PHASE 001
Subject: Phase 001: The physics of Winter & The Bass Shift at Berghain.
01. Phase In
Welcome to the first transmission.
The “Grey Curtain” has fallen over Berlin. Yes, the sun now sets at 4 PM and the city is wrapped in a thick coat of grey. But let’s be honest, for the electronic music ecosystem, this isn’t a decline. It’s the beginning of the prime season.
There is a specific, almost ceremonial feeling to entering a club in November. Crossing the threshold from the freezing, biting wind into the humid, pressurized warmth of a dark room creates a sensory shock that summer simply cannot replicate. That transition from numb cold to physical heat instantly recalibrates your focus. The outside world disappears faster.
In my opinion, this is the best time of year to consume music. The mentality on the dancefloor shifts. The distraction of open-air parties and daytime raves fades away, leaving room for something more substantial. The crowd is more intentional. We aren’t just there to hang out in the sun, we are there to listen. This change in atmosphere gives artists the permission to go deeper. The sets tend to be more narrative, more complex, and less focused on instant gratification. Winter in Berlin isn’t about hiding from the dark. It’s about rediscovering the warmth of the sound system. It is, undeniably, the season for the best sets.
02. The Deep Dive
Topic: The “REEF” Effect. When Bass Music hijacks the Techno Cathedral.
If you were at Berghain recently for REEF (curated by Darwin), you witnessed a fascinating acoustic experiment. Historically, the Berghain main floor is tuned for steady 4/4 Techno kicks, short transients, punchy mids. But REEF brings UK Bass, Breakbeat, and Jungle into this concrete box, fundamentally changing how the room behaves.
The Technical Shift: Why does it sound so different?
The Sub-Bass Envelope: Unlike a techno kick that hits and decays quickly, Bass music and Dubstep rely on sustained sub-bass frequencies (sine waves around 40-60Hz).
The Room Response: During Om Unit’s set, the Funktion-One system wasn’t just pushing air; it was pressurizing the room. The slower tempos allow the long reverb tail of the Berghain hall to “breathe” between hits, creating a massive, physical wall of sound that faster techno sometimes muddies.
The Masterclass: Om Unit’s “Multicolor” Risk While the physics were impressive, the artistic highlight was Om Unit’s sheer audacity in programming. In a venue often criticized for being monochromatic, he delivered a truly “multicolor” set, breaking the unwritten rules of the main floor.
The most striking moment was a technical high-wire act: blending unabashed Pop vocals over sharp UK Garage percussion. On paper, this shouldn’t work in this serious concrete cathedral. But the execution was surgical. The vocal mixing was pristine, sitting perfectly in the pocket above the drums without clashing with the sub-bass frequencies. He navigated through Dub Reggae, deep Dubstep, and Bass Music, not as separate genres, but as a continuous lineage of Sound System culture. It was a bold recontextualization, proving that melody and risk-taking have a place even in the heaviest sets.
The Ecosystem: The rest of the night confirmed that Berlin’s appetite for broken beats is at an all-time high. Darwin set the tone with her signature precision, while Tim Reaper brought the high-velocity Jungle chaos. Smokey provided a talented forest immersion at Paranoma Bar. Finally, celebrating 20 years of Tectonic, Pinch (flanked by Grime MC Trim) added the necessary historical weight to the night, grounding the futuristic energy in the roots of the Bristol sound.
In the end, it was a reminder that even in the most serious club in the world, music remains a game.
03. Radar
Scanning the frequencies.
1. The Time Capsule
Artist: Sunju Hargun
Track: Pigeon Attack (Shjva Dub)
Vibe: Mental / Hypnotic
The Analysis: This production is a masterclass in negative space. The Shjva rework intentionally strips away the percussion grid, relying on a downtempo rhythm where the silence is as important as the transient hits. The bass lead acts less like a rhythm instrument and more like a narrator. A perfect example of how timbre can replace tempo to drive a track forward. (Link)
2. The Weapon (Caught at REEF)
Artist: Om Unit
Track: Strobes (The Warning)
Label: Tectonic
The Analysis: I caught this weapon directly during his set. Released on Tectonic, the track lives up to its name. It is defined by a relentless, rising siren sound, likely a detuned oscillator with a slow pitch envelope, which creates an immediate sense of panic. But what makes it stand out is the texture. There is a thick layer of industrial noise and static hiss wrapping around the frequencies, giving it a raw, dirty characteristic. The sub-bass adds to the disorientation with heavy LFO modulation, wobbling underneath that wall of noise until the vocal sample finally cuts through at the very end to release the tension. (Link)
3. The Euphoric Reset (Caught at REEF)
Artist: Carré & Danny Goliger
Track: Don’t Keep Me In Suspense
Context: Smokey’s Set
The Analysis: I caught this one during Smokey’s set at REEF and it instantly reset the room’s energy. While the night was heavy on dark sub-bass, this track brought a necessary flash of euphoria. The production value here is pristine. Pay attention to the main lead. It cuts through the mix with surgical precision, providing a bright, driving counterpoint to the heavy breakbeat kick pattern. It creates a “push-and-pull” tension that feels incredibly urgent on a big system. A perfect example of modern US rave culture meeting UK sound design standards. (Link)
4. The Bouncy One
Artist: Dual Monitor
Track: Left/Right
Style: Ghetto Tech / Kinetic
The Analysis: This is the definition of “bouncy.” While the other tracks explore texture, this one focuses on pure kinetic energy. The secret to this bounce is the interaction between the kick and the sub-bass. It’s not just a loop. It’s a rolling, syncopated rhythm that feels elastic rather than rigid. Dual Monitor strips back the arrangement to the bare essentials, letting that rubbery bassline do all the heavy lifting. It channels the fun, rude energy of classic Ghetto Tech but with a pristine, modern mixdown. Functional, effective, and impossible to ignore on a big system.(Link)
04. Field Notes (Berlin)
Ground operations.
Observation: The 4 PM Paradox. Since this is our first transmission, we need to address the context. Why center a newsletter on Berlin in 2025? It is not out of mere nostalgia for the 90s, but because the city remains the undisputed gravitational center of the electronic music world. Berlin acts as a global terminal, a high-intensity melting pot where the sounds of Detroit, the rhythms of London, and the textures of ambient experimentalism converge.
The Ecosystem Density: A Creative Feedback Loop What truly defines this playground is the startling density of the ecosystem. In districts like Kreuzberg or Neukölln, the barriers between the “star” and the “dancer” virtually vanish. You don’t just listen to your favorite producers; you stand next to them buying synthesisers at SchneidersLaden or grabbing coffee on the canal. This physical proximity fosters a creative feedback loop that simply doesn’t exist in London or New York. It transforms the scene from a distant industry into a tangible, living community where ideas circulate as fast as the music itself.
The Temporal Distortion: The “Infinite Loop” Then there is the distortion of time. Berlin creates its own temporal reality where the concept of a “night out” is replaced by the “infinite loop.” The infrastructure of the city supports dancing that spans entire weekends, blurring the line between day and night. This extended duration is crucial for the music itself as it allows artists to play differently. They don’t need to rush to make an impact in a two-hour slot. Instead, they can build hypnotic, slow-burning narratives that take hours to unfold, prioritizing trance-states over cheap drops. Put simply, going out in Berlin often means dancing for an entire weekend, and that extra time completely rewires how artists tell their stories.
The Curator’s Era: Why the Event is Queen In this environment, the Event itself is Queen. The specific party often holds more weight than the individual headliner, with trust placed primarily in the curation and the venue. This structure allows for immense risk-taking. It allows collectives to push sounds that would clear the floor elsewhere. We saw proof of this recently with the Tectonic anniversary, which demonstrated that even in the capital of the steady kick drum, the appetite for broken beats and UK bass pressure is at an all-time high. The 4/4 hegemony is effectively being challenged, not by outsiders, but from within the institution itself.
The Winter Shift To be in Berlin right now is to witness a shift. The city is proving once again that it is the ultimate testing ground, a place where the cold concrete outside only serves to amplify the intense, communal warmth of the sound system inside. So, keep your eyes on the local listings. The queue might be cold and the door policy strict, but the payoff is infinite. We are not just watching a scene survive winter; we are watching it evolve in real-time.
05. Phase Out
Closing the transmission.
Listening Recommendation: Andy Martin at Dekmantel Selectors 2025. (Link)
If you need one set to power through the week, this is it. There is a growing consensus online that this performance rivals his legendary set at Persona. But what makes this recording special isn’t just the surgical mixing; it’s the depth. You can distinctly hear his background as a producer. There is a palpable sense of roots in his selection, a feeling that he isn’t just playing functional techno, but telling a coherent story with real meaning. He weaves tracks together with an intentionality that feels rare, creating a narrative that is as emotional as it is physical.
End of Phase 001. Signal lost.
Since this is the pilot episode, feedback is vital. Did the length work for you? Did you hate the tracks? Reply directly to this email, I read everything. See you next week.
David
Shyjva did an amazing job on the remix! Thanks for sharing that
Great revisit on an amazing night 🙌🏾