Pitchfork

Ellen Allien is all about 2007. In fact, she's so excited about it, she's practically planned out the entire year already, for both herself and the label she lovingly oversees, Berlin-based techno powerhouse Bpitch Control. Remixes, compilations, mixes, new albums, new signings, tours-- it's all in the works, so pull up one of those futuristic-looking pod chairs, pour yourself a glass of Tang, sit back, and check it out.

First up, Allien pays her respects to 2006, which wasn't too shabby at all for the gal. In collaboration with Shitkatapult co-chief Apparat, she released the Pitchfork Recommended Orchestra of Bubbles this past spring-- and she and Apparat judged a "Way Out" video contest held by MTV-owned Flux.tv (now Qoob). Check out the winning clip, painstakingly put together by Marco Testoni, below. Like a low-budget "Take on Me", it's an absolute marvel of animation on the cheap, although it might have fit slightly better with a gritty rock song than Allien & Apparat's nocturnal electronic bubblings.

After a series of DJ gigs in Europe this month and a New Year's bash in Berlin with Sascha Funke, Allien hops on the 2007 trajectory and doesn't look back. In March, she'll hit us with both the third Bpitch Camping compilation (including a new Allien track) and the CD/DVD Time Out Presents: The Other Side Berlin mix (which arrives March 30, courtesy of Fujiya & Miyagi's U.S. home Deaf Dumb & Blind Communications; tracklist below). Allien's Berlin mix culls together everything from a German version of David Bowie's "Heroes" to Swiss robo-seductress Miss Kitten to the minimal superstar Ricardo Villalobos. And heads up: Madlib's The Other Side L.A. mix drops then as well.

In the fall, Allien dons her mixing hat once again for Boogybytes Vol. 3 on Bpitch. Like previous Boogybytes releases mixed by Funke and Kiki, this one features another cover photograph that should frighten all the birds and small children away. As if that weren't enough, she has a Fabric mix on the way in May.

An unstoppable mistress of the mix, Allien will also give the remix treatment to tracks by Thom Yorke ("The Eraser"; joining Four Tet, Various, Surgeon, and others), Beck ("The Sun"), and, along with Apparat, Kate Wax-- those should see release in the near future.

Bpitch, meanwhile, has a bunch of releases lined up for the 2K7, including Happy in Grey by new signing Damero (in February), a new Modeselektor full-length (April), and Sascha Funke's latest (fall). And Allien of course still has her fashion line, for which she'll soon present a spring/summer collection.

Last but not least, Allien tours Europe in February, then hops in a charter bus to crisscross the continent in March as part of a full-on Bpitch label dancefloor assault. Your eyes are probably shot if you made it this far, so why not move your feet a bit?

The Other Side Berlin:

01 David Bowie - "Helden"
02 Booka Shade - "In White Room"
03 Quarks - "Königin"
04 Ame - "Rej"
05 Rhythm & Sound with Bobbo Shanti - "Poor People Must Work (Carl Craig Remix)"
06 Miss Kittin - "Neukölln"
07 Plastikman - "I Don't Know"
08 Terranova [ft. Tricky] - "Bombing Bastards"
09 Wayne County & the Electric Chairs - "Berlin"
10 Monolake - "Pipeline"
11 Ricardo Villalobos - "Ichso"
12 Ellen Allien & Apparat - "Way Out"
13 AGF/Delay - "You With Now"

Allien invasion:

12-14 Milan, Italy - Plastic
12-15 Bari, Italy - Zenzero
12-16 Leipzig, Germany - Distillery
12-25 Rostock, Germany - Mau *
12-29 Antwerp, Belgium - Petrol
12-31 Berlin, Germany - Week12end #
02-07 Ljubljana, Slovenia - K4
02-08 Rome, Italy - Goa
02-10 Gijon, Spain - Lovejoy Club *^
02-16 Dublin, Ireland - Electric Shock @ Temple Bar
02-17 Madrid, Spain - Low
02-24 Florence, Italy - Tenax

* with Zander VT
# with Sascha Funke
^ with Tomas Andersson