Wow, I've been in Berlin for ten days and I'm not yet bored of the hearing the CD's I brought. In fact, I've barely made a dent in them. However, I would like to clarify a couple of things
The Orb's "Spanish Castles in Space" : still one of the finest pieces of ambient music ever. It should be twice as long as it already is (15 min). The floaty portion at the end, just after the bass drops out and just before dripping water is the best part of the song, but you need the 10 + minute build to appreciate those moments of serenity.
Woob 1194 still owns you along with most of your family.

Pop radio : Newer stuff, obviously, but lots of standards that seemingly haven't left their spot in heavy rotation since my first trip here one year ago, such as :
Every Pink single from "Mizzundastood"
Every Evanescence single from "Fallen"
Every Black Eyed Peas single from "Elephunk"

Canadians continue to be well represented, with Alanis and Avril turning up often. Best of all -- I've heard "Enjoy the Silence" each of the last two days! I also remember hearing it on one of the other trips. When was the last time you heard DM's best single on North American pop radio? Anyone?

BIzarre and disturbing video aside, Britney's "Everytime" is her best single in ages despite its nearly-too-close-for-comfort ressemblance to Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting". Among her rivals, Xtina's "The Voice Within" (and to a lesser extent, Avril's "I'm With You") threatened to set the bar way higher than Britney could ever reach. Those tracks require a smashing set of pipes, which Britney doesn't have and never will. If these songs led the way, and pop became all about The Voice (also "blame" the Beyonces of the world for pushing this change as well) then Britney would obviously be left behind, dated and irrelevant. But then a funny thing happened, Xtina butchered "Beautiful" on the Grammys by throwing in 17 times more notes than necessary, and Britney released a wonderful single sung in a little girl lullaby voice (the perfect vehicle to showcase the talent she does have) and dare I say, let the melody run roughshod over the histrionics from now on.

------------------------------

If I lived in Berlin, I would see to it that Dense was put out of business. Why? Because I would end up going there all the time and would buy so many CD's that they'd have no stock left, which would leave them no choice but to go out of business. Friday's R&R trip took in the standard stops (Dense, Neurotitan), and purchases of the standard music (noise, minimal techno). Unfortunately, the gentrification of the Hackescher Markt area may soon swallow up Neurotitan's building and morph it from its present character into (likely) another bar aimed at the tourist market. Along with other businesses in the building/alley/enclave, they are circulating a petition to prevent the building from being sold, citing historical reasons. This is hardly grasping for straws -- there is an Anne Frank exhibit in the building and there is a pictoral history of that city block displayed in the stairwell. The timeline goes back for hundreds of years.

Speaking of historical events, while in Neurotitan (for the last time? who knows, I guess), I learned of a grime party going down nearby -- the first grime party ever held in Berlin, according to the girl who worked there. I was craving a beer and my Carole Pope bio more than a party that night, but I was skeptical about her claim ... could it really have been the first grime party in the city? I'd have thought such a thing would have descended upon Berlin months ago. Perhaps I will be kicking myself for this decision somewhere down the road.