Opening each day with a 18 – 21h BBQ in its front yard, the Festaal Kreuzberg is the largest of the ICAS Suite Berlin venues this year, and offers a kind of musical gateway into the ICAS Suite Berlin series. Here you’ll find a range of artists who are picking up a buzz around them, as well as many artists that are on the verge of discovery. Here is a day-by-day look at ICAS SUITE programming at the Festsaal:

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

21.00 › 12 euro for daypass or entry at the door

CTM, Hippos in Tanks, UNO and Julie Tippex present

Mykki Blanco & Physical Therapy (US, live) 

Physical Therapy (US, live)

High Wolf (FR, live)

A Cell of One (DE)

Spex DJs (DE)

25-year old Michael David Quattlebaum created his Mykki Blanco persona one summer day when he stepped out into the streets of New York in head-to-toe drag for the first time ever. Having already performed as the hypermasculine industrial rocker No Fear, Quattlebaum found a whole new range to his artistic output with Mykki Blanco – fuelling her persona with lyrics from his recently published collection of poems entitled “From the Silence of Duchamp”. His penchant for the theatrical, as evidenced in his live appearances as well as his music videos, stems from his background as a student in performance art, and is complemented by lyrics that reveal a wandering, rebel soul that is used to living on the fringe.

Swag is the term being applied to the music of Mykki Blanco and his compatriots in NYC’s queer rap scene, a genre which, as expected, leads to much discussion as to its role in uniting two worlds that are often thought of as incongruous: the hypermale world of hip-hop/rap and the gender-bending queer scene.

Mykki Blanco’s debut EP on UNO NYC, The Mutant Angels, is a collaborative project written by Mykki, with music by Physical Therapy, the latter of which will also be performing a solo live set this evening. Self-described as "the future face of 3-step, dream house, and drum n' space", Physical Therapy finds his home on the much-vaunted Hippos in Tanks label that includes other genre-bending artists such as Hype Williams, James Ferraro, and Laurel Halo. Expect new-age, easy-breezy psychedelia from this young US producer.

The night is rounded out by the dreamy drones of France’s High Wolf (Julie Tippex), a D-set by Spex editors Jan Wehn & Thomas Vorreyer, and Berlin’s Cell of One. Read more about Mykki Blanco in this article published in the New York Times, and have look at this video interview at The Fader.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

21.00 › 15 € for daypass or entry at the door

Unsound  & Michail Stangl present:

Clark (UK, live)

Cooly G (UK, live)

Nguzunguzu (US, live/DJ) 

Sentel (PL) 

The Phantom (PL, live) 

Pussykrew (PL, visuals)

Clark, one of the figureheads of Warp Records' post-rave continuum, headlines this packed program. Known for combining computer-generated crunches, pops, and clicks with organic synthesizer tones and heavily processed sounds, his new album, Iradelphic (Warp, 2012), is full of tense electronica-pop that deftly juxtaposes exuberance and melancholy.

Supporting Clark is a second UK artist, Cooly G, who has just recently released her first full-length album on Kode 9’s Hyperdub label. Soaring away from the constrictions of genre, Playin' Me (2012) brings the sensuality of funky house together with the visceral qualities of the best pop music. At the ICAS SUITE she will perform one of here rare live shows featuring Dezy da Bongo Man on live percussion.

Taking off from house-infected UK bass and throwing in a healthy dose of high-tech kuduro, reggaeton, Chicago juke, cumbia, grime and more, the Los Angeles-based duo Nguzunguzu take a grab bag of world sounds and re-imagine them into the familiar framework of contemporary R&B and hip-hop. We’re proud to host the return of this DJ duo in Berlin, following their much-appreciated performance as part of the Hippos in Tanks label night within CTM’s Polymorphism concert series this past summer.

And as if this wasn’t enough, the night has a notable infusion of new Polish talent, thanks to input from co-curator the Unsound Festival, which is already warming up for it’s 10th anniversary in Krakow, Poland this coming October 2012. Combining his love of avant-garde visual arts with a rich range of music influences from grime to stripped-down house and back again, The Phantom’s original material and his DJ mixes are refreshingly eclectic.

Compatriots Pussykrew provide an equally compelly AV show, combining the maximalist sensations of glitch with minimalist destructiveness to give performances that are beyond experimental, while prolific duo The Sentel rounds out the night with DJ support highlighting their peculiar take on 4x4 drums and savage synths.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

22.00 › 15 € for daypass or entry at the door

Nuits Sonores, FluxFM and CTM Festival present:

Pantha du Prince (DE, live) 

Spitzer (FR, live)

Andreas Reihse (DE, live)

Jens Strüver (DE)

FluxFM Djs (DE)

Headlining this evening’s showcase is German artist Pantha du Prince who made a notable debut with This Bliss (Dial, 2007), an album of fragile, melodic, and melancholy instrumental techno. In may 2012, Dial released Ursprung, an album collaboration between Pantha du Prince and musician/photographer Stephen Abry (of Workshop fame). The pair have been using guitars as the main focus of the ten track record to create a very Krautrock influenced sound.A follow-up to 2010’s acclaimed  Black Noise album, is announced for next year. Pantha du Prince last appeared in performance in Berlin over a year ago, so be sure not to miss this chance to see him live!

Pantha du Prince is joined by Spitzer, a brother duo with close ties to the Nuits Sonores festival in Lyon, France, who join CTM and German radio station FluxFM to program this instalment of FluxFM’s monthly concert series at the Festsaal Kreuzberg. Taking a cue from the sounds of the French electro school we know so well, Spitzer push their music into progressive territory with relentless, driving bass perforated with building synth chords.

The evening is rounded-out with the FluxFm Djs, a solo live set by Kreidler's Andreas Reihse, and m=minimal founder Jens Strüver, performing a set spanning listening and club music.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

22.00 › 15 € euro for daypass or entry at the door

Dis-Patch and Grand Prix d’Amour present:

Morphosis (LB, live)

Nicholas Desamory (DE, live)

George Michael Jackson (RS)

33-10-3402 (RS, live)

Schwabe (RS)

Profilli (RS, visuals)

The fourth and final night of the ICAS Suite Berlin presentations within the Festsaal Kreuzberg headlines Lebanese producer Morphosis, who has been gaining recognition for his grainy, imaginative analog techno infused with krautrock and avant-garde references for over a decade now.

Morphosis is supported by a diverse cast of artists with connections to the Serbian music scene. First, Berlin resident Nicolas Desamory, real name Nicolas Bussman, a prolific artist and curator that produces his varied output through his Grand Prix d’Amour platform,a nd who is closely-collaborating with Belgrade’s Dis-Patch festival to create a conference around the state of the musician, from the musician’s point of view, for sometime next year. Having worked with a wide range of musicians, Desamory’s first solo EP, Like You, released this summer on m=minimal, adds an unusual and fresh take on warm house music to his diverse output. Serbian artists 33-10-3402, Schwabe, George Michael Jackson, and VJ Profilli ring in an impressive contingent of movers and shakers on the Serbian electronic music scene.