[OT] Berlin/Barcelona/Budapest/Belgrade - which one?

[SubFunk]

to give you another example. i was a year ago on an independend filmfestival over here, and they showed a lot of austrian movies (independend, mainly social political stuff) the majority of the austrian movies adressed this problem in the one or other way, it's a good thing, but on the other hand sad that the countrys inteligents (in this case austrian filmmakers) are so strongly forced to address it and put the existing problem onto the table... because to many people in their own country are blind.

[oldbetseysatan]

Belgrade is simply amazing.

I ended up there purely by chance. I wanted to hit the beaches in Croatia one summer but it was too expensive and decided, spur of the moment, to go to Belgrade instead. Why? Because I really couldn't find much of ANYTHING about it in English on the web. Sure, a FEW little bits and bobs but honestly, I don't now if it's changed in the last year or so, but there was nothing. And I spent hours looking.

Anyway, I just showed up at Belgrade airport, took the bus into town, booked a cheapish room at the Hotel Moscow and first day there met some truly wonderful local people (musicians, producers, film makers, I really lucked out...). Made me feel right at home and ended up staying for almost 2 months.

Even looked into getting a flat and all.

Got too busy, as usual, and had to put that dream aside though.

I would agree with the others here though and say it's way WAY different than Barcelona and Berlin. Which are both other favourites of mine too.

You know what I would do?

I'd put all your stuff in storage and just hit the road for a while and check out each place.

You never know, you might even find somewhere in between that you like even more?

That's the beauty of travelling...

Good luck,

R.

[forge]

they are the worst nazis on this planet

funny you say that: i remember my friends from vienna talking very openly about hitler, as if its the guy next door. i didnt get shocked - a bit of witty political incorrectness is sometimes entertaining - and thought that these austrians have a pretty twisted sense of humour...
are you telling me they werent joking???

i mean, i can understand that some irretrievable old ppl still admire the nazi regime, but i truly hope that the youth opened up a bit...

i actually felt much more racism in countries like poland...

interesting hearing this becuse I've read a book by a very good and funny writer called Bill Bryson who did a few travel books, and the one he did on europe he had quite similar things to say about Austria - he said he met a couple of German backpackers and they traveled together for a short while and went to some small village in a bar and after a while he noticed the punters were looking at them, but he coudnt understand german, but as time went on the Germans were looking more and more disturbed, until eventually they leant over to him and said "we are in danger, we need to leave" and they all ran out of the bar....

just thought I'd add that as it's all I've heard on the matter!

[Hedroom]

Yep, in some ways I'd love to go travelling for a year but there's two reasons I couldn't:

I couldn't afford it (loans etc to pay back - damn music habit!)

I'd miss my gear too much.

Need to move somewhere where I can settle down with my studio setup.


Cheers for the insight though everyone

[ayahuasca]

hi folks,

ok speaking from a music producer, artist, and male perspective, would not the main considerations be

-music scene
-art scene
-pussy, i.e. hot **feminine** chicas

??

as for the pussy (in places that have cutting edge electronic music)

I´m coming from feminista san francisco, where you do not go for the girls...
and I spent a couple months in berlin and well ah german girls don´t cut it.
I just landed in barcelona (yesterday), and well the jury is out, I´ll need at least a month to give an opinion.

so if the art and the music is pushing the edge, THEN where?

does Belgrade fit in?
what about Krakow (poland), some folks in Berlin say it´s hot and cheap...but then again no beach...

As for barcelona, my contacts are not that strong, so if you can recommend other clubs, scenes, etc. do tell. Also looking for some high quality sativa.

gracias!

Andy

[sqook]

as for the pussy (in places that have cutting edge electronic music)

I´m coming from feminista san francisco, where you do not go for the girls...
and I spent a couple months in berlin and well ah german girls don´t cut it.
I just landed in barcelona (yesterday), and well the jury is out, I´ll need at least a month to give an opinion.

Just a piece of advice for you; as an american tourist, you're not gonna be getting any of that anyways, so better to concentrate on your music and language studies. At least, that's definitely the case in Berlin. Better luck in a country that still looks up to american pop culture.

[soulata]

I'd vote for Belgrade. The food is amazing.

k

I'm probably biased as I can speak Serbian (I'm Slovene though)

[ayahuasca]

hey sqook

I may have an amerikkkan passport but I am not your typical american tourist...(.e.g have you lived in toyko, bangkok, caracas, buenos aires, paris, and london? or the equivalient...) but whatever, it was an interesting reply. some can separate the people from the government, or the masses,...others cannot.

barcelona...

after a couple weeks in barcelona, it appears to be a city not very friendly towards musicians. the prices are also rather high for what the city delivers.
the beaches in barcelona proper are fake, and polluted. there is a very limited electronic scene *from* barcelona. capitalismo is really kicking in here. good luck finding a 1 bedroom flat for less than 700 euros. but 2 weeks is just two weeks, although I know a several people from the city, and several others who have been here a year or more. it reminds me of venice california in terms of the hospitability towards artists. if you´re a mucky much, or marketing person, welcome.

probably the most telling sign of the city´s view torwards artists are the circles, 1 in each metro at most, where a busking musician can play, permits required.

but as a french friend of mine who has lived here 5 years said to me the other day... ¨"what electronic music has come from barcelona?"

there ya go!

barcelona to me, in this brief period, is simply a brand.

cheerio

-A

[envyro]

...

[Sales Dude McBoob]

As for Brooklyn I want to stay a cheap flight away from the uk. Friends, family and my label are based there. Will need to be able to fly back for gigs etc.

One of my good friends is moving to London next week. She was telling me last night that it's really cheap to fly from London to other parts of Europe. I was pretty amazed. As an example she said her boyfriend flew from London to Itay for 40 pounds, and that wasn't even a good deal. She said sometimes flights were as cheap as a few quid. Is this so?

>>>>There is something to be said about staying where you are. The idea of traveling to a new city to set-up a little studio and let the creative juices flow is really appealing... but, for myself, I don't see this happening.

I love New York City very very much, but in all honestly, it's really only a happening scene if you're into elitest cupcakes and $600K "luxury" studio apartments. Dancing is pretty much non-exsistant, with the exception of a few New Jersey meathead fueled pick-up clubs where the ex-con doorman will likely fire a gun at you. Or there are droves of 'hip' bars where mobs of people crowd in and the DJ (who spins mainly old wave and wouldn't bother beat matching or doing anything creative) will be trying to pump through a $300 limp-ass Behringer fueled PA system that isn't even set-up properly --and the dance floor will be filled with motionless people wasted off of their asses with maybe 3 or 4 of them are doing a drunken "ironic-mock" dance to the crapped out PA that doesn't even hint at being louder than the drunks yelling into their cellphones.

Sadly, the number of stores where you can buy vinyl are very slim.

I don't intend to be negative. I'm not complaining really. I base these observations on nights when my girlfriend tells me she wants to go out dancing. We go out and this is what we usually find.

We have some cool stuff here. We've got DFA. We've got things like the Warper Party. But mainly we have the task of making NYC bubble again. >>>> and I know currently I'm not doing anything to change that But I want to. There is something to be said about sticking it out and contributing to your local scene.

P.S. I must admit that I indulge in my fair share of elitest cupcakes