Der Klang der Familie: Berlin, Techno and the Fall of the Wall

by Felix Denk, Sven von Thülen

Am 13. März 1991 begannen die 90er Jahre. Nur wenige Meter vom ehemaligen Todesstreifen entfernt eröffnete in einer massiven unterirdischen Stahlkammer der Club Tresor. Von hier aus breitete sich mit 180 BPM die Jugendkultur aus, die Ost und West vereinte: Techno.

Nach dem Sturz der Mauer stehen überall in Berlin ungenutzte Flächen und Gebäude bereit, mit neuem Leben gefüllt zu werden. Die Besitzverhältnisse sind ungeklärt, und so erobert die Szene aus beiden Teilen der Stadt die neuen Freiräume. Clubs, Galerien, Ateliers und Studios entstehen – oft nur für wenige Wochen. Bald schon ist Berlin Epizentrum einer neuen Kultur, lockt mit Clubs wie dem Tresor und dem E-Werk Tausende Anhänger aus aller Welt an. Sie tanzen in Gasmaske oder Schweißerbrille die Nacht hindurch zum Preßlufthammersound bisher unbekannter DJs aus Detroit. Unter ihnen auch Schriftsteller, Künstler, Fotografen und Designer. Schnell wächst Techno zu einer Bewegung der Massen, die in der Loveparade ihre schillerndste Blüte treibt.

DJs, Clubmacher, Musikproduzenten, Türsteher und Szenegestalten, Menschen aus der Mitte der Bewegung und von ihren Rändern, sie alle kommen in Klang der Familie zu Wort und lassen eine Zeit lebendig werden, in der alles möglich schien.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Germany, Cultural, German Literature, Urbanism

308 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2012

Reviews

[tout · Rating 5 out of 5]

Techno as a form-of-life.

I had a combined sensation of excitement and sadness reading this, feeling the rawness of people throwing themselves completely into something totally new and crazy, starting to dance at 4 or 5am, starting the after-party to come down sometime in the morning until 5pm, sleeping for a couple hours and doing it again from Thursday to Tuesday every week for years, in squats and derelict places between where the wall used to be, people pursing a kind of mystic ecstatic communal experience, on E or through a limit experience found in the trancelike repetitiveness of waves of music hitting you — but then also this feeling that my nostalgia for something I never experienced, is for a historic moment that has dawned, passed and can't be felt in the same way. I still hold a desire for a resurgence of the tribe of techno, for a kind of primitive misuse of machines and getting completely lost in it.

Of particular interest were the connections between Detroit techno, which was/is a kind of afro-futurist escape from the depression and racism of a post-industrial Detroit ( Underground Resistance, Jeff Mills, Etc.), and people in Berlin trying to escape from the past of the cold war and nazism.

[Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating oral history of the Berlin Techno scene in the years surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's a great way to experience the cultural history of Berlin and to get a sense of the upheaval caused by the end of communism. Obviously there were some very positive and very negative effects, but I don't think I realized until the end of the book how heavy the specter of WWII was in Berlin up until this time. A comment that really brought it home to me was one of the people in the book talking about how transformative it was to see the Love Parade marching through the streets of Berlin and how it was the first time that it felt positive to have people massed and marching through the streets in about 50 years.

I am also struck by the idea that everyday life gets in the way of radical shifts in thought and expression. A big part of this book deals with the way that the environment (ie. the fall of the wall and reconfiguration of available spaces within East and West Berlin) had an impact on the dissemination and acceptance of new ideas in both music and art. Having free spaces to experiment in really made a huge difference in creating a thriving scene. Likewise, it was impressive how quickly the scene began to stagnate and become rigid in its leadership and acceptance of new ideas. I wonder how we can encourage radical shifts in various disciplines more often and how we can avoid the stagnation that can set in when new regimes in thought take hold. Are periods of stagnation and closed thought necessary for the percolation of new ideas?

[Raul Ruiz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Un pedazo de 'bluff'. Acaba siendo una colección desordenada de anecdotillas de la peña guapa del Berlin de los incios del techno. Desordenada, reiterativa y vaga, sin ritmo, pesada de leer... es como cuando un desconocido te pilla de after y te pega la chapa con las fiestas que se ha pegado y las discotecas a las que ha ido y lo de puta madre que era la movida antes de que fuera conocida.

"Fulanito 1: Yo monté el primer UFO, era de puta madre"
"Fulanito 2: El UFO era de puta madre"
"Fulanito 3: Fulanito 1 montó las fiestas UFO, ponian house que en aquella epoca era la hostia"
"Fulanito 1: En aquella época el house era la hostia"

Y así durante (presumiblemente porque yo me apeo pasadas las primeras 120) 480 páginas.
Vaya chasco.

[Rob Adey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this an interesting portrait of a developing subculture and lens on reunification... history written by the musicians. There's a lot of detail which was lost on me – I've not heard of most people in the book; I never knew what all the different kinds of dance music were – but you're never far from something entertaining, like the time the people who ran Tresor diversified into selling pork chops in the car park for a few days.

[Javi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este es un libro complejo. El movimiento techno es un movimiento complejo, muchos frentes, muchos protagonistas (sin querer serlo) y una época bastante confusa. Los autores se esfuerzan al máximo por hacer un retrato cronológico y sentimental de los inicios de Berlín como meca del techno.

Desde la caída del muro, el acid house, la formación de Tresor, Planet y E-Werk y los love parades. Todo está recogido por el testimonio de una veintena de protagonistas. Especialmente interesante me ha parecido la perspectiva de Berlín Este y la conexión con Detroit.

Es un libro muy interesante que recoge historia oral que dificilmente se podría encontrar de otra manera más la forma en la que se presenta, mediante fragmentos de entrevistas hace complicada la lectura. Probablemente a los autores les costara la vida poder armar una historia en cada fragmento temporal a base de trozos de entrevistas, el resultado a veces es correcto, con una narrativa bastante fluida y otras veces va saltando a trompicones entre temas.

Quizás no hay una forma mejor de recoger este contenido. Es un libro único y yo lo he disfrutado mucho.

[Ekaterina Okuneva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Наверное, впервые читаю книгу (переводную!), в которой абсолютно весь текст - прямая речь, где разговорные обороты и словечки не выглядят натянуто и вообще не бесят. Очень круто читать про историю от первого лица, хоть про сборку ракетных двигателей, хоть про пошив трусов, хоть вот про рейвы, если люди любят то, о чем говорят. Как можно было так логично и последовательно составить историю из реплик десятков героев - не представляю, авторов прямо боженька редактуры поцеловал.
Кроме техно и клубов здесь достаточно рассказов просто о жизни. Германия в начале 90-х напоминает о России - свобода, молодость и неопределенность. Немного странно, что большинство пионеров немецкого рейва - ровесники твоих родителей, а еще, несмотря на наркотики и СПИД, почти все герои книги до сих пор живы и заняты делом. Но какая же тьма опечаток! Прямо обидно за всех, как же так. Несмотря на это, книга отличная, перевод отличный, надеюсь, "шум" выплывет из карантина в целости и издаст нам еще прекрасных книг.

[Drew Rosensweig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly felt like a wasted opportunity. The milieu (post-Wall Berlin) and subject (the birth of 90s techno) were ripe for my own personal engagement, but solely telling the story through interviews without proper context was a poor decision. As interesting as it should be to learn about a subculture gaining momentum in bombed out East Berlin, the intrigue was missing. Halfway through, it picks up momentum briefly with the appearance of Detroit Techno superheroes (particularly when Derrick May yoinks someone else's record from the turntable and lays claim to it with no repercussions), but that speaks more to a dearth of interesting central figures. Without a guiding personality and a lack of political/sociological background, the rise and fall of techno as the dissident genre of choice reads rather prosaic, like a DJ set without any motherfucking SKRILLEX.

[Marek Kruszkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like techno - consistent and direct. Organised, structured and well edited as long interview with all kind of people responsible for creative mess in that particular period.
The go-to book for anyone interested in electronic dance music, club culture and those very turbulent but highly exciting times in Berlin <3

[Nika · Rating 4 out of 5]

revealing, factual, and one of a kind in terms of it structure, which ultimately becomes the downfall of the book - the lack of cohesive narration and random actors throwing their ideas and memories, sometimes without a proper context makes the read tedious and repetitive. Made it to about 70%.

[noor · Rating 3 out of 5]

testimonies and notes from key characters of post-reunification berlin from the 80s to late 90s; the birth of a subculture defined; creation of an experimental and carefree place where music and queerness shaped electronic visual arts and music

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Florian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spannender Blick hinter die Kulissen und wertvolles Zeitdokument. Die journalistische Form einer Interview-„Collage“ ist etwas speziell, funktioniert aber letztendlich gut wenn man erst mal drin ist.

[Pečivo · Rating 4 out of 5]

V Berlíně v devadesátkách by chtěl žít každý. Možná i Peči. Dobrý večer, přátelé dobré literární recenze!

Pád zdi a chaos ve správě Berlína vedl k tomu, že každá stará fabrika ve východním Berlíně mohla bejt klub - stačilo přijít a říct jedno razítko prosím a bylo to. A pak tam stačilo narvat repráky, gramce a všude teklo pivo jako víno a všichni se sjížděli jak sjezdovky a měli se rádi i nahatý na diskotéce na parketu.

Klang der Familie je soubor rozhovorů s každým kdo měl co k dočinění s technem a elektronickou hudbou a Berlínem v devadesátkách. O tom jak ze subkultury vylezl slizkej byznys a trance a původní myšlenka tak ztratila duši. Takže jsem si zaplakal nad tím jak dřív všechno bylo lepší a jak za komunistů jsme aspoň nemuseli nosit roušky do Lidlu a nečuměli jsme furt do mobilů a za mne 8/10.

[Olga Retamero · Rating 4 out of 5]

No le doy 5 estrellas porque los últimos capítulos me han resultado un poco pesados, pero me ha encantado. Me lo he tenido que leer con el teléfono cerca para ir buscando fotos, vídeos, canciones... de lo que me estaban contando.

[Daniel Sanchez Ojalvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was transported to a city 30 years ago in the middle of tumultuous change. And I loved it.

[Aurin Bagchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timeless classic about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of Berlin Techno.
Entire book is a series of interviews and some of the German -English translations are hard to understand at times - so 4 stars.


"This new music, house, was simply groundbreaking, mind-blowing. At least it seemed that way to us. Our excitement assumed an almost religious element. It was like dervishes dancing themselves into a frenzy. It united us all. But you had to defend yourself against all kinds of people who immediately declared music dead. The rock people kept bellyaching that the music was meaningless. But for us, it wasn’t. Quite to the contrary, it created space. Precisely because it offered no concrete message. You could think whatever you wanted"

"I dug Hard Wax. What I really dug was the philosophy and the approach with which Mark and his crew did things. It was so structured. As I visited Germany more often, I came to understand that that's a lot of the German people in general. We didn't have that kind of structure going on in the underground in Detroit. At Hard Wax, they had an idea of what they wanted to do, how they wanted to bring the music over and influence their own scene. They knew the kind of styles of music they liked. They were educated about who was producing. Man, they knew more about what was going on in Detroit than we did"

"Nothing was as it was before. The future looked so optimistic. And the music should reflect that. I saw it as the soundtrack of the fall of the Wall, of freedom. And I wanted to bring it to the people"

"The aspiration of having the tracks play in clubs did not come first. We did it more for ourselves"

"From the very beginning, techno said, "We don't have stars." That's why they light shone on the dance floor while the DJ stood in the dark. It was a very important part of the concept, this idea that the crowd was the star"

[Matt Clement · Rating 3 out of 5]

This oral history is a good insight into a period of time in Berlin that interests me greatly. It begins with the fall of the Berlin wall, and provides context from the perspective of individuals living in the city at the time. It's a truly interesting contrast from the more typical, historical 10,000 foot view of the event.

From there, the development of techno and the club scene ramps up gradually. The insights of the DJs, artists, promoters, and just plain weirdos are raw, and sometimes conflicting. The overall theme, though, is that they wanted to participate in the culture and harnessed the optimism of the fall of the wall to do so. Reading about the emergance of the Berlin club scene 1.0 is a marked contrast to the current state of the city, and I'm happy to have more knowledge about that now.

Another excellent insight is the Detroit/Berlin connection. The music of the former directly influenced the rise of Berlin techno, and it's cool to read about the symbiosis here.

The emergence of creative scenes has always intrigued me, largely because I'd like to participate in one. However, the lesson I've taken from this book (along with Energy Flash and Meet Me in the Bathroom), is that those scenes emerge from groups of people working creatively, often to have a good time, and impress each other. They don't begin with high minded goals of world domination (though they may come later), but simply working on interesting ideas. Also, that once a scene becomes "cool", the initial creative burst has already been spent, and people have moved on.

Overall, this is a great book for the topic. I read the English translation, which may have missed some nuance, but seems to have gotten the vibe and feeling right.

[Stardustlyricer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felix Denk schrieb 2009 zu dem Buch LOST AND SOUND - BERLIN, TECHNO AND EASYJETSET von Tobias Rapp in der SZ: "Anders als etwa in England werden in Deutschland nicht viele Bücher über Pop-Musik geschrieben und nur wenige wagen sich an die Gegenwart." Anschließend hat er sich wohl mit Sven von Thülen dran gemacht ein "paar" Interviews mit Leuten abzuhalten die Damals dabei gewesen sind, die Techno in Bewegung gebracht haben. Dabei ist dann dieses Buch DER KLANG DER FAMILIE heraus gekommen. Also die beiden Autoren werden im Vorwort und Artikeln nicht müde zu betonen das sie eben nicht dabei gewesen sind. Was hier wirklich präsentiert wird sind eben Zusammenfassungen der Interviews die sie mit DJ, Club-Betreibern und Musikproduzenten geführt haben. Das dann alles in einen zeitlichen Kontext gebracht verschafft einen als Leser schon eine guten Überblick darüber was im Berlin der späten 80ziger bis in die frühen 90ziger in Sachen Techno abgegangen ist. Das ließt sich auch gut weg und wer sich ein bisschen für Techno interessiert wird das auf jeden Fall interessant finden. Und wer schon immer mal wissen wollte was da denn so passiert ist, was Techno ist usw. der ist hier ganz richtig. Vielleicht noch eher als bei LOST AND SOUND.

Mich haben besonders die Anfänge interessiert. Woher die Leute so musikalische gekommen sind. Es ist ja nicht so das die alle erst mit Techno angefangen haben Musik zu hören, dazu zu tanzen oder gar Musik zu machen. Das fand ich besonders spannend. Das Buch ist auf jeden Fall sein Geld wert.

[Bradley Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating book about the history of Techno culture in Berlin. The book is semi-autobiographical. It is chronological of the history and only uses snippets from interviews if the DJ, Producers and Promoters that had first hand accounts. Paragraph to paragraph the narration would change from person to person. Really unique way to write a book, I've never read a book in this style before. The nature of the writing meant all the facts and history was corroborated and accurate. Although because of the nature of the writing it was hard for me to remember or keep track of exactly who exactly t interviewees were after a while. It was fascinating to read the first hand accounts of the conception of the Love Parade, Tresor and the Wall falling. One of my favorite chapters were interviews with the Detroit DJ's who had residencies in the early Techno Clubs in Berlin. Around the time the main areas of Berlin near the east/West divide were still in ruin from the war, which is what allowed so many of the illegal clubs to function. There was a certain passage where a Detroit DJ recounted that the war torn and destitute parts of Berlin looked identical to the blighted inner city Detroit of the late 80s. Another quote from a Detroiter stated that while the "darkness" of Techno in Detroit was simply influenced by the everyday reality of the impoverished neighborhoods, in Berlin the "darkness" was an artistic decision meant to offer an escape from the reality of everyday life. Amazing book, I'd recommend also building a playlist from the songs mentioned as you read.

[Will Axford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book consists of dialogue from DJs, ravers & club owners in Berlin from the late '80s to mid '90s. It reads like a stream of conscious work. I love this book but it's very niche (not necessarily a bad thing) & mentions a lot of history I know nothing about. I love the connection to Detroit & techno artists from the Motor City traveled to Berlin. They were blown away by how popular their music was in Europe.

For as entertaining as this book is, it can be hard to make sense of specific places & the backdrop of what was going on at the time. The Berlin Wall fell. Techno clubs popped up in abandoned building & old bunkers. But the background details - politics, the economics of the music business, how information traveled in the pre-internet days - are all scattershot, mentioned here or there without any great depth. It's not a bad approach, per se, but the book does become repetitive at times, focusing too much on drugs, the difficulty of running a club & trying to define what techno is instead of letting readers experience it through words.

Not a bad book but you definitely need to have a strong interest in techno & the late '80s to '90s in order to enjoy it.

[laprestatgeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les crítiques que pinten el llibre com un garbull de frases de gent que es coneix tenen raó. També, qui diu que és un llibre dens i llarg, que costa d'acabar. Tanmateix, si el pilles en un moment adequat com perquè t'enganxen les veus i (molt important) no vas de zero en el techno (tens una base molt lleu, algunes referències de clubs i tal), és un llibre que et capbussa en el techno berlinés. En acabar el llibre estic una mica més obssessionada amb el món techno i, sobretot, he entés molt millor els valors amb què va començar, com ha derivat i el per què d'algunes conseqüències en l'actualitat com per exemple que als clubs de Berlin siguen tan estrictes per entrar.

NOTA: l'edició d'Alpha Decay té un annex amb PERSONES i LLOCS. No subestimar. Jo l'he llegit al final del tot i no m'ha servit tant com si haguera anat consultant. Això sí, m'he tirat 1 hora buscant un per un en Internet per posar cara a tot el mon

[Pau Guillén · Rating 1 out of 5]

Decepció global i absoluta amb aquest llibre. La història per interessats és amena, però la forma amb què està presentada: a través de frases (no converses) de diferents artistes del moviment és tremendament soporífera, tots els artistes semblen que parlin igual, cap moment àlgid, res de res. No calen 400 pàg per explicar això d'aquesta manera.
Això si, t'emportes a l'esquena noms de clubs, el que va ser una revolució musical en un lloc i moment únic, i un bon grapat de cançons de l'època eternes.
No hi ha cita perquè és un llibre que no en destaca cap.
Aquí la llista de cançons citades (no totes):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f6w5qjncwdt...

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the format of the book (a sort of continuous conversation) is rather annoying (you constantly have to keep track of who is saying what), the actual content of this book is fantastic. While reading the book you feel witness to not just the development of new musical styles and the scene surrounding that, but also you learn a lot about Berlin, the German reunification, and everything else happening in that time period of history.

I like that it's not just about the cool stuff that happened but also about arguments and differences of opinion, and that all involved parties tell their point of view.

[Vic · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book was very interesting and fun, I recommend it to get a taste of how youth found new ways of expression around the time the Berlin wall fell, through electronic music and crazy dancing. It describes how the techno scene developed, how unoccupied buildings were taken by ravers, how the Love Parade originated (great story!), and tons of crazy anecdotes.

The second half of the book slowly turned a bit boring, dwelling a lot in the interpersonal conflicts and grudges between the figures of the techno scene. I could still draw some meaningful bits from it, but I had to force myself through it.

[Jeno · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was forcing myself to finish it but it was a wasted 'investment' if you ask me.
this book has no structure, it is basically a set of interviews merged together so that there is no end of interview 2 or 3 - they are all running simultaneously so have no idea what that person A or B has to do with 'it'

I am disappointed.
Everyone tells me it is a go-to book for techno lovers but Marquardt's memoir even if not directly involved into the scene - offers a better understanding of the underlining tensions in Germany back then

[Ke Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der Klang der Familie tells the story of how techno came to dominate Berlin's nightlife and just how perfect the circumstances had to be. The story is presented like an oral history transcript as the players recount their roles, with every chapter marking a different set of faces (some new and some familiar), a jump forward in time, a new location. I loved the presentation as I got a feel for what these people were through their words, how they viewed each other, their thoughts and how they all came together to form an incredible scene. It makes me yearn for that time in Berlin.

[Alex Gracia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a techno fanatic. It's a great book. It gives you an overview of how this kind of music affected society after the fall of the wall in Berlin. On the other hand, the book explains how this "subculture" (at that moment) evolved and affected the lives of the people involved in the techno scene. Also, I liked the emphasis in the connection between Berlin and Detroit regarding to the music and cities.

[Arielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting. I didn't know anything about techno, so I think it was a nice introduction. The fact that it's basically made up of fragments from interviews made me a little hesitant at first. I had tried reading other books in this format before and couldn't get into them, so this one was a nice surprise. It is true that the third part of the book gets a little slow. But overall, it was a fun read!

[Gosia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 🌟 Ich fand die Geschichten und das Thema super interessant, aber das Buch an sich etwas anstrengend. Die Form eines Interviews gab zwar dem Ganzen einen persönlichen Touch und erlaubte es, die Stories aus mehreren Perspektiven zu erleben, aber für eine Außenstehende war es öfters schwer dem Namenfluss zu folgen. Trotzdem eine Empfehlung für alle, die das Phänomen der Berliner Clubs-Szene und der Technokultur verstehen möchten.

[Paul Macovei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting dive into the history and vibes of the techno scene around that time. The blend of culture, business, international (Detroit), government + more kept things interesting throughout and serves up some good education. Wasn't expecting it, but the text is exclusively in interview-format which projects the unique flavor of each of the various DJ's, marketers, writers and others involved - a style that makes the retellings quite vivid and enjoyable.