A Place to Bury Strangers
Yppenplatz, 2010
When we get in touch with bands that are producing a sound that is heavily based on electric equipment, we try to avoid the image of our sessions being solely about the acoustic street busking thing. So upon setting up a recording with the Brooklyn-based band A Place To Bury Strangers, whose sound has been described as “total sonic annihilation” on their myspace site, we are quite aware of the challenge. Before the band’s manager noticed that we always offer portable amps for anything non-acoustic, he was like, “The band cannot play acoustic. They must plug in… Did you think they would play acoustic?” No, we did not think so, but guess what came out: APTBS singer and guitarist Oliver Ackermann wanted to do an acoustic solo performance then! In a gloomy setting on some nearby market (with most of the shops already shut down and only some lights left from the restaurants and a dance studio) snuffy Oliver sits on the wettish concrete to perform “Lost Feeling” and proves to be a powerful guitar player also when it’s unplugged. He then walks across the dark square, playing the fabulously rough-sounding “In Your Heart”. Quite an interesting take on a band, that has been given the title of “the most ear-shatteringly loud garage/shoegaze band you’ll ever hear” by The Washington Post.
- Camera
- Michael Luger
- Sound Recording
- Matthias Leihs
- Post production
- Michael Luger
- Photography
- Simon Brugner
Yppenplatz
In a densely-populated area with little open space Yppenplatz is a popular oasis for relaxing. On a square that lies on a former parade-ground, two markets converge: Brunnenmarkt and Yppenmarkt. They both spread a multicultural flair throughout Vienna’s 16th district, Ottakring, where Vienna’s sole beer brand, Ottakringer, originates. The much smaller Yppenmarkt has a special farmer’s market as well. Even though Yppenmarkt lies in a Turkish-Croatian neighbourhood, where playgrounds and benches are mainly taken up by migrant kids and their families, the local agricultural products supply another community which comes here. Wealthy and lifestyle-conscious bobos (standing for bourgeois bohemians) have their weekend-brunch or evening-beer in some of the newly-opened cafes and bars of the area. Not least, a local artist initiative contributes to the resurgence of the Brunnenviertel – the colourful area embracing Brunnenmarkt and Yppenmarkt- in an attempt to capture the spirit of this area appropriately referred to as Soho in Ottakring.