Ostgut, the Berlin label that has come to represent so much as far as techno is concerned, marks 5 years with Funf, a release of original music featuring most, if not all, of the main residents of the famed clubbing temple.
But Berghain plays a much more important role here, because the music is crafted from field recordings actually made inside the club and Panorama Bar. The concept and original recordings were made by the Berlin based producer Emika. Over two months she created recordings when the clubs were closed to the public, then edited them into a sound library. The library was given to all Ostgut Ton artists, but also to club associates like DJ Pete aka Substance, Dinky, Cassy, Ryan Elliott and Scuba using his SCB alias, to make music with.
Emika's idea started from feeling the whole building resonating from the music being played, which lead to the question: which sounds exist here when there is no party? Intrigued by stories of how the club spaces and sound systems influence the resident DJ sets and productions, Emika was curious to explore what music could be made from the building itself. Berghain's sound technicians Krischan Makswitat and Silvio König, helped to record the entire light rig including the strobe lights, which in itself sounds techno. Other interesting sources to record were the large cooling rooms used for storing thousands of drinks in bottles. The ventilation systems in these rooms make incredible sub frequencies mixed with the sound of the bottles vibrating against each other. The club also contains large swings made from metal which creak and moan at the slightest of movements.
Inside the club
In total the library comprised over four gigabytes of sounds, and the artists were not given restrictions on how to make music from the library. Altogether this release highlights the special and inseparable relationships between the label, club space, and collective of artists.
And here's a taster of what to expect with a free download of Marcel Dettmann's track 'Shelter', courtesy of US online mag XLR8R. Get the track here
Marcel Dettmann
