Live Direct 2 Disc Vinyl Session Emil Berliner Studios – A Raw, Unfiltered Gem from Cäthe
If you’re into albums that feel like they’ve been plucked straight outta time, this one’s for you. Live Direct 2 Disc Vinyl Session by Cäthe is the kind of record that grabs your soul and doesn’t let go. Recorded live at Emil Berliner Studios in Europe back in 2013, it’s raw, personal, and dripping with emotion. The mix of Pop and Rock vibes—what some might call Pop Rock—isn’t overproduced; instead, it feels alive, like every note was born right there in the room.
Let me tell ya, when I first spun this double vinyl (yeah, I still got a turntable), two tracks stuck with me hard: “Unter Meiner Haut” and “Hoch Oben Nah Dem Sturm.”
“Unter Meiner Haut” hits different. It starts off soft, almost whispery, but then builds into this tidal wave of sound. Cäthe’s voice? Damn. She sings like she means every damn word. You can hear her pain, her longing—it’s not polished or perfect, and that’s exactly why it works. The bassline from Florian "Flozze" Eilers rumbles underneath, grounding everything while Nicolas Börger lays down these haunting keyboard chords. By the end, I swear I felt something shift inside me. Like… whoa. That’s what music should do, right?
Then there’s “Hoch Oben Nah Dem Sturm,” which is just pure adrenaline bottled up in song form. Jens Nickel on guitar absolutely shreds here, giving it this edgy, rock vibe that makes you wanna punch the air or drive really fast somewhere—even if you don’t have anywhere to go. And Reiner "Kallas" Hubert’s drumming? Tight as hell. But again, it’s Cäthe’s voice that steals the show. Her lyrics are simple yet razor-sharp, cutting through all the noise in your brain. Listening to this track feels less like hearing a song and more like living someone else’s moment.
The whole album has this magic touch thanks to people like Philip Krause and Urs Maurer engineering the session. Even the artwork by Sebastian Steffens adds to the vibe—it’s minimalistic but full of character, kinda like Cäthe herself. Oh, and props to Maarten De Boer for cutting the lacquer because, man, the audio quality on this vinyl? Chef’s kiss.
But here’s the thing about Live Direct: it’s not trying too hard. No autotune overload, no flashy tricks. Just real musicians playing their hearts out in a legendary studio. And honestly? That’s rare these days. Most modern albums feel so… calculated. This? Feels human. Imperfect. Beautiful.
So yeah, give this baby a spin if you want music that stays with you long after the needle lifts. Honestly, listening to it feels like finding an old Polaroid photo tucked inside a book—you didn’t know you needed it until you found it, and now it’s stuck in your head forever.
Random thought: If I ever meet Cäthe, I’m gonna ask her if she knew how much we’d need songs like these someday. Something tells me she’ll just smile and say, “Of course.”
