Thank you to everyone that tuned in over the weekend for Sofasonic Festival, as part of our extended Sofasonic celebrations we’re releasing an array of playlists on Spotify that have been carefully curated by artists & friends of the festival for your listening pleasure.
Being a music fan can be a bit overwhelming these days – via the big wide web, almost all recorded music in history is accessible, so it can often be quite tricky to navigate the sheer wealth of sound that’s out there! By reaching out to our Supersonic artists and friends we discover the undiscovered, we get an insight into their influences and start to piece together the inspirations behind the music & art we know and love.
So whether you’re working, walking the pooch, having a lazy day or doing some DIY – we’ve got the perfect selections for you…
Sofasonic Playlists: Radwan Moumneh | Mark Titchner | QUEEF | Gazelle Twin | Matt Ridout | Khyam Allami | Molly & Mabel | Decolonise Fest | Rocket Recordings | Mike Nelson | Faten Kanaan | Iggor Cavalera | Valentina Magaletti | Sex Swing | Mariano Sarine | Sofa King |
Today, we bring you a playlist crafted by the Birmingham-based artist Ben Sadler. From Lionel Ritchie to Kraftwerk, many of you will remember Ben’s hilariously inventive song covers at Sofasonic. But by day, Ben is part of Juneau Projects formed in 2001 alongside friend Phil. Together, they work across a broad range of mediums that focus on the relationship between society, culture and the natural world.
“Supersonic is such a great thing. Picking one memory is so hard! One thing that truly has stayed with me, though arriving late (a long story but not very interesting), is seeing Sunn o))). Standing outside the Custard Factory, hearing Sunn o))) shaking the building to its foundations with the sounds of the city filtering in around me, was a weird zen-like experience. I closed my eyes and took it in. It seemed to be a great testament to Supersonic and Birmingham – the two are entwined in a profound way.”
“The tracks I’ve chosen for the playlist are a selection of songs that have soundtracked lockdown for me. Some are songs I’ve discovered during this period and grown to love, some are old friends that have popped up to fill my ears again with a new relevance.”
Take a listen here…
When lockdown started towards the end of March Ben thought it might be nice to do song requests for people and share them on Instagram each day. He ended up making 82 videos (!) each roughly a minute long with costumes, makeup, props and music – all very lo-fi.
“Lockdown has felt quite dream-like. A slow-motion world with a strange logic, moments of fear and odd beauty. I spent much of it absorbed in making cover versions on Instagram of songs people requested. It was a fun and life-affirming project and I was incredibly warmed by the warmth and kindness shown by people towards it. “
For Sofasonic Festival, Ben raided his daughter’s dressing-up box once more and returned to the wigs, tin foil and tracksuit tops with 10 new covers – requested by you lot, our Sofasonic audience!
