Five artists pushing the boundaries of music at this year's Pop-Kultur Festival
Berlin’s iconic multi-disciplinary festival Pop-Kultur has quickly become one of the best events in Europe for brave, boundary-pushing music and arts. Returning for its ninth edition at the start of September, the festival continues to offer a diverse set of perspectives from across the ever-shifting pop culture space.
For three evenings, the spaces of the Kulturbrauerei arts complex along with various nightclubs and cinemas will showcase a truly fascinating line-up from across the musical spectrum, bringing thes best of Berlin’s vibrant scene alongside contributions from across the globe. The festival will also premiere 15 commissioned works, which take into account the lack of discursive spaces within pop music and that artists living precariously don’t have enough opportunities for reflection and experimentation.
Ukraine’s representation comes from a group musicians and cultural workers who will present their work and take part in a dialogue that will cover what it means to create culture when faced with missile attacks and the everyday horrors of war. Ahead of the European Football Championship taking place in Germany next year, sport and music’s place in pop culture will also be considered while "African & Diasporic Perspectives" takes a look at Afro-Pop as a global phenomenon.
One of the event's centrepieces will undoubtably be the Berlin-based choir project A Song For You, made up of a vocal ensemble that brings together over fifty singers and a revolving band from the across the city's neo-soul/RnB/hip-hop scenes. The project centres BIPOC voices, providing a space for connecting and exploring the joys of communal singing and giving a platform for underrepresented talents to shine.
The packed programme is ultimately an embarrassment of riches for music fans – with the likes of Best Fit faves umru, Empress Of, Tami T and the legendary slowcore pioneers Codeine all present – but we’ve taken a look at our highlights from deeper into the line-up to help you navigate three amazing days in Berlin.
cumgirl8
New York four-piece cumgirl8 are a sonic explosion of forty years of pop culture - everything from the B-52s and Madonna to Cocteau Twins and ESG. Their debut single for 4AD “Cicciolina” celebrates the icojnic Hungarian-Italian pornstar turned politician who advocated for human rights and the eradication of nuclear weapons. “Cicciolina is cumgirl1,” explain the band. “We feel her ideals are foundational to the cumgirl8 philosophy of subversive change, peace, and strength in vulnerability. We hope she loves our song, we love her very much.”
Fave
Nigerian music next-gen superstar Fave found her audience via viral freestyles during the first year of the Covid lockdown in West Africa. She followed them up with a mixtape that hit number one in nine countries – the five-tracker Riddim 5. Riffing on tales of teenage romance, the mixtape saw Fave explore Caribbean pop and showcase a quite astounding vocal range that switches with ease between Patois, Yoruba and English. She's been called the next Tems but cites Adele as her greatest inspiration – catch her at Pop-Kultur before she follows in the path of her idol.
ARY
The story of Trondheim-born artist Ariadne Loinsworth – aka ARY – recalls fellow Nordic popstar Robyn's early career path-change. After becoming one of Norways's most tipped new talents back in 2017, she retreated from the pop scene, disillusioned with her sound and the control she had over it, and dealing with grief from the death of her twin brother. Three years later she was back with the self-produced "Oh My God" and a new sound that revelled in pop melancholy, coupled with experimental sonics and sophisticated vocals. Her long awaited debut album For Evig was finally released at the start of 2023 and is a tribute to her brother.
Indigo Sparke
The affecting, intimate songs of Indigo Sparke – showcased across two records produced by ex-girlfriend Adrianne Lenker, and The National's Aaron Dessner respectively – reveal one of modern music's finest left-field songwriters and vocalists. Australia-born but NYC-based, the Sacred Bones-signed artist is also a captivating live performer, as evidence by her Tiny Desk session from a few years back.
Nashi44
Nashi44 found her voice during a period studying music in Leipzig, where rap became a vehicle for her to talk about everyday racism as a Chinese-Vietnamese-German artist.a Club banger "Aus der Pussy" ("From the pussy") was her reply to the question "where are you from?" and set out her confrontational blueprint, fleshed out on debut seven-track EP "Asia Box". She's actually named after her favourite fruit – the Nashi fruit – while 44 is the old zip code of Neukölln, where she grew up.
Pop-Kultur runs from 30 August - 1 September. Find out more at pop-kultur.berlin.
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