Starting on Thursday (Apr 18), festival The Only Good System Is A Soundsystem celebrates the spirit of Jamaican sound collectives.
Gaining popularity on a larger scale in the 1950s, Jamaican sound systems are music collectives comprised of DJs, MCs and tech people, organising mobile parties that are one of the island nation’s most prominent musical exports these days. Mid-April, The Only Good System Is A Soundsystem lays a focus on these collectives and their significance in the global music culture circuit. Curated by Zuri Maria Daiß and Pascal Jurt, the three-day affair boasts performances and lectures, touching not only on sound system cultures but on sonic warfare, ways of music production and distribution – and, of course, extensive partying.
The Bug’s “Pressure” nights have been an integral part of Berlin nightlife for quite some time. On April 19, he’ll bring the party to Radialsystem with an exciting twist for tech and audio geeks. In the spirit of sound system events, he’ll use the best “boombox” available to properly hit those bass tones: a Void Incubus Rig. Starting at 7pm, lectures by Diedrich Diederichsen and Julian Henriques kick off the event which also features Flowdan/Miss Red, Equiknoxx Music DJ Team and others behind the decks.
The following day, on April 20, one of Berlin’s artists notorious for their love of heavy bass, Nik Nowak, is part of the lineup. He not only joins an artist talk with cultural writer Lisa Blanning but takes his infamous Soundpanzer for a spin. Also joining that day: MC Infinite Livez, rappers Awa Khiwe and Detroit Che as well as DJ She’s Drunk.
Apart from West Indian scholar Carolyn Cooper delivering a keynote speech, the third and final day is entirely dance floor-focussed with Sarah Farina, Mark Ernestus vs Tikiman, Jay Glass Dubs, Uta, Sasha Perera, KEMAΛ, Ikonika & Scratcha DVA / DVA Hi:Emotions as well as Hops & Orson Version bringing the festival to a close.
The Only Good System Is A Sound System Apr 19-21 Radialsystem V, Friedrichshain
