Baltimore’s noise rock heroes Dope Body are clearly as excited as we are for their iminent European invasion! The band have recently prepared this short video as an indication of the kind of pure rock carnage we can expect when they hit the Custard Factory in October. Here’s what they had to say about these shenanigans –

Natural History ain’t yet history; in fact, the latest Dope Body LP stands firmly on phantom stumps with growing bumps – that is to say, it just keeps moving. Now, it’s actually moving the band internationally – across the Atlantic ocean and over to the freaks in Europe for the first time, where they’re sure to be most receptive to the skunky Dope Body funk. It’s no permanent vacation, no – these dudes are on a tour mission, one that rips right through the European heartland as well as a healthy squeeze through the passages of that Kingdom, United. WTF, though- let’s stop talking and get to rocking! The tour kicks off in the ever approaching days of October. Meantime, let’s take a fist-hand peek into the world of Dope Body and all its excesses via this tour vid teaser:

THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION VII – DB EURO TOUR 2012 from dope body on Vimeo.

Dope Body will play as part of Supersonic Festival on Sunday 21st October – don’t miss out!

We’ve announced a very exciting show with Norwegian avant jazz group Supersilent, who will be joined by the legendary John Paul Jones – multi-instrumentalist and Led Zeppelin bassist. This heavyweight collaboration will enter uncharted sonic zones.

We are producing this event in conjunction with Town Hall Birmingham, and Jazzlines. Support comes from cassette manipulator Aki Onda.

This very special event will take place Wednesday 14th November at Town Hall Birmingham, tickets are available via http://www.thsh.co.uk/

Norway’s finest avant-garde guitar virtuoso Stian Westerhus has just released his new album ‘The Matriarch And The Wrong Kind Of Flowers’, which has been garnering rave reviews across the board so far. John Kelman of All About Jazz was one of the critics who found themselves floored by Westerhus’ talents, claiming that –

Conventional constructs hold little sway in Westerhus’ music. Whether striking the strings with his bow, sawing them vigorously, or somehow creating both a sustaining sonic wash and unexpected melodic motifs in real time, these nine pieces— without any hat-hanging hooks or predictable form—manage to be moving and memorable. It’s hard to imagine an artist evolving this rapidly, but taking the frog leaps of Pitch Black Star Spangled over Galore, and now the stunning The Matriarch And The Wrong Kind Of Flowers over Pitch Black, it’s hard to imagine what will come next. But it’ll be worth the wait.

You can read all of Kelman’s review here. Stian clearly likes to keep himself busy, and in addition to finishing off this album and preparing for his appearance at Supersonic Festival, he’s somehow found the time to release a collaborative record with singer and fellow Norwegian Sidsel Endresen, entitled ‘Didymoi Dreams’. The Guardian’s John Fordham awarded the album 4 out 5 stars, describing it as being –

A set that unfolds lyrical confessions like wordless folk ballads; quiet, speech-like musings; spooky gabbles and gasps; and a guitar palette of astonishing depth.

You can read the rest of Forham’s review here, and stream tracks from both of these records over at The Wire’s website. Stian Westerhus will be bringing his otherworldly guitar playing to Supersonic Festival on Saturday 20th October, an essential opportunity for fans of experimental music!

Oxbow is a band that should need no introduction; their bold and uncompromising penchant for experimentation has placed them at the forefront of contemporary rock and resulted in a startling sound that no self-respecting music enthusiast can ignore. This year marks the beginning of yet another new chapter in Oxbow’s long and storied history, with vocalist Eugene S. Robinson and and guitarist Niko Wenner teaming up to play Niko’s arrangements and orchestrations with a variety of classically trained string and brass players as the Oxbow Orchestra, news that has sent ripples of excitement through the Oxbow fanbase worldwide. Niko managed to take some time out of his busy schedule to give us a little more insight into how this idea originated, what we can expect from their upcoming album, and some potential collaborative performances at this year’s festival, both scheduled and impromptu…

Supersonic: What can we expect from your set this year?
Niko: It’s a rare and great thing. I’m very pleased that Supersonic has again made it possible for us to make explicit aspects of Oxbow music that, live, are often only implicit. OXBOW ORCHESTRA will bring to the stage new music yet to be recorded, live premieres of recording arrangements, and special music created just for this event.

Our recordings begin our songs. Our live performance solution to the music on our recordings – mass-persona, mass-musical/sound information – is often simply “volume.” To sound like twenty guitars playing at once, turn up the one. Unlike our band gigs, Oxbow recordings have always exploited the performance of larger groups. From the Kecak-inspired chanting and clapping by a Symphony of a Thousand on the recording of “Daughter,” to the massed overdubbed guitars of “Pannonica.” From the string quartet and multi-tracked guitars and rock-band of “Bomb,” to the Hammond B-3 organ, male choir, piano, guitars, et al., in the musique concrète texture of “Acker Sound/Read All Over.” The live-in-the-studio nine piece drone orchestra of “Shine (Glimmer).” The scored string quartet plus woodwind quintet of “Mr. Johnson,” and adding rock band to that nonet:  “Frank’s Frolic.” The aim has always been for an orchestral texture.

Our next studio album ‘The Thin Black Duke’ will feature brass in addition to strings, which suggested the OXBOW ORCHESTRA live line-up. I’ve wanted for some time to bring my friend from Paris-based band Heliogable (and bandmate in Bellflower) guitarist Philippe Thiphaine into an Oxbow performance. Oxbow has by tradition always made a new set minutes before we begin to play. The opportunity offered with the Orchestra is too special to leave quite that much to chance. A great deal of care has gone to arranging and orchestrating music both new and old for this special format of strings, brass, and additional guitar.

There should be surprises for all.

How did the idea for the Oxbow Orchestra originate?
Being asked to perform at Supersonic’s ten year anniversary is an honor. Dan and Greg can’t be here unfortunately. So my desire to create a performance that would arrive at the same transcendent place that Oxbow aims for, but through different means, drove some soul searching. The solution: A chamber music version of Oxbow songs new and old. And from this OXBOW ORCHESTRA was born.

Who else are you looking forward to seeing at the festival this year?
Merzbow; ORE and KK NULL; Ruins Alone; Sir Richard Bishop… I’m excited for everything. Everything I already know and knowing that things I don’t already know will be great too.

If you could pick any artist on the lineup this year to collaborate with, who would it be?
One? Merzbow. And, we have indeed arranged a last-minute collaboration.

If you were curating Supersonic, which three artists would you most want to have on board?
György Ligeti is dead now sadly. Of those still living:

1. Ornette Coleman.  Because I realized twenty years ago when pondering who – if I somehow could –  I would time-travel to experience performing that he’s one. And he’s still performing now!

2. Mathew Shipp.  Because he makes music that is like directly listening to a brain at play and at work, without the filter of “language” (à la cognitive scientist Steven Pinker).

3. Elliot Carter.  For his music of course but also so that I could shake his hand. I was too shy to do so when standing next to him in an empty foyer during a break in a performance of his first four string quartets in San Francisco. Not incidentally, a life-changing concert for me.

Which items would you say are essential for festival survival?
A curious audience, daring artists, and the support to join the two.

How would you sum up Supersonic festival in five words?
One, two, three, four GO!

…or maybe better…

Jenny and Lisa create bliss.

Finally, what does the future have in store for Oxbow?
Quite soberly and sincerely, I feel like we are stronger than ever and in mastery of our strengths, in ways I’d barely dared to hope we could achieve when we started. Truthfully, these are partly benefits of simply “not giving up,” tenacity, irascibility, not anything special. In any case IF we can continue, stay alive long enough, inch Allah and gods willing I think the future looks good.

Specifically, our next full length record ‘The Thin Black Duke’.

Niko Wenner

The Oxbow Orchestra will be performing at Supersonic Festival on Sunday 21st October.

In addition to blasting your eardrums with some of the finest sounds imaginable, Supersonic also aims to educate and enlighten in a myriad of other ways too. The decision to embrace other forms of art aside from solely music has been universally praised, and the festival has also found new ways to present these artforms, whether as part of exhibitions, installations, or even incorporating them into bands’ performances, and this year sees some of the most elaborate and spectacular artistic endeavours yet.

Starting things off at the Birmingham City University at 1:30PM on the first day of the festival, ‘Counting In’ is an extended panel discussion focusing on the presentation of sound works, installations, performances and audio art, and exploring how context can affect our approaches to listening. If you’ve ever wondered about the best ways to stage a work of experimental art, how audiences can be best encouraged to enjoy it, or even how to become a better listener yourself, then this promises to be an extremely illuminating discussion (not to mention a great networking opportunity).

The key to any good panel discussion is an interesting and diverse set of panellists, something that ‘Counting In’ delivers quite generously. You may have seen multi-disciplinary artist Lucas Abela (aka Justice Yeldham) performing a set filled with blood, sweat and tears using amplified shards of glass at last year’s festival, and his Vinyl Rally is also due to be exhibited this year – an ingenious fusion of vinyl fetishism, arcade game kitsch, audio collage and pure noise fury that has to be seen to be believed! Joining Lucas will be Frances Morgan (deputy editor of The Wire magazine), composer Simon Hall (Assistant Head of Music Technology at Birmingham Conservatoire) and Irene Revell (Director of Electra, an organisation that curates, commissions and produces projects by artists working across sound, moving image, performance and the visual arts). Revell will be using Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) and Jutta Koether’s ‘Reverse Karaoke’ installation (also on show over the weekend!) as a case study, evaluating how the project entices and engages listeners and the means in which it does so.

This panel is presented in conjunction with Sound and Music, and supported by Birmingham City University.

Tickets are FREE to weekend ticket holders (places are limited and booking in advance is essential via [email protected] with ‘LISTENING’ in the title) or £10 https://www.theticketsellers.co.uk

Speaking of ‘Reverse Karaoke’, this piece is one of the most wonderfully participatory installations to ever be shown at the festival, beckoning participants into a lavishly painted Yurt, where a a lo-fi rehearsal set-up (complete with guitar, microphone, bass, and drums and a basic PA system) awaits them. Once inside, the participant can play these instruments and record their own song along with a pre-recorded vocal track of Kim Gordon’s voice. A live sound engineer ensures you’ll have a good tone, and burns the track onto two CDs – one for you, and one to remain in a record box as part of the piece itself! Since being commissioned by Electra back in 2005, the work has toured Europe extensively and been exhibited at Magasin-CNAC, Grenoble, France; MAK, Vienna, Austria and Wysing Arts Centre, Camrbidge, as well as being included in the major touring exhibition ‘Sonic Youth Etc.: Sensational Fix’, but this is the first time the piece has been shown in Birmingham. You’d be mad to miss out!

Denise O’Sullivan ceramics will be bringing a fun selection of vintage pottery at £5 per item, to the festival for you to dip into and create your own personal piece that you can take away and use at home.
Denise will also be exhibiting and selling a selection of her finest ceramic works and adorning the teahouse with her skull creations.
www.deniseosullivanceramics.com

London’s Zoltan head out into the world following the release of their “First Stage Zoltan” album on the Austrian label Cineploit.

Drawing from their long-standing interests in vintage sci-fi paperbacks and obscure horror soundtracks, Zoltan bring you menacing chordal sweeps, cinematic synthscapes and relentless, angular rhythms, with ambient interludes, Giorgio-Moroder-from-hell sequencers and bone-shaking crescendos. Banks of vintage synths are underpinned by a driving rhythm section, infusing the intricacy of prog with a repetitive, psychedelic energy. For fans of Goblin and Heldon.

http://www.cineploit.com/?page_id=365

Whilst anticipation for Goat‘s first foray into the live arena reaches fever pitch, the band have just released this teaser video of themselves unleashing a haunting rendition of ‘Goatlord’ from deep within their Korpilombolo based temple, complete with ritualistic costumes and strobe light!

This bodes well for the band’s debut visit to these shores, and Supersonic is extremely proud to be hosting one of Goat’s first ever shows outside their native commune, on Sunday 21st October. This promises to be one wild trip indeed, so make sure you’re present for this slice of voodoo magic!

And if you haven’t yet become completely obsessed with Goat’s first record ‘World Music’, then where the hell have you been? The album is available now from Rocket Recordings.

Drone fans have been anxiously anticipating what Earth main man Dylan Carlson’s solo material was going to sound like, but the wait is almost over. Carlson is due to release ‘La Strega and the Cunning Man in the Smoke’, his first record under the name Drcarlsonalbion, as part of Southern Records’ prestigious Latitudes series (which has previously seen exclusive releases from the likes of Bardo Pond, Grails, Ariel Pink, Bohren & der Club of Gore, Haxan Cloak and many, many more) on October 16th, and the first few reviews have started to trickle in. The record consists of 7 folk inspired tracks and a cover of PJ Harvey’s ‘Last Living Rose’, and judging by these quotes, it sounds like we’re in for a treat –

Where to even begin with this album? Much like the mellotron and field recordings of ‘Edward Kelley’s Blues,’ the genesis can found in a recent trip to the British Isles, with Carlson researching our indigenous folklore and traditional faire folk. The probing field recordings lend levels of abstraction to gently spoken poetry; a sound which is somehow both atonal and blissfully melodic.

Rob Batchelor, Beard Rock

Carlson has created something evocative and quite special. Transplanting the droning guitar style he uses with Earth and using it as musical bed while shimmering and almost bluesy guitar licks are laid over the top. Boozily drifting past and literally sounding like orange-drenched Autumn sunsets across a glade in the forest. I know, right?

Tight To The Nail Reviews

You can read all of Rob Batchelor’s review here, and click here to read Tight To The Nail’s analysis. ‘La Strega and the Cunning Man in the Smoke’ is released on October 16th. Carlson will be touring the UK in support of the record, culminating in a performance at Supersonic on Saturday 20th October. We can’t wait!

Plymouth’s Imperfect Cinema are keen proponents of DIY culture, specialising in exploring participatory production as a way to democratise and open up film making to individuals from all walks of life, reclaiming this art form from the high production values and billion dollar studios that many believe have corrupted it. With this year’s ‘Halide-Oxide’ workshop, the collective will be inviting the audience to arm themselves with vintage/redundant filming equipment (the titular ‘halide’ of super-8mm film and the ‘oxide’ of audio cassette tape used to capture video) and shoot the unique post-industrial setting of the festival, hopefully capturing some of the stark, mechanical aesthetic that played such a pivotal role in the creation of Heavy Metal. This footage will then be used in two different ways; Imperfect Cinema will be using some of your footage as an alternative visual document of the festival which will form a unique part of the archive of its tenth anniversary, and the rest will provide the visual backdrop for noise-rock titans Drunk In Hell’s set the next day, granting a unique opportunity to directly influence the very spirit of the festival itself!

To book a place at this workshop, please email [email protected] with ‘Imperfect Cinema’ in the subject line.

Speaking of Drunk In Hell, the band have recently made their demo cassette available as a free download via their Bandcamp page – a vicious, snarling recording doused with liberal splashes of piss and vinegar. If you abandoned Unsane and Eyehategod in a damp cardboard box on the cold streets of Middlesbrough, then checked back in on them a few weeks later, the aggressive, hopeless sound they’d be unleashing wouldn’t be a million miles away from Drunk In Hell’s cathartic uproar. To give you a further idea of what to expect, the band have also uploaded a full live set from Leeds last year, but we have a feeling not even this furious recording will adequately prepare you for the full-on brutality that these guys are going to bring to the Supersonic stage this year.

You can catch Drunk In Hell performing on Saturday 20th October – just don’t expect to come away unscathed!

Trash Humpers is a 2009 film directed by Harmony Korine that was shot completely on worn VCR home video. There are many things that the film comments on in its entirety, but the choice of the seemingly archaic VHS tape came as a result of our modern obsession with technology and the concept that everything has to be perfect; that which is not can simply be deleted. We have entered an age where if we do not like a photograph, we can choose to get rid of it forever, wiping its existence from both our memory card’s and our memory. However, as a child of the 1980’s, Korine remembers his first camera, given to him by his father, noting how he used to reuse the tape over and over again. He commented in an interview with Chris Bilton that “There was something interesting about certain images or scenes bubbling up to the surface”, whereby there is “something sinister” about its unexpected nature and grainy reality.

 The idea for the film came about whilst walking his dog late at night in the back alleys of his hometown ofNashvillewhere Korine encountered trash bins strewn across the ground in what he imagined as a war zone. Overhead lights beamed down upon the trash in a Broadway-style that Korine found very dramatic. They began to resemble human form, beaten, abused and “very humpable”. Korine remembered, as a teenager growing up in Nashville, a group of elderly peeping toms who would come out at night. He has described them as “the neighborhood boogeymen who worked at Krispy Kreme and would wrap themselves in shrubbery, cover themselves with dirt, and peep through the windows of other neighbours.”

The film has been described as perversely beautiful, which may have come as a result of the original conception of the film, this being as a group of photographs. Korine would go out late at night and dress his assistants in crude masks that resembled burn victims. He would then proceed to photograph them fornicating with trash and vandalising various things using the worst quality cameras he could find. It was only when the photos came out so disturbing that the idea for a movie became conceivable.

Watching Trash Humpers will surely be a stand-alone experience. The juxtaposition of the elderly exteriors of the characters at once clashes with their youthful vigor and youthful mischief whereby the audience will watch in an unbelieving trance as they defecate, smash televisions, let off firecrackers and tap dance. His characters act in a way that has been perceived as violent, but he has turned this on its head; rather than embracing violence as acts that are committed without purpose, he instead uses the film as almost an “ode to vandalism”. He has commented that there can be a creative beauty in the mayhem and destruction created by violence, and his comedic characters act with almost a vaudevillian horror element to what they do. Importantly, he ensures that his characters are having a good time in what they are doing, marking their territory amongst his elaborate portrait of the “American Landscape”. Just as lamp posts serve a purpose in lighting up the gutter, the characters of Korine’s film light up the deep set flaws of the voyeuristic American society.

Those bold individuals who strive to birth sounds from objects that were never destined to emanate such forbidden noises are perhaps the perfect embodiment of that fearless, independent spirit that forms the focal point of our ‘You Can Be You’ panel discussion. From guitar distortion’s evolution from an accidental nuisance into a highly desirable and refined textural tool, to those forward thinking disc jockeys who elevated the turntable into an instrument in its own right; these endeavours are fraught with frustration, comprising large amounts of trial and error, technical manipulation and sheer stubborn audacity, but have resulted in some of the most startling sound experiments imaginable.

Following in the footsteps of these trailblazing aural alchemists, Brian Duffy’s Modified Toy Orchestra has focused its sights on transforming simple childhood playthings into avant-garde electronic instrumentation, seeking to unearth the secret potential that lays dormant inside these obsolete artefacts. After opening up each toy and rewiring circuits into positions they were never meant to find themselves in, the toys are reassembled with switches and dials to assume control over the object during a performance. The resulting spectacle is sometimes terrifying, often funny, but occasionally strangely beautiful, as the faintly jubilant cries of long discarded inanimate objects are finally allowed to ring out through the air like an emotionless, mechanical phoenix rising from the ashes of the past. The Modified Toy Orchestra will take to the stage on Friday 19^th October, the first day of Supersonic – a perfect way to start your weekend of daring musical discovery!

Carving a similarly unchartered path through the overgrowth of technology is Birmingham based artist Sarah Farmer, who will be inviting festival goers to summon an accidental cacophony by mutilating CDs, tapes and vinyl with the Scratch ‘n’ Phase installation. Through blatant disregard for traditional music handling etiquette, a number of enlightening glitches and industrial screeches can be found, whilst basic layering and looping equipment allows the participant to build their own unintended sonic tapestry. Audiophiles will be appalled, and musical mavericks will be grinning ear to ear in what promises to be one of the noisiest installations of the weekend!

Supersonic always throw in a few wild cards each year to surprise and astound you, and this year sees the inclusion of the mysterious collective known as Moonn O))). The project represents the meeting of several multi-disciplinary artists, primarily Mark Wagner and Sanna Charles of acoustic doom duo Sunday Mourning, and London based artist and illustrator Conny Prantera. In addition to his own music, Wagner has provided remixes for the likes of Teeth of The Sea and Gum Takes Tooth, whilst Prantera has previously unveiled exhibitions at Supersonic like the intricate video installation Kore Kosmou, so it’ll be fascinating to see how these different individuals combine their crafts into one unified experience. What’s even more exciting is that Moonn O))) also comprises several other artists (namely Emiliano Maggi of the experimental act Estasy, photographer Marko Righo and costume designers Kamellia McKayed and Gloria Carlos), who’ll be contributing their respective skills to what promises to be an utterly bizarre feast for the senses.

There are no prizes for guessing where these artists have drawn their inspiration for the project, but the angular, free-form sounds these individuals have created is quite a unique beast indeed, comprising low-level drones, murmured vocals, dark soundscapes and even a Roky Erickson cover. The collective will be debuting a conceptual performance, inspired “by the Heavens Above”, in a ritaulistic meeting of drone and performance art that’s sure to be a mystical and mysterious voyage for the more intrepid listener…

Japan’s noise master Merzbow is one of the most insanely prolific artists alive today. Indeed, some times it can seem overwhelming trying to keep up to date (this year has seen the release of 2 mammoth 10 disc boxsets, ‘Merzphysics’ and ‘Merzmorphosis’) but this new split release with the equally fascinating Actuary should be high on your list of records to check out. But don’t just take our word for it, here’s a great review of it from Grind to Death’s Alex Layzell –

As we have come to expect from Merzbow, the music (and I use the term loosely) is not designed with the express idea of belonging to any specific form or to appease the listener, it’s purely a complete experiment in pushing the boundaries of mankind’s command of sound and as such appeals to those of inquisitive mind sets for whom satisfaction is not derived directly from the listening, but in the attempt to unravel its inner workings and abstract meanings of this enigma of digital manipulation. Ultimately it is an endless task with no conclusion, yet a realisation that fails to shake the determination of the listener from repeating the process in the hopes of being that one step closer to the answer. Such is the beauty of Merzbow.

You can read the full review over at Grind to Death and catch Merzbow on Saturday 20^th October at Supersonic. Merzbow fans will also want to check out fellow noise-mongers KK Null, Kevin Drumm and Lash Frenzy at this year’s festival!

With winter seemingly just around the corner, what we all need are some Warm Digits. We are not just talking about the need for a good pair of gloves. We are talking about the hottest export from up North in recent years whose music has been descried by Andrew Weatherall as “Machine funk kraut-a-delia”. What does this mean you ask? Well their aptly names new album, “Keep warm…with the Warm Digits” celebrates music from a distant time where music still only saw limitless horizons and endless sonic possibilities. With both halves of the duo, Andrew Hodson and Steve Jefferis, hailing initially from the North East of England, their music is littered with references to their Trans-Pennine experiences. As we know, this part of the country is known for its intimate and consistently evolving music scene and it from this underground environment that the band emerged.

The duo initially began as a techno-based laptop set up, but their penchant for the lineage of 1970s experimentalism and the likes of Neu!’s hypnotic repetition has seen a 21st Century revival of a sound that has been re-sculpted in accordance with modern vitality. They have remained friends with Sunderland’s Field Music throughout the years, and consequently helped them record the unique ‘One Copy’ in the North West’s Lauriston Gallery. It is an album whose sole copy is owned by the creators as a statement against the free streaming and sharing culture becoming dominant in music, perhaps even threatening its demise.

Alongside Neu!, the duo have named a wide range of artists that have influenced their current sound. With My Bloody Valentine, Lindstrom and Prins Thomas, Chris Corsano, Kraftwerk, Can, Harmonia, Michael Rother, Bob Moog, Emeralds and Drexciya being amongst a much larger list it is easy to see how the band have crafted such a current sound. Aside from their admiration from other artists, Warm Digits have completed remix work for Unkle and Maximo Park and can count BBC Radio 6music’s Marc Riley amongst their fans. I for one will not be missing their performance, as who doesn’t love a good krautophonic blizzard?

Oxbow fans have much to rejoice over at this year’s festival; in addition to their extremely special Oxbow Orchestra set and frontman Eugene S. Robinson’s appearance in our ‘You Can Be You’ panel discussion, Supersonic will also be screening ‘The Luxury Of Empire’, an enthralling and stylish glimpse at life on the road for one of the most polarising and unrestrained avant-rock bands to walk the Earth. A gripping, warts-and-all portrait of a band maturing whilst having to deal with the trials and tribulations of the touring process, the film features candid interviews and live footage, all wrapped up in a deliciously dark and cinematic aesthetic, informed by Oxbow’s music itself as much as it is by film making convention. The themes of coming-of-age and the difficulties of touring are sure to fascinate anyone with even the remotest interest in live music, but for Oxbow enthusiasts especially, this is mandatory viewing.

‘The Luxury of Empire’ is the work of French film-maker Mariexxme, a former animator who has also filmed the Melvins, Sleep, the Jesus Lizard, Lightning Bolt and Jello Biafra, to name but a few. We asked Marie a few questions about the film, and why it should be an essential part of your Supersonic experience…

Supersonic: What was it about Oxbow that inspired you to make them the focal point of your film?
Marie: It was the 20th anniversary of Oxbow the year I decided to make that film focused on them. A year before that I had interviewed them for a French magazine with a friend of mine and edited a 40 minute video based on the history of the band, which we cut in 4 parts and posted online. That video made me want to go further, 40 minutes of something more! It made me really want to enter their life and make them talk about themselves and their approach to art. That’s why I focused the film more on their way of seeing art and their work.

Also, I’d heard that they were looking for somebody to make a film about ‘The Narcotic Story’, which for me is one of the most brilliant albums of the last few years and one of the reasons I wanted everybody to know about Oxbow! I couldn’t work on a film like that by myself but that’s the reason why my documentary has been filmed in the dark, I wanted it to look like a movie, I wanted it to look like ‘The Narcotic Story’.

‘The Luxury of Empire’ was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Would you recommend this way of funding to other aspiring artists?
I’d never heard about Kickstarter before ‘The Luxury of Empire’, I think it was Niko Wenner who told me about it. At first I thought it was crazy and would never work, but it’s been a nice surprise! Since then I’ve seen lots of other projects reaching their goals, I myself pledged on 2 different projects involving my friend David Yow (The Jesus Lizard), I must admit it works perfectly well. Yes I would definitely recommend it to others, and maybe even use this way myself next time if needed.

Why should Supersonic attendees check out ‘The Luxury of Empire’?
Why? Because I think people coming to a festival like Supersonic are passionate and curious people. Because this film is about one of the most brilliant bands existing and one of the most unrecognized (this film was made for Oxbow’s fans but also, and this is really important to me, for others to discover). Because this film is about Oxbow but more than a film about one band, it’s a film talking about what makes an artist live. Something I got myself inside like anybody involved in any kind of Art, something you could never live without, something that makes you play or paint, write or sing everyday and until the end of your life – whatever happened, even if you know you ‘ll never get rich by this, even if it means doing the same things everyday and living hard times most of the time.

‘The Luxury of Empire’ shows the inside, what the audience and fans never see, the reality of being an artist, the reality of being on tour, it also includes uncut live performances because it’s important to see the result of the process. It has been made to go with a whole live show filmed in Paris at the same time, my idea was to make a film to explain the inside and one to show the result without talking anymore, like Darkness and Light. It has been planed like that and it’s on the DVD like that with Manuel Libeskind’s tour diary about Oxbow ‘Still Before’ as a wonderful bonus.

Who else are you looking forward to seeing at the festival this year?
Zeni Geva, I haven’t seen them for years, Ufommammut (they are friends of mine), and then Grey Hairs, Dope Body, Bohren und der Club of Gore, Jarboe, Goat, Body /Head, Mothertrucker. But I will have to film Oxbow’s Orchestra experience and rehearsal during the week too, I’m waiting to see the schedules to organize my weekend at the festival.

You’ve filmed a great number of awesome bands, but are there any left that you would like to work with?
I’ve started working with Amenra and I’m really happy about this, they’re one of the bands I really wanted to make a film about. I would have loved working with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, I talked about it but unfortunately they don’t exist anymore. Melvins are second, I really want to work with them. All those bands have their own unique world and that’s what I’m looking for.

I would have loved making a film about Alice Donut but it’s already been done. I must admit I’ve filmed a lot of bands, and since I’ve started working on small video interviews for the Canadian/French website Pelecanus, I’ve been making a short film about a band every month! I just finished one about Converge and will start one for Wovenhand. I had to film Baroness in July but had technical troubles with my camera, so I definitely have to do something with them again soon! I also did Sleep, I must say I’m overjoyed!

If you were curating Supersonic, which three artists would you most want to have on board?
Maybe Amenra, Oxbow and the Melvins, but I could easily find 10 bands I’d most want…..

Which items would you say are essential for festival survival?
For me : a camera, a pair of confortable shoes and a pint. That’s it!

‘The Luxury Of Empire’ will be screening at this year’s Supersonic Festival. For more information about Mariexxme, you can visit her official website and Vimeo page.

Joe Clay of the Quietus recently spoke to Sweden’s voodoo lunatics Goat about their music, their upcoming live show at Supersonic and life in their remote Korpilombolo commune, which they summarise as –

A blissful, easeful & peaceful existence. At times transcendental. 24/7 beneficial activities, nudity and worship of the GREAT one. Invocations, prayers and total rejoice! The love of death and awaiting the return of the horned one…

To delve deeper into the mysteries of this fantastic band and find out more, you can read the full interview here. Make sure you catch Goat’s performance at Supersonic on Sunday 21st October, as this is sure to be a historic occasion indeed!

You can’t hold us back! We’ve added even more exciting live acts to the festival line up, keeping it bursting at the seams with a diverse range of new music. Australian sound artist Lucas Abela (the brains behind the Vinyl Rally will be at the festival performing as Justice Yeldham. Abela creates an other-worldy sound by pressing his face and lips against glass whist employing various vocal techniques ranging from throat singing to raspberries. Trust us, it has to be seen to be believed, so for a taster check out this video from his Supersonic 2008 appearance.

Rhythm, drone and psychedelic noise will come in the form of Manchester collective Gnod. Free School will bring the sunny Balearic sounds of summer and the icy kosmische sounds of winter for some disconcerting dance music.

Check out the full line up, there’s only a month to wait!

Bringing the sunny Balearic sounds of summer and the icy kosmische sounds of winter to a venue near you, Free School are maximalist and minimalist all at once. But in a good way. The Birmingham duo signed to the internationally renowned Tirk label in 2011 and have just released their critically acclaimed LP ‘Tender Administration’, following two 12” releases and a string of remixes for the likes of Roots Manuva and Phil Oakey. Their cosmic delights have won the support of DJs Jacques Renault, Justin Robertson, Red Rack’em, Pete Gooding, Disco Bloodbath, The Big Chill and Future Disco.
Together with powerhouse drummer Simon Weaver and sensuous/deviant singer Greg Bird, the band have played live supporting Andrew Weatherall, Walls, Mark E and Fujiya & Miyagi and have recently performed at Croatia’s disco Mecca ‘The Garden Festival’. Free School have been performing a live show to win the hearts and minds of….well, people like you. Yes, you. Taking retro- futurist disco as a starting point, Free School have fused together Electro, House, Balearic, and Kosmiche to arrive at “a new sound….one that’s never been heard before….”* They may or may not be wearing masks of lamb.**
*Quote not actually said in reference to Free School. But it does feature in one of their songs, so the point stands. **Not actual lamb. They’re made of some sort of rubber/latex composite. But they look like lambs, so the point stands.

http://wearefreeschool.com/

Mainlining a torrent of psycho-delic, reverb drenched, doomsday motorik and improvised sounds is the master and mystery of Gnod. Audiences have come to expect bizarre humanoid toasting over cosmic synth eeriness pinned down with a combination of duelling deep-vein-thrombosis juggernaut riffs and heart-pounding beats. Gnod explore the possibilities of a big, awesome sound with an uncompromising aesthetic.

To date the band have releases with Not Not Fun (USA), Blackest Rainbow (UK). Tamed Records (France) and Rocket Recordings (UK) to name a few and are gaining a cult following on the live scene in grimy venues & dark club spaces all over Europe with their head-spinning, mind-bending, bowel-shaking live shows.

ingnodwetrust.tumblr.com

What’s been described as “a trumpet player trapped in a two dimensional universe” is in fact the unique audio work of Justice Yeldham, a maverick musician with an unhealthy obsession with sheets of broken glass. By pressing his face and lips against the glass whist employing various vocal techniques ranging from throat singing to raspberries, he turns disguarded household windows into crude musical instruments. Resulting in a wide variety of cacophonous noises that are strangely controlled and oddly musical.

Justice Yeldham is the alter-ego of Australian sound performer Lucas Abela, whose past sonic experiments were conducted under monikers like A Kombi, DJ Smallcock & Peeled Hearts Paste.

http://www.myspace.com/justiceyeldham

We’re thrilled to announce that Ufomammut will be playing all of their new magnum opus ‘ORO’ at Supersonic this year! Birmingham is the perfect place for this spiritually charged metal odyssey to take place, not just because of its gritty, post-industrial aesthetic; the city is unquestionably where the screeching, fanged foetus of heavy metal was violently ejected from the cosmic womb and let loose to terrorize the world at large. Despite what some journalists will tell you, the exact moment when this happened is easily identifiable and can be pin-pointed when Tony Iommi first summoned that planet-obliteratingly evil chord that opens Black Sabbath’s infamous titular song. The streets and factories of Birmingham did more than act as the genre’s birthplace, as the industrial environment that Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward grew up in played a pivotal role in influencing the bleak and terrifying sound that epitomised the genre’s early classics. It’s hard to imagine ‘Electric Funeral’ coming out of anywhere but the turbulent mechanical landscape of Birmingham circa 1970, as metal’s most important 4 piece allowed themselves to vent away the pent-up depression brought on by menial factory jobs, against the backdrop of the most ominous riffs in existence -“dying world of radiation, victims of mad frustration” indeed.

As part of Capsule’s Home Of Metal initiative, we’re proud to present the Crossroads of Sabbath walking tour this year, an in-depth look at the city that changed the face of music forever led by music historian and Sabbath enthusiast Rob Horrocks. It’s heartening to know the world is still populated by a healthy number of Sabbath devotees as the tour is completely over-subscribed and is now fully booked! But don’t worry if you missed out on tickets as Supersonic has more than enough riff related goodness for you this year, with a couple of bands cut from the same recognisable lineage that Sabbath themselves prompted all those years ago.

First up is the hugely influential guitarist Dylan Carlson. His band Earth (which, incidentally, is what Bill, Geezer, Ozzy & Tony referred to themselves as in their early blues-rock incarnation) are perhaps the most extreme manifestation of Sabbathian lore to rear its head thus far. Records like ‘Earth 2’ and ‘Phase 3: Thrones & Dominions’ took gargantuan Sabbath style riffs and reduced them to a crawl, producing a long, resonant drone that enraptured many across the globe (not least two youngsters named Anderson and O’Malley). This special set finds Dylan distancing himself somewhat from his Earth colleagues, and branching out with a new set of musicians. Dylan’s solo work has been shrouded in secrecy so far, but it would not be entirely unfounded to expect a continuation of the mystical, folky direction Carlson has pursued on the last two Earth records, the ‘Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light’ duology. However, Dylan could well have a trick or two up his sleeve, making this an essential experience for Earth fans!

Italy’s finest space-doom trio Ufomammut are making the pilgrimage to Supersonic this year, riding a wave of inspiration off the back of their recent two-part album ‘ORO’. Despite sharing traits with many of their amp laden, doom saying peers, Ufomammut’s style is very unique and distinctive, with a rich psychedelic aura and a visceral, gut-punching intensity. If you replaced Electric Wizard’s weed stash and horror movie collection with several grams of peyote and a copy of Pink Floyd’s ‘Meddle’, the ensuing voyage would seem like a pleasing parallel to the path Ufomammut have carved out for themselves. In the two years that have passed since their humongous modern day classic ‘Eve’, the band have returned from the wilderness like psychedelic visionaries, armed with the two records that comprise ‘ORO’, ‘Opus: Primum’ and ‘Opus: Alter’. A dense and imposing body of work, the ‘ORO’ saga is more than the sum of its parts, and Ufomammut have a real treat in store for us this year. In addition to this exclusive sneak peek at their new video, the band has just revealed that they’ll be playing ‘ORO’ in its entirety at the festival, offering an ecstatic voyage into a vast, deep space riff utopia that will consume and unravel the very fibre of your being. And what self-respecting Sabbath fan wouldn’t want that?

Dylan Carlson will play Supersonic on Saturday 20th October, and Ufomammut will appear on Sunday 21st October.

To honour the occasion of Supersonic’s 10th anniversary and the recent discovery of the lost Festival of The Rea, the SOUNDkitchen collective will give a special performance of Earth Ears: A Sonic Ritual by Pauline Oliveros. Known for her ritualistic and meditative approach to sound and listening, Oliveros’ work invites performers and audience to engage in a Deep Listening experience.

For this performance each member of the collective will invoke one of the four classical elements Earth, Air, Fire and Water, central to ancient pagan practices and magic rituals. Each performer will reveal their sonic manifestation through musical actions, recorded representations and improvisation. Through collective expression and meditation we invite you to celebrate the spirit and history of the River Rea in Digbeth as an historic site of community, creativity and mystical energy.

SONICritual  will be performed by: Iain Armstrong, Julien Guillamat, Shelly Knotts, Annie Mahtani. Sound engineer: James Carpenter

SOUNDkitchen are a collective of composers and sound artists dedicated to promoting artists working in the medium of sound. Their ongoing series of live events present emerging and established performers from Birmingham and beyond with a focus on current and emerging approaches to experimental electronic music. They also curate and create sound art installations and exhibits, initiate collaborative projects and give live performances.

http://soundkitchenuk.org

Islaja, Lau Nau, Tomuntonttu– three of Finland’s finest. Imagine a rearrangement of sounds and images, whereby psych-folk is juxtaposed with groovy animal noises and a variety of instruments create a cacophony of noise that is as subtle and intimate as it is full of impact and intrigue.

Let us start with Islaja. Heading up 2012’s Kids Gigs, she is an artist that is and will be appreciated by all ages and all tastes. She is credited with playing a whole host of instruments, ranging between colourful juice glasses, witch laugh megaphone and even beer cans. Her new album, Keraaminen Pää, is overflowing with rich, sculptural sounds, dense atmospherics and Nordic romanticism, and will she will undoubtedly evoke a vibe on stage that mirrors her unique vocal style.

Islaja performs regularly at venues and festivals across Europe and the UK, and has shared the stage with bands as diverse as Animal Collective, Low, Handsome Furs, Skaters and Junip. However, she has remained relatively unknown in her native country until recently, where people have really begun to sit up and stare. Whilst many have referred to her music as ethereal, relating her presence to that of a nymph amongst the tamed wilderness of the forest, Islaja herself has said noted that ultimately, ‘I am a child of the city, and I reckon my music ultimately is just rock.’

Since the release of her celebrated debut full length Kuutarha on Chicago’s Locust Music in 2005, Lau Nau has enjoyed considerable recognition for her intimate and playful blend of ethnic tinged folk songs with curious and intuitive sounds conjured from familiar and exotic sound sources. Like her Nordic counterparts, whilst her music is at home in the city she manages to transform the room by making her audience feel as though they are experiencing the great outdoors. The gentle meeting of edginess, warmth and elements of natural beauty ensure that her performance will stand up and provide a protective jumper for revelers against the unpredictable October weather.

Finally, let us move on to Tomutonttu. Described as a ‘creature who looks after all the dust’, it is again Finnish-based musician Jan Anderzen who rearranged images and sounds and makes the music of Tomutonttu audible. Read streams, mutilated voices, groovy animal noises and records other people have made are some of the ingredients Anderzen uses to mold his ecstatic music. Someone described it like this: a confusing close-up of music, a microcosmos of strange sound events and dirt flying around in stereo space, interacting with a logic all of their own.

Let us imagine our Nordic dream. Now, let us see our Nordic dream being realised at Supersonic 2012.