Tags: berlin, travels
I love Berlin. There is so much good music here, and so much interesting cultural activities. Arrived in Berlin last night, hit the ground running after a good shower. Today, went to the “Eastern” part of the town close to where the wall used to be.
Sundays are great in this part of Berlin. Lazy breakfasts/brunches, and flea markets where I was lucky enough to find some very good records. Fortunately it was a sunny and beautiful day, turned out to be the only sunny and beautiful day in the last couple of weeks. I walked for a few hours and as always managed to sniff my way to some record shops and flea markets. There were a few nice stands with records at the flea markets. Some of the records are pretty expensive (40 euros or more). By the time I got to these two gentlemen, I barely had enough euro left for a cab ride back to the hotel. They were kind enough to accept dollar bills from me, hence their pictures here. Between these stands and other shops, again I am in need of yet one more suitcase.
I enjoy the music of Holger Czuaky (formerly of CAN) very much. I am glad I found two records, one a rare one with Holger Czukay on it. I found out about a very good record shop in Berlin. I will be visiting there as I want Holger Czukay’s first solo performance after parting from CAN, called Persian Love! It has some very good sampling and use of short wave radio reception.
I was hoping to see Nina Hagen perform. Unfortunately she has a concert/poetry reading (a la Nina Hagen I am sure) on Wednesday night, a few hours after I am supposed to fly back to Chicago.
There are also a couple of restaurants I would like to try. One, Fischers Fritz and is known to have the best sea food in Berlin and has two Michelin stars; the other, Borchardt restaurant is supposed to be more traditional and has been a Berlin establishment/hallmark. Will soon post some pictures. Stay tuned.
Tags: arvo part, kazue sawai, music, musical affairs speakers, pierre favre, tamia
In my excitement to share good music with friends and customers, at times I give a favorite CD or LP as a gift, just to find out they are out of print and impossible to get back in my collection. It has happened once too often.
A few months ago when I gave a copy of Kazue Sawai CD to a customer who had come to audition Musical Affairs speakers. The sound is so real. You hear Ms. Sawai play in your music room. You hear everything. So beautiful. I am willing to cough up a couple of hundred dollars to get back that CD.
Another CD I really like is by Tamia and Pierre Favre, called “de la nuit… le jour” on ECM New Series. Hard to find. I have seen their new CDs on Amazon go anywhere from thirty some dollars to around $130. Lucky me. Just found a good source for them and ordered 12 copies of them! Received today from Germany.
Holderlin was a great German poet. I have read a little of his works. Not much. I was introduced to his work through a Wim Wenders’ movie called Wings of Desire. In it, Bruno Ganz recites some Holderlin poem. Beautiful even to the ears of someone like me who does not speak German. Found out there is actually a recording of Holderlin poetry recited by Bruno Ganz. Lucky me. Took a few months until I could locate one. And a while longer to find the LP version. Now, a couple of more copies, just in case.
Arvo Part is a very good composer. His Miserere and Tabula Rasa are still two of my favorite works. Both out of print now. I got 12 copies of Miserere on LP and have a couple of copies on CD. I figure every now and then I can take them to friends as a gift instead of a bottle of wine. Well, a good bottle of wine while listening to great music is rather fun anyways. You can find a good interview with Arvo Part on YouTube, by none other Bjork.
Please help me find my Kazue Sawai CD.
Tags: music
Malcolm McLaren, great musician, manager of the Sex Pistols passed away yesterday at age 64. Nostalgic or still creative, his Madame Butterfly remains as one of my favorites. Dancing to it my early college years.
A good friend said it much better than I could: “Malcolm was a visionary and what he lacked in absolute musical ability he more than made up for in innovation and energy, the breadth of which is astonishing. By mentoring, publicising and blending at one time or another so many wildly diverse music strands, many of which had previously achieved only marginal interest before him, he has in no small way become responsible for a lot of the music that the world hears and takes for granted today. Not content with grabbing the zeitgeist of the times, he has in many cases actually created it.
Mocked, undervalued or totally ignored even in his home country, the world is a poorer place without him. By those who know, he will be sorely missed.”
May he rest in peace.
Tags: amazon audio
We are delighted to be hosting Julia Janssen, the beautiful and intelligent daughter of our good friend, Harmut Janssen of Amazon Audio at our home for a week. Julia will be returning to Chicago this summer for a few weeks, learning the American way of living, practicing English, and of course teaching SORA how to dance and do gymnastics.
Our manufacturers, and some others we work with have become our close friends. In fact, I do not distribute a line unless I think the manufacturer and his family are people I would like to make part of our family and closest inner circle.
Some of our customers have also become our good friends, visiting us every now and then. In all honesty, this has been the best part of SORAsound. Sharing the joy of music, and above all forming new friendships.
Sundays are great in this part of Berlin. Lazy breakfasts/brunches, and flea markets where I was lucky enough to find some very good records. Fortunately it was a sunny and beautiful day, turned out to be the only sunny and beautiful day in the last couple of weeks. I walked for a few hours and as always managed to sniff my way to some record shops and flea markets. There were a few nice stands with records at the flea markets. Some of the records are pretty expensive (40 euros or more). By the time I got to these two gentlemen, I barely had enough euro left for a cab ride back to the hotel. They were kind enough to accept dollar bills from me, hence their pictures here. Between these stands and other shops, again I am in need of yet one more suitcase.
I enjoy the music of Holger Czuaky (formerly of CAN) very much. I am glad I found two records, one a rare one with Holger Czukay on it. I found out about a very good record shop in Berlin. I will be visiting there as I want Holger Czukay’s first solo performance after parting from CAN, called Persian Love! It has some very good sampling and use of short wave radio reception.
