Ellen Allien & A Parrot?

Just got back from Barcelona where the Sonar festival was taking place. As well as 15,000 plus making the trek to the official Sonar party just outside of the city all the clubs in town - and the bars on Marbella beach - were hosting label nights and special events of their own. My highlight was watching Ellen Allien performing her Orchestra of Bubbles album with collaborator Apparat. Sonically it sounds a lot like the techno of her formative years when the Berlin wall came down: super melodic and trance tinged. Ellen is one of the most enthusiastic people on the techno scene and it shows when she performs - especially when she stepped out front to sing 'Way Out' (which has a lovely New Order-ish outro). I was enthusing about the show the following day and noticed the person I was speaking to looked a little confused: "So Ellen Allien was performing with a parrot? What was it sitting on her shoulder?"