birmingham

Matmos interview on The Quietus

“Matmos – the electronic duo comprised of Drew Daniel and Martin Schmidt – have been creating, constructing and collaging sonic ephemera since the mid 90s. With each album they release, Daniel and Schmidt seem to have thrown each other a gauntlet, between them creating compositions based around the collection and processing of particularly unorthodox sounds. Sometimes compared to artists like Steve Reich, and certainly to Pierre Henry (the ‘father’ of Musique Concrete), Matmos have created albums entirely from the sounds of surgery (A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure), used the sound of a bovine uterus (on their venerative album The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast which pays tribute to notable queers), and on their first self-titled effort sampled the nerve signals of a crayfish.”

Read the full interview by Nix Lowrey HERE
Capsule present Matmos with J Lesser at the mac in Birmingham this Sunday tickets are available HERE
We’re intrigued and so should you be – see you there.

Capsule forthcoming gigs

Capsule are delighted to be hosting a show with WOODS this Monday at the Hare & Hounds. Support comes from The Doozer & Spectrals. Doors are 8pm

“A distinctive blend of spooky campfire folk, lo-fi rock, homemade tape collages, and other noisy interludes, all anchored by deceptively sturdy melodies.” – Pitchfork

Read what Pete Ashton has to say about the show

Other Capsule shows that are coming up include:

Tuesday 22nd March
Seefeel + Dead Fader + Epic45
Providing a bridge between the electronic nouveau and indie-rock and feat DH Scotch Egg and ex-Boredoms drummer Iida Kazuhisa.

Wednesday 23rd March
Arbouretum + Health & Efficiency + Tigernaut
Producing sweeping, atmospheric textures of heavy psych folk

Sunday 3rd April
Earth + Lori Goldston
The band took its name from the first incarnation of Black Sabbath. they are best known as pioneers of a minimalistic, long and repetitive form of heavy music known as drone.

Sunday 15th May
Matmos with J Lesser + John Wiese
Ever shifting  experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco

For further details check www.capsule.org.uk

Workshops in Pigeon Keeping

Come and find out about pigeons!

2pm-4pm Fridays and Saturdays, February – April 2011

Project Pigeon’s Loft, Milk Street, Digbeth, Birmingham (in Boxxed’s backyard opposite Birmingham Backpackers under a viaduct)

Places are free but please book in advance by emailing:

projectpigeondigbeth@gmail.com

Saturday 19th February:  Introduction to pigeon fancying

Find out about the history of pigeon fancying, meet some pigeon fanciers and find out about why they keep pigeons, meet Project Pigeon’s birds and watch some pigeons fly.

Friday 25th February:  A pigeon’s home and life

This workshop will be focused on the different seasons in a pigeons life, from racing season to breeding season.  We will also look at the different kinds of pigeon lofts there are.

Saturday 26th February:  Day to day pigeon loft management

How to keep your pigeons clean and happy – from cleaning the loft to giving the pigeons a bath.

Friday 4th March:  Making nest boxes and perches

A woodwork session where we will design and make essential items for the inside of pigeon lofts and make any loft repairs.

Saturday 5th March:  Racing pigeons, Birmingham rollers and tipplers

There are many kinds of pigeons, racing pigeons are used in racing, Birmingham rollers in sequence flying and tipplers in endurance flying.

Friday 11th March:  A pigeon’s diet

Like any athlete a pigeons diet is very important.  In this session you will find out about all the vital vitamins, minerals and foods needed to keep pigeons on top form.

Saturday 12th March:  Veterinary skills

Vets in the UK know little about racing pigeons, and if you took your pigeon to the vet every time there was something wrong it would cost a lot and wouldn’t be practical.  Learn about what kinds of injuries pigeon get and how you can help your pigeon.

Friday 18th March:  Breeding

Come and see and learn about squeekers (baby pigeons)!

Saturday 19th March:  Training and racing

How do pigeons find their way home?  How do you train a racing pigeon?  How do you win a race?!

Saturday 2nd April:  Making a magazine about pigeons

Help Project Pigeon design a magazine based on what we have learnt during the workshops.

Saturday 16th April:  Come and watch a live pigeon race!

You might have been to the horses or to the dogs but have you ever seen a pigeon race?  Now is your chance!  Please email if you intend to come to this because the time of the race will only be known on Saturday morning – the morning of the race.

Capsule Job Opportunity

Marketing and Audience Development Assistant, Capsule + Home of Metal

F/T to August 2011 (Mid Jan start required)
£5.80 p/hour (£11,310.00 pro rata)

This is an exciting Future Jobs Fund Opportunity for anyone aged 18-25 who has been unemployed for a minimum of 6 months and is looking to forge a career in the arts.

You will work closely with the Programme Directors at Capsule on all aspects of Capsule’s day-to-day activities with a particular focus on ‘Home Of Metal’ – an exhibition across the West Midlands.

Duties will include general administration, research, copywriting, artist and artwork logistics.  You must be able to work unsupervised, have a good understanding of how to use social networking tools, copywriting skills, basic photoshop, passion for music and the arts, an eye for detail and excellent communication skills. Degree level or equivalent is preferred.

To apply for this position please send your CV and a covering letter / statement outlining your interest and experience to:
Lisa Meyer, lisa@capsule.org.uk using ‘Marketing and Audience Development Assistant’ in the subject.

Deadline for receipt of CV and covering letter              - 5th Jan
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview on     - 7th Jan
Initial briefing with successful candidate                - 14th Jan

For more information please contact:
Lisa Meyer, lisa@capsule.org.uk or 0121 248 2252

This post is offered through the Future Jobs Fund. To be eligible to apply you must be aged 18-24 and be claiming job seekers allowance. The post is offered for 6 months from January 2011. 30 hrs per week at minimum wage rates.

Supersonic review in The Wire

In the latest issue of The Wire Magazine a review from Supersonic Festival 2010, in which they refer to the Eastside creative community -

The West Midlands and Birmingham in particular are ‘the Home Of Metal‘ – where founding fathers like Black sabbath and Judas Priest played their first shows and a second wave, including Napalm Death and Godflesh, spawned numerous subgenres…We get a sense of the diverse musical and artistic interest that fed into the Birmingham scene. It’s clear that the city’s current music community, or at least the one centred around the Custard Factory, is equally openminded – something which the organisers Capsule both cater to and take inspiration from.

Supersonic confirms that there’s certainly something in the air in Birmingham, or, as one of the organisers suggests, in the city’s architecture, that makes even the older artists come across as fresh. That’s because you’re not observing them on display in a ‘zoo’, but working in their natural habitat: a post-industrial space. So many other music festivals offer what you expect to hear, merely affirming your good taste in music, Supersonic is a place to be educated and surprised: new, experimental and intellectually nourishing material is cleverly smuggled in under a black cloak of fist-pumping riffs and cathartic noise.

David Moats

Project Pigeon Prizes

It was the Aston and District Pigeon Flying club prize giving on Friday night, we collected two certificates.  One of our pigeons came 6th out of 212 pigeons on a 75 mile race from Swainswick and another came 4th out of 279 pigeons in a 114 mile race from Taunton.  We are very happy with the results.

(The jumper I’m wearing is one of a range of things we have made for British Homing World Show of the Year- in Blackpool at the end of January – where we’ll be having a stall)

VIVID’s Nightmare Before Christmas

Join VIVID on Saturday 18th December (8.30pm – late) for Nightmare Before Christmas, a Christmas knees up to mark the close of its 2010 programme. 

Nightmare Before Christmas will play host to a warped line up of winter horror, creepy electronica and spectral pop with DJ sets from COLOUR ; Lärmlicht; John Napier and Dan Le Trap  – expect a heady mix of jagged, dark, and drowsy sounds combined with intense, psychedelic, and ethereal footage. To get you in the mood, The Princes of Risborough have compiled ‘Jugend Horror Mix’ – a free playlist available for download.

Tickets cost £5 and are available in advance from theticketsellers.co.uk.

 The party closes VIVID’s LANGUAGE season (03-18 December 2010) which ends with work and performance by artist Aura Satz (http://www.iamanagram.com/index1.html). Satz’s work explores ghostly presence and illusions through performance and sound and is often focussed on unusual sonic devices, early musical instruments and automata.

Nightmare Before Christmas is presented as part of ‘The Garage Presents’, a brand new strand of one off events embracing music, live arts, installation, performance, digital and sonic media. Join VIVID’s mailing list at www.vivid.org.uk to keep up to date with all future events.

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VIVID | 140 HEATH MILL LANE | DIGBETH | BIRMINGHAM | B9 4AR

T: 0121 766 7876 | E: info@vivid.org.uk | www.vivid.org.uk

Post Supersonic 2010

Photograph courtesy of quaintliving.com

So it’s almost a month since Supersonic Festival 2010 – here is a little video which whizzes through some of this years highlights. You can also have a look at our collective memory which has collated blog posts, photos and other video footage – enjoy and see you next year!

“Supersonic Festival is one of the most celebrated dates on the UK festival calendar.” Clash Magazine

Seeing Sound – Supersonic Festival

As part of Supersonic Festival Laura Coult has curated ‘Seeing Sound’, which will take place at VIVID on Heath Mill Lane, over the weekend of the festival, and will include a screening of Tony Conrads seminal work The Flicker (1966).
This is FREE to the public & Supersonic ticket holders

SEEING SOUND, curated by Laura Coult
VIVID
140 Heath Mill Lane | Birmingham |B9 4AR
www.vivid.org.uk
Fri 12 – 5pm
Sat 12 – 6pm
Sun 12 – 4pm

An exhibition exploring the ways in which we experience sound as light, movement, noise, and colour. Spanning 40 years the programme draws together historical and contemporary moving image works including Ben Russell’s Black & White Trypps No. 3 (2007) which documents an audience’s collective freak-out during a performance by Rhode Island noise band Lightning Bolt; and a special one-off screening of Tony Conrad’s seminal work The Flicker (1966) a 30-minute film exploring the possibilities for harmonic expression using a sensory mode other than sound; audience reactions to the film ranged from disorientation, temporary hypnosis, and intense experiences of colours and patterns, to headaches and violent bouts of nausea, all seemingly caused by the pulsating light’s interaction with the brain’s alpha waves. Other artists include Benedict Drew and Juneau Projects.

Live Performances: Sun 1pm
classical percussionist Joe Snape and musician Mr. Underwood. Snape will perform Lärmlicht #2, for percussionist, 4-channel tape and 8 lightbulbs. The piece is the first in an ongoing series which explores the expressive potential of light in the context of musical performance.

Following on from his Noise Box Workshop, Mr. Underwood will stage a rare performance of Steve Reich’s Pendulum Music. Originally scored for “For Microphones, Amplifiers Speakers and Performers” this adapted version will be performed using four Noise Boxes / Optical Theremins (similar to those made in the workshop) and four torches. This performance will take place in darkness – the torches, the only source of light, add a distinctive visual aesthetic to this classic phase piece.

Screening: Sun 3pm
The Flicker (1966) Tony Conrad (16mm)

Free entry

Capsule zine no.5