Kühlhouse quickly established itself as a serious venue for house parties in Bremerhaven and appealed to ‘new’ people in particular. Not just scene-goers like me. That was refreshing because it meant the expectations were different.

It was also nice that it took place with a certain regularity, especially in a city like Bremerhaven, which didn’t really have a scene and where nightlife was generally a bit difficult. The Alte Bürger was struggling, having previously been the go-to place for nightlife in the city. There were a few discos that appealed to a different clientele, but they also had their problems. The Kühlhouse stood out. It was small, intimate, played good music, and people met there for a good time in a relaxed way.

At least that’s how I remember it. You tend to remember the good things!

There were plenty of good things going on. I organised a party with Matthias, who rented the halls to the left and right of the Kühlhouse. There was a guest list of 110 people, we took practically no admission fees that evening, but the bar was proverbially drunk dry. It was a lovely evening, Tas & Phunk were there too.

Later, I often DJed there alongside Kolja Bäcker, who was a resident DJ at Rosigen Zeiten in Bremen. After that, Dimi & Loco from my DNMK roster, if you can call it that, did a lot there, and I was occasionally involved. My time as a DJ, especially in Bremerhaven, was very much influenced by Kühlhouse.

Years later, I met Marc at the Alte Bürger Festival. I had been living in Hamburg for a long time and didn’t visit Bremerhaven that often any more, but I immediately asked him about the Kühlhouse. ‘Sold the joint, couldn’t be arsed any more.’

It broke my heart a little, but I understood.
Not only have people like me been moving away from Bremerhaven in increasing numbers, but perhaps the momentum for such things has simply run out at some point.

I think it was in 2018 or 2019 when I wanted to see what was still going on at Kühlhouse, so I looked it up online. I was feeling a little sentimental and curious. I wanted to see what was happening in my old home town.

The URL kuehlhouse.com was not linked to any website because someone failed to renew the registration.

Almost reflexively, I registered the URL and almost immediately had the idea of making an homage mix. With records from that era or records that I particularly liked at the time.

Side note: With my history in the techno scene and not being tied to just one genre, I was always the DJ who didn’t quite fit in 100% at Kühlhouse. I adapted at times, but I also, let’s say, tested the boundaries. Around 2008, I was really into bloghouse, which was influenced by French Touch. Great music, but not always suitable for Kühlhouse.

So, the idea was to make an homage mix with a selection of records. It took me this long because I’ve always found it very difficult to record mixes at home. My mixes were always worse than my sets, partly because at some point I needed the trigger of seeing people’s reactions to my music.

Because I ended up selecting over 60 records for this mix, it was impossible to record it at home with my bias against home recording. When dj.studio came out a while ago, I knew immediately how I could finally record this set outside my comfort zone, and I’m glad that piece of software exists. Without it, the idea would have died!

Long story short, here is my homage mix, which at least reminds me of a good time at the Kühlhouse. Maybe you too?

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it.

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Direct link: kuehlhouse.com

I made the mistake of going on Saturday morning. It was hugely crowded, which is good for the show, but the freedom of movement was pretty limited. Next year it’ll be more of an afternoon or early evening visit.

In 2018, I personally found the show more varied. This year it was very German – lots of German cars, which in my opinion gets a bit boring quite quickly. There was no cool Opel Senator to be seen, just lots of Benz, BMW and of course VW. That gets old fast.

There were a few highlights for me throughout the show, though, even if it wasn’t always easy to get a decent shot. Have a look for yourself:

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The Bremen Classic Motorshow also has a YouTube channel well worth checking out.

This year, almost 650 exhibitors presented themselves over three days in the Bremen exhibition halls, and you can see my highlights of the exhibits here:

I stood in front of this sculpture for a while, looking at it half-consciously, without really knowing why. The fact that art can trigger something like that in me, literally captivate me, was foreign to me before, and this photo, unfortunately, doesn’t come close to triggering the same feeling.

After that visit, I had no idea who it was by. I only found out about another Moore sculpture at the Hamburg Kunsthalle through an Instagram post that has since been deleted.

The visit to the Kunsthalle was then obligatory and initially only had the aim of seeing this sculpture. I was pleasantly surprised to realise that the Kunsthalle has much more to offer, and so the next visit is equally obligatory. After that, curiosity drove me on and made me order the book by Herbert Read. I don’t know why and where this will lead, but it remains interesting!

I can recommend a visit to the Tate to anyone who hasn’t thought of it before, and if you don’t want to go to London, the Kunsthalle in Hamburg is just as good. On Thursdays, the Kunsthalle not only has longer opening hours and therefore a quieter atmosphere, but also a cheaper entrance fee.

This post is part of my reading page.

Since this will never happen, the Dutch have been doing it in Amsterdam since 1996. GEMA’s counterpart there, BUMA, organises the conference, and you can’t miss this event in Amsterdam at this time in autumn.

I was there for the first time in 2016 and came away really inspired and also amazed after sitting in close proximity to Todd Terry and DJ Pierre (the one from the States), among others, and having Native Instruments, Ableton and Pioneer explain their technology to me. Along the way I saw acts like Laurent Garnier, ESKEI83, Digitalism, High Contrast and Camo & Krooked.

What I experienced in the five days there was only a fraction of what you can indulge in at the Amsterdam Dance Event. The choice of things to do in the context of music is almost overwhelming. Apart from the tech labs, where you can spend hours trying out the most common equipment, and the presentations of new and sometimes curious devices, the panels are probably one of the most interesting parts. These panels can also include cooking with some DJs.

One of the parties I was most interested in was Hospitality at Paradiso. A truly unique club, unlike any other in Germany. Compared to the often-mentioned Berghain, which is perhaps only considered so great because the door policy is so tough, Paradiso is absolutely commercial, aimed at getting as many people in as possible. But then – unusually for me as a German – they get the drinks flowing quickly and offer a splendid atmosphere across three floors. I was there twice at that time and both times the place was on fire, so much so that I would spontaneously drive to Amsterdam just to spend an evening there. Especially as the programme there is consistently excellent!

To come back to the “amazed” I mentioned earlier. Amazed at the possibility of celebrating music so intensely. Above all, to see that the industry celebrates itself at a level that isn’t just self-important and whiny (German, basically). The closeness that is created there and the almost over-the-top “we’re really having five properly good days” took me back a little to what used to excite me so much about music: simply enjoying it, without really thinking about whether it makes sense. Cheers, ADE!

This year’s Amsterdam Dance Event will take place in October, as every year. The first Early Bird phase of ticket sales has already closed and the current price for the 5-day all-in ticket, which includes all conferences and parties (!), is a whopping 375 euros. But it’s worth it! If only because you can usually bypass the queues and get into the club, and you get numerous other benefits too.

amsterdam-dance-event.nl/en/

Recommendations

• Central accommodation, Le Coin
• Decent burger, Burger Bar
• Paradiso
• With an ADE ticket, you can get discounted admission to Beurs van Berlage
• Even better burger, Café Wheels (now closed).
• Great sweets, Eichholtz
• Best Hangover Breakfast: Cafè de Jaren

Impressions 2016

ESKEI83 for Pioneer

Whyt Noyz @ ADE Native Sessions

ADE Sound Lab

Totally positive!

Hangover Breakfast @ Café de Jaren

Banksy @ Beurs van Berlage

Banksy @ Beurs van Berlage

Canal #nofilter

UK & USA sweets

That silence in the morning!

Ums ums ums