Explore The Secret History Of West Berlin's '80s New Wave Scene With This Guide

Of all the periods in Berlin’s musical history, it often feels like the city’s post-1989 life is mythologized the most. And for techno and house fans in particular, it’s for good reason. After all, this is the post-Berlin Wall era that brought you Love Parade and Tresor, hardcore and Ostgut.

But for many music fans, it’s the period before unification, back when West Berlin was an isolated island for artists, squatters, musicians and conscientious objectors, that holds the key to the city’s avant-garde credentials. And it was new wave, or more specifically, Neue Deutsche Welle, that served as the soundtrack for the city’s fiercely adventurous approach to creativity.

This period has been an ongoing source of inspiration for producers and DJs who prefer their music on the eccentric side. Niklas Wandt is certainly one of those people. When he’s not busy making Salon Des Amateurs-certified bombs with the likes of Wolf Müller, he’s collaborating on records inspired by a similar outlook to DIY experimentation as the Neue Deutsche Welle forebears. Case in point is his new record Wismut with Sascha Funke on Multi Culti.

To celebrate the release of Wismut, Wandt and Funke put together an absolutely essential primer on NDW. Whether its Futurologischer Congress’ unbelievable track “Körperwärme” or cuts from Cosa Rosa and Palais Schaumburg, this is the perfect guide for budding new wave fans and experts alike.

Listen to “Körperwärme” above and read what Wandt had to say about all the tracks he selected over at Stamp the Wax here.