Lost and Sound: Berlin, Techno and the Easyjet set

by Tobias Rapp, Paul Sabin (Translator)

Tobias Rapp’s book ‘Lost and Sound: Berlin, Techno and the Easyjetset’ investigates the city’s love affair with electronic music and seeks to answer why the world is flocking to the German capital to get a piece of the action.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Germany

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other cities have a financial industry, large corporations, movie studios, fashion. Berlin has the German government, fine art and techno.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

würde sagen kaaaann man lesen, wenn man krass musikinteressiert ist (which i‘m not), muss man aber nicht.
es war schon spannend über die anfänge der berliner techno szene zu erfahren aber das meiste darüber hinaus war für mich eher boring und man merkt, dass der typ journalist und nicht autor ist.
fand dann noch 2 andere kapitel spannend (über berghain, panoramabar und bar 25 und ein interview mit einer sehr problematischen mutter, die ihr kind von freitags bis montags alleine lässt zum feiern gehen) aber habe grade gesehen, dass die von anderen autoren kommen lol.
insgesamt auch sehr starke drogen romantisierung/normalisierung. i guess thats how it works aber hätte man schon biiiisl kritischer betrachten können, als „machen halt alle, gehört halt dazu, ohne gehts nicht und ohne macht’s kein spaß“.
anyways, endlich fertig gelesen nach 1,5 jahren aber auch bisl geskipped gegen ende.

[erich · Rating 4 out of 5]

ностальгически трогательно

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a good overview of the Berlin Techno scene of the 00s with a handful of interesting ideas about how the scene came together, what it has in common with the scene of the 90s and what some of the economic and social conditions were that caused the scene to really blow up. On the latter I would have liked to see more and as the book went on a lot of the analysis thinned out a bit as the chapters started to take on specific topics like "how to run a label" or "what is Abelton and why is it important." In this sense the book lost a bit of its continuity, while still trying to keep to the topic. Also, some of the analysis of the actual music itself was a bit thin I felt and concentrated a bit too much on what was going on around it (the clubs, the drugs, etc.) That being said I still did learn some things about the scene as such and can recommend it as a quick read to those already familiar and a good overview for those who are not.

[Bileczka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Powtarzanie co kilka stron tego samego - że tanie linie lotnicze zwożą turystów do Berlina, że ciężki los didżeja, że pijani i naćpani ludzie w klubach "spotykają się z absolutem" (wtf?) - na dodatek wszystko strasznie suche. Nie wiem czego się spodziewałam, bo w końcu "writing about music is like dancing about architecture", ale, cóż, z 300-stronicową książeczką małego formatu męczyłam się prawie miesiąc i nie był to czas świetnie spędzony. Jeżeli kogoś interesuje berlińskie techno to polecam raczej wybrać się do Berlina na techno, niż do sklepu po tę książkę.

[Sascha Sorglos · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I thought this was a hipster Berlin book but it was actually pretty good

[Jimmy Ryström · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm very sad, that i never got the chance to experience the afterhours at Bar 25.

[Ieva Gr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why I read it: Found it on Vinted and thought it could be interesting.

What I liked about it:
I’m not really familiar with clubbing life. I first heard of Berghain when a board game about it was released. So it was really interesting to read about that life from an insiders perspective. And it felt like the author was a proper insider.

The book is so much more than just a book about Techno and clubbing. It is also about the evolution of Berlin after the wall was torn down. About the social changes and the globalisation of culture. It even had some great insights into human nature e.g. how travelling has become a status symbol and so now everyone ‘likes to travel’.

It is also well written. My favorite sentence was ‘Before the hostel opened, Rosenthaler Platz was a draughty traffic junction with a sex shop and three kebab shops’. That really paints a picture!

What I disliked:
The book is meant for Berliners and Techno lovers. Since I’m none of those people it was hard to follow sometimes.

Quote: ‘Berlin has emerged as the capital of cool. Subcultures are often cultures of longing: how we would love to be in another place, maybe even in another time, to be of a different skin colour or a different sex. <…> Berlin night life and everything related to it is a dream culture and a place people all over the world long to be’

[elizaveta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really outdated. The claims of the author that the prices will never raise here, you can’t go clubbing without drugs — are read as teenager‘s maximalism of some sort. I also had a feeling of that all the articles were just a bunch of random pieces put together without too much of a thinking through. I personally believe there are much more layers to explore in this music than what seemed like an instagram-style of narrative i hanged out with this dude and with that. But! i got to know some places that are no longer on Berlin‘s map, so at least learnt something

[Aleksander Foks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mam wrażenie, że interesujący temat został opisany/przełożony w mało ciekawy sposób. Zwłaszcza poziom zredagowania książki w języku polskim jest dość marny. Nie mniej, dla wszystkich tych którzy żyją światem muzyki elektronicznej, niniejsza książka może okazać się ciekawa. Bez rewelacji, ale tez bez straty czasu.

[Paul Dilley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting perspective on die Szene by a true insider, but it felt less like a personal memoire, which would have made for a more gripping read given the subject, and more like, dare I say it, faux-academic prose…

[Optovoloknope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Эта книга изменила меня как личность.

[Artur · Rating 5 out of 5]

chapter about drugs is not necessary - apart from that it's a great read for techno music fans;)

[Kimb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting read, but decreased rather than increased my desire to actually go to a Berlin club.