I've had an absolutely rancid chest infection since about last Wednesday onwards, that only now after some pretty gnarly antibiotics (that have given me the worst diarrhea of my life) and a week off work is starting to abate. This has been spectacularly ill-timed, as last Thursday we flew out to Berlin for what was my wife's Xmas present to me, tickets to see Komfortrauschen (whom for context, I only came across last year when they were announced for the upcoming ArcTanGent festival, which we're not going to make it to this time around and I had been lamenting that fact as they very much tick all of musical boxes and then some). Try as my lungs did to put a dampener on the weekend (day after the show was spent feeling very sorry for myself in the hotel room), the show itself was phenomenal, and thankfully the adrenaline coursing through me seemed to carry me through most of it (no doubt partly helped by the feeling of "where the **** are we going, we're going to get stabbed" on the walk through what seemed to be a dystopian industrial wasteland to get to the Kantine am Berghain venue). I am dearly hoping they play a string of shows over here in run-up to ATG, and I cannot recommend them enough as a live prospect (especially if the notion of throbbing 90's German techno performed by a drummer, guitarist and bass player via a mesmeric array of pedals and no backing track particularly appeals). It's a testament to how good they were that the my condition didn't ruin the entire weekend, but it's certainly not what I had hoped for a first gig proper abroad.
To that end, roll on next weekend, which I have long had booked as a mini-break to Amsterdam for just myself. I have had no plans for this trip other than to chill in a nice AirBNB, recharge the batteries (it's been a tough year thus far and we're not even through feckin' March), buy a lot of tasty snacks (and some "cakes" of the celestial variety) and generally veg the heck out. Out of curiosity, I though I would see if the Melkweg had anything good on whilst I was over, and as luck would have it I'll now been spending next Sunday evening excitedly gurning my way through my first DJ Shadow show. I don't believe in karma, but I've bastard-well earned this slice of good fortune.