Midsummer - Comin' home..

I'm in Sweden. I hid while Karin let herself into the house, and popped out and said 'hi, how are you..?'

She got the shock of a lifetime, but it was hilarious and mildly euphoric at the same time. She walked around the house for about 2 hours following this saying 'I feel tricked, you all tricked me'. Which we did, everyone knew about it except her.

Joking aside. I've been here close to 2 weeks now, the language has improved dramatically, I didn't realise how much I'd forgotten until I sat at the dinner table and couldn't keep up with the conversations. I suppose it's a matter of getting used to thinking that way again. I mean, I hear all the words, but getting my mind around the meaning of them all without having to translate in my head and then try and keep up with the conversation is the hard part.

We celebrated Karin & Carlo's silver jubilee on my first weekend at Askasträdet, which is the name of the street in Yngsjö where they've bought a very traditional looking cottage. The cottage was once home to eel farmers, eel being the local delicacy. It's in a state of ruin at the moment, but they're renovating and hopefully will live down there in years to come. It's abut 800 metres from Yngsjö beach, which, if you're from Australia.. is not a beach. Patch of sand next to the sea is a closer approximation. Anyway, with some luck I'm going to be helping renovate over the summer. I've bought myself a MIDI controller for mixing live which I'm going to take down there, stay a few nights and chill out in the middle of nowhere..

On the flip side of that week, we celebrated Midsummer. Pickled herring, potato, chives, schnapps, rum, beer, goon-sack. Need I say more? No. We celebrated at the residence of a friend of Karin & Carlo in Åhus. From the house you can clearly see Åhus main beach, you could literally piss onto it from the balcony, but manners in mind, you wouldn't. Passed out on the couch by 7 pm, missed out on strawberries and cream, but woke up for cheese. Played celebrity heads with the gang, who in the spirit of my presence picked John Farnham (They call him Yon Farn-Heim.. I was nearly in hysterics. We're not gonna live in silence, We're not gonna live in fear..) and Paul Hogan.. The Crocodile Man. We sang 'Love Me Tender' (Lavv Mi Tänder) as a midsummer song, except the words were all written in phonetic Swedish, and because 'th' sounds don't exist in Swedish, it was all 'f' or 'd'.. like little kids before they learn to speak properly. Golden time had by all, another classic midsummer memory, of sorts, to chalk up!

I also spent the night in a small part of Åhus called Äspet. It's right across the river from the Absolut factory, and it's where my second host family lives during the summer. Cilla is an amazing cook, and Swedes aren't shy with the booze. So after bruschetta, chicken, potatoes, wine, beer, prosecco, strawberries, coffee and whiskey I walked with Caroline's boyfriend, André, to the local pub where we sat by the water and sipped on G+T's while the sun sunk slowly behind the fortress of Absolut Vodka.
Fun had by all.

So now I'm sitting contemplating the next month of activities. I'm going to head out into the forest next weekend for a bush-doof called 'BaseCamp', which is a Swedish trance label from Stockholm. They're celebrating their 5th birthday in style with a 4 day doof including some of Europe's and indeed Sweden's finest progressive and psy DJ's and producers. Weather permitting, it's gonna be fuckin' dope. Then I've been invited to spend 16 days on the archipelago north of Gothenburg cooking in the kitchen for a summer camp. No TV, no FB, no phone reception. Escap-e..

Stay tuned for the next installment, we'll just have to wait and see what it contains!

Berlin cont.

Welcome to Berlin, the cleanest of the European cities so far and the most graffitied!

I rolled into Berlin last Tuesday after a 6 hour train ride from Amsterdam. Let me tell you, as much as I loved Amsterdam I was happy to see the back of that city, tourist lifestyle in that city can be taxing on the mind and body.
My first impression of Berlin was 'large, graffitied, German'..

My hostel was the best I'd stayed in so far, clean with fully functioning amenities, but unfortunately no wireless in the rooms. There's a bar on the rooftop too which runs an all night happy hour depending on the mood of the bar staff. They ran all night happy hour on Wednesday night to celebrate the birthday of a staff member, which was good for the hip pocket as it cost about 10 Euro to get roaring drunk. Tuesday was quite packed in the hostel as System of A Down were playing a concert the following evening in Berlin. I had it on good intelligence though that the best party in town would be on the eastern side of Mitte, old East Berlin, warehouse districts. Always a fan of the underground party scene I found my way to the warehouses, which is a large block of dilapidated buildings turned into a web of cafes, art studios, night clubs, squats and assorted boutiques. There were 2 parties on that night, progressive/psy and Berlin minimal themed. So cheap for entry too, 6 Euros for both parties, needless to say, Berlin being the home of electronic in Europe, the tunes were bangin' and the party raged into the wee hours. The thing I was most blown away by was that outside the clubs were scores of people hanging out drinking and partying, painting with spray cans and just generally taking advantage of the sense of ideological freedom provided by the culture permeating from the community that has come to call this part of Berlin home.

Berlin struck me as this town which for so long had been oppressed by Soviet dictatorships, and when the wall came down Berliners said to eachother.. 'OK, now we may do as we please. So, we will.. And we who are visual artists, the city is our canvas. And we who are musicians will create a sound so unique the only way to describe it is Berlin Minimal'.. And I understand a little more the meaning of JFK's statement, 'Ich bin ein Berliner'. All Berliners should be proud to be from such a liberal and open part of the world, especially in such a backwards racist continent like Europe. I mean, you have Szarkozy and Berlesconi in the south who are trying to close their borders to stop the inflow of refugees and banning the wearing of burkas, and then you have Berlin, where it is OK to get around nude. I just wish Australia could take some cues from cities like Amsterdam and Berlin and relax a little.. like Cypress Hill says, legalise it.
I mean, there are parks where you can go and be nude, there are people dressed in all sorts of clothes, there are districts like Mitte which are full of some of the largest murals and stencils I've ever seen, and most of all I found Berliners to be relaxed. Unlike Paris there seemed to be no rush to be anywhere.. You're in Berlin, that seemed to be enough. I suppose the only problem I had was that I was so wrecked from travelling I didn't feel interested enough in taking in any of the culture.

I did find though a part of Berlin with a 40 metre high mural behind a wall which marked a part of where the wall once was, and had plenty of info about the cultural influence of the wall and how it was received both in East and West Berlin. It moved me inside reading about people who jumped from their East Berlin windows in the hope they'd land in West Berlin and survive the fall. When I lived in Sweden I listened a lot to a band called Ebba Grön who sings in Swedish about the wall and I finally felt a higher understanding towards the emotions Berliners and indeed anyone who is even moderately socially aware feels towards the period of time the wall was in existence and the cultural rebuilding that took place after. It almost moved me to tears reading everything on this wall, the fact that I will never fully comprehend how it was, and that finally I could comprehend on a higher level than I had previously experienced. And it troubles me that I can't fully describe in words the experiences I felt whilst in Berlin.

All I can say otherwise is go to Berlin and experience for yourself. Be a Berliner for a day.. I loved Berlin and I will certainly return for a deeper cultural experience.



Besides taking in and acknowledging the liberal vibe of the city, I met more Australians than I had anywhere else. I met one dude named Evan from Byron Bay who had been travelling for some time and was on his way to Norway to work and we both agreed that travelling takes its toll on ones back so we found the nearest massage parlour and had the most amazing Thai massage anyone could hope for. So after feeling like a new person we decided to take the train together to Malmö where he would take the train to Stockholm and I to Kristianstad. It was nice for a change to have a like minded individual to travel with and share an experience with, and hopefully we'll get to meet up again in either Norway or Sweden.

(This piece of graffiti is quite famous, I'm not sure the name of the artist but the character is rather well known amongst fans of graffiti and street art. I was fucking stoked to see this one!)

So here I am, coming to you direct from Sweden.. Soon will be time for writing about Sweden, but for now sharing my experience in Berlin seems enough.

Berlin

I'll write more in regard to Berlin, but this is just plain funny.

I found a shop in old East Berlin, the very funky, hip and trendy suburb of Mitte, a shop that'll put anything on a t shirt or jumper for you. And some of you will know I lost my Wu-Tang jumper last year in unfortunate circumstances, so I decided to ask if they could do me another one. The lady in the shop didn't speak English overly well, and she didn't understand me when I asked if she had Word on her desktop so I could type the design out for a better understanding. Instead, I chose to show her a photo of me wearing the jumper that a girl from Melbourne had taken for her blog. ( www.missmacrostyle.com ) She seemed to understand my point and I paid for it and was told to return in 2 hours.

Upon return she seemed very happy to see me and then she produced the jumper..










I'm not in that greater mood just now, I've been awake for a couple of days at this point and I couldn't get to sleep in my sleeper carriage..


I was like eeerrrr, umm..... woa.. That's the coolest fucking jumper I've ever seen!

I'm very impressed and it definately tops my Dutch effort, but both are special in their own ways. To add, one of the dudes in the hostel suggested taking a photo of me wearing the jumper with his mate, then his mate will get that photo on a shirt, then the cycle can continue. We thought to start an FB page and only let people become members if they have a shirt with a photo of themselves with the last person to get the design wearing their design. Sounds moderately complicated and stupid, but it's quite an idea for a random chain!

Oh well, thought I'd share that one.. I'm in Sweden now. ner ner. Need sleep, after that.. There'll be more to share about Berlin and of course the trip and the surprise in Sweden!

xx

R909

I was hanging out for this all week.

Wu-Tang was rad but I knew this show would be special. I had to take a bus out to the location through the southern suburbs of Amsterdam to a large park with a space for holding regattas and a palace sort of restaurant overlooking the finishing line for the rowers. The walk from the bus to the actual location took about 25 minutes, and I had to pass through a couple of check-points through clearings and car-parks to make it to the ground. I was blown away by the scenery as soon as I got in though. On one side was more water, at the front was the stage, and trees surrounding the rest of it. Myself, Elliot, and about 800 Dutch, representing team techno.
I was especially interested in this because I'm learning much about electronic styles of music and the way they're consumed. First of all, there's a scene, with many different producers, engineers and DJ's coming together to create something different. A new sound, and new feel, a new depth. I mean, in Aus.. we're lucky to get to see any big names in open air or club, and promoters and show producers know all they have to do is put some big names on a bill and the people will come.. No structure, no artistic merit, nothing!!

Not the Dutch my friends, these people were critically discussing each set as the evening progressed.. A few of the people I met were happy to be informative about who makes the better tunes in Holland and Berlin. But all were in favour of Umek's set being the best.. Umek played about 4 pm and rocked out old-skool classic techno, and he conquered.. even if it was a bit of a tease ;-P But then came Remy, who's deep basslines, puzzled percussion and driving techno and synth melodies interwove themselves into a beast that got this crowd fucking riled, and the crowd matched it pumping more energy into cheering on their hometown hero and dancing like crazy than the rest of the day combined.
Big word up to Christian Smith though, who brought his trademark Tronic sound to the decks. I've been a big fan of his label for some time and it was special to see the man perform, but my heart totally belonged with Remy and the Dutch that day!

Made it home in one piece, about 70€ lighter, but with a stack of mad photos and a full Dutch outfit I purchased from some kid. It's this sweet orange blazer with red, blue and white buttons, an orange hat with a flashing halogen on the front and some pimpin' orange sunnies (which are hanging off my sunnies).

What a day, what a score, what a week, what a city.. I've been a complete night owl in Amsterdam, I think some of it might be jet lag, but everyone else in the hostel is a tourist and here to see touristy shit, so I get rad r&r in the room during the day, then hit the town while suckers are drunk and passed out from hostel-organised pub-crawls.. I'm totally stoked to say that as far as being a tourist goes, I've been doing it wrong in Amsterdam. I've been to a coffeeshop every day and ate pancakes once, but that's it. I will say this though, despite that I've had a very Dutch experience. I've hung out with and chatted with many walks of life in Amsterdam, including having a smoke with a somewhat homeless looking man while we chatted in broken Swedish and Dutch. I've also managed to avoid all social events involving backpackers i.e. pub-crawls (shudder) but instead got to experience the techno scene first hand through record stores, R909 and some other clubs I visited.

Massive respect to the followng; Wu-Tang, Swiss-French homies who saw the Wu in Geneva the week before, The Austrians, Rudy, Caleb, Bo, Jordy & the rest of the clowns from R909, 5€ special pizzas available on every street corner in Leidesplein, and Anna & Metta for making sure I got on the right bus back to Amsterdam and got off near my Hotel. Oh and let's not forget the hip-hop scene, if it weren't for that I wouldn't have been able to collect so many priceless additions to my collection.

..The rest of Amsterdam is for when I'm old and some record label pays me to produce in Holland, otherwise, I came, I saw, I aquired what I wanted, and now I'm off to the crown-jewel in dance, Berlin.

peace,
Elzor

AAAAAMMMMMSTEEEERRRRDDAAAAAMMMMMMMM!!!!

Amsterdam is rad.

Trained from Paris to Amsterdam last Sunday and arrived to find the streets a waft with the sweet smell of da 'erbal.. Every street has at least 2 or 3 of them..
Amsterdam is rad.

I purchased some wheels for use while I'm here and in any other city I visit, a skateboard from a shop not too far from the part of the city I'm staying in. One of the chaps showed me on my newly purchased street map of Amsterdam how to find a skate park suspended in an old shipping dry-dock. Next day I was on an early ferry to afore described skate park. But not before getting myself super lost whilst skating around looking for the central station. It can be such a drag getting lost and realising you were going the wrong way, but the hospitality in Amsterdam thus far has far out weighed that con as I chowed down on cheap pastries, chatting to a local who offered the directions I needed..
First of all, this island had some huge buildings. The skatepark was closed on Mondays so I skated around on a bit of flat the size of a couple of football fields instead. The island is covered in graffiti too, so plenty of scouting was in order. Ended up at a cafe where I indulged in lunch and free wi-fi while the rain came down hard over Amsterdam.

As I made my way back on the ferry I deliberated it was time to hunt vinyl. So hunt I did. From the 4 or so stores I visited I found mostly hip-hop from early west-coast gangsta to Wu-Tang to DJ beats and even old-skool funk. By the time I mailed them all back to Australia this morning along with the records from Paris, there was about 60 vinyls. Picks of the bunch include Wu-Tang 'Forever', Wu-Tang 'Cream', Dr Dre 'Collected Instrumentals' & Ghostface Killah 'Ironman'. Most are records I never thought I'd see, I'm blown away by alot of them.. Much respect Amsterdam!

Speaking of the Wu..

On Monday night I went and saw Wu-Tang at the local entertainment hall. Members who appeared include; Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, GZA, CappaDonna, U-God & Raewkon. The crowd was absolutely hysterical for the clan and the show certainly hit a crescendo when Method Man stood supported by many hands and rapped out some rhymes before crowd surfing back to the stage. Oh yeah.. Amsterdam loves Brooklyn Zoo.. Tribute to Ol' Dirty was quite moving. It was definately something to collectively remember the passing of such an influential character in hip-hop.
R.I.P. ODB.

Friday will see me at Pendulum DJ's set at a club nearby, and Sunday there's a festival with Christian Smith & Umek performing.. Quite a packed scedule this weekend, lucky I'm in a relaxed part of the world!

Euro-Trip

Afternoon y'all!
I'm in Paris, and have been since Thursday morning, but imagine I'm still in Melbourne and writing about this amazing trip I'm about to go on, starry eyed and shit..

Baggage is shit.
Living from a bag is also shit.
Air France is shit.
Qantas is not, for their relentless top ups on my glass of gin. There's something about gin and air travel, which has been well received by all other travellers I've shared this idea with.
Jet lag is shit.
There's shit all over the streets in Paris.
I'm shit.. at travelling.
















Since I arrived in Paris much has happened, but I'll keep it concise seeing as some is boring.
I had my wallet lifted while drunk on Thursday night and for some reason ended up with only my credit card in my pocket, which is not a card I knew I had, so it was a bit of a shock finding a card with my name on it that I've never seen before.. I even went to a police station the next day to report it stolen and they wouldn't help me because they thought I was drunk.. which I wasn't. Jet lag is a hell of a drug, all the kids are doing it.












My wallet had my drivers license in it which means no driving around southern Rhone for me. I was bummed, but much happier when I realised this freed me up for 12 days in Amsterdam. Killer.
While I have been in Paris, and after I got over my wallet theft, I did mildly enjoy myself, which for all you avid fans of this being is something to raise half an eyebrow at.. I went to the Eiffel tower and refused to look in the direction of the tower, drank plenty of coffee, drank copious amounts of red wine, bought heaps of records at bargain basement prices, took photos of funny words and attempted to teach the French to shuffle. In all honesty, Paris was not what I expected. It seems to be a mecca of cultural importance not only to the French peoples but to anyone with an even slightly modest interest in history of art, food, wine and architecture; And I totally would have learnt about some of this had I not been off doing my best to be Frrrench to the French and taking advantage of the 5eu happy hour. And props to the following;

The cats from a bar around the corner who serve €5 long island ice tea from 5pm-9pm in a large cup and very little ice.
The dude wearing the t-shirt asking people to talk nerdy to him.
Nils & Clayton.
The comedy of Julian.
The flea market in which I found a Boney M LP, an original of Yeke Yeke, theme from Blade Runner, and The Jack That House Build
The Kiwis.
The girl who asked everyone in the club if they wanted to see her dick.
The dudes in the record shop.
My challis.
All bar staff who took pity on me during my Parisian ordeal.. yepp, I went there, it was an ordeal.












The epic vomit seen on several street corners.
My Frrrench t-shirt.
James and that other guy with a beard.












Catch y'all in Amsterdam.
Peace!