Supersonic 2010 – whoopee

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This will get you all excited about the forthcoming weekend, only two sleeps to go

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Calling Birds – the countdown to Supersonic…

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Follow Ben Waddington on twitter

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Supersonic Timetable Online!

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Supersonic is but three days away!  The timetables for the weekend are now online, you can check them here.  Get planning your weekends!

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Countdown to Supersonic Continues..

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Calling Birds – Dancefloor Cube

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Anthea recommends…

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We’ve asked a number of Supersonic regulars to tell us what they’re most looking forward to at this years festival, Anthea from Thrill Jockey recommends…

Factory Floor
Have to be one of the most exciting UK bands for a very long time.  The hype is to be believed, they are a frightenly intense and hypnotic band to watch. Their Rough Trade East show this year was for me a highlight of the summer.

Swans –

Well, I think if your not totally excited about the fact such an important and constantly brutal band are gracing the stage you need to re think your life!

Voice of Seven Thunders

Are mesmerizing to both listen to and watch live. This is going to be a big highlight for me, their eponymous album which came out early in the year, is one of my personal favourite albums of 2010, so I am really excited they are is playing the festival. And waiting for the Nurse With Wound collaboration to come later in the year is making me dizzy!

Dethscalator

Are always a must watch band for me. This is the perfect festival for them to be playing at as their singer is one of the most entertaining, compelling front men in any London band around at the moment. Pure heavy riffage, noise and destruction, excellent ingredients for things to get messy!

Eagle Twin

Really a little bit over excited ( in a Christmas morning kind of way, when you are 10 years old)  that I am going to get to see these guys play their UK debut. I am told they do not disappoint, and come highly recommended to me – so I am spreading that love!

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Countdown to Supersonic…

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Calling Birds – Alternative Tentacles

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Supersonic Back On The Airwaves.

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Tomorrow night Supersonic will be back on the airwaves! The guys from URN are hosting a ‘Supersonic Special’, playing music from artists playing this year, and talking about their experiences of the festival. It’s on from 9 until 11, you can listen online by following this link.

There’s also some exciting plans for Rhubarb Radio’s coverage of the festival this year.  More details coming soon..

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Countdown to Supersonic continues….

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Calling Birds:
Ben Waddington’s illustration sequence for Supersonic mirrors the countdown of the 12 Days of Christmas, borrowing classic Capsule iconography.

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Countdown to Supersonic – On the 6th day of…

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Ben Waddington’s illustration series, which mirrors the 12 days of Christmas, will be on display in the Supersonic Tea Room, along with an array of cakes.

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Tony Sylvester recommends…

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We’ve asked a number of Supersonic regulars to tell us what they’re most looking forward to seeing this year, Tony Sylvester recommends…

EAGLE TWIN
I’m ecstatic to see the Salt Lake City duo finally making their UK debut. Having trawled over to the continent at the beginning of the year to witness them live, I can safely say disappointment is not an option. I’ve been a fan of Gentry Densley’s guitar playing since the early 90s with the unconquerable Iceburn, and here the stripped back, loose approach really fires up his downtuned ferocity. And I could watch Tyler drum all night.

MOTHLITE
What would Supersonic be without an appearance from Daniel O’Sullivan? Along with O’Malley, he’s probably graced its stages more times than anyone else, except PCM of course! This year we find his newest, and my favourite of all the groups he’s been involved with – Mothlite. Shot through with a classic British literate pop sensibility, Mothlite updates the template while glimpsing back at the likes of the 4AD roster, New Order, Talk Talk and David Sylvian. The latest recordings are staggering and I can’t want to hear them full spectrum, as it were.

HALLOGALLO
Previous Supersonic highlights for me (at least that haven’t involved me disrobing and getting wet) have always included the wild card inclusions of the unexpected reformations – Harmonia and Goblin being the two obvious candidates. The prospect of hearing songs that I’ve lived inside and around for half my life is making me giddy with anticipation. Bring on the Motorik!

VBS VICE GUIDE TO LIBERIA
A rare opportunity to see Andy Capper’s life threatening journey into the dark heart of West Africa.. Never fails to blow me away that the fellow actually put himself through this to bring back this film as tender as it is savage. Killer soundtrack to boot.

FROZEN LOVE DJ Sets
What can I say? Cheeky I know! But I’m carting up the gems from my soul and R&B 45s so we can all hear them over the PA and dance into the wee hours.. See you all there, people!

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Supersonic twitter

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Photo by Pete Ashton

Ok boys and girls we have decided that this year we’ll be using #ssonic as the twitter tag for @supersonicfest
Pete Ashton pulled all the tweets together last year, and wrote a report all about it READ HERE

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Countdown to Supersonic – 8 days to go

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Dogs, metal horns and cake – this one’s got it all. Calling Birds is Ben Waddington’s beermat illustration series, counting down the days to Supersonic.

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Iron Lung live vinyl just in

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It’s been a pretty busy week here at Supersonic HQ, we are now the proud owners of 6000 pint glasses for our very first Supersonic Bar (which will be stocked with Purity Ale and Hogans Cider – located in the Old Library), cake has been ordered, our catalogue has been proofed and is now with the printers, the volunteer briefing has been held,  posters have arrived, and most importantly just in today a limited edition live recording of Iron Lungs set from Supersonic 2009.

It’s limited to 1000 copies on heavyweight vinyl and will be available exclusively from our merch stall at Supersonic, it’s pure comic genius.
This can only mean 7 days till the festival starts!!!

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Tony Conrad screening

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As part of  ‘Seeing Sound‘, an exhibition curated by Laura Coult at VIVID there will be a special one-off screening of Tony Conrad’s seminal work The Flicker (1966), a 30-minute film exploring the possibilities for harmonic expression using a sensory mode other than sound; audience reactions to the film ranged from disorientation, temporary hypnosis, and intense experiences of colours and patterns, to headaches and violent bouts of nausea, all seemingly caused by the pulsating light’s interaction with the brain’s alpha waves.

‘Seeing Sound’ will include Ben Russell’s Black & White Trypps No. 3 (2007) which documents an audience’s collective freak-out during a performance by Rhode Island noise band Lightning Bolt, and a live performance by Sam Underwood , of Steve Reich’s Pendulum Music. Originally scored for “For Microphones, Amplifiers Speakers and Performers” this specially adapted version will be performed using four Noise Boxes / Optical Theremins, similar to those made in the workshop, and four torches.

This is a FREE event – taking place at at 1pm on Sunday
at VIVID I 40 HEATH MILL LANE I BIRMINGHAM B9 4AR
OPENING HOURS & FURTHER DETAILS HERE

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Hotels

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Arc apartments and the Paragon Hotel are now both sold out, there are rooms still available at:

Nite Nite
(15 mins walk/5 min cab from the Custard Factory, It’s just a 5 minute walk from New Street Station)
Quote ‘super10’  for room  – Tel: 08458 90 90 99
rate £39.95 per night (Double room only) with WIFI
(while available)

And at Britannia Hotel
10 mins walk from the Custard Factory and located right in the city centre, 2 mins from New Street Station

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Countdown to Supersonic – 9 days to go

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From sausage dogs to cake, Ben Waddington borrows ‘classic Capsule iconography’ in his beermat illustration series, counting down the days til Supersonic 2010

Follow Ben on twitter

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An Interview With Factory Floor.

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Factory Floor are the latest good band to come out of East London. They play using vintage analogue equipment and tape loops to create abrasive electronic music, layered in feedback, with insistent Krautrock bass lines and obligatory Ian Curtis post-punk vocals. Not many bands manage to combine noise guitar and dance beats, but Factory Floor make XTRMTR-era Primal Scream sound like Shed 7. They’re all the best bits of Sonic Youth and Throbbing Gristle, with Giorgio Moroder disco electronics and Kraftwerk beats, an inspired combination.

Describe your music for those who might not know it?
Nic: Electronic, semi-improv, simple structured tracks. Loud, hypnotic – deep bass arpeggiators revolving around minimal psych vocals, metallic guitar and metronomic drums. Brutal, but cleansing at the same time.

Your career highlight to date?
Nic: Working with Stephen Morris from New Order and Chris Carter from Throbbing Gristle. Having our tracks remixed by Gavin Russom (DFA), Dean Allen (No Age), and Angus Andrew (Liars).

If you had a to pick a line up for a gig with new bands from right now, who would it be?
Nic: F**k Buttons & Gavin Russom – both innovators in today’s electronic music.

What is your favourite iconic LP cover?
Nic: Throbbing Gristle’s ‘20 Jazz Funk Greats

Can you name one place that is special to you anywhere in the world and has a musical connection?
Nic: The Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. So many important barriers were crossed, blurring and exposing the notion of music and art inhabiting the same box.

What was the last LP you bought?
Nic: A Synthetic History of E.M.A.K 1982 – 88. Amazing!

Tell us what’s coming up for you in 2010 and beyond?
Nic: Releasing our debut. Performing with filmmaker Chris Cunningham. More from FFF – Factory Floor Film. And exhibitions; our film ‘Solid Sound’ is being exhibited in New York in November curated by Richard McGuire from Liquid Liquid.

We’re performing at ATP (All Tomorrow’s Parties), Iceland Airwaves festival, the Royal Albert Hall for Rough trade, and Supersonic festival with Swans and Michael Rother from Neu! We’re also working with Simian Mobile Disco.
And we’re releasing our collaboration track with Stephen Morris on Optimo Records along with a b-side remix by Twitch before the end of the year.

Introduction by us. Interview by everyones favourite Menswear store, Topman.

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Supersonic in The Virgin Trains Magazine.

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We’ve been getting some pretty interesting coverage of late. First Glamour Magazine and now Hotline, Virgin Trains onboard magazine.

The article features an interview with Lisa, covering the festivals history and some of the bands that are playing this year. Here it is, click the image to enlarge::

Or, if you’re traveling on a Virgin Train, flick through to page 37.
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The Quietus talk to Hallogallo

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The Quietus went and chatted to Michael Rother about Hallogallo

Michael Rother’s pedigree as a Krautrock pioneer is close to unparalleled, with a roster including Kraftwerk, Neu!, and more recently, Harmonia, his project with Cluster’s Hans Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. But it is his work with the much-missed motorik innovator Klaus Dinger for which he is best known. Latest project Hallogallo was originally intended as a reunion of sorts with Dinger, before the drummer’s tragic death in 2008. Now Rother is making his first appearances in years, with Hallogallo 2010 – consisting of Rother, the majestic Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth on drums, and bassist Aaron Mullan of the Tall Firs.

Read the full interview here

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Countdown to Supersonic – 10 days to go

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Calling Birds – Sausage God, the next in the series of beermat illustrations counting down the days to Supersonic Festival 2010. Ever seeking new ways to upload a picture of a dog.

Follow Ben on twitter

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Supersonic LTD T

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Here is a teaser glimpse of this years LTD T-shirt, designed Bunny Bissoux an artist, illustrator, collector, fanatic, musician and aspiring wrestling valet. Her inspiration comes from 80’s metal, wrestling and small dogs – who better to design our Supersonic 2010 limited edition T-shirt.
Previous LTD T’s have included Stephen O’Malley, French, Gunsho, Justin Bartlett

Bunny also has a stall selling her wares in our market place

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Tony Dudley Evans recommends

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We’ve asked a number of regular Supersonic visitors to tell us what they are most looking forward to seeing at this years festival. Tony Dudley Evans, director and founder of Birmingham Jazz recommends:

Chrome Hoof: I heard that they are a great live band that combines elements from avant rock, free jazz with the theatricality of the Sun Ra Arkestra

Khyam Allami and Master Musicians of Bukkake: at last year’s Supersonic I loved Khyam Allami’s oud set and am intrigued at what will emerge from this collaboration between seemingly two different approaches to music, i.e. Allami’s gentle oud and the Master Musiicans of Bukkake theatrical avant rock.

Part Wild Horses Mane on Both Sides: I am intrigued by the name (of course!), but also by the prospect of Kelly Jones improvising freely on the flute

Nisennenmondai: I caught parts of this group’s set last year while preparing to do a bit of DJing; looking forward to giving them my undivided attention.

Steve Tromans/Dan Nicholls Fender Rhodes piano duo.  This is the one that Supersonic and Birmingham Jazz are collaborating on.  They made their debut at the Harmonic Festival in March and played a wonderfully inventive set.  Both players are bandleaders in their own right, but combine effectively in this duo.

Tony will be DJing over the weekend of Supersonic, make sure you catch him, you could learn and thing or two as he has exceptionally great taste in music.

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Countdown to Supersonic – 11 days to go

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Calling Birds – Turn is the second in Ben Waddington’s series of illustrations on beermats; counting down the days to Supersonic Festival  2010.

Follow Ben on twitter

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Seeing Sound

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Seeing Sound Curated by Laura Coult
12PM – 7PM Fri – Sun
VIVID I 40 HEATH MILL LANE I BIRMINGHAM B9 4AR www.vivid.org.uk

Seeing Sound is an exhibition exploring the ways in which we experience sound as light, movement, noise, and colour. Spanning 70 years the programme draws together historical and contemporary moving image works including Ben Russell’s Black & White Trypps No. 3 (2007) which documents an audience’s collective freak-out during a performance by Rhode Island noise band Lightning Bolt; and Tony Conrad’s seminal work The Flicker (1966) a 30-minute film exploring the possibilities for harmonic expression using a sensory mode other than sound; audience reactions to the film ranged from disorientation, temporary hypnosis, and intense experiences of colours and patterns, to headaches and violent bouts of nausea, all seemingly caused by the pulsating light’s interaction with the brain’s alpha waves. Other artists include Stefan and Franciszka Themerson and Benedict Drew.

Live performances
Classical percussionist Joe Snape performs: Lärmlicht #1, for percussionist, 4-channel tape and 8 lightbulbs.

Mr.Underwood will stage a rare performance of Steve Reich’s Pendulum Music. Originally scored for “For Microphones, Amplifiers Speakers and Performers” this specially adapted version will be performed using four Noise Boxes / Optical Theremins, similar to those made in the workshop, and four torches.

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