Category : capsule

Petes guide to Supersonic

We’ve asked a number of regular Supersonic visitors to let us know what they’re most excited about seeing at this years festival. This is what blogger/photographer extraordinaire Pete Ashton has to say:

The point of Supersonic Festival for me is seeing stuff I’ve not heard of and,
in some cases, not conceived of as possible before, so I’m reluctant
to make recommendations. I’d suggest you go random and if by some
freak of nature there’s a safe option don’t take it.

That said, I’d be a fool not to urge you to see Nisennenmondai, one of
the highlights of last year. Astonishing, relentless stuff from the
Japanese ladies. No less intense than Melt Banana but completely
different in approach.

I caught Peter Broderick supporting at a Capsule gig a couple of years
back and fell in love with his music. There are very few support acts
who can silence a room to the point where the photographers are
embarrassed by the noise of their shutters but he did it. I can’t wait
to experience him in a festival environment.

Picking a Brummie, as supporting local bands is part of the Capsule
ethos, I’d go for Stinky Wizzleteat mainly because they live up to the
majesty of that name.

Finally, it’s easy to miss the fringe stuff at Supersonic so do keep
an eye off the big stages. I’d highly recommend Sam Underwood (aka
Glatze) and his specially adapted version of Steve Reich’s Pendulum
Music, for four Supersonic Noise Boxes and four torches. I saw this at
Birmingham’s FizzPop Hackerspace and it’s world class stuff.

Exclusive Matthew Barney film

Lichens (aka Rob Lowe) is scarily busy: he was the bassist and vocalist in 90 Day Men, has collaborated with the pretty brilliant Explosions in the Sky, Om and TV on the Radio and, amid all the band hopping, has released two of his own LP’s.  True to form, he’s not content with just playing at Supersonic he is also curating a number of film screenings in the theatre space under the title Outer Limits.

Outer Limits is an exploration of contemporary works dealing with observations and ritual practices in connection with the natural world and the cosmic plane.

Subtle, glacial and turbulent, like the simple seismic shift of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara’s “Earthquakes Agave” , or the deep breathed bliss of Sabrina Ratté’s “Mirages”. These video works provide an open door into the next phases of image capture, while embracing the history of the medium.

With Paul Clipson and Rose Kallal both working in a multiple image16mm film format, it makes for a warm and saturated feel that is properly visceral. You truly understand the intuition and process both attribute to their craft as they immerse themselves in the violence and awe of nature and what is unknown.

The centerpiece of this program is “Guardian of the Veil”. Matthew Barney’s first in a series collaborations with Jonathan Bepler that will be seven performances to convey the stages of Norman Mailer’s novel “Ancient Evenings”. This documentation is a performance at the Manchester Opera House in 2007. With precision of form, Barney gives a nod to the old Gods, while presenting Egyptian ceremonial rites from his own perspective, and a fresh one at that.

This will be an exclusive screening, as this has not been shown in a format larger than a video monitor as of yet.
Taking place on Sunday 24th October in the Theatre Space as part of Supersonic Festival
Tickets are available HERE

Capsule zine no.5

New additions to Supersonic Festival

DAY TICKETS RELEASED FOR
SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2010

FINAL ACTS ADDED TO LINE-UP

KING MIDAS SOUND / ZENI GEVA / CLOAKS (exclusive solo DJ set) /
FACTORY FLOOR / NISENNENMONDAI / MUGSTAR /  DEVILMAN / PETER BRODERICK PIERRE BASTIEN + MALE INSTRUMENTY / FUKPIG  / LASH FRENZY vs KK NULL /
KHYAM ALLAMI AND MASTER MUSICIANS OF UKKAKE PRESENT: BOSPHOREAN  / MONARCH/ DEAD FADER / STINKY WIZZLETEAT

Joining confirmed acts including:
NAPALM DEATH / GODFLESH / SWANS
HALLOGALLO – Michael Rother + Friends present the music of NEU!

PEOPLE LIKE US / DEMONS (W/SICK LLAMA) / OvO / PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES / DOSH / TWEAK BIRD / DRUMCORPS / CAVE / PCM / JAILBREAK FEAT. CHRIS CORSANO + HEATHER LEIGH / MELT BANANA / JAMES BLACKSHAW / LICHENS / BONG / GNOD / VOICE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS / NECRO DEATHMORT / GNAW / EAGLE TWIN / BLUE SABBATH BLACK FIJI

Tickets on sale now from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

Friday: £20, Sat/Sun: £35, Weekend: £75

Following the news that the 2010 edition of Birmingham’s acclaimed annual Supersonic Festival will be headlined by NAPALM DEATH, SWANS, GODFLESH and HALLOGALLO, Capsule are pleased to announce that a limited number of individual day tickets are now on sale, priced £20 (Friday) and £35 (Saturday/Sunday), with weekend tickets on sale at £75.

Friday night will be headlined by Birmingham extreme metallers Napalm Death, Saturday by Godflesh, for their first UK appearance in over 10 years, and Sunday by two equally unmissable acts, Swans and Hallogallo 2010 – Michael Rother + friends play the music of NEU!

Supersonic are also excited to reveal the final round of incredible artists who will be appearing at this year’s festival. From Doom to dun step and folk, Supersonic 2010 is set to cement the festival’s reputation as one of the most original and eclectic music festivals in the UK.

Regarded as pioneers of experimental music by the likes of Sonic Youth and Merzbow, KK Null’s incredible collective Zeni Geva will be bringing their prog-hardcore to the Supersonic stage, and KK will also be appearing alongside Birmingham sound artist, Lash Frenzy, in a truly unmissable performance. Also confirmed, Kevin Martin, creator of experimental dancehall project The Bug, with his incredible, critically acclaimed new project, King Midas Sound.

Aggressive, noisy and hailed by many as the successor to Napalm Death, Fukpig will be playing their new breed of Birmingham grindcore, along with heavy, heavy dub from Devilman aka DJ Scotch Egg and Dokkebi Q. Also confirmed, Monarch, with the demonic, throat-shredding shrieks of Emilie, whose petite appearance belies one of the harshest throats in the underground Doom spectrum.
Following a knock-out 2009 performance, Nisennenmondai return, bringing their driving rhythm section and metallic guitar sound, along with Mugstar, who will be playing their unique underground mix of psychedelia and krautrock.  Also confirmed, the most exciting new band to come out of London, Factory Floor, who will also be putting in one of their legendary brutal, live performances, and there will be an unmissable Cloaks DJ set from Steve Cloaks, who will be playing strictly Cloaks material only, in an exclusive performance for Supersonic 2010. There will also be heaviness, good times and volume a-plenty from Birmingham’s very own Stinky Weezleteet and distorto-death groves from Brighton’s Dead Fader.
World music meets psychedelic rock in a unique performance from Khyam Allami and Master Musicians of Bukkake, combining the sublime Oud playing of Iraqi musician Khyam Allami with the 7-piece out rock unit, Master Musicians of Bukkake. French composer and surrealist inventor Pierre Bastien will also be bringing his musical machinery, which he has been making since the 1970s, and will share the bill with Male Instrumenty, the fantastic five-piece orchestra of toys and small instruments from Poland. Also, the “painfully young and unnervingly talented” American multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick, who will be exploring minimalism and instrumentalism with tinges of folk.

For further details check out our website www.supersonicfestival.com

Call for participants: Eastside Projects/Supersonic Festival presents GOD’S WHITE NOISE, Saturday 23 October, 2010

God’s White Noise, Kunstverein Nürnberg – Albrecht Duerer-Gesellschaft, Nuremberg, 2009
Photo: Matthias Lahme

GOTTESRAUSCHEN (GOD’S WHITE NOISE): Action for Players, Guitars & Amplifiers

Düsseldorf-based artist Christian Jendreiko is known for making actions with large ensembles of trained or untrained performers in novel, site-specific settings. Jendreiko specifically seeks to reconsider acoustics as aspects of how body and mind are constructed, through a decentralized and sculptural approach towards performance. Lasting anywhere between two and seven hours and featuring classically trained musicians alongside untrained performers in nonhierarchical and improvisatory fashion, Jendreiko transforms groups into social sculpture.

For the Birmingham premiere of ‘GOTTESRAUSCHEN (GOD’S WHITE NOISE): Action for Players, Guitars & Amplifiers’, a number of musicians and artists will perform at Eastside Projects over the course of 7 hours. Intended as a performance for an indeterminate number of guitarists and amplifiers, and taking its cue from a passage by Friedrich Schiller on man’s relationship to a series of sensual and formal compulsions (“For all beauty is ultimately but a property of … movement”), GOD’S WHITE NOISE will unfold over a single day, with guests free to enter, circulate throughout, and remain in the gallery space as long as they wish.

Jendreiko’s actions have been performed at Baer Ridgway, San Francisco (2010), Wesleyan University (2007), Kunstverein Düsseldorf (2007), Kunstverein Nürnberg/Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft (2009), the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Strasbourg (2009) and in various galleries and art institutions throughout Europe. Jendreiko has also presented work internationally since 1999 as a founding member of Düsseldorf-based artist collective hobbypopMUSEUM.

OPEN CALL:

Eastside Projects and Supersonic are looking for performers for GOTTESRAUSCHEN (GOD’S WHITE NOISE), taking place at Eastside Projects on Saturday 23 October, 12–7pm. We are looking for people interested in going through the GOTTESRAUSCHEN experience: You do not need to be a trained guitar player, however you should be interested in sonic exploration of the self. The full performance lasts 7 hours — involvement for the duration is optional: players may come and go. Performers are required to bring their own electric guitar and amplifier, which can be stored securely at Eastside Projects for the full festival weekend. Contact info@eastsideprojects.org for more details.

Supersonic Festival: 22–24 October, 2010, Birmingham, UK
Featuring Swans, Napalm Death, Melt-Banana + more, visit www.supersonicfestival.com

Eastside Projects
86 Heath Mill Lane, Digbeth, Birmingham B9 4AR
Open Thursday 12–6.30pm, Friday to Saturday 12–5pm
0121 7711778 / www.eastsideprojects.org
www.facebook.com/eastsideprojects / www.twitter.com/eprjcts
> Current exhibition: BOOK SHOW, continues to 4 September, 2010
> BOOK now available to buy online
> Jennifer Tee solo exhibition opens Friday, 24 September, 2010

HALLOGALLO + NAPALM DEATH to play Supersonic Festival

HALLOGALLO 2010 – Michael Rother + Friends present the music of NEU!
NAPALM DEATH to perform at this years Supersonic Festival.

Following the news that the 2010 edition of Birmingham’s acclaimed annual Supersonic Festival will be headlined by SWANS and GODFLESH, Capsule are excited to announce a further round of live acts who will also perform at this year’s festival, including HALLOGALLO 2010 and NAPALM DEATH. Tickets are now on sale!

“I´m thrilled to return to Supersonic this year with my new live project Hallogallo 2010. We will present some favourite music by NEU!, Harmonia and from my solo albums. I look forward to Supersonic this year because two great musicians and friends are joining me in Hallogallo 2010: Steve Shelley (drummer of Sonic Youth) and Aaron Mullan (guitar player of Tall Firs). Expect some fast-forward movement!” – Michael Rother, Hallogallo 2010/NEU!

Capsule are also excited to confirm that unquestionably the most influential band in extreme music’s ferocious history NAPALM DEATH will be performing in their hometown to make their first ever Supersonic Festival appearance. Acclaimed as the creators of Grindcore, Napalm Death will be pushing the envelope of metal to new extremes in what is guaranteed to be an unforgettable performance.

“We are very much looking forward to playing Supersonic this year. It’s always great to play a hometown gig, and with this festival being so diverse musically it’s going to be even more fun for us as we rarely get the chance to play such events -  and on the same stage as SWANS, well what can I say?” – Shane Embury, Napalm Death

Also confirmed are an incredible, eclectic mix of music and visual artists, including PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES with their mesmerizing and unforgettable avant-primitivism,  oVo with their incredible combination of heavy riffage, bombastic drumming and unforgettable vocals, as well as a return from the dark lords of Drum and Bass, PCM. DOSH will be performing, complete with mandatory pots and pans, as well as DRUMCORPS, with their unique, high-energy mix of music production values and the raw power of American hardcore.

TWEAK BIRD are also confirmed, bringing their big drums, fuzzed out baritone guitar and tandem spacey vocal melodies, and also CAVE, with their sickeningly tight drum and bass. There will also be multi-sensory art in the form of DJ and multimedia artist Vicki Bennett, aka PEOPLE LIKE US, and dark visual music trio DEMONS (W/SICK LLAMA).

This latest announcement forms part of a series of line up announcements for Supersonic 2010 with many more exciting acts and artists to be revealed in the coming weeks and months.

Tickets on sale now from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

Further info – www.supersonicfestival.com

Capsule zine no 4

Supersonic Festival line up announcement

22nd -24th October 2010
www.supersonicfestival.com

Following the news that the 2010 edition of Birmingham’s acclaimed annual Supersonic Festival will be headlined by Michael Gira’s massively influential NYC band SWANS, Capsule are excited to announce a first round of live acts who will also perform at this year’s festival, including a rocking free jazz fire in the form of JAILBREAK FEAT. CHRIS CORSANO + HEATHER LEIGH, the screeching hyper frantic sounds of Japan’s MELT BANANA, the understated beauty of 12 string guitar virtuoso JAMES BLACKSHAW, plus the mesmeric psych jams of Explosions in the Sky touring sidekicks LICHENS.

Add Eastern-inspired space rock doom from BONG, “tribal drumming, grunge and utter filth all pushed along with a Krautrock like pulse” from GNOD, Rick Tomlinson’s latest incarnation, the bewitching VOICE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS and psychedelic guitar drone from BLUE SABBATH BLACK FIJI, and many more special live guests plus art, film and panel discussions to be revealed.

Tickets are on sale now from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

Join the Supersonic Festival Team

Supersonic Festival needs YOU! Capsule’s internationally renowned festival runs 22nd – 24th October 2010 and there are 3 Internship opportunities Production, Design & Marketing Intern. You will receive valuable work experience and be credited as part of the core team that deliver Supersonic Festival.

Deadline for application – 21st May 2010

NB this is not a full time position and would require some remote working, further details of the intern schedule can be supplied upon application. Please note, unfortunately we can only receive applications from people over 18 years of age. For further information & full job spec check www.supersonicfestival.com

Swans to headline Supersonic Festival

Folks it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for…
SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2010

First up – NEW FESTIVAL DATES!
22 – 24 OCTOBER 2010
Birmingham, UK

SWANS HEADLINE SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2010

Tickets on sale now from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

To launch the 2010 edition of Birmingham’s acclaimed annual Supersonic Festival,  Capsule are over the moon to announce that Michael Gira’s massively influential NYC band SWANS will headline this year’s festival, which takes place from 22 – 24 October 2010. Tickets are now on sale! Their appearance at Supersonic Festival 2010 will be their first British show since they disbanded in 1997.

This rare and exceptional performance by SWANS marks the start of a series of line up announcements for Supersonic 2010, with many more exciting acts and artists to be revealed in the coming weeks and months.

Moving from its previous July weekend date to October from 2010 onwards, Supersonic will once again take place in and around the Custard Factory in the heart of Eastside of Birmingham, utilising converted factory warehouses and art galleries and offering up-close, intimate settings to showcase some of the most exciting music out there. Capsule’s passion for genre bending sound and performances is at the heart of all their events – there are not many places where you can listen to funeral doom, prog, folk, avant jazz and grindcore in one weekend.

For further info on hotel deals/travel/volunteers check :
www.supersonicfestival.com