Label The Crosstalk label is what we do for fun. The "clear music" series are all limited edition clear vinyl records by our friends that we hope you'll enjoy. CROSS01 is packaged in a very nice custom velum sleeve with an image of the Berlin planetarium printed on it. CROSS02 & CROSS03 are packaged in clear "picture disc" type sleeves that let the record and color label show through Bernd Jestram, Robert Lippok, Ronald Lippok, Bo Kondren / Theatermusik CROSS01 This album is comprised of works by Bernd Jestram, Robert Lippok, Ronald Lippok and Bo Kondren. All of these names should be familiar as comprising most of the aforementioned groups with the exception of Mr Kondren who is best known for his participation the the East German band Ornament Und Verbreschen with the others as well as being the proprietor of Calyx, the mastering lab. The music contained within is very reminiscent of early To Rococo Rot with a pinch of the Tarwater melodic sensibility and is surprisingly cohesive for a collection of works composed and recorded by different people, in different circumstances, for different purposes. This is a very special package. The jacket is a frosted velum with a color image of the dome of the Berlin planetarium. The record is clear. The edition is strictly limited to 1000. Kyborg & Sarah Marrs / Bask CROSS02 Vinyl version of the Neue Berliner Initiative CD release. Kyborg is Andreas  Stobernack and Dirk Mitlehner who founded the Kyborg Club in 1995 which was to become one of Berlin's very first techno-lounges. Sarah Marrs is a long-time Chicago expat who comes from the visual and performance art disciplines. "Cool, minimal techno with the abstract spoken word of Chicago-based poet Sarah Marrs, the third release from the German duo Kyborg is a solid work of textural technoid. Elegant beats, smooth drones and electronic burst are oscillating around the weird and lazy atmospheres of Bask. Sarah Marrs give her voice on four of the six  tracks of the EP, she sounds like Lydia Lunch would after a couple of valiums and a bottle of scotch, which adheres perfectly to the synthetic ambience generated by Kyborg's music. Her lyrics are like an heavily mistreated sheet of various words and sentences, curiously assembled by her." Review by Final Man @ Electroage agf, Kyborg, Sarah Marrs, Peabody & Sherman / Tschikago 2.001 CROSS03 Tschikago is an ongoing series curated by former Chicago resident Sarah Marrs with the assistance of Crosstalk owner Phillip Hertz to introduce new Berliner artists and musicians to Chicago in a short residency. Tschikago 2.001 was a  series of music and video performances involving agf (Antye from Laub) with  fellow Berliners Kyborg & Sarah Marrs. The Tschikago 2.001 recordings have been built from material created by the artists during their stay in Tschikago. The sound files derived from these recordings were edited and modified by the participants individually and the finished tracks assembled to create this document. The Blue Continuum Series/The GoodandEvil Sessions CROSS04 The Blue Series Continuum is an ongoing project that seeks to infuse creativity into the recording process by constantly rotating the cast. For this installment, they've assembled an impressive roster; Matthew Shipp on Korg synthesizer, hard-blowing Roy Campbell on trumpet, figurehead William Parker on bass, and Alex Lodico and Josh Roseman on trombone. Production duo GoodandEvil, who've worked with rappers Northern State and topnotch DJs like Felix Da Housecat and Roni Size, were enlisted to tweak the finished product. By definition one might expect this EP to sound like a downtempo DJ peppering blasé beats with clichéd jazz flourishes but thankfully it doesn't stoop to those levels. Each track exemplifies the promise implicit in this concept, mixing the organic and the electronic like a skilled DJ working a pair of turntables, and the result, a unique style of jazz-based grooves, promises that there's more to come from this unique series. Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 September 2005 )