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Why A.D.H.S Deserves Your Attention – Birgits Weekender 4

20/7/2021

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A.D.H.S. (the German acronym for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) has that special, intangible, almost indefinable ability to give a crowd exactly what they want, what they need, to come together in a moment. To put it another way, he knows exactly how to turn a summer open-air into a rave. And it's about time that he started getting the attention that his skills deserve.
The DJ, A.D.H.S.
Michael Groß, the man behind the acronym, brings an infectious energy to the DJ booth that is undeniable and straight-up irresistible. This is the main reason why we were so keen to hear that he was headlining Birgits Weekender 4 last Friday. After months of not being able to dance, the sheer joy in his performances was exactly the cure needed for the Covid blues.

Birgit has been a staple of Berlin nightlife for years, situated in the heart of the centre of Kreuzberg's party scene on the Lohmühlinsel. It is around the corner from the likes of Club der Visionäre, IPSE and next door to the newly opened ÆDEN.

Like everywhere else, the pandemic has forced the venue to change its setup somewhat. Sandwiched between the rickety wooden buildings and shaded under a giant blue tarpaulin-cum-circus tent, the refitted open air dance floor is nicely intimate. There’s room for a crowd just about large enough to lose yourself in. The walls are high enough to give a sense of isolation from the outside world. And the giant speaker hanging over the DJ booth adds to the atmosphere somewhat too.

First on the decks on Friday were Dachgeschoss and Schmitzkatzki. Opening parties is never easy. There’s always the risk of getting a pretty quiet crowd and lots of awkward dancing, no matter what the music is like. But this duo managed the mood well, offering up some chunky bass and wall-of-sound style layered synths, along with more laid-back cutaways to keep things relatively mellow. A particular highlight was ‘Close Your Eyes’ from Shadym and Tximeleta.

Things ramped up a few notches in the runup to the changeover and the space filled up nicely (within the limits allowed by the hygiene concept in place, of course). With A.D.H.S taking over the decks, however, there was an almost palpable change in the air.

From the first to the last in his two-and-a-half-hour set, A.D.H.S. played nothing but high-energy, whoop-inducing tracks back to back. And throughout all of it, Groß was dancing as hard as anyone, as you can see in his Insta post below.
A set can’t be judged on individual tracks. It’s made or broken in how it flows and how it moves the crowd. We’re not going to argue on that one. But we will share a couple of specifics for any of you who are now regretting that you missed this one.

A sweet combo of Weska – ‘This Time Around’ and Dimi Mechero’s ‘Feel the Impact’ gives you a decent idea of the style that A.D.H.S. stuck with for much of the set. It was full of the kind of ripple-distorted synth and full bass that you might expect from a Victor Ruiz or Joyhauser set.

The last half hour of the evening was set up beautifully with ‘Dance Escape’ from Julian Jeweil & Popof. A little injection of acid and midnight-dark tonality synchronised with the storm that set in for the night. This was followed by the resounding beats of ‘Comet’ by Thomas Hoffknecht. In this section, as throughout each set we’ve seen by A.D.H.S., there was a beautiful mix of styles, creating the ideal backdrop for one hell of a dance.

There’s a word in German, that we should really adopt into English: feiern. It means both to party and to celebrate. It’s a word that sums up why these events exist in the first place, but it also perfectly describes the atmosphere of the open-airs in Berlin right now. People aren’t just out to dance and party. They are also there to celebrate the fact that they are able to.

As the music faded on the dot of 10pm – in line with the curfew and noise rules in place – we had to take a minute to catch our breaths. It was one of those perfect end of party moments when you look around and realise that every single person around is as elated, exhausted and grateful as you are.

The DJ, A.D.H.S.
A.D.H.S. will be playing at this year’s Praerie Festival in August. If you aren’t lucky enough to have tickets to the number-limited festival, or you simply don’t want to wait that long, you can check out some killer sets on A.D.H.S.’s SoundCloud. We especially recommend his closing set from Sonne Mond Sterne 2019.

Birgit opens its doors again this weekend for Birgits Weekender 5, featuring TiM TASTE, Jake the Rapper, Weska and Shlomsen across three parties from Friday to Sunday. Tickets are available on RA.

Fraser Bonar

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Club Review: Fly Club - With Ben Pearce @ Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, 20 June

22/6/2014

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Life is so predictable. It’s Ben Pearce that preaches this of course, or blasts it out during his sets at the very least.

When the British producer announced he would be hitting up Cabaret Voltaire this summer then, we predicted a night to remember filled with ear-blistering bass. Predictably, we were spot on.

Pearce’s hit with Black Orange Juice was just one of the pulsating parts of the night. Through an iPod, the summer-loving hook may be the most appealing segment of that particular record, but blast the Ben Pearce re-work through gigantic speakers and the funky bassline blaring throughout comes into its own. It’s pretty hard not to lose your shit when that beat kicks in. We didn’t resist the temptation.

From early in the set the Purp & Soul man had made his mark, signalling his arrival with an early play of the irresistible soul work on his remix of Le Youth’s ‘C O O L’. Here is where you want to be, go the lyrics. Seems appropriate enough.

Regarded by many as the current king of deep house, the music was dropping heavily all night, and the crowd soaking up every bit of it. From 90s vintage house to early post-millennium stuff and the more recent work from Pearce himself, the theme was hard-hitting, honest basslines that cued sweat and the usual shape-throwing dance moves seen all too often in the main room.

Guest DJ or no guest DJ, the sound system at Cab Vol is set up sweetly to pump out the bass, but when you’ve got a guy on decks renowned for making music that shakes dancefloors, the nights takes a bit of a step up.

Pearce’s ‘Lego’ EP seems tailor-made for the Cab Vols and Sub Clubs of the world. A packed in venue attempted to withstand the monumental G-force pounding from the speakers as the eponymous track of the EP delivered its funky twang. A relatively low roof, narrow room and a figurative shitload of people – the most exact of measurements – ensured it went down exactly how you’d imagine. There was a lot of passion packed into that room.

Before he got on to finishing off with ‘Predictable’ though, there was always a tune that Ben was going to have to unleash at some point to keep his crowd happy.

The signature, now fêted bassline thumps that signal the start of ‘What I Might Do’ arrived to literal squeals of excitement (check out the video below). It’s now a deep house classic for a reason. That initial drop is insane through my relatively well put together headphones, but when you crank it through the right sound system, the resulting sound is mouth-watering.

So shaken by the bass that night were we that we had to return to Cab Vol the following night to aid the recovery. We can’t be going cold turkey on deep house after such a hard hitting session of bass and electronic driven beats with Ben Pearce. I think it’s called ‘progressive recovery’.

Verdict: A sick night all in, packed with the positive vibes generated from a like-minded audience hungry for deep house, fat basslines and prepared at any minute to bust some unacceptable dance moves. We look forward to next time.

Shoutout to the top staff running the night and at ‘Cafe Voltaire’ above the club as well. They hooked us up with the amazing Pacman booth for pre-drinks upstairs. It’s pretty much a booth where you can play all sorts of arcade games for free – we stuck to Donkey Kong and Pacman – and it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.

                                                                                                                                        Stuart Kenny

Post by Cabaret Voltaire.
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Club Review: Sounds Of Soul (UK) Presents - Lovebirds @ Cabaret Voltaire, 25 May

31/5/2014

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Sounds of Soul (UK) were nice enough to bring German producer Lovebirds to Cabaret Voltaire last week, and it proved to be just the night filled with old school house that the JFC team was hoping it would be.

Indeed, the night was stacked with a chilled blend of music which ranged through a couple of different genres and styles but stuck loosely to a policy of funky and soulful deep house which filled the downstairs cave setting of Cabaret Voltaire perfectly.

On entry to the venue though, we descended down to find a distinct lack of people, as we had arrived pretty early on (too keen for the gig). Needless to say, we did what any reasonable person would in the situation and headed straight for the bar.

Drinks prices were pretty reasonable at £2.50 for a vodka/rum and mixer or £2.80 for a can of Red Stripe – that classic Cab Vol beverage. As we sat and drank the tunes continued to drop and we heard one of the best sets in the venue that we’ve heard in some time when Lovebirds took to the decks. A high compliment to say the least given the high profile clientele being attracted to Cab Vol right now.

There was a variety of style and genres on offer from Lovebirds, but a distinctly old school theme could be found throughout the work on the night.

The summer vibes were apparent from the start as well, with Lindstrom’s remix of Grizzly Bear track ‘Gun Shy’ packing up the nightclub with a funky sounding made up of rhythmic synths and bouncing electronic beats.

Lovebirds 808ies Matrix mix of his own ‘Holdin’ On’, which features soft vocals from Lisa Shaw, impressed shortly after. The track features an irresistible 80s-style bassline twang which when banged out through the impressive speakers at Cabaret Voltaire, meant it was near enough impossible not to turn on the dance moves.

The likes of Gypsy Men’s ‘Hear The Music’ and Kink’s ‘Hand Made’ furthered the back to the future vibe of the night with that signature funky sound that has re-risen from the ashes recently to massive public love.

The disco vibes were cemented by the German producer as he continued to churn out beauties – Tony Lionni’s ‘Higher Ground’ landing to great reaction as the synthetic twang and circling funk beat reverberated off the walls of the caved venue, and MK’s now renowned ‘Burning’ setting off some more drunken dance moves in a room where the audience and the DJ were clearly on the same page.

All in all, this was a very strong set from Lovebirds, a producer who has continues to go from strength to strength. The theme of the set was clear was early on, and the old school, funky house bangers didn’t stop landing until the night was over.

This kind of night highlights the way that Cabaret Voltaire has turned in recent years; it’s the place to be for house/electronic music and once again it did not disappoint.

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Sound of Soul (UK) Presents... Lovebirds @ Cab Vol. Coming To Edinburgh On 25 May

19/5/2014

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Edinburgh venue Cabaret Voltaire is set to welcome Lovebirds on 25 May 2014 for a Bank Holiday bash that will no doubt be massive.

That's right - Lovebirds is Edinburgh bound, as Cab Vol team up once again with their west coast family friends DC Sessions. This promises to be a loose and sweaty night of deep and soulful house music in the main room,
solidly supported by the Cab Vol Sundays residents in room two.

Sebastian Doering (Lovebirds/Knee Deep) has been at the forefront of the deep house scene for the past five years. His hypnotic blend of nudisco/boogie and mid tempo production work has pretty much worked it's way in to DJ's record bags worldwide

I'm pretty sure by now, everyone on the planet has heard/been touched by Lovebirds track, Want You In My Soul, released in 2011. It still gets absolutely hammered today and it's provided the soundtrack to many a loose night for the Just For Culture crew.

This is a big night for Cab Vol and for the electronic scene in Edinburgh which is often accused of being all too subdued.

We'll be there to review, and we reccomend that you come along too - buy us a couple of drinks while you're there if you want.

DJ's : 

LOVEBIRDS 
JANE JAYA AYRES &
FRAZER DEVINE 
CUNNIE 
DJ BEEF

Doors opens at 10 and its only 8 quid before midnight!

Tickets Online : http://soundsofsouluk.com/events/

Date : 25th May 2014 
Time : 10pm - 3am 
Door : £8/10 

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