Greetings EM Fans,

Lot's of great stuff going on in the Berlin School EM realm.
I just returned home after an exhausting week of city hopping from New York
to Berlin to Washington.

So let's start with Berlin:
I was there mainly to meet musicians, VJ Kinga and attend the Manuel
Gottsching 25th anniversay concert of the famous EM classic E2-E4. The
weather was cold and rainly, but not too bad. Everyone wore black and was in
good spirits. I had many meetings planned, but thank God that I had a
cellphone because all plans were so fluid. What was promised before the trip
changed in the last minutes, but that's to be expected. I had periods of
lull to pretend I was a Berliner, then I had periods of intense exposure to
musicians and EM.

I managed to spend almost a whole day at Conrad Schnitzler's home and we
hung out, ate, chatted and listened to plenty of CON's releases. I always
enjoy visting Conrad since he's on the outshirts of Berlin and I have to
take this Regional Express that puts me at this little desolate station,
where safety is questionable, as I usually catch one of the last trains back
to Berlin ;-)

I was disappointed to miss a Berlin DJ meeting at my hotel when I just
happened to step out for a late night bite. But other wonderful things
happened in Berlin. I have to say that Berlin is VERY much into Christmas
and all the main streets were beautifully lit up with lights and decorations
everywhere. I flew Lufthansa this time and they even had wreaths in the
aircraft. But I also was impressed at Newark, NJ customs where they had
Christams trees lit up and standing in the middle of each baggage claim
carrousel. But this time customs pulled me aside and went through my
baggage - they valued my belongings at $31.50 after I explained to them that
all the material I had was for promotion. So I lost 10 minutes, gained
nothing, but left the customs officials scratching their heads.

Now going back to Berlin meetings, after meeting with CON, the big event was
the E2-E4 concert. It was sold out and about twice as many people were
turned away from the venue with no tickets. The concert was at this
underground exclusive club named "Berghain" and it was in an old
powerstation by the Ostbahnhof (East Train Station). No photos were allowed
and my camera was once confiscated and then I had to delete pictures later
after the concert with Mario Schonwalder. The management wanted to keep this
place really underground and were acting like some kind of police - but we
knew how to deal with these situations ;-)

At the E2-E4 concert, it was quite intense. I don't want to start writing a
review here, but I have to say that it was perfection and pure ecstacy!
Everyone was swaying to the mesmerizing EM and the classic feel of Ashra.
Manuel was intense but cool and actually never said anything to the crowd
that was audible, but expressed his thankfullness via body language. I think
he was a bit nervous, but also I think it contributed to a great
performance!!! Manuel is VERY COOL!

After the concert we met some original members of Agitation Free: Lutz
"Lüül" Ulbrich & Lutz "Ludwig" Kramer .
See more at http://www.agitation-free.de/musicianse.html. They were very
friendly and I learned so much about the early days of Berlin School EM -
these were the guys that were part of creating it!! They played the famous
"Eruption" sessions with Conrad Schnitzler & Cluster.

Also, there were some cool fans there and friends from Japan and the well
known Germans of Wolfgang Siedel, Mario Schonwalder, Gert (from Rainbow
Serpent), Olaf Zimmerman (Radio Eins Radio), Heiko Neuman (runs the Ashra
shop at www.tribute-to-ashra.de). I know that I missed a few names, but it
was information and stimulation overload. I had the opportunity to hang out
with Ashra late into the night... Have to mention that I got to meet with
Kinga the great Polish VJ! The 3AM trip back to the hotel was quite an
intense experience.

After that (4 hours later), I flew back to New York just in time to answer
some angry emails about how come I have not answered emails! All, please
understand that email take lot's of time and thought and sometimes you
cannot expect an answer in 10 minutes. Maybe after 10 days you should follow
up. So then I left to Washington on non-EM business and now I'm back home in
the New York area. I turned on the lights (on the tree), turned up the music
and now I continue to start looking at all the new TD orders! If you have
written me about TD order, I will get back to you in the next few days.
Don't worry, your order will be processed, but I cannot say that it will be
at your doorstep before Christmas. Please give me a break during this hectic
time :)

NEW RELEASES:
Available NOW at $18:
- Ololiuqui - Other Side Of Odra (recorded in Poland Ricochet Gathering
2004)
- Mark Jenkins - This Island Earth (recorded at my home, NJ, USA &
Holland) - quite interesting mix with great Berlin EM

Coming out in Jan '07 (all limited to 300 CDs):
- Schonwalder, Keller, Broekhuis, Spyra & Fox - SpaceCowboys @ Jelenia Gora
(classic Berlin EM recorded Poland 2004)
- Ricochet Gathering Okefenokee 2000
- Ricochet Gathering Okefenokee 2002 + 3" mini CDr
- Remote.Spaces (tbd)

As always, please be patient with my replies to your requests, I will get
back to you as soon as I can.

Vic Rek
vic@...
www.ricochetdream.com