. As Yung Hurn the Viennese creates the most poplike variant, while K.Ronaldo is rather reminiscent of the ‘Geniale Dilletanten’ of the German New Wave, with his Jonathan Meese-like activism. Whereas young Fiona is totally relaxed.

Record 2
Sun Ra „Singles“ (Strut): 65 songs between R’n’B, DooWop, Free and Funk Jazz from the early 50s well into the 80s from the extraterrestrial jazzer and his Arkestra.

Film 1
„Swiss Army Man“ by The Daniels: Absurd friendship drama about a lonely man and a dead body, that ends up somewhere between slasher movie, buddy (or body) comedy and Michel Gondry fantasy, equally at the diaphragm and the heart muscle.

Film 2
„Der Nachtmahr“ by AKIZ: Teenage horror without horror, at least the classic slasher horror. Instead AKIZ recounts with surprisingly free creative drive and radical effects about the teenage angst where monsters are not necessarily the biggest fright.

Film 3
„Son of Saul“ by László Nemes: An attempt to break out of a KZ captured in nightmarishly claustrophobic pictures that make the 100 minutes in the cinema appropriately insufferable.

Film 4
„Mustang“ by Deniz Gamze Ergüven: Five girls in Turkey experience under the dictatorship of their uncle the same as Turkey experiences under Erdogan – prophetic.

Film 5
„Remainder“ by Omar Fast: Video artist Omar Fast stages a ludicrous reconstruction of an I, a retrieval of memory as celebration of creativity or criticism of capitalism – it remains undecidable. A movie like a Moebius strip.

Book 1
Viv Albertine „A typical girl“ (Suhrkamp): The guitar player of the Slits was in the thick of it and has a lot to tell about the very first moments of Punk in London in the 70s and the experience of being a women in between of nothing but self-promoters. But where other music biographies weaken after their sturm and drang phase, Albertine only just starts to unpack her wisdom. And this wisdom is not necessarily about music, but in part.

Book 2
Christof Meueler „Das Zick Zack Prinzip“ (Heyne): It was surely meant to be an autobiography about the owner of Zick Zack and What’s so funny, but for unknown reasons it turned out to be a biography with many quotes which is still an exciting read. Whereas Alfred Hislberg’s uncompromising enthusiasm would also have been exciting as a book.

 

Sebastian Ingenhoff

Album
Rihanna „Anti“

Film
„American Honey“ by Andrea Arnold.

Novel
Garth Risk Hallberg „City On Fire“

Series
„Stranger Things“

DJ-Set
Steven Julien aka Funkineven im Studio 672, Köln

Conzert
Datashock im Gebäude 9, Köln

Clubtrack
Colorist „Faust (Toulouse Low Trax Remix)“

Mixtape
LGoony & Crack Ignaz „Aurora“

Re-Release
Patrick Cowley „Muscle Up“

Exhibition
Cate Blanchett & Julian Rosefeldt „Manifesto“ at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin

 

Anton Teichmann

Musically 2016 was a quite nice year, at least I can’t keep up with listening to everything. But it’s hard to grasp for me, hat there are people who, because of Trump’s election, are looking forward to new, relevant music.

Best Experience 1
Being involved in the organisation of the Off-Kultur Festival.

Best Experience 2
Touring America with Better Person and watching him miss all kinds of means of transportation but still having a great time.

Worst Experience
Having been in New York City on November 8 and 9.

Bestes Concert 1
Blackest Ever Black Nacht at Berghain with Prurient, Tropic Of Cancer, Regis and others.

Bestes Concert 2
The Homeshake show at West Germany when the bass player hat to leave the stage after a couple of songs, puking because of food poisoning.

Favorite TV Show 1
“The Night Of” – I was not really surprised that Richard Price turns out a masterpiece.

Favorite TV Show 2
“Horace and Pete” – Incredibly depressing new show by Louie C.K. Hardly funny at all, but with amazing actors.

Favorite TV Show 3
“Love” – Unusually realistic representation of young love.

Favorite Book 1
The new book by Christian Kracht didn’t disappoint. The story wasn’t constantly compelling, but no one else is this good with words.

Favorite Book 2
“Der Goldene Handschuh” by Heinz Strunk was also great.

Lieblingsdoku
“City of Gold”

Lieblingsalben
Haiyti “City Tarif Mixtape”
Young Thug “Jeffrey”
Carla dal Forno “You Know What It’s Like”
Ital Tek “Hollowed”
Steve Hausschildt “Strands”
Sean Nicholas Savage “The Magnificent Fist”
KING “We are King”
Kedr Livanskiy “January Sun”
ABRA “Prives”
Stephen Steinbrink “Anagrams”
Swet Shop Boys “Cashmere”

Lieblingstracks
Frank Ocean “Slide By Me”
Drake “One Dance”
Empress Of “Woman is a Word”
Blood Orange “Best to You”
Japanese Breakfast “The Women That Loves You”
Essaie Pas “Retox”
Nite Jewel “Kiss the Screen”
Haiyti “Zeitboy”
Kelly Lee Owen “1 of 3”
Sean Nicholas Savage “Blow Me Away”
Ada “You and Me”
Negative “Gemini”
Day Wave “Stuck”
Rae Sremmurd “Black Beatles”
Rihanna “Work”
Moderat “Reminder”
Health x Empress Of x Boysnoize “Stonefist”

 

Florian Kölsch

florian_mischmaschcharts_weinflaschewanda

The Five Best Records 2016

Frankie Cosmos „Next Thing“
Bon Iver „22, A Million“
Porches „Pool“
Kevin Morby „Singing Saw“
Preoccupations „Preoccupations“

The Five Best Songs 2016

Roosevelt is German, but he sings in English. Does he nonetheless contribute to the German-quota of this list? So many questions.
Bon Iver „8 (Circle)“ or„33 ‘God‘“
Blood Orange „Best to You“ [ft. Empress Of]
Roosevelt „Night Moves“
Jessy Lanza „Oh No“
PJ Harvey“The Wheel“

Best Show 1
Joanna Newsom, Bozar, Brüssel: Pure perfection in a fancy venue. Plus: Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes) as support act. It didn’t get any better.

Best Show 2
Wanda, Centralstation, Darmstadt: „Alles was ich will ist Schnaps“ (All I want is booze), „Tu mir weh, Luzia“ (Hurt me, Luzia), „Und wann’st besoffen wirst, red’st immer nur von ihr“ (And if you’re drunk all you talk about is her). You could assume that all these slogans between boozing and excess would get tiresome someday. But: no, never. My fifth Wanda show was once again amazing. My buddy R1 celebrated his 27th birthday at the show – funny enough Wanda band member R.’s 27th birthday was also on this day. And after the show we celebrated the end of the tour with the fifth of Wanda I’m friends with. In the end all that was left was empty bottles of wine.

Best Show 3
Hinds, Clubbahnhof Ehrenfeld, Köln.
Hinds are so to say the Spanish, female mixture of Wanda and your favorite school band. Four girls who perform their songs semi-dashed off and semi-masterful – prone to off-key notes and especially to an excessive stage performance: Only exception, the strangely enough extremely shy and tacit seeming bass player A., who wenn watched closely on stage can be seen drinking so much beer that every long-established beer-fest-visitor will be hushed in awe.

Best Show 4
Animal Collective, Botanique, Brussels: My visit of the show of Animal Collective, whom I’m loving idolatrously but had never seen live before, had an extremely bad omen: Buddy and company to be R2 had cancelled his attendance very spontaneously. Luckily I had met J. shortly before through work, who is a connoisseur of indie music, also likes Animal Collective and wanted to join me for the show. He never really listened to the curr.ent album “Painting Wild” released two months before the gig in Brussels. To J.’s disadvantage did not only the francophone bartender not understand – as usual – his order of the Austrian national drink “Weißer Spritzer”, but also did the band almost exclusively play songs from the new record. They at least played “Daily Routine” from their masterpiece “Merriweather Post Pavilion”, which compensated for a lot. What remains despite all the quarrels is the delight to finally have seen Avey Tare, Geologist and Panda Bear live.

Best Show 5
Kevin Morby, schon schön, Mainz: At this point I just want to say thank you to the organizers of the club “schon schön” in Mainz – you are simply the best, really!

Negative Event 1
David Bowie is dead: Couldn’t have imagined a worse death in music business. Bowie, my ultimate hero, a couple of days after his masterful “Blackstar” was released. The shock is still profound. Please leave in peace for now: David Byrne, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, Kim Gordon [i.a.]. Thanks.

Negative Event 2
Arcade Fire broke their release rhythm: In the past my favorite band released a new album every three years. “Funeral” was released in 2004, “Neon Bible” in 2007, “The Suburbs” in 2010 and “Reflektor” in 2013. Where the heck was the album of 2016?! But consolation is near: The new album is supposed to be released in the beginning of 2017. Better late than never. And a couple of tour dates have already been announced.

Negative Event 3
No new album from Taylor Swift: There is a blank space in my life.

The Three Best Movies 2016
„Carol“ by Todd Haynes (from 2015, but came 2016 to German cinemas).
„L’Avenir“ (“Things to Come”) by Mia Hansen-Løve.
„Frantz“ by François Ozon.
The Three Best Seasons of TV Shows 2016
I Would really like to watch more new shows, but all Netflix is doing is Marvel productions and reboots?!
„Better Call Saul“, Season 2.
„Stranger Things“, Season 1.
„House of Cards“, Season 4.

florian_mischmaschcharts_japanik The Three Best Books 2016
„Futur II“ by Die Gruppe Ja, Panik.
„Der goldene Handschuh“ by Heinz Strunk.
„Oh Schimmi“  by Teresa Präauer.

 

 

 

 

Mario Lasar

Shows
Fat White Family
Ben Watt
Jacques Palminger & 440 Hz Trio
Die Liga der gewöhnlichen Gentlemen
Lauter Bäumen

Albums
Masha Qrella „Keys“
Stabil Elite „Spumante“
David Bowie „Blackstar“
Jacques Palminger & 440 Hz Trio „Spanky und seine Freunde“
Angel Olsen „My Woman“

Songs
Masha Qrella „DJ“
Friedrich Sunlight „Nicht ans Meer“
Yves Tumor „The Feeling When You Walk Away“
PJ Harvey „The Wheel“
Albrecht Schrader „Leben in der Großstadt“
Die Liga der gewöhnlichen Gentlemen feat. Andreas Dorau „Gegen den Strich“
Pet Shop Boys „The Pop Kids“
Stabil Elite „Alles wird gut“

Paul McDevitt

Records
Babyfather “419”
D/P/I “Composer”
The return of Arab Strap

Show
Mouse on Mars, E-Werk, Freiburg

Books
Benjamin Myers “Pig Iron”
H. N. Werkmann “1882 – 1945”

Exhibition
Wolfgang Tillmanns –“On the Verge of Visibility”, Serralves Foundation, Porto

Cornelius Quabeck

Exhibitions
Derrick Alexis Coard, Project Ability, Glasgow
Frank Quitey, Comic Invention, Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow
Agnes Martin, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Shows
Julien Baker, Broadcast, Glasgow
Mitski, Stereo, Glasgow
Bruce Dickinson, sipgate, Dusseldorf

Record
El Hombre Trajeado “Fast Diagonal”

Infinite Greyscale – Paul & Cornelius
“A Happening: The Record Label Edition”, silent green, Kulturquartier, Berlin

 

Julian Gerhard

Record
Bon Iver “22, A Million”

Show (standing)
Isolation Berlin at FZW Dortmund.

Show (seated)
Jacques Palminger & 440 HZ-Trio (Gebäude 9, Köln). Vorab gab es ein kleines kaput-Interview: Schöne Erinnerung!

Cinema– SCI-FI
“Nerve”

Cinema – DRAMA
“Spotlight”

Cinema –Comedy
“Toni Erdmann”

Out of the star league

NEWCOMER
Ralf Dümmel

PROMI
Helena Fürst

YOUTUBE
Jon Sudano

Edge Data

Book
“Panikherz” (Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre)

TV
ZAPP – das Medienmagazin.

THEATER
andcompany&co mit WARPOP MIXTAKE FAKEBOOK VOLXFUCK (FFT, Düsseldorf: http://theaterpur.net/theater/schauspiel/2016/01/d-fft-andcompany.html)

Also of importance

Asshole
Tim Bendzko

Advertisement
Seitenbacher Hanföl. 

ZEIT
“Kann sich eigentlich nur um den Zeitraum nach Redaktionsschluss handeln: 16. – 31.12 (voraussichtlich abzüglich der Feiertage).”

Saskia Timm

01
David Bowie

Shows

02 Die Nerven und Candelilla – Berlin, West Germany 09.12.2016

03 The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Berlin, Bassy Club 09.03.2016

04 Sophia – Hamburg, St. Michaelis Kirche 24.09.2016

05 Tocotronic – Hamburg, Molotow 10.04.2016

Treasure piece of the year:

06 Die Heiterkeit “The End”

Records of the year:

07 All diese Gewalt “Welt in Klammern”

08 Human Abfall “Form und Zweck”

09 Karies “Es geht sich aus”

10 Friends of Gas “Fatal Schwach”

Diesdas, neutral:

11 POSTPUNK

12 “PANIKHERZ”

13 FEMINISMUS

14 NACHDENKLICHE SPRÜCHE MIT BILDER

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
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15 TRUMP und all that shit in compact 

Linus Volkmann

Ein Jahr in sieben Bildern
Okay, nach dem ich das hier alles “redigiert” (lies: zumindest fluchend die gröbsten Konvertierungs- und ß-Fehler rausgemacht habe) habe, habe ich nicht das Gefühl, es sollte unbedingt noch mehr in diesem Dokument stehen. Dennoch sähe es ja komisch aus, wenn ich als einer der Gastgeber mich jetzt hier rausnehmen würde. Daher sieben Fotos aus meinem Handy von diesen Jahr – und meine persönlichen Charts.

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Mit Vater Ausflug nach Neuwied ins Flippermuseum. Abends hupen all die Autos wegen Deutschland-Spiel gegen Italien.

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Die drei Konzerte von “Köln ist kaput” im Gold + Beton waren übertriebene Highlights dieses Jahr. Oft traf ich dort auch Mitglieder meiner geheimen TV-Nerd-Loge von Facebook. Im Bild Sans Gene.

20160927_161811

Kaput gewinnt einen Award des V.U.T.s. Für eine Popkultur-Webseite kurz vor dem Oscar. Wahnsinn. Die Tage in Hamburg beim Reeperbahnfestival drumrum sind wunderschön.

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Im Abenteuer-Moloch Hongkong. Zu sehen sind tolle Dinge, ungewöhnliche Fortbewegungsmittel wollen genutzt werden. Reisen ist Leidenschaft!

20161003_224548_resized

In einer RTL-Sendung sieht man Peer Kusmagks Penis. Hat mich sehr gefreut! Ich liebe nackte Celebrities und ihn natürlich seit seiner unübertroffenen Dschungel-Performance.

20161027_151003_resized

Lama-Wanderung in der Eifel. Tier wirkt verständig und anmutig. Wie konnte ich nur so lange Rad fahren, statt ein viel praktischeres Lama zu besitzen?

20161211_192603_resized

Christmas came early this year. Weihnachten bei Mutti vor wenigen Tagen.

Lieblings-Alben 2016

01 Das Flug „Zerstören“
02 Pisse „Kohlrübenwinter”
03 Jim Button „Undone”
04 Golf “Playa Holz”
05 Isolation Berlin „Und aus den Wolken tropft die Zeit“
06 Mykki Blanco „Mykki“
07 Angel Olsen „My Woman“
08 Schreng Schreng & La La „Echtholzstandby“
09 Warpaint „Heads Up”
10 Stereo Total „Les Hormones“
11 Bernd Begemann „Eine kurze Liste mit Forderungen“
12 SSIO „0,9“
13 Sans Gene “Sans Gene”
14 Faber “Alles Gute”-EP
15 Beatpoeten „#Geheul”
16 Family 5 „Was zählt”
17 Kiesgroup „Eulen und Meerkatzen“
18 Messer “Jalousie”
19 Lulu & die Einhornfarm „Ihr seid alle scheiße“
20 Drangsal „Harieschaim“

Oliver Tepel

Comic
Catherine Meurisse “Die Leichtigkeit”
Cyril Pedrosa “Jäger und Sammler”
Manuele Fior “d”Orsay Variationen”
Loo HuiPhang & Philippe Dupuy “Nuages et pluie – Ai no Corrida 1917 “

Illustriertes Buch
Toon Tellegen & Marc Boutavant “Man wird doch wohl mal wütend werden dürfen”
Lektion in Melancholie

Album
Esperanza Spalding “Emily’s D + Evolution”
Etwas Besseres als Eifersucht. ( Wie rar in diesen Zeiten.)
Kacey Musgraves “A very Kacey Christmas”
Die (wahrscheinlich nicht ganz) heilige Maria der Kleinstädte.
David Crosby “Lighthouse”
Freak brothers post erection anthems
Soft Hair “Soft Hair”
Femme fatales permanent erection lullabies
Weyes Blood “Front row seat to earth”
Liebesbriefe‎, die mit “Adieu” enden wollten.

EP
La‎fawndah -“Tan”
Dominanz und Submission.

Single
Warpaint “Whiteout”
You wouldn’t know it but you are really in your prime.

Ausstellung
Bianca du Mortier “Catwalk”, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Liaisons Dangereuses

Sachbbuch
Johanna Ebenstein “The anatomical Venus / Wax / Sex / God / Death”
Junggesellenmaschine
Michael Tomasello “Eine Naturgeschichte der menschlichen Moral”
Das Feuilleton vermisst Kant und Hegel.

Benjamin Walter

Music
Hammerhead. NOFX. Sufjan Stevens.

TV
“King of Queens”. “The Taste”

Serie
 “Stranger Things”

Show
Rummelsnuff at Kult 41 in Bonn.
Locas In Love-Wintergala at AZE

Cinema
“Mad Max: Fury Road” in 2015

Comic
“Der Araber von Morgen” 1 and 2 by Riad Sattouf

Pop culture
“Drachengame”

Body
Not the best year.

Mind
Awake like never before – in both positive as much as a negative way

Personal
It feels good to be on the road with a beloved person. So good to know the other person is around and understands one.

Otherwise
I guess we all know, the time for talks is over, we all must act.

Abel Auer  

 

abel_auer_jr

 

Translation like always by the one and only Denise Oemcke.

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