Veranstaltungen
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doors 19:00 - show 20:00
Tickets: https://vvk.link/31xxjsg
Jolie Holland (born September 11, 1976 at Houston, Texas) is an American singer and performer who combines elements of folk, traditional country, jazz, and blues.
Over the span of her career, Jolie Holland has knotted together a century of American song—jazz, blues, soul, rock and roll—into some stew that is impossible to categorize with any conventional critical terminology. This is her burden and her gift, to know all of these American songs of the last ten decades in her head and her heart, and to have to wrestle with their legacy. She dives straight to the pathos of a song the way the very greatest singers, singers like Mavis Staples, or Al Green, or Skip James, or Tom Waits do. Upon first encounter her songs seem challenging, perhaps unsettling at times, but as so many poets and rockers have shown us (from Dante Alighieri to William Blake to Sylvia Plath to Patti Smith to Nick Cave to Mark E. Smith) that’s where the beauty lies. As evident on her first recordings, Holland apparently has no fear of the truth, and there is no emotional core that she cannot reach in song. In fact she thrives on the red hot center of a musical composition, in all its strange and brutal detail.
This fall, Jolie Holland will unveil her latest album, ‘Haunted Mountain’; intricately connected with friend and collaborator Buck Meek’s record of the same name, ‘Haunted Mountain’ features five songs co-written by the pair, including the mesmerizing title track. Holland explains:
“I wrote the song a couple years ago, and it existed as two verses for many months. Buck added a third verse, and then we both began performing it with our bands. When he told me he was including our song on his next record, I was extremely pleased at the weirdness – I was going to release a version as well. Then he told me he wanted to name his record Haunted Mountain, “…only if you’re not already naming your record Haunted Mountain.” Well, that had been the name of my next record for quite a while. We thought about it for a minute and decided it was bizarre and wonderful. Buck’s Haunted Mountain is out in late August. My Haunted Mountain comes out in the autumn. I love how the image of a haunted mountain is so open ended. I love how fun it is to say. I am enormously pleased that Buck chose it as his album name too.”
The nine-track stunner delves into a treasure trove of themes, from anti-colonial thought to homelessness, all while exploring the profound significance of being in reciprocity with nature. “When the world is sacred, we are moved to protect it,” Holland explains. “Elves stop highways in Iceland. Faeries save forests in Ireland. Even though the numinous is beyond reason, it’s a motivating, communicative idea. You can tell it to a kid, and when the kid grows up they might understand it ecologically, or they might understand it aesthetically. The numinous is a huge idea,” she continues. “An old friend of mine saw the Jordan River at a place in Palestine where it was just a little creek. His description opened up this realization to me: every river is sacred to someone. Every inch of Earth is someone’s storied, sung homelands. No one needs to understand this more than settler Americans.”
Working closely with her talented collaborators, Adam Brisbin and Justin Veloso, Jolie recorded the core of the album as a trio before adding layers of intriguing overdubs. Ever the innovator, she employed some unconventional recording techniques, like capturing the sound of knuckles rapping on the piano and incorporating the sounds of cicadas in album closer “What It’s Worth”. The intriguing atmosphere of “Feet On The Ground” was created by running a drum machine through an amp into a vast barn, every sonic experiment a testament to her willingness to push the boundaries of her art.
‘Haunted Mountain’ is a triumph of boundless creativity, profound lyricism, and thought-provoking artistry. With poetic storytelling awash in a dream-like sonic palette, Holland invites audiences on an alluring journey that transcends genres and leaves an indelible mark on the heart and mind.
“Noir, lived in, caustic, not entirely of this time”
Aquarium Drunkard
Mark McKowski (Northern Ireland, UK)
Mark McCausland is an Irish songwriter/producer/musician, best known for his work as one half of The Lost Brothers. He also collaborates with a variety of artists and produces his own records under the name McKowski. He currently works from his home studio in Omagh, the town that he’s been trying to escape since birth.
doors 19h - show 20h
little league shows prsnts:
MARKER STARLING / outsider-pop, can, tin angel recs
markerstarling.bandcamp.com / instagram.com/markerstarling
& ELIZA NIEMI / songwriter/exp-pop, can
elizaniemi.bandcamp.com / instagram.com/eliza.niemi
at Schokoladen. doors 19 uhr, concert starts 20 uhr. tickets at the doors and in pre-sale --> vvk.link/3125034
+ dj set by Alex Bechberger (Rock/Pop Am Montag / Fucky Laibel / Soft Rock Convention)
mixcloud.com/rockpopammontag
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Toronto troubadour Chris A. Cummings (MARKER STARLING, formerly Mantler) has been
playing Melancholy Party Jams since 1999. A solo performer for many years, his
preferred weapons were a Wurltizer electric piano and an early pre-programmed drum
machine. More recently he has been supported by a Toronto-based band consisting of
Dorothea Paas (vocals, guitar) Jay Anderson (drums), Matt McLaren (bass) and Andy
Scott (guitar and keyboards).
Cummings has in the past collaborated with the German band Von Spar, contributing
vocals and lyrics to their albums STREETLIFE (Italic, 2014) and UNDER PRESSURE
(Bureau B, 2019). His song “Deep Background” was recorded by Stereolab’s Laetitia
Sadier for her Source Ensemble record FIND ME FINDING YOU (Drag City, 2017). His
2010 song "In Stride" was included in DJ Koze's DJ-Kicks compilation on !K7 Records in
2015. He has opened for Stereolab, The Books, Destroyer, Yo La Tengo, Gary Wilson and
Sandro Perri, and also plays in the bands Matias, Hank and The Canadian Romantic.
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Our earliest exposures to music can often be the most formative. For Toronto-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ELIZA NIEMI, that influence came from her Dad who taught her the basics of bass and guitar at home. These childhood experiences of playing music together by ear fostered the sense of playfulness that she’s approached her craft with ever since. They also instilled an ethic in her creative work that prioritizes making music with friends and loved ones.
Those honed guitar —and later piano, cello and vocal— skills make Eliza an ideal collaborator: starting in Halifax’s rich music scene with the mid-2010s experimental pop groups New Love Underground and Mauno, and later in her role supporting artists Le Ren, Quaker Parents and Evan J. Cartwright. Through the rhythms of touring and the brilliant spark that's shared in musical exchange, Eliza found and developed connections across Canada's DIY music communities. These collaborative moments fuel her creative practice, whether playing solo, in an ensemble or releasing others’ music as the founder of her own label, Vain Mina Records.
Connection and collaboration lives in the intimacy of her albums, starting with 2019’s Vinegar, an understated set of songs for cello, keyboard and voice that wander with a comforting grace. 2020’s Glass furthered Eliza’s reputation for writing songs that are boundless and experimental without ever being alienating. There’s an open, inviting quality throughout the record, apparent from the close-miked instruments, to her softly sung and affable lyrics that unfold like a conversation with a good friend.
Her latest album, Staying Mellow Blows, furthers these ideas and aesthetics to a staggering degree, retaining the candor, humor and emotional humility she’s known for, while letting the vast number of supporting musicians shape each song with their own emotionally resonant performances. The result feels whimsical and inspired, and is the sound of an artist flourishing.
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AFTERSHOW PARTY: NIX & SUZY CREAMCHEESE
NIX and THE NOTHINGS (Norway)
Cranking out frenetic rock’n’roll with influences from garage rock, punk and psychedelic rock. They deliver doomy lyrics set to wild sounds reminiscent of a Back from the Grave compilation.
“The Kinks on Speed!” (Amplified Magazine) - that are Nix and the Nothings from the west coast of Bergen, Norway.
Their first record “Here Goes Nothing” has been played extensively on radio stations all over the world such as the BBC. The band played their first international show at the legendary Garage festival "The Wild Weekend" in Mallorca, followed up by a Germany tour including a show at "Berlin Beat Invasion" Underground festival.
They are coming back to Germany to promote their second album, “Utterly Useless”, which will be released this spring.
THE OTHER PLACE (Berlin)
Listening to THE OTHER PLACE is like making a journey into a strange land, familiar and yet peculiar at the same time. Like many of their predecessors from the sixties, the band is attempting to build something else from its love for Rock’n’Roll and Rhythm’n’Blues.
THE OTHER PLACE draw inspiration from the kind of music that you could hear in an old shack of Louisiana, a sweaty cave in Liverpool, a garage in the suburbs of Boston or a wild club on Sunset Strip.
doors 19, show 20h, after 22h DJs
puschen & little league shows prsnt:
STUCK / post-punk, us
stuckchi.bandcamp.com / instagram.com/stuck.chi
& SKELETON GLOVE / spooky hc punk, bln
skeletonglove.bandcamp.com /// instagram.com/skeletonglove
at Schokoladen. doors 19 uhr, concert starts 20 uhr. pre-sale tickets available --> vvk.link/2ycsmog
aftershow djs tba.
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Working at a mixing board one night, a catchphrase popped into Greg Obis’ head: “freak frequency.” He was ringing out feedback during his job as a sound engineer, and started to picture the parallels between acoustic physics and political trends. “If you think about a waveform, as the frequency rises, the space between the sine waves gets less and less,” Obis explains. “With that downward trend comes constant heightening, stress and tension.” He came to see freak frequency as an apt metaphor for the decline of Western empire, an inverse relationship between the (positive) deterioration of American hegemony and the (negative) worsening of daily life under that fall. It was a fitting title for the new material Obis was planning for Stuck, the frenetic and twisted post-punk outfit he formed in 2018. Inspired by the doomy social economics of Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism, the bleak worldbuilding of horror games Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne, and the bombastic yet arty satire of Devo, Obis channeled his audio analogy into Freak Frequency, an album ringing out with explosive sounds and ideas. Though its songs tackle the violence of wealth, the nightmares of technocracy, and the rise of the conspiratorial layman, Freak Frequency is Stuck’s quirkiest record to date—compositionally challenging and equipped with menace, yet dotted with vibrant fun. “Being in a brooding post-punk band isn’t that appealing to me,” jokes Obis. “When things are bad, all you can really do is laugh.”
Stuck formed after Obis’ previous projects, Yeesh and Clearance, called it quits in short proximity. Obis is on guitar and vocals, which span from booming theatrics to ecstatic yelps. The project’s rhythm section is completed by shoegaze guitarist-turned-chugging bassist David Algrim and tightly wound drummer Tim Green—also a graphic designer, and the artist responsible for Stuck’s distinctively unified visual aesthetic. Original co-guitarist Donny Walsh contributed freely inventive lines for the first few years of the project, including on Freak Frequency; Ezra Saulnier of Red Tunic, the newest member of the band, now brings calculated contrapuntal riffs to match Obis’ parts. The building blocks of Stuck include the egg punk eccentricities of Uranium Club and The Coneheads filtered through noise rock power, à la Jesus Lizard or Slint; that melange is glittered with the precision microtones of Unwound and Women. “I want the feeling of immersion and chaos and tension, with a big guitar amp playing a big chord,” says Obis of his inspirations, citing friends and peers Cloud Nothings and Preoccupations. “But I want it delivered by having a lot of smaller points of light poking through.”
At first, the new project had meager goals—it would be an excuse to open for friends’ bands when they toured through Chicago. 2020 debut Change Is Bad was released by Born Yesterday, the beloved Chicago indie co-run by Obis and Deeper’s Kevin Fairbairn. It was recorded at Jamdek Studio, and though it earned Stuck national press and tours with kindred post-rockers Pile and Blessed, Obis claims his band’s ambitions were low. “It’s a real meat-and-potatoes post-punk record,” he says. Content That Makes You Feel Good, a followup EP that saw Obis move into the role of recording engineer, introduced new textures, including ornamental synths; it was released in 2021 on Brooklyn’s Exploding in Sound. “We tried to be more ambitious with production on the EP, and Freak Frequency is a continuation of that,” Obis notes.
In fact, writing for Freak Frequency began while Content’s recording was still underway—beginning with “Scared,” which features acoustic layers under feedback squalls. “Time Out,” with motoric guitars in the sputtering lineage of Wire, was also composed in late 2019. Obis wrote it about the cycles of compulsion and shame woven into social media use, and the way negativity drives algorithmic engagement. It became an exciting exercise for the group in ramping up speed; “I thought I knew how far I could push Tim’s tempos,” Obis recalls. “But Tim kept insisting we do it 20 bpm faster than what I had. He is an absolute monster for playing that.” Album opener “The Punisher,” a spiral staircase of disembodied guitars and rhythmic slams over a 2/4 beat, came in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection. It felt immediately emblematic to Freak Frequency, and Obis describes it as his favorite Stuck track: one he wishes he could write again and again. “It hits all the boxes that Stuck can do: it’s goofy, but there’s a lot of intricate guitar interplay, and at the end, there’s a big payoff,” he explains. The last song written was “Do Not Reply,” a pre-album single that came to Obis after engineering for Melkbelly and channeling their earworm melodies. Algrim wouldn’t let it on the record unless Melkbelly’s front person Miranda Winters dueted on vocals; she was happy to oblige, and the gritty epic closes Freak Frequency.
With Obis resuming engineering duties, recording took place over eleven days at Chicago’s Palisade Studios. Additional flourishes included saxophone, with skronky riffs provided by Sarah Clausen (Algrim’s bandmate in Gentle Heat), and synthesizers, which Obis studied during the pandemic. Eventually, the songs were handed off to mixer Graham Walsh, hired for his sure hand on Metz’s recordings. “We wanted somebody who could take the tracks I recorded and fuck them up and bring the life out of them,” explains Obis, who added final touches to Freak Frequency at Chicago Mastering Service, where he dayjobs. Stuck has also returned to Born Yesterday to release Freak Frequency. “I’m stoked to be in good company with Landowner, Caution, Cafe Racer, and all our bands,” says Obis of his roster.
With slippery snark, percussive heft, and funhouse mirrors of sludge, Freak Frequency delivers its needed screeds with gratifying nuance. If Stuck’s interpretation of this messed-up world goes down like a bitter pill, it’s only because its sugar coating is too delicious to keep from eating.
We like mondays!
Mote is an indie/postpunk trio from Berlin. Joe Schneider, originally from Nashville in the US, moved his project to Berlin in 2020. Mote has been releasing singles in partnership with the London based Indie Label, The Animal Farm, since that time. The band members met in the spring of 2023 and began playing together, finding that they had a very natural chemistry and drive. Together they have been developing their high energy live show and working on new music to be released later this year. The band is Joe Schneider (lead vocals and bass), Josi Lukschy (guitar and vocals), and Lisa Kida (drums).
https://triggerkidandtheendingman.bandcamp.com/album/gods-ape-hunting
https://www.facebook.com/triggerkidzzz/
https://soundcloud.com/mote-7/hello-divine?si=2d81dca6d17448f59b491c60821076c1&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Aftershow DJ Miss Trouble, Benny Blues, Lord Hammond, Rimshot Selecta
THE MAGIC TOUCH started out back in 2006. They have since established themselves as a unique live act with their own special blend of Rocksteady, Rhythm and Blues, Ska, heavy Early Reggae and Dub-grooves with an edge: rough and tough! Soulful harmony vocals, bubbling organ riffs and fierce bass lines, energetic drums and unique guitar twang add up to a powerful sound. The original material shows remarkable individual character while deeply paying respect to the roots of Jamaican Music.
Oldschool Jamaican and UK reggae artists like KEN BOOTHE, BITTY McLEAN, ROY ELLIS a.k.a MR.SYMARIP, STRANGER COLE, THE TENNORS and many more originators of the music work with The Magic Touch regularly and love their authentic and original sound! So....GET READY ROCKSTEADY!
Hier von den Solitos. Das Intro zu einem Ox-Interview aus dem Jahre 2003: Davon träumt so mancher Musikfan, der die wilden Geschichten aus dem London Ende der 70er Jahre kennt: Eine Band treffen, die du gleich bei ihrem ersten Auftritt siehst und die sofort der Hammer ist. Und du wusstest das schon vom ersten Takt an. Merkwürdigerweise klappt so etwas heute nur noch bei den Popstars-Casting-Shows auf RTL 2 oder Pro 7 – und das ist ja eher lachhaft. Bei den echten Punk- oder Ska-Combos wirst du so ein hohes, kreatives Potential nicht mehr finden. Die SHOCKS sind keine zweiten SEX PISTOLS. Die BEATSTEAKS keine CLASH. Die BUSTERS nicht MADNESS. Genauso wenig wie die MONOCHORDS an THE JAM heranreichen. Dennoch gibt es solche Momente – zwar nicht im großen Stil, dafür aber im kleinen, persönlichen Rahmen. Für mich sind das SOLITOS aus Berlin. Eine großartige Ska-Combo, stilistisch ungefähr zwischen MOTHER’S PRIDE, SLACKERS und BABYLON CIRCUS. Im Frühjahr war auch ihr erster Tonträger „Just Arrived“ fertig , den sie in Eigenregie herausbrachten. Im Berliner Thommy-Weißbecker-Haus traf ich mich mit Sänger Marius und Bassist Jan zum ungezwungenen Plausch auf ein paar Biere an einem Donnerstag im Dezember 2003.
https://goldendark.bandcamp.com/album/golden-dark
Golden Dark (Indie/Experimental) RECORD- RELEASE (Limited edition Vinyl)
David Hull started playing double bass in various folk, rock and chanson bands. In 1992 he formed Naklada - an experimental rock band. Then in 1995 he turned to writing songs and has released roughly 14 albums to date. 2017 saw the creation of the band Golden Dark, with the Estonian Violinist Elo Masing.
Golden Dark are building bridges between classical contemporary/experimental music, poetry and songwriting. If you like Harry parch, and Robert Wyatt, you might like us
https://goldendark.bandcamp.com/album/golden-dark
https://golden-dark.weebly.com/
About Blake
Newly formed About Blake's members have been connected to Berlin's independent music scene since the nineties, forming the bands Phonetic, Paul Is Dead, Pleasure and Portbridge.
Martin and Guido played together in Paul Is Dead. Mathias and Martin played in Phonetic. Oliver and Mathias played in Portrait Of The Young Man As An Artist. Nils and Oliver tried to set up a band back ages ago. Though that one didn't work out you might wonder if the band's name would have started with the letter 'P' as well. There are several other bands some of them did play in or still do: Delaware, Software, The Beauty Regime, Gegenphase, Star Crash, Mietminderung.
Sharing the same love for the wall of sound indie outfits such as Mogwai, Radiohead or I Like Trains, cult shoegaze stuff as well as newgaze like DIIV or even Blumfeld. It made perfect sense that they decided to make music together and mix it with an essential sense of pop appeal, no matter the language used.
About Blake having come full circle, formed their own Supergroup.
www.aboutblake.de
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Thursday's at Schokoladen - good music and cheap drinks
M:Soundtrack presents: The Radio Field (Cologne/Düsseldorf/Bln) + Grateful Cat (Bln)
Was als Lockdown Home-recording Projekt von Lars [Subterfuge] begann, ist mittlerweile zu einer überzeugenden Liveband aus alte Bekannten herangewachsen durch Christoph Schneider [Clayton Farlow, Soccer, Klee], Philipp Breuer [Pale] und Mark Specht [ehem. Subterfuge]). Pressestimmen zum im Aug '23 erschienenen Debut Album DON'TS AND DOS:
"The Radio Field klingen diesen Deut größer als die Summe ihrer Teile, amerikanischer, nach infektiösem Collegerock." (Visions)
"Dieses Album ist ein fröhliches Fest der zeitlosen Melodie – POP in Großbuchstaben also, der eigentlich Millionen Hörer verdient hätte." (Bedroomdisko)
"Sehr hittig" (Linus Volkmann)
THE RADIO FIELD spielen jangeligen College Rock mit großen Melodien: "Solche Musik gibt es eigentlich nur in England. Klingt traumhaft, als hätten Teenage Fanclub mit Mitgliedern von Slowdive und den Pastels eine Platte beim wiederbelebten Sarah Records aufgenommen." (Rheinische Post).
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THE RADIO FIELD play jangly College Rock full of big melodies: "This kind of music normally comes from the UK. Sounds wonderful, just like Teenage Fanclub with members of Slowdive and The Pastels recording for a resurrected Sarah Records." (Rheinische Post)
What started as the lockdown home recording project of Lars from Subterfuge now became a thrilling all-star live outfit with Mark Specht (first Subterfuge drummer), Christoph Schneider (Bass - Clayton Farlow, Klee, Soap/Soccer) and Philipp Breuer (Guitar - Pale) joining in. Press quotes on their debut album DON'TS AND DOS released in Aug '23
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GRATEFUL CAT
The singer-songwriter Indie-Pop-Folk duo from Berlin consisting of Gwendolin Tägert and Franky Fuzz dwell in sweet melodies and lots of major chords inspired by the 60s scene of Laurel Canyon and New York‘s village. Also a healthy dose of indie 90s and twee-tastic boy-girl harmonies set the scene when Grateful Cat start singing to us, coming straight from their HQ - a cosy kitchen in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
Gwendolin und Franky sind Grateful Cat, ein Songwriter-Duo aus Berlin, die vom Geist des Laurel Canyons und dem New York der Folk- und Beatszene der 60er beeinflusst sind. Indie, Retro-Powerpop und Indiefolk tauchen auf der Landkarte auf – das unbedingt berlinerische Duo ist ordentlich verliebt in klassisches Songwriting, schöne Harmonien und in mehrstimmigen Gesang. Vor allem aber ist Grateful Cat eine bekennende Küchenband: Songs schreiben, singen, proben, recording - alles passiert in einer kleinen Altbauküche in Kreuzberg. Ein ganzes Studio wird da ersetzt, wenn Grateful Cat Gitarre, Bass, Perkussion und mehrstimmigen Gesang aufnehmen. Für Gwendolin Tägert und Franky Fuzz ist das Do It Yourself eine ganz wichtige Sache: Das Ethos ist Identität. Und dem Sound der Band tut das gut: Der organische Sound der Band ist live wie auf Platte handgemacht und klingt nach großer Lust auf zeitloses Songwriting, twee-tastic Boy-Girl-Harmonies und langen, gut verquatschten Abenden in der - genau - Küche.
https://www.youtube.com/@gratefulcatband
https://gratefulcat.bandcamp.com
Wenn THE GROOVY CELLAR die Verstärker hochfahren, ist bald klar, wo es langgeht: 60s- goes-80s-Gitarrenpop mit Brit-Appeal. Melodien sind Trumpf, aber es darf auch mal laut werden. Das Ganze ist unverkennbar Mod-infiziert, aber auch Leute wie Francoise Hardy, Johnny Thunders oder die TVPs gehören zu den Vorbildern der Musiker. Nach diversen Alben, EPs und Singles und nach Konzerten u.a. zusammen mit den Fehlfarben, den Cleaners From Venus oder den Television Personalities machen die Groovys nun Zwischenstopp im Schokoladen. Danach geht es entweder ins UK zu den Freunden von „The New Fools“ aus Cambridge oder ins Studio. Oder beides. Wer Indie-Gitarrenpop mag, ist hier richtig. Mit oder ohne Roller und Fishtail-Parka.
Irgendwann hatten THE PLANETS keine Lust mehr auf ewigen Kälteschlaf im All und docken nun deshalb im Schokoladen an mit ihrem Cosmic Trash Pop - einem zickigen Amalgam aus New Wave, Garagenpop, Rock und Comic-Soul. Live und im Alarmmodus, versprochen! In den 80ern und 90ern ging die Reise der Planets von Westberlin (Cafe Swing, KOB, Quartier Latin...) über Rest-Deutschland, Schweiz, Skandinavien, Spanien und UK bis nach Japan, wo die EMI ihnen den kosmischen Roten Teppich ausrollte. Legendäre Zwischenstation dabei war u.a. das „Studio 2“ in der Abbey Road.Zum Erbe dieser Zeit gehören über ein Dutzend Ton- und Bildträger unterschiedlichsten Formats. By the way, für Nina Hagen waren THE PLANETS immer „die Wave-Band mit dem silbernen Ufo-Kaugummi“.
The Planets: "Curse" Recorded 1988 in the catacombs of Westberlin