BERGHAIN NIGHTS - LIAM CAGNEY
Fascinated by Berlin nightclub Berghain's strange techno and stranger goings-on, Liam Cagney journeys through techno's history, from Detroit to Tokyo, and explores Berlin club culture in all its color and intensity. Berghain Nights is the result. From kinky parties in the labyrinthine KitKat Club to the smoky gloom of Tresor's repurposed bank vault, to the psychedelic lab of Cocktail d'Amore, Berghain Nights not only captures the excitement of Berlin club culture but also asks how techno in a queer club context can help people strip away their inherited hang-ups to find a truer self.
Berghain Nights is about spiritual frenzy and soulful music, countercultural urgency, and capitalistic cash-ins. It's a story of the most notorious club in the world and of a scene that, enthralling thousands every weekend, feeds billions annually into Berlin's economy. In the midst of it all is the story of a person who, having gone through life feeling like an alien, finds himself in the most alien place imaginable--and feels at home there.
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Liam Cagney is a writer and musicologist whose work has been described as 'visionary' (the Irish Times). He is the author of Berghain Nights: A Journey Through Techno and Berlin Club Culture (Reaktion, 2025) and Gérard Grisey and Spectral Music: Composition in the Information Age (Cambridge, 2024). His writing appears in places like the Guardian, the TLS and DJ Mag, and he reports on Berlin's club scene on his Berlin Waveforms Substack.
COMING TO BERLIN - PAUL HANFORD
The first up to date, post-pandemic, no-borders era book to cover Berlin’s role as an electronic music and cultural capital. Coming To Berlin breaks the tradition of Berlin’s perception as techno ground zero and shows the true diversity and richness that make up the city. Written by a former Londoner who made Berlin his home, the book captures nuances and details of living in Berlin that will be immediately relatable to fellow Berliners yet at the same time captures the city’s creative, free-living essence to anyone with a curiosity for Berlin and a love of electronic music.
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Paul Hanford is a writer, producer and teacher whose work focuses on underground music, culture and creativity.
His acclaimed 2022 book Coming To Berlin, published by Velocity Press, took a personal journey through Berlin club culture. He hosts the Arts Council of England-awarded podcast Lost and Sound – which has run for over 200 episodes and features deep conversations with some of the world's most acclaimed musicians. He has co-produced radio documentaries for BBC World Service and BBC Radio 3, hosted radio and live talks for Bandcamp and written for publications including Monocle, Wired, The Face and Mixmag. Paul is Principal Lecturer of Music and Culture at BIMM University Berlin.
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