The Tiger Lillies "Onepenny Opera" 2022***

A few weeks ago, we had the chance to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday at Berlin, watching a Tiger Lillies performance of Onepenny Opera. It was a perfect evening; The Tiger Lillies are probably her favorite band, and what better place to experience the Tiger Lillies' version of a Brecht/Weill play than a Berlin cabaret? We first discovered the band in late 2003 when we still lived in Athens, Greece. Their first appearence late that year was a smash, and some friends who had been there bought the band's CD's (then still not commercially available) at the foyer. Soon copies began circulating, and we were hooked by their unique blend of Tom Waits-ian jazz, waltz, gypsy music, Berlin cabaret, and British music hall, dominated by Martyn Jacques' accordion and inimitable castrato voice. His lyrics are also quite unique: he drew his inspiration from his experiences in the pre-gentrified Soho underworld, only to accenuate it to grotesque proportions. I'll quote from their press release, since I think it captures the band's essence well: they "inhabit a dark and cruel world peculiar and varied, with moments of deep sadness, cruel black humour and immense beauty... Their songs cover all the dark aspects of life, from prostitution and drug addiction to violence and despair. Always with a touch of twisted humor and sharp irony they point an implicit accusing finger back at us: what on Earth are we doing, laughing at this stuff?" The visual elements of their shows are also striking: when they returned to Athens in January 2004 (we made sure we didn't miss it) they presented their amazing Circus Songs show, featuring real acrobats and other circus performers. Until we left Greece for The Netherlands we hadn't missed a single show: The Mountains Of Madness, Little Match Girl, Sea Stories, Freak Show... But it's been many years since we had a chance to see them live - somehow the Dutch seem to be immune to their charms, so they never seem to be playing nearby. Back to the Berlin show, this is not the first time they cover Brecht's Threepenny Opera (itself based on John Gay's 18th century Beggar's Opera). Indeed, back in 2001 they had presented us with the CD Twopenny Opera. 20 years later, and one penny cheaper, they return to the site of the crime. This time, they follow the original work more closely - the songs are not simply inspired by the play, they are sequenced in the order they would be performed if we were watching the play unfold. During the concert, as well as between the numbers on the CD, Jacques' narration fills us in on the events happening offstage. Opening numbers "King Of The Cut-Throats" and "Macky Is A Swine" present our anti-hero's criminal activities, "Down With The Poor" his derpived childhood, and "Married", "Bastard" and "Hit Me" his relationship with Polly, daughter of the king of the beggars. "Bastard", as well as "Police" and "Finale I", are reprised from 2001's Twopenny Opera - not just the compositions, but also the performances. Despite the 20 years' distance, there is no obvious difference in sound and production, and it gives one the chance to hear original drummer Adrian Huge and guest guitarist Blixa Bargeld (of Einstürzende Neubauten -and formerly of the Bad Seeds- fame) in the older recordings. For this album, Martyn Jacques (vocals, accordion, piano) is accompanied by the Tiger Lillies' current incarnation: Adrian Stout (double bass, musical saw, theremin, back.vocals) and Jonas Golland (drums, back.vocals). Despite the "exotic" instrumentation, the album is plainly produced: what you hear in the CD, the trio was able to reproduce onstage exactly, down to Jacques' theatrical narration and customary sneer. 

 
"Police" is an upbeat number emphasizing the symbiosis between police and thieves, both corrupt in their ways. It focuses on Macky and the chief of police's former comradeship fighting in England's imperialist wars, and their current mutual understanding - the equivalent of Threepenny Opera's "Canon Song", only even darker and more cynical. Other songs from the Brecht/Weill play also have their lyrical equivalent here, e.g. "Poor Maid"/"Pirate Jenny". In the end, just like in the original play, Macky is rescued from the gallows at the last moment thanks to a royal pardon. In the original work, Brecht, true to his communist ideology, had already made the point that Macky and his band of cut-throats, beggars and whores are no better or worse than the aristocrats, bosses and cops. From killing the "brown and yellow fellows" and looting their land in the name of the King to robbing and murdering the rich clients of a whore, the difference is a question of scope rather than of quality. All Macky did, it transpires, is take capitalism's lessons to heart, so who are we to judge him? As he famously says at his trial "What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of one?" Taking this into account, executing the scoundrel would be a mockery of justice, so Brecht made an uncharacteristic break from realism and spared him his life. With typical black humor, The Tiger Lillies take it even further: Macky is not only pardoned, he also enters the service of the Crown, murdering and procuring prostitutes for the gentry. He's the same-old killer, only this time he's untouchable because he's joined the ruling class. He's come full circle, thus it makes sense to close with "Mack The Knife", the popular song that opened the original version. It is one of two Brecht/Weill covers here - the second is "Alabama Song". A puzzling choice to say the least: not only it's from a different play (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) but it doesn't fit in the plot. I can only guess that Jacques got so caught up in the Brechtian world that he felt he had to try his hand at this famous ditty, too. I must say that, while I enjoyed the Berlin show immensely, I found the CD less special; something of a slightly inferior reprise of their previous take on the subject, Twopenny Opera. The lyrics are, as always, delightful, but the music starts to seem a bit repetitive, at least for someone like me who already owns more than a dozen of the band's albums and can spot their frequent self-plagiarism. Compared to the past, there's a more pronounced use of theremin and musical saw, and Jacques sings in a slighly lower register, but it's otherwise business as usual. By Tiger Lillies standards, this is about average - it displays all their typical traits without any real highlights. Next to older recordings "Bastard" and "Police", the best tracks are opener "King Of The Cut-Throats", heartbreaking (or masochistic?) ballad "Hit Me" and poetic waltz "Soho Moon" - upbeat music hall number "Selfish Git" is also rather entertaining. I would certainly recommended this CD as a souvenir of the show, or to someone who likes the original play and would enjoy a different, twisted, take on it. For the full effect though, it's like the saying goes: You should have been there!

**** for King Of The Cut-Throats, Bastard, Police, Hit Me, Soho Moon, Selfish Git

*** for Macky Is A Swine, Down With The Poor, Married, Poor Maid, Free, Face, Alabama Song, Death Row, Finale I, Stupid Clown, Finale II, Victory Song, Mack The Knife

Berlin Record Stores

This is my second visit to Berlin, the previous one was 15 years ago. Then, too, I spent some time checking out record shops, although I wasn't buying any more vinyl at the time. I remember spending half a day at a multi-story shop (I believe it was the one called KulturKaufhaus), and another half at a big Saturn store (an electronics chain with a big and cheap CD section), mostly listening to CD's at the listening stations. You see, there were no streaming services at the time, and youtube was just beginning, so those listening stations at the shops offered a rare opportunity to listen to new music. This time I decided I'd pass on the big chains and try to visit as many independant record shops as possible for the sake of this blog. One look at vinylhub (no less than 114 entries!) convinced me I should be a realist and limit myself to the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, which is the most happening and alternative part of the city. I divided it into two clusters and visited one each day.

Cluster One - Friedrichshain. This is on the opposite side of the Spree river from Kreuzberg. You can combine it with a visit to the East Side Gallery, which is the biggest part of the Berlin Wall still left standing, decorated by nice graffiti murals by artists from all over the world. I started out with Warschauer Music Store on Warschauer Str. 77. Right next to it there's a nice English book store also serving coffee & bagels, called Shakespeare & Sons. I thought my girlfriend might like to sit there and read while I browse records. Alternately, you can schedule it for later in the day, as a nice pause to rest your feet. In the boxes outside Warschauer Music you can find €3 LP's and CD's. That would be mostly East German vinyl from the state label Amiga. Not just boring old schlager music either, but Western pop and rock music too. I bought some cheap LPs here; the album covers are a bit worse for wear but they play very well. Inside the shop, you can find all kinds of genres on 2nd hand. CD's cost mostly around €8, and LP's €10-12 although there are some racks for €5 LP's too. As always with the prices, these are indicative and relevant to the time of my visit, April 2022. Right around the corner on Grünberger Straße 54 there's HHV, which I'm told stands for Hip Hop Vinyl. So you know you can find a good selection of hip hop artists here, but also techno, world music, indie, and more. There are vinyl listening stations, and an overall pleasant ambience. The shop doesn't have any CD's, but it does sell streetware fashion items. The vinyls are all new, so the prices are what you'd normally expect, €15-30. Another specialty record shop in the neighborhood (Simon-Dach-Straße 1) is Blessed Love, which is dedicated to reggae. Really cool ambience, and a nice selection of reggae and world music records. I was especially impressed by the number of ska/reggae 7' singles on sale. There were no prices on the records on display, but a look at the shop's website will give you an idea.

Wax Art Records (Gärtnerstr. 23) only has 2nd hand vinyl in very reasonable prices, which I realized is the norm for Berlin used records shops. The boxes outside have a wide variety of LP's for €3, while inside you'll find a lot of classic rock, blues, jazz, funk etc. for €5-10. This may be your best bet for cheap Kraut Rock, too. Only downside is: it stinks of cigarette smoke. Just around the corner there's Schaalplanet Records (Boxhagener Str. 34), a shop so old-fashioned it has no website. Some web entries describe it as a thrift store, but that's selling it short. On the outside there's the usual boxes of used records of all kinds (€3 or €5), but inside there's a room of pop and rock (€10-20), plus another one with music from all around the world. If you're into world music, you'll love this place. In Boxhagener Platz, you'll find Vinyl A Go Go. Cool name, and cool exterior too! As always, cheapo's outside: LPs from €2 (mostly East German vinyl), singles/CD's starting at €1. Inside it's a bit crammed but there's lots of cool stuff: Classic rock, East Europe prog, world music, alternative... mostly €10-20 but there are also some rare and expensive ones. Last record shop I visited in the neighborhood was Galactic Supermarket, a bit to the north from the rest (Petersburger Str. 89). The boxes of special offers (50% off) outside prepare you for some rare delights. I got a couple of limited edition reissues of rare 60's-70's LP's (Danish heavy blues and Brazilian symphonic prog) and went on to explore the interior. It's an eclectic selection of new and 2nd hand records (mostly €10-25) many of which I had never seen in a shop before. I was holding Carmen Maki's album with Japanese blues-proggers Creation on one hand (€20) and Gal Costa's psychedelic samba debut (15€) on the other, then I put them both back to pick up something from the punk and new wave section. There's also reggae, classic rock, folk, psychedelia, kraut rock, and lots more. The last room at the back has some of the rarer and more expensive items. I could spend half a day and 100's of €'s here, but I had neither, so I contended myself with the two special offers I started with. 

This little stroll took me around 4 hours, and I hurried through most of the shops. I didn't get to visit all of the record shops in the area though, so I'll just namecheck some of the ones that got away: Elevate Berlin (Gubener Str. 24) is focused on techno/dance music, which isn't my kind of thing, so I just passed it by. Audio-In (Libauer Str. 19) apparently also carries a lot of electronic music as well as an array of 2nd hand vinyl of all kinds. Bis Aufs Messer (Marchlewskistraße 107) is self-described as  "record shop for Avantgarde, Drone, Electronic, Jazz, Noise, Post Punk and more". Ghost Town Records (Holteistraße 12) is more focused on punk and reggae 7' and LP's. Judging from their discogs online shop, the median price for LP's is around €20. Power Park (Boxhagener Str. 19/20) has  new and 2nd hand vinyl. Supposedly especially good for techno, jazz and indie. 

Slightly north-west to Friedrichshain there's a district called Prenzlauer Berg. I had a stroll there during my previous visit, for no other reason than that Beirut has written a beautiful song about it. It's a pleasant enough neighborhood, and there are interesting record shops here too, although not so densely scattered as in Kreuzberg/Friedrichshain. I didn't visit any this time, but I'll make a passing mention of some, based on my internet research: Oye Records ("mostly devoted to house and disco there is also enough hip hop, jazz, and brand new electronic 12-inches"), Melting Point  (techno/dance/Jazz/soul/indie etc), Dodo Beach East (punk/rock/hiphop/indie/reggae), Purple Penny Records (2nd hand, Garage/Psychedelic/Soul/ Prog/Punk etc), Vinylvaquero Records ("45s and LPs, Blues/Soul,Garage/Psychedelia, Kraut/Prog, Punk/Wave" etc), Record Store Berlin (big selection of classic rock, jazz, soul, world music, punk etc), Franz & Josef (used vinyl/CDs, owner gets bad reviews for being rude), and  Da Capo (used vinyl & books).

Day Two of record hunting was centered around Kreuzberg, a formerly poor and underdeveloped immigrant neighborhood. Still a multi-cultural place, after the German re-unification it was gentrified and is now considered the heart of "alternative" Berlin, a center of the German punk and art scene. Its spirit is perfectly encapsulated in Lefter Records (Gneisenaustr. 114), which is owned by a Turkish refugee, one of those intellectuals (I think an urban planner?) persecuted by Erdogan's regime. I was intrigued by the shop's name, which sounds Greek rather than Turkish. Well, apparently it was inspired by a Turkish football legend of Greek descent who became a symbol of friendship between two peoples whom geopolitics have set against each other even though they have a lot in common. It goes without saying that Lefter Records has the biggest selection of Turkish vinyl in Berlin, which might also mean in the whole world outside Turkey: from Anatolian rock to folk to modern Turkish artists. There's also a huge variety of world music and reggae (both new and 2nd hand), as well as (mostly 2nd hand) jazz, new wave, prog and classic rock. Used LPs cost €8-35, new €20-35, some CDs and cassettes also available. The owner is friendly and passionate about music, always eager to discuss records and play samples for you. A few meters further you can find Marla Records, a "concept store" also serving drinks and coffee, and selling fashion items next to vinyl (funk. reggae, electro). Many other record stores in the immediate vicinity, of which possibly the most famous is Space Hall (Zossener Str. 35). A spacious place, one of the few I saw still selling a lot of CDs (used, €8-12), as well as LPs both new (€25-35) and used (€10-35), and other music-related items. 

Holy's Hits Records (Solmstrasse 33) will take you a few steps below street level to browse its selection of (2nd hand) LP's of classic rock, indie, prog etc. Mostly €10-20 but also some rare stuff €35-70. Logo Records (Nostitzstraße 32) is quite big and carries lots of cool stuff. Offers include some CD's €0-2 (yeah, they have freebies, too) and LPs for €3 - the latter aren't just the same-old overproduced vinyls you find everywhere, too. Among them I found some rather unknown but interesting indie and psychedelia. As I said there's lots of other stuff here: rock, indie, psych etc, mostly €10-20. Last shop I visited that day was Sound Vinyl Store Berlin (Nostitzstraße 18). Also a bit underground, the owner is relaxed and friendly but his cute doggie less so - don't take it personally if it barks at you. This is the best place in Berlin for cheap vinyl. Lots of it goes for €0,50/1/2/3: classic rock, jazz, new wave, country etc. The "expensive" ones cost €7-20. Also CD's, all genres, mostly €2-3. I was already overloaded but I have difficulty passing good bargains by, so I left with a armful of ridiculously cheap LP's. Now, the fact that I stopped here doesn't mean you should do the same. There's a bunch of other record stores in the neighborhood, I'll mention some more: Vinyl From Berlin (Fürbringerstraße 24) is another 2nd hand place that seems to have a bit of everything. Judging from its online discogs shop, a lot of it goes for less than €10. All these shops were situated close to the food market (Marheineke Markthalle). Further to the west you'll find: Pop (Yorckstraße 52), Twintoe Records (Monumentenstraße 33-34, seems to be small and specialized in punk/alternative rock), Dodo Beach (Vorbergstraße 8, new and second hand, rock/punk/metal etc, seems to be a bit on the pricey side), end Lolodiscos Records & Vintage (Barbarossastraße 65, 2nd hand). 

To the east, between the market and Spree river, there's another record shops cluster that would take half day to check out. First off, the dance music-oriented ones include: The Consulate (Mittenwalder Str. 6), Muting The Noise/Innervsions (Blücherstraße 22), the famous Hard Wax (Paul-Lincke-Ufer 44A, techno/reggae/dub etc), Sound Metaphors (Reichenberger Str. 152), Record Loft (adalbertstr 9), Bikini Waxx Records (Manteuffelstraße 48) and the second OYE Records (Friedelstraße 49). Mion Records (Ohlauer Str. 10) sells a lot of Japanese stuff. Wowsville Records (Ohlauer Str.33) Rock’n’Roll, Soul, Jazz, Punk, 60’s Garage. Seems to also function as a bar. 33 RPM (Wrangelstraße 95, "small shop inside the cafe Mukkefukk, new & 2nd hand vinyl") gets bad google reviews because of the owner's allegedly snubby attitude to customers. Next to it Satori Records (Wrangelstr. 64) "offer a lot of second hand jazz, blues & world music on vinyl". Comeback Records (Hasenheide 9) offers a variety in 2nd hand rock/new wave/punk/metal/soul. Coretex Records is the iconic punk/metal/ska store Kreuzberg store for assorted music, T-shirts, and accesories. I remember visiting there 15 years ago, and being stunned by the number of punk bands I had never even heard of. Similar focus for Groove Records (Pücklerstraße 36, punk/alternative/garage/psych etc), Static Shock Music (Bürknerstraße 6, punk/hardcore), Recordsberlin (Wiener Str. 32, 2nd hand punk/metal/indie), and Real Deal (Gneisenau Street 60). Take into account that some of the shops mentioned here typically fall into the Neuköln district, which inspired Bowie's same-named instrumental. That's because I can't quite tell where Kreuzberg ends and Neuköln begins. Also, keep in mind that some of the info I found on the internet may be outdated. As I said, my own info, prices etc. are current as of April 2022. Alberto Records (Gneisenaustraße 56) combines records  with antique lamps(!), Soultrade (Sanderstraße 29) is a popular shop selling soul/disco/jazz/world music etc. Heisse Scheiben (Ohlauer Str. 44, 2nd hand vinyl and CDs, mostly rock) All rights deserved (Maybachufer 19) apparenty has "anything from 5 Euro crate to hard to get rarities, all genres except electronic". Others in the neighborhood include A & V Records (Friedelstraße 7, vinyl/CD/DVD), Love For Sale (Weserstraße 189, electronic music) X-Tone (Karl-Marx-Straße 43, used vinyl & CDs) Latitude (Karl-Marx-Straße 58, Funk/Techno/Disco/Reggae) and Jackson Records (Weichselpl. 8, "techno, hiphop, disco, soul etc"). 

Wow, it took hours to tap into googlemaps, vinylhub, yelp, and other databases to just get some names and info - not to mention putting down my own impressions. Hope it's useful to you. In general, the market for vinyl and CDs in Berlin is easily the best I've ever seen - and I've done many of Europe's biggest cities. The sheer number of shops (just this presentation mentions 55 of them, and doesn't even cover all of the city) and the variety of music on sale is stunning, while prices are also usually very reasonable. Whether you're a serious collector, bargain hunter, or just vinyl enthousiast it's well worth adding an extra day to your Berlin visit for a little record hunting.