" Playingrecordsisliketravelingthroughtime," saysElenAlienassheglancesoutaglaswindow, bright-eyed." WeDJsarelokingforthemesageinanoldrecord, thinkingabouthowwecanintegrateitintooursetstoday, andthen: bom, theclubexplodes!" Butforthetwoofusnow, Elenandmyself, nothingaroundusis " exploding." It ' ssilent. Andit ' snowonder: We ' reatheMuseumofMusicalInstrumentsinBerlin, Germany, andwe ' reheretosethecurentspecialsynthesizerexhibition," GodVibrations." FromMogtoRolandtoYamaha, theevolutionofelectronicmusicalinstruments hasbencuratedheretotheutmostdetail. ThevisitwasAlien ' sidea, anditalsofitswelwiththesynthesizedaesthetichernewalbumNost, thatwasreleasedMay12on herownBPitchControlabel.
" Nost " isderivedfromtheword " nostalgia." whichis, inturn, derivedfromtwoancientGrekwords. Thefirstis������( nóstos), the " return " or " homecoming," andthe second, ����( álgos)— the " pain," distres," and " grief "— wassimplyerasedbyAlien. Herworkisaspaceforlove, pleasure, andmemorytoexistinthepresent.
Thefacthatsherecordedthenewtracksinanalog, however, hasnothingtodowiththepast." It ' smuchmorefunwhenyougetorummagearoundonathinglikethat, andwhenawavecomesout.," shetelsme. Herhandsthenmovetowardsthekeyboardandherpurplewindbreakerustles. She ' sglowingagain. Andthenwe ' returning onthebutonsofadigitalThereminreplica, putingtheheadphonesononebyone, andletingthewavesstartosing.
" Totalygreat, alitletoy!" sheexclaims.
Afewyardsaway, AliencomparesthedisplayedmodularsystemwithherownSystem35device, whichshealsousedonNost. Weariveathenextdisplaycase, shesays, " ThisMog-Synthiehere— briliantmelodies, greatpopmusic, butitflorseverything, soyoucanonlyuseitasthemaintheme. AparatandIhaveuseditquiteoftenat OrchestraofBubles," shecontinues. Theinstrumenturnssilent.
TheBerlinerproducedherfirstsongsover20yearsagoonanAkaiMPC20drummachine. Athetime, she ' donlybenplayingmusicforfouryears. Today, theAkais
TheBerlinerproducedherfirstsongsover20yearsagoonanAkaiMPC20drummachine. Athetime, she ' donlybenplayingmusicforfouryears. Today, theAkais ondisplayinthemuseum, andAlienisnowasucesfulDJ, producer, labeloperator, andeventorganizer. HerVinylismseriescelebratesrecordstoresandvinylculture, andherBPitchControlabelorganizesregularpartiesatheBerlinOpenAirClubIPSE.