this coming thursday (january 24) will see the birth of a new project called the group, at haus ungarn (formerly hbc) in berlin. should be very fun! here is a nice little description stolen from the website of mr. greg haines:

The Group is a loosely-knit collective of musicians based around Peter Broderick, Casper Clausen (Efterklang), Francesco Donadello (Giardini di Mirò), Martyn Heyne and myself (Greg Haines). The idea is to perform in an informal, casual and completely improvised way – the music has no “style” and anything goes: other musicians passing through town may join us, members of The Group may take the opportunity to try out new material or ideas, songs may stop and start and be discussed halfway through, band members may leave the stage for a while and relax for a bit. This is more a glimpse into the creative process, or the idea of building something out of nothing, than presenting polished songs for an attentive audience. You are welcome to come and drink a beer and just let us play on in the background until we latch onto something and the music begins to take shape – I am sure there will be some boring moments, but I am also sure there will be some moments of pure magic! Ultimately, it’s all about participation, but it’s entirely up to you how you wish to participate.

and you can expect plenty of surprise guests as well! brrrrrr . . . it’s really cold in berlin. dreaming of summer days, skateboarding at the airport.