The Other Side: Berlin

by Jason BirchmeierEllen Allien's entry in the Deaf Dumb + Blind Recordings series of Time Out Presents the Other Side CD/DVDs is a perfect primer for anyone even remotely interested in the thriving club culture of Berlin, which had firmly established itself as the world's techno mecca over the course of the preceding decade or so. Not only is The Other Side: Berlin a perfect primer, but Allien is the perfect guide: she's a Berlin-based producer, DJ, label owner, and all around woman about town, not to mention a rising, increasingly fashionable icon. On the mix CD component of The Other Side, she sticks with marquee names like Booka Shade, Carl Craig, Miss Kittin, Plastikman, Monolake, Ricardo Villalobos, Vladislav Delay, and of course, herself. She kicks off the mix with David Bowie's German-language version of "Heroes" (i.e., "Helden"), which makes the mix all that much more accessible to a general listenership. The "Helden" jump-start also makes the mix seem all that much more German, with the song's reference to the Wall and whatnot. The predominance of German techno throughout the mix -- as well as the occasional nods to Detroit, Berlin's sister city in terms of techno -- is also fitting. Techno heads may be disappointed by the obviousness of the inclusions, few of which are all that obscure, and the heads may also be let down by the lack of inventive mixing. Yet The Other Side: Berlin seems intended more as a guide for the uninitiated than an offering to the hardcore, so there's little rationale for such disappointment. For what it is, Allien's mix is on-point. Still, even those techno aficionados who already know the featured tracks here inside out will find plenty to discover on the DVD component of The Other Side: Berlin, which showcases the culture of Berlin from a visual standpoint. Allien takes viewers on a brief daytime tour of her city, and it's easy to feel like you wish you were there alongside her as she shops for clothes and music, lunches with Richie Hawtin at a parkside restaurant, and treats herself to a Thai massage and yoga session, among other fun activities. The season is summer, so the city is swarming with people, and for the most part, Allien hosts her tour in English, though there's plenty of subtitled German spoken as well. It all adds up to a revealing multimedia tour of the German capital, intimately hosted by one of the city's techno royalty. It's the next-best thing to being there.