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B EAST’s DDR Disco party was a huge success, thanks mostly to the kitschy-cool set played by our cassette DJs. Täter and Ostbrot played for a full two hours using nothing but tapes – most of which were probably older than the people dancing to them! And they weren’t afraid to use the microphone, MC-ing between songs.  Their mike technique reminded us of the skills that DJs were once expected to possess. “If you have a request, write it on a twenty euro bill and pass it up,” they said, reaching back into their catalog of old jokes (although, we would have thought it more authentic if they’d have requested East German Deutschmarks). The SPUs (they weren’t called DJs) showed their professionality, drinking only one beer each, and keeping track of their songs in a notebook. After all, these guys once had to pass an exam to receive a performing license, back in the days of the DDR. Before the gig, Ostbrot confessed to us – “I haven’t played a concert in twenty years!” Well, we’re certainly glad they came out of retirement to serve us a decent helping of ostalgia.

A big thanks also to VJ Linards Kulless from Riga’s Space:Garage crew, who supplied amazing visuals throughout the night. And a huge round of applause for the laptoprock team Shameless Limitless, who stepped up to the plate to perform an extra set after DJ Andrei Oid called in sick. The party raged until 5am, not bad for a Thursday night. Stay tuned for the next B EAST Berlin party.

Mark Reeder is a Berlin-based music producer, who runs Flesh Records. A charismatic personality and veteran of the dance music scene, his high-octane exploits read like a rock star biography.

He was the ‘German’ rep for Manchester’s legendary Factory Records, toured with New Order in the 80s, hung out with Nick Cave during his Berlin sojourn, and organised the first-ever punk concert in East Berlin. More recently, he has traveled across the world with Hungarian DJ Corvin Dalek, Fidelity Kastrow, and others, rocking the forests of Colombia, Mexico, East Europe, China and elsewhere with his hyper-sexual ‘Wet&Hard’ style. He’s one of our favorite BEasts, and so we’re more than happy to promote his latest remix of the latest Pet Shop Boys track – I’m in Love with a German film star.

For more info, check out
www.myspace.com/markreedermfsflesh
His Romanian adventures can be found in Dave Rimmer’s book, ‘Once Upon a Time in the East’.