The Hidden Cameras touched by Pet Shop Boys

Joel Gibb is a man of many faces. The Canadian musician has been living in Berlin for a while now and is best known for his band The Hidden Cameras. But Gibb is also active as a visual artist, as an actor (‘The Lollipop Generation’, 2008) and as a solo musician (check out his tribute intrepretations ‘That’s Us’ and ‘Wild Combination’ of Arthur Russell).

What I remember best about him is Chilly Gonzales’ ‘Piano Talk Show’ concert in May 2010 at Kino Babylon in Berlin Mitte, when Gibb entered the stage joining Gonzales and Mocky battering an unplugged version of Zarah Leanders 1930s hymn ‘Ich steh’ im Regen’ (watch a crappy quality mobile phone recording of the performance below).

With all these references in mind it should have been obvious that Gibb and the Pet Shop Boys hooked up for a collaboration at some point – but listening to the british pop duo extraordinaire’s remix of The Hidden Cameras’ ‘Colour of a Man’ still came pretty unexpected to me. See for yourself with the embedded version of the Pet Shop Boys’ organic remix:

This collaboration will see its sequel on September 3rd during The Hidden Cameras’ Berlin show: The special event will be held at Heimathafen Neukölln and marks the end of THCs ‘Origin:Orphan’ tour; sure to feature many surprises such as the performance of new material.

Support comes from Berlin-based Russian folkloristic inspired indie 3 piece Chinawoman. We’re giving away 2*2 tickets for this special night at the historic Volkstheater atmosphere of Heimathafen Neukölln – simply drop us an email at win@electronicbeats.net with the subject line ‘THC X PSB’ (Winners will be notified by email, competition ends August 26th, 1pm). Tickets for the show are available here.

Editorial note: The screening of the Hidden Cameras / Pet Shop Boys remix music video won’t be taking place during the Berlin show since the video isn’t expected to be finished until then. Apologies about the confusion in an earlier version of this article, we’ll keep you posted on this.

Chilly Gonzales, Mocky & Joel Gibb – Ich steh im Regen (Zarah Leander Cover) (Live at Babylon Kino, Berlin, 2010)

Published August 22, 2011.