musical ignoramous
berlin is a mecca for 'alternative' music types. and apparently they are particularly mad for this electronica business. i met a number of people there who were in berlin exclusively for the 'scene' and i was even fortunate enough to be presented with a copy of a datafreq album by the artist himself. though looking at hismyspacepage makes me think i might not ever unwrap it (wtf is pure analog synthpop?)
as i was bound to come across some hardcore music types, i suppose i should have brushed up on some obscure bands to name drop, or at least shut up about music for the duration of the week..
not possible.
penny and i were in the 'coolest' (according to time out) bar on kastanienallee. we had eaten enormous plates of turkish deliciousness and were knocking back the vino when penny recognised the cat empire being played. we had a bit of a bop along and penny reminisced about a show she saw them play. later when we were paying our bill i drunkenly decided to impress the impossibly cool bartender with the tintin hairdo (who had put on the music!!) by claiming we were friends with the cat empire.*
me (lecherously): do you like the cat empire? they are friends of ours
impossibly cool bartender with tintin hairdo (disdainfully): oh.. cool
me (persistently): you played them before
impossibly cool bartender with the tintin hairdo (derisively): yes, but.. they are a bit too ... mainstream ... for me
so much for ingratiating myself with the berlin 'scene'. i shouldn't even try, berlin is way too edgy for me. i couldn't stop laughing all the way home..
*actual friendship based purely on meeting one of the members once in an airport when he stopped to talk to petey who is actually friends with the cat empire
as i was bound to come across some hardcore music types, i suppose i should have brushed up on some obscure bands to name drop, or at least shut up about music for the duration of the week..
not possible.
penny and i were in the 'coolest' (according to time out) bar on kastanienallee. we had eaten enormous plates of turkish deliciousness and were knocking back the vino when penny recognised the cat empire being played. we had a bit of a bop along and penny reminisced about a show she saw them play. later when we were paying our bill i drunkenly decided to impress the impossibly cool bartender with the tintin hairdo (who had put on the music!!) by claiming we were friends with the cat empire.*
me (lecherously): do you like the cat empire? they are friends of ours
impossibly cool bartender with tintin hairdo (disdainfully): oh.. cool
me (persistently): you played them before
impossibly cool bartender with the tintin hairdo (derisively): yes, but.. they are a bit too ... mainstream ... for me
so much for ingratiating myself with the berlin 'scene'. i shouldn't even try, berlin is way too edgy for me. i couldn't stop laughing all the way home..
*actual friendship based purely on meeting one of the members once in an airport when he stopped to talk to petey who is actually friends with the cat empire
posted by melissa the kisser at 5:58 pm
7 Comments:
very impressive melly. I would suggest that now are a sultan, yes a sultan of swing. :) hehe
Nice try, but in my experience Germans tend to be just a bit too cool for school. There was probably no way you could have impressed him, no matter what you said.
Do you still tell people that you're an eskimo princess?
nah Germans are cool! They can just tell when you are trying too hard. Linley Germans are lovely! They aren't too cool for school they are über cool. They obviously invented that word. Even if they tend to say zuper cool instead, the best way to impress Germans is to show them you are comfortable with yourself. No need to try. :)
dj garfo (that's the worst one yet): are you accusing me of trying to hard?!?! not me! i was just trying to make conversation with the locals..
linley: some that we met were indeed too cool for school.. especially one charming lass in the hotel pen and i stayed at. we were wide eyed with disbelief at her 'tude. and eskimo princess still comes out to play when i've had a few drinks. and of course all the kids at school believe it..
If you tried, you tried too hard. :P
Some people in life have a bit of 'tude. Which can be fun to watch and laugh at/with as they have it for various reasons.
I'm laughing so hard - I'd forgotten about that incident but your post bought it all back. People like you and I should just never talk about music, especially in a city where a large amount of your 'coolness' seems to be measured by your musical preferences.
And you weren't trying hard, you were just trying to integrate! Nothing wrong with that!
Also, you forgot to mention that the bartender was the same bartender who followed up the Cat Empire by playing 'Last Christmas' by Wham. For some reason, he didn't consider THAT too mainstream for him!
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