Inside Unkompress: Where Berlin Listens

By: Sophie Girard

Berlin is most famously known for its techno scene, but beyond the fast paced echoing beats lies a community devoted to disco, house, and soul music. Listening bars with high quality speakers have popped up around Berlin, offering a different dimension of the musical scene. At Unkompress, a listening bar in Kreuzberg, guests find themselves in a focused listening experience that is all about relaxation and enjoying oneself.

Listening bars are all about having the best sound system and creating a space for music to be enjoyed. They are the art galleries of music, and cater towards audiophiles. Anima, Bar Neiro, Rhinoceros, and Unkompress are just a few names that hold significance within the audiophile community in Berlin. I decided to go to Unkompress to have a look around and gain more insight into the culture and experience. 

When I arrived at Unkompress, it was around 11:00 on a Wednesday and I was the only person there. The music playing was in the soul genre, and I looked around the room as I found a seat. The area was intimate, with only 6 small tables that bordered the outside of the room, creating an open space that faced the sound system. There were soft paintings hung up around the walls, and the room had a minimalistic and warm feel to it. It was smaller than a typical bar, and the end of the room had a coat hang next to a staircase leading downstairs. 

The menu featured a selection of coffees and natural wines, as well as snacks such as pastries and sardines. I decided on a brewed coffee and crispy glazed pastry that had been sourced from a local bakery. The menu also offered a range of cocktails and wines that were placed along a grid of where they ranged on a spectrum of fruity, fancy, eccentric, and mineral.

The owner, Kevin Rodriguez, was friendly and glad to share more information about his business. Rodriguez curates the ambience and music in Unkompress himself and attends to the sound. As I sat and listened to the music, he stood up and went over to the mixer, fine tuning several of the knobs. Then he adjusted the vinyl and carefully placed a carbon fiber brush over the rotating disc to ensure no dust was affecting the sound.

The manufacturer of his mixer is the Berlin based company, Resør Electronics. They specialize in custom rotary mixers that provide top quality sound. Their mixer is featured in listening bars around the world, and has a production time of 3-6 months between orders. 

The concept of listening bars originated in Japan in the post-war 1950s and 60s. These jazz cafes were particularly popular in Tokyo and Osaka and patrons would visit to listen to high quality sound with drinks. Particularly, the cafes would play vinyls with jazz and swing that often featured American artists. 

As I was sitting, a couple of people wandered in to enjoy a coffee and the ambience. I sipped my coffee enjoying the music resonating from the speaker. It was a refreshing switch up from the banging sound of techno that I usually listen to in Berlin. 

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