It’s an honour to have one of Japan’s most uncompromising and original noise rock bands appearing at Supersonic’s 10^th anniversary bash – we are of course talking about the mighty Zeni Geva! Seeing as guitarist and vocalist KK Null has graced the Supersonic stage numerous times over the past decade (including an absolutely incredible performance with Zeni Geva themselves back in 2010 that melted the brains of everyone within a 10 mile radius), this seems like the perfect band to invite along for this year’s celebrations.

Zeni Geva’s sound doesn’t lend itself to easy categorisation, taking the primordial soup of death metal and blending it until it assumes the complex characteristics of prog rock, then lathering it in thick, turbulent layers of dissonance and serving the whole mixture up with a generous side portion of paranoia, anger and fear. Whilst KK Null has remained the core leader of the group, over the years the band’s personnel has read like a who’s-who of the early Japanese noise scene, featuring the talents of Acid Mother’s Temple guitarist Mitsuru Tabata and Boredoms/Hanatarashi drummer Ikuo Taketani, who has since been replaced by hyper talented Ruins sticksman Tatsuya Hoshida. Zeni Geva’s incendiary sound was too exciting to go unnoticed by the Western world however, and eventually caught the attention of such luminaries as Steve Albini and Jello Biafra, who signed the band to his Alternative Tentacles label in 1993 to release their classic ‘Desire For Agony’ record. As anyone who has witnessed them in the flesh before will attest, the Zeni Geva live experience is truly a force of nature. A whirlwind of distraught riffs, rapidly shifting time signatures and an almost unbearable tension threaten to overwhelm the listener, before the band’s abstract pummelling eventually ushers in a state of bizarre, transcendental euphoria. The band’s UK shows haven’t exactly been plentiful over the years, so grab this chance to see this incredible band while you can!

But of course, artists as prolific as Null and Hoshida aren’t just satisfied with treating us to just one mindblowing performance, and both artists will be taking to the stage under different guises this year too. KK Null will be teaming up for a one-off set with local tuba drone pioneers ORE, a two-piece dedicated to broadening the pallette of drone/doom with the vast, resonant sounds of the tuba. ORE’s Sam Underwood joined Null for his gut shatteringly intense performance with Lash Frenzy at Supersonic two years ago, which was evidently the start of a very fruitful partnership indeed. This unlikely combo will be playing a piece of music they’ve written specially for the festival, and will even have a few copies of an ultra-limited CD-R for sale. These are sure to sell like hot cakes, so act quickly if you want to snap one up! How ORE’s deep brass drones will play off against KK Null’s retina searingly powerful waves of noise is anyone’s guess, but this promises to be a fantastically esoteric journey into the furthest reaches of experimental music. Don’t miss out!

Tatsuya Hoshida will also be performing as Ruins Alone, the solo incarnation of his incredibly complex but endlessly groovy band Ruins. Sharing a similar style of frantic hyperactivity with bands like Naked City, Fantômas and Melt Banana but walking a path that is all their own, Ruins feed music through their own personalised meat grinder and string together the resulting strands into intricate patterns that make the Fibonacci sequence look like the 2x time table. Taking influence from French prog rock madmen Magma, Ruins songs are sung in their own language, a fitting trait for a band that so steadfastly refuses to adhere to conventional norms and structures. After being lucky enough to find 4 different virtuoso bassists to accompany him over the past 18 years, recently Hoshida has decided to go it alone, wowing audiences across the globe with his technical precision and flawless ability to leap between wildly different time signatures with the utmost grace. Ruins have always emphasised the power of immediacy and spontaneity in addition to their impeccable musicianship, making this a set that will be as gratifying to free wheeling hedonists as it is to beard stroking percussion experts.

Zeni Geva will play Supersonic Festival on Saturday 20th October, whilst Ruins Alone and KK Null & ORE will play on Sunday 21st October.

Here’s the third and final edition of our festival podcasts, an awesome selection of Supersonic related artists loving chosen by Chris Downing. If you missed out on them beforehand, the first and second editions are still available for streaming!

Playlist

1. Jarboe – Ascend

2. Mothertrucker – Festival Strength

3. Lau Nau – Painovoimaa, Valoa

4. Hype Williams – Businessline

5. Hey Colossus – Almeria, Spain

6. Doomsday Student – Ape In Love

7. Napalm Death – The Crucifixion Of Possessions

8. Stian Westerhus – Trailer Trash Ballad

9. Nicholas Bullen – Proximity

10. Merzbow – Slave New Desart

11. My Disco – A Turreted Berg

12. Oxbow – S Bar X

13. Modified Toy Orchestra – Monkey Hands

14. Moonn – Night Of The Vampire

15. Gnod – Why Don’t You Smile Like The Other Children

16. Body/Head – Live

Weekend tickets are just £80 and available from HERE

Describing themselves as “a shambolic visual collection of hoodlums and battered psyches”, it’s clear that the Outcrowd aren’t your run-of-the-mill arts collective. Since their humble beginnings in 2004 by two artists named Lawrence Roper and Simon Peplow, the group have put on a number of exhibitions, shows, workshops and installations, all with a very distinct and engaging visual aesthetic. The Outcrowd has blossomed into a large network for creative individuals to express themselves in whatever manner they so desire, and this time they have a real treat in store for Supersonic attendees.

After investigating the curious and bizarre old traditions based around the area of Birmingham’s birth place, the crossing of the River Rea (or Digbeth as it’s known today), the Outcrowd stumbled across tales of the lost Festival of the Rea. This long-forgotten celebration was born out of Pagan and traditional religious traditions, and its influence can be felt in similar festivals still celebrated throughout Europe. Rather than allow this ancient tradition to disappear into obscurity, the Outcrowd will be re-creating the Festival of the Rea at Supersonic this year (a sort of festival within a festival, if you will), with a host of mythically inclined artists in tow. The collective will construct a shrine, known as the “house of Beorn”, the first to be built in the area for over a century. Festival goers are encouraged to contribute their own offering to this ramshackle, weathered and sacred cabin during the festivities, so so you too can play a part in keeping this esoteric practice alive!

Artists confirmed for the exhibition are:

Marcus Oakley

Jake Blanchard

Rob Flowers

Holly Wales

Stewart Easton

Steven Smith

Rue Five

Adam Higton

French

Arran Gregory

Simon Peplow

Lawrence Roper

Stef Grindley

Tsz Ludford

Lucy McLauchlan

Ben Javens

Doomsday Student are another exciting addition to this years lineup, and are sure to find favour with fans of other acts on the bill this year like Zeni Geva, Dope Body and Drunk In Hell.

Doomsday Student are in many ways a logical continuation of the seminal Providence noise rock band Arab on Radar. For the uninitiated, Arab on Radar’s sound was a thrilling whirlwind of abrasive, trebly guitars, harrowingly repetitive distorted bass lines, brutally primitive rhythms and nasal shrieks, a winning combination that influenced pretty much every noise rock band to follow in their wake. Doomsday Student comprises the bulk of Arab on Radar’s personnel (plus members of another post-Arab on Radar project, Chinese Stars) and as such share some similar qualities, but these musicians are keen to distinguish Doomsday Student as a distinct entity in its own right, stating that –

“You know who these men are. They have been other men. Who they were before does not matter. What matters most is who they are now. These men, with two menacing guitars, violent drums, and wild words will fill that void in you. They will build bunkers out of your bones. They will make weapons out of your teeth. They will drink your tears and feed on your meat.”

Evidently, Doomsday Student mean business, and will stop at nothing to eviscerate your eardrums with their pummelling noise rock. We contacted the band to find out more about what they have in store for us at this year’s festival, and which other bands they’re looking forward to seeing…

Supersonic: Why should Supersonic attendees check out your set?
Doomsday Student: Doomsday Student features 3/4  of Arab On Radar, 3/4 of Chinese Stars, and half of Athletic Automaton. All founders of and contributors to the now Near-Mythic Providence R.I. No-Wave/Noise scene. Our reputation precedes us.

Could you tell us briefly about how Doomsday Student came into being?
The band was born out of confusion and obsession. It’s a delicate topic. I would suggest rereading answer #1.

If time, money and space were no object, what would you do with your performance?
We wouldn’t do anything different.

Who else are you looking forward to seeing at the festival this year?
We’ve heard a lot about Goat and Lichens. We are looking forward to seeing them for the first time.  We are also looking forward to playing with Dope Body and Zeni Geva again. Arab On Radar played with Zeni Geva in Grand Rapids, MI in the late 90’s and it was unreal! We haven’t seen them since.

Who would be the ideal artist for you to collaborate with at Supersonic 2012?
No offense to any of the other artists but I think we would be a nightmare to collaborate with. We wouldn’t want to put anyone in that position.

If you were curating Supersonic, which three artists would you most want to have on board?
We would want Sightings, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, and Lightning Bolt. But we would also take the opportunity to beg Lake Of Dracula, US Maple, and Harry Pussy to get back together and play.

Which items would you say are essential for festival survival?
A great location and great bands.

Finally, what does the future have in store for Doomsday Student?
We’ve already begun writing our second record. So, we will probably finish writing it and record it in early spring.

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.

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