Week 14: Caput mundi

Köln Bonn Airport „Konrad Adenauer , Terminal 1. Paul Schneider-Esleben, 1965.

Showgazin with Maria Somerville at Klub Jaki in Cologne.

Graciela Iturbide: Eyes to fly with @ C|O Berlin

Everlyn Nicodemus at Wiels, Brussels

Lucky enough to see Christian Marclay‘s „The Clock“ at Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Bits over bits of movie pieces referencing time, edited together, synchronized with Berlin time. Nothing but mesmerizing.

All colors of Tortoise tonight in Cologne.

Wolfgang Tillmans exhibition at Haus Cleff in Remscheid lends the near and the far, family and stars, party and labour, the subjective and the objective, the known and the unknown. Remscheid, outskirt and center of the world. What a great start into the year.

Puts an entire movie into a single picture: Gregory Crewdson at Kunstmuseum Bonn

Oh my, Sharp Pins. What a record. youtu.be/f6ZkiEZzhdY?...

The week in Cologne #agrippabad #karneval

Michaela Melián Trio at Stoff-Pavillon Möller. Beautiful concert at a fantastic place that is almost unreal to exist in central Cologne.

Can‘t stop playing. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Wenn ich durch die in jüngerer Zeit gentrifizierten Viertel Münchens radel, find ich immer wieder erschütternd, wie wenig die Leute aus dem vielen Geld machen. Du findest keinen einzigen originellen Gedanken in einem solchen Stadtbild.

Last days of summer at the Swabian Alb (Wackerstein, Blautopf).

Today (HfG Ulm, Blautopf)

German chancellor Merz saying the quiet part out loud. Asked about migration, he praises himself for reducing numbers by 60 percent, but “we still have the issue of visibility in our cities” (“im Stadtbild noch dieses Problem”). Welcome to Germany in 2025.

Stefanie Schrank‘s Crossfade on @staatsakt.bsky.social. There‘s Kraut in it, there‘s ABC, and there‘s a lot of Pop, first and foremost. youtu.be/J2ASJ0U1p-w?...

Last weekend, I went to see Cage, Cunningham, Johns, Rauschenbach and Twombly at ML, only to learn that the exhibition would start a week later. I went to their Contemporary Section in the basement instead - which I don‘t go too often and didn‘t expect too much of.

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Bernd & Hilla Becher: Geschichte einer Methode (“History of a Methodology”) at SK Kulturstiftung Cologne.

Cologne Jazzweek 2025. The privilege was all mine. Great gigs by Jorik Bergman, BREEEZY, Dust Bunny, Ghosted.

Cologne Jazzweek started with Mumble Jazz for me - a four-piece from the area, somewhere in between Ornette and Jay-Z, on what turned out to be a beautiful late summer’s afternoon. youtu.be/5jK5QCARODo?...

So so so so soothing, this new @modernnature.bsky.social! These guitars just sound spectacular. youtu.be/sXvUOiXSxiE?...

As they just put out their 500th release, I’ve revisited some of the tracks that were released on #Kompakt Records in the past weeks. Looking back the Kompakt catalogue is quite diverse - the idea of Sound of Cologne is more a description of a place & scene rather than a sound or style.

Escape-Ism yesterday at 674FM in Cologne. Hottest concert in a long time and they were burning on stage, too.

We’re back from vacation - rested, sunkissed, and armed with a fresh batch of music discoveries! In our new episode, we’re playing the songs that soundtracked our time off. Tune in for a ride through the indie world! 😎@heavenlyamelia.bsky.social @thephotocopies.bsky.social @lucydreamsdp.bsky.social

Bex Burch & Peter Zummo at Eigelstein-Torburg/CGN. I really, really enjoyed this after a much too busy day. Seeing Bex Burch for the first time, being aware of the method, process and attitude how she creates music somehow changes the way I am listening to the recordings. @intlanthem.bsky.social

The straight bass drum.

Space was the place… …last night with The Space Lady at Eigelstein-Torburg/CGN.

On 15 January, Joy Division played in Cologne at the crypt of a Protestant church called “Basement“. Ian Curtis had a seizure on stage. Not a proper club at all (but more of a community center), there are still concerts at “Basement”. Tonight played Hamburg’s Boy Division.

The latest chapter in the long and rich history of songs featuring Cologne 🔴⚪️ À bientôt, @allodarlin.bsky.social!

German expressionist painter Gabriele Münter, Meditation, 1917 #womensart

Nachthorn - Ouverture Different kind of snthesizer music: The organ at St. Antonius (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Ant... ) in Düsseldorf is midi-ready and can be fully controlled by computer. Maxime Denuc recorded a beautiful ambient record on it. youtu.be/htxYc9Opbb4?...

Went to see Karate this week. First heard them in 96 or 97 maybe, and it was the beginning of a new musical chapter for me. How tender. How virtuoso. How much desperation in that voice. DIY and high-brow at the same time. youtu.be/Ok9F_MPMT3g?...

Albert Richter was a Cologne racing cyclist who became world sprint champion (track cycling) in 1932 and achieved many international successes.

Francis Alÿs “Kids Take Over“ at Museum Ludwig/Cologne. Thirty videos documenting children’s games from all over the world. Part of the exhibition have been designed by local children. Highly immersive, highly relevant showing a very singular part of what it means to be human.

It’s hard to give social media praise these days. Going from “Don’t be evil” to actively helping to transform democratic societies to the worse makes a strong case for regulating networks: how can you expect to do business in a society if you’re destroying its foundations?

Spending wonderful days under Zeeland‘s spring sun. Visited the West Wall’s bunkers in the dunes of Dishoek that were liberated in November 1944 by British forces.

Very nice new old Boyracer!

Für alle #Paris -Besucher*innen bis Ende Juni: Es gibt zwei starke #Ausstellungen mit Schwarzen Künstler*innen, die sich wunderbar ergänzen und unbedingt lohnen: 1) #ParisNoir im Centre Pompidou 2) #CorpsetÂmes in der Collection Pinault. Ich lege sie Euch sehr ans Herz!

Was traveling yesterday and had the chance to visit the construction site of Stuttgart‘s new train station when switching trains. Taking the station entirely underground, it is one of the most controversial in Germany due to enormous costs, high complexity and the usual delays.

Yes, I‘d appreciate that too.

Station de métro Stockel à Bruxelles, pour les amateurs de Tintin ! *** Stockel metro station in Brussels, for Tintin lovers!

In a sweet and tender surprise attack, Allo Darlin‘ took the city last night. They even brought a song for Cologne. @slumberlandrecords.bsky.social

Ben LaMar Gay tonight at Stadtgarten, Cologne. Otherworldly. @intlanthem.bsky.social

I can‘t wait for Saturday to come - it’s going to be fantastic!

Dean Wareham told us about reuniting with Kramer for his new solo LP, digging into Galaxie 500's archives for a new comp, touring with Lou Reed, his work with filmmaker Noah Baumbach, Dean & Britta's Christmas album with Sonic Boom, Luna's Paula Abdul cover, and more. We've Got A File On You:

Thank god it‘s springtime again! youtu.be/7PhqwpPcAMo?...

If you’re into football ⚽️ and music go have a look: Pascal Claude from Zurich collect‘s 7” on football. His collection must be massive and is truly global. There’s an online archive: 45football.com It’s fantastic to just scroll through it and give the well-known, the unknown & the obscure a listen.