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

With less than 3 weeks to go until Supersonic 2010, this is the third and fina podcast created by Little Chris of Brumcast fame, to give you a real taster for what’s in store – enjoy!

1. Master Musicians Of Bukakke – Cascade Cathedral (4:13)
2. Napalm Death – Mass Appeal Madness (3:29)
3. Drumcorps – Pig Destroyer Destroyer (4:26)
4. People Like Us – Gesundheit! (1:16)
5. Chrome Hoof – Crystalline (4:01)
6. James Blackshaw – Cross (8:38)
7. Health & Efficiency – Yes I walked alone (4:23)
8. Swans – Time Is Money (Bastard) (6:20)
9. Mugstar – Technical Knowledge as a Weapon (5:40)
10. Gnod – Twin Within (13:11)
11. Mothlite – The One In The Water (4:41)
12. K.K. Null – X-02 (4:25)
13. Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides – Earth Song (3:22)
14. Ovo – Ostkreuz (2:50)
15. Nicholas Bullen – Proximity (8:12)
16. Melt Banana – Dog Song (1:20)
17. Godflesh – Streetcleaner (6:43)
18. NEU! – SEE LAND (6:54)

Following the news that the 2010 edition of Birmingham’s acclaimed annual Supersonic Festival will be headlined by NAPALM DEATH, SWANS, GODFLESH, HALLOGALLO and MELT BANANA, Capsule are excited to announce the final few acts who will be appearing at this year’s festival, as well as reveal highlights from the incredible film, talks and visual arts programme.

Latest additions to the Supersonic line-up include the awesome live orchestra, Chrome Hoof, experimental hardcore band Ruins, the heavy riffage of Dethscalator and the melancholic pop sounds of Daniel O’Sullivan’s new project, Mothlite. Also, a special AV set from the hugely evocative Barn Owl, the psych/folk/electronic sounds of Health & Efficiency, regular jazz meets free improv in the form of Steve Tromans & Dan Nicholls Duo and Black Sun Drum Corps presenting a percussion parade through the festival, which will combine Supersonic Festival performers and audience members to create a visceral and live massed drumming experience. From metal to avant garde and folk, Supersonic 2010 is set to cement the festival’s reputation as one of the most original and eclectic music festivals in the UK.

Tickets on sale now
Friday: £20, Sat/Sun: £35, Weekend: £75

FRIDAY 22ND OCTOBER
NAPALM DEATH
DEAD FADER / DEMONS (W/SICK LLAMA) / DEVILMAN (W/DJ SCOTCH EGG) / DRUMCORPS / FUKPIG / GUM TAKES TOOTH / NECRO DEATHMORT / PCM

SATURDAY 23RD OCTOBER
GODFLESH + MELT BANANA
BLUE SABBATH BLACK FIJI / CAVE / CLOAKS (exclusive solo DJ set) / DOSH / EAGLE TWIN / GNAW / GNOD / KING MIDAS SOUND / LASH FRENZY vs KK NULL / LICHENS / OvO / PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES / PEOPLE LIKE US / STEVE TROMAN & DAN NICHOLLS DUO / STINKY WIZZLETEAT /  TWEAK BIRD

SUNDAY 24TH OCTOBER
SWANS + HALLOGALLO
BARN OWL / BLACK SUN DRUM CORPS / CHROME HOOF / DETHSCALATOR / BONG / FACTORY FLOOR / HEALTH & EFFICIENCY / JAILBREAK FEAT. CHRIS CORSANO + HEATHER LEIGH / JAMES BLACKSHAW / KHYAM ALLAMI AND MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE / MOTH LITE /  MUGSTAR /  NISENNENMONDAI / PETER BRODERICK / PIERRE BASTIEN + MALE INSTRUMENTY / RUINS / VOICE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS / ZENI GEVA

We’re sorry to say that the Supersonic Noise Box workshop is now fully booked.

We’re delighted to announce a very special live interview with Hallogallo over the weekend of Supersonic Festival hosted by The Quietus. It will take place on Sunday in the Theatre Space.

The Quietus is a music and culture online magazine (recently voted Website of the Year by Record of the Day) now well into its third year of existence.

When editors Luke Turner and John Doran are asked to describe their remit, for want of anything sensible to say they often reply, “We cover all music that was recorded after 1974, the year that Kraftwerk’s Autobahn created modern popular music.” So it was with great pleasure that we were asked to be part of the festival this year, not just because of the typically excellent line-up chosen by Lisa and Jenny, but because it gave us a chance to work with former Kraftwerk and Neu! guitarist Michael Rother. On top of this we’re overjoyed by the return of Swans, Godflesh and Napalm Death, are looking forward to broadcasting our daily radio programme (tune in) and are looking forward to having a dance to Factory Floor, Gnod, Barn Owl and Gum Takes Tooth. Most of all, John is looking forward to a weekend where the only sustenance and fuel he needs will be extreme music, thus avoiding the curious incident involving a Coventry Station platform and a truncated journey down a tunnel that was full of red flames, not heavenly light that occurred in the bloody aftermath of Supersonic 2008.”

Read more HERE

Motorik Skills:Apache Beat 101 presented by Hallogallo and The Quietus

The word ‘motorik’, which literally means ‘motor skill’ in German, was originally coined by journalists to describe the minimal yet propulsive four four beat that underpinned a surprisingly small amount of leftfield German rock music from the early 70s. It was a hallmark of Klaus Dinger’s drumming for Neu!, although he rejected the term, preferring to call the rhythm the ‘Apache beat’. This metronomic approach could be heard bubbling through in Kraftwerk’s ‘Ruckzuck’, and early Can fare such as the blistering ‘Mother Sky’ and ‘Father Cannot Yell’ but was cemented as we know it now by Neu!

This beat has retrospectively come to be seen as the war drum of modernity; the pulse pushing music and the listener into the future. It is often associated – with good reason – with the great transport networks of Germany, the railway lines and the autobahns. In fact the rhythm even mimics that of a car speeding along the open road or a train clattering along the rails: fast, measured, travel never ending across Europe endless. It was the rock beat stripped back to a glittering chassis. It was the minimalist framework on which subtle improvisation could take place.

Of course, when I had the temerity to say all this to former member of Kraftwerk and Neu! guitarist, Michael Rother, he laughed and said that in fact the inspiration for this measured German rock beat had come from something altogether less mechanistic and more fluid: a game of five-a-side football including himself, Klaus Dinger and Ralf Hutter.

As a bonus to fans we’ve invited Michael Rother on stage to take part in a Q and A discussing the motorik beat, hallogallo, Harmonia and Neu!.

Hosted by  The Quietus

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE THEATRE SPACE HAS LIMITED CAPACITY

Action Hero
Smoke & Lights: a solo sound encounter for music lovers

Visit Action Hero’s black hole, a solo experience for festival-goers who want to re-live Supersonic’s greatest adventures in sound.

Action Hero have compiled a library of the best aural moments of Supersonic past along with tracks supplied from this year’s line up.

Select your track and step into the sound booth. Begin an auditory assault or an acoustic ramble through Supersonic yesteryear and future sounds. Remember a performance past, imagine you were there, listen in anticipation of the gig you’ll see later, play the front man.

Action Hero are artists based in Bristol making performance and live-art. www.actionhero.org.uk

Presented in collaboration with Fierce Festival
Since 1998 Fierce’s adventurous programme of interventions and performances has established it as a landmark event in the UK’s cultural calendar.

Michael Gira says that being in Swans used to be like “trudging up a sand hill wearing a hair shirt, being sprayed with battery acid, with a midget taunting you”. In which case, why has he resurrected the project, asks Frances Morgan

“Well, first of all, the correct term is disinter,” says a deep-pitched, sardonic and instantly recognisable voice in response to my first question about the reappearance of Swans, over a decade after their last album and tour. “Re-form… I mean, re-animate… er, re-start?” I flounder, stumbling over semantics, before I realise that the band’s originator, Michael Gira, is having something of a laugh with me.

This is something I never expected. From their formation in New York in the early 1980s with albums like Cop and Filth to dissolution in 1997 after live album Swans Are Dead, Swans’ music certainly changed and grew, the band’s sound spreading and blooming from dense No Wave assaults to sprawling, haunted songs, like ivy climbing and eventually claiming a derelict factory building. But it never let up: viewed in retrospect, Gira and his band were remarkable in being not only prolific and experimental – delving into different sounds, characters, atmospheres – but also remaining steadfastly intense, rarely sounding tired or predictable. Something big is always at stake in a Swans record, whether Gira or former co-vocalist Jarboe are roaring in anguish, hammering out a deadpan chain-gang chant, or steering a wistful melody with lyrics touching on pain, performance, sex, blood, God, power and control, damnation and redemption. But beyond the lyrics – and the stories of dysfunction and self-destructiveness within the band – it was the sound of Swans that hinted most at what that something might be. Gira has always been a brilliant arranger, adept at juxtaposing dissonance and almost sentimental melodicism; visceral intimacy and alienated machine-noise. As far back as 1987’s Children Of God, every song has its own well-defined world, every corner obsessively shaded in, whether a waterlogged country lament like ‘Our Love Lies’, Jarboe’s silvery psychedelic ballad ‘In My Garden’, or snarling, vast tour de forces ‘Sex, God, Sex’ and ‘Beautiful Child’. Later, field recordings would be added to the picture, but not necessarily in the ambient way the term suggests: taped conversations, overheard dialogues from parents, lovers, strangers, appeared in the mix, the effect both poignant and unnerving.

Read full interview – The Quietus

We’ve asked a few regular visitors to Supersonic to highlight what they’re most looking forward to at this years festival, to help guide you through our program. First up is Spencer Hickman of Rough Trade East fame, this is what he’s giving the thumbs up to:

Factory Floor
FF will be an absolute highlight of ss10 I can guarantee it. There is no other band in the UK that is exciting me as much as they are , here at Rough Trade we have watched them evolve from a very good post punk band into one of the most incredible electronic bands around. it’s dark, oppressive yet danceable and accessible , i guess a  lazy comparison would be ‘Throbbing Gristle,Cabaret Voltaire shot through with a slice of Weatherall produced Fuck Buttons’. yes they are that good. get excited now.

Swans
Who doesn’t want to see the Swans doing what they do best ? Being moody and unsettling in equal amounts. Although this isn’t an industrial return to their terror inducing early material it is far and away the most aggressive I have heard them sound in a very long time , it also has the songs to back it up this should be very special indeed.

Cloaks
I remember taking the Cloaks record to SS09 to sell on our stall, it was one of those records we had sold a lot of in store but outside of that I had heard little about them, we sold all ten copies by the time the second track had finished, there is no better recommendation than that in my mind. They sound like Skinny Puppy making dubstep , it’s dark, brutal and unforgiving. Oh it’s also very f*cking good, and very f*cking loud.

Peter Broderick
It doesn’t matter if he is being all weird and experimental or creating finely crafted songs ala the ‘home’ record, he is always engaging and blessed with a truly beautiful voice. I have no idea what he will be doing at this years festival but I do know I’ll be watching.

Godflesh
What can you say ? Brummie legends, back when they were releasing records they were way ahead of their time having given us a few years to catch up with them they are back to reclaim  their crown and destroy SS and our ears in the process. very exciting.

Rough Tade will have a stall in our market place this year so make sure you save all your pennies cause they’re bring a whole heap of treats!

Grand Union presents Hiker Meat by artist Jamie Shovlin

Eastside Projects presents: Local Myths by artist Jennifer Tee

Ikon Eastside presents : AVPD

Ikon Eastside are hosting an exhibition by Danish duo AVPD. Hitchcock Hallway makes reference to director Alfred Hitchcock, whose use of architectural motifs in his films typically enhanced the psychological intensity of the narrative. The gallery entrance has been replaced by a door that you’re invited to enter. However, all is not what it seems as your journey through the exhibition will challenge your spatial and perceptual awareness and you will begin to feel increasingly claustrophobic. AVPD have also produced a number of off-site projects around Birmingham: Conceal at Ikon’s Brindleyplace gallery, and Level and Rotoobjects which take place throughout the city.

Since starting forty years ago as a small kiosk in Birmingham’s Bullring, Ikon has developed a reputation for innovation, internationalism and excellence. Ikon have been presenting an ambitious programme of exhibitions, artists’ residencies, talks and events in Digbeth, since November 2005.

183 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5SE
Thursday – Sunday 1 – 5pm
www.ikon-gallery.co.uk
FREE ENTRY

Project Pigeon presents: Philopersiteron Feipan

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On 07/07/07 at 7:07pm, Japanese group Boredoms, orchestrated a performance by 77 drummers at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, NYC.  Hisham Akira Bharoocha put out an email inviting drummers to apply for a place in the performance and out of the 3000 replies, 77 were chosen, including Andrew WK (drummer no 57), David Grubbs (drummer no 23) and Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale (drummer no 77).  The players were positioned in a spiral that trailed from a circular stage where the principal Boredoms members – Yozoro (drummer no 1), Yoshimi (drummer no 2), Sen (drummer no 3) were situated together with Eye (0) playing electronics, a seven-necked guitar and conducting the ensemble.  This is the screening of Jun Kawaguchi’s simply shot but effective documentary of the performance, complete with behind the scenes rehearsal footage, interviews, and, of course, lots of footage of the performance itself.  Come and experience the power of this momentous musical landmark.

There are also a series of shorts from the Thrill Jockey discography, which will feature new videos from Pontiak, Future Islands, Oval, Imbogodom and Dustin Wong.

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Noise Box – Supersonic from Sam Underwood on Vimeo.

Book your place now for Supersonic Noise Boxes – workshop

When: 2pm, SATURDAY, 23rd October
Number of places: 20
Cost: Free to weekend ticket holders plus £10 contribution to materials, each participant will get a Supersonic Noise Box Kit, for you to make and keep. You will need to bring your own thing to house it in(see details further on)

What: A 3hr workshop led by sound artist and performer mr.underwood aka Glatze to build a 3 oscillator screaming, light-controlled Noise Box. Each participant will build and take home their Noise Box. This will be based on the unit shown in the demo video, with a few nice tweaks and additions to make it even cooler!

What is the Noise Box?:
A sci-fi electronic drone instrument whose pitch is controlled with gesture.  The frequency of the sound output by each of the three oscillators in this Optical Theremin is determined by the intensity of the light falling on each sensor. Vary the light using your hands or by shining a light directly onto the unit . Use just one oscillator for a more playable instrument, or all three at once for a noisy cacophony of sound!

Suitable for: All skill levels. Complete beginners welcome – we’ll teach you how to solder etc. Mr.Underwood and his team will assist you throughout the build of your 3 oscillator Supersonic Noise Box.

Booking: email admin[at]capsule.org.uk , marking the subject field as “noisebox” a payment request for the materials contribution will then we sent to you, places will be offered on a first come first serve basis.

For further details see HERE

photograph by Hellocatfood

Supersonic Noise Boxes – workshop

When: 2pm, SATURDAY, 23rd October
Number of places: 20
Cost: Free to weekend ticket holders plus £10 contribution for materials, each participant will get a Supersonic Noise Box Kit, for you to make and keep. You will need to bring your own thing to house it in (see details further on)

What: A 3hr workshop led by sound artist mr.underwood aka Glatze to build a 3 oscillator screaming, light-controlled Noise Box. Each participant will build and take home their Noise Box. This will be based on the unit shown in the demo video, with a few nice tweaks and additions to make it even cooler!

Noise Box – Supersonic from Sam Underwood on Vimeo.

What is the Noise Box?:
A sci-fi electronic drone instrument whose pitch is controlled with gesture.  The frequency of the sound output by each of the three oscillators in this Optical Theremin is determined by the intensity of the light falling on each sensor. Vary the light using your hands or by shining a light directly onto the unit . Use just one oscillator for a more playable instrument, or all three at once for a noisy cacophony of sound!

Suitable for: All skill levels. Complete beginners welcome – we’ll teach you how to solder etc. Mr.Underwood and his team will assist you throughout the build of your 3 oscillator Supersonic Noise Box.

Booking: email admin[at]capsule.org.uk , marking the subject field as “noisebox” a payment request for the materials contribution will then we sent to you, places will be offered on a first come first serve basis.

What you will need to bring:
You will need to bring your own enclosure to house the electronics. Something with the following minimum internal dimensions: 140mm (long) x 90mm (wide) x 40mm (deep), you will be provided with all other components, instructions and tools you will require to complete the build.

Your £10 materials cost covers the circuit board, the various components and the project amp. The only thing we leave up to you is what you would like to put it in. We do this to provide a level of personalisation and customisation. So, please bring a sturdy container of some kind to house it in.

Mr.Underwood is a musician, sound artist and instrument designer. His established projects go under the names of Mr.Undewood and Glatze. He started instrument building many moons ago, starting out with odd acoustic instruments and then he got into circuit bending. From this, he has started to develop a series of electronic and mechanical instruments, including his midi-octopus. A great believer in knowledge sharing and a DIY culture, Mr.Underwood is delivering a series of workshops throughout 2010.



One of the highlights from Supersonic 2009 was all female Japanese trio Nisennenmondai, we loved them so much they’re back again this year. Enjoy this film footage taken of their relentless set, we can’t wait to see them perform again.

Another aural delight for your listening pleasure from the ever enigmatic Little Chris responsible for Brum Cast.

Playlist as follows
1. PCM – Hafgee (4:58)
2. Gum takes tooth – Tannkjøtt (7:20)
3. Zeni Geva – Sweetheart (5:45)
4. Voice Of The Seven Thunders – Out Of The Smoke (2:16)
5. Swans – I am the Sun (3:23)
6. Peter Broderick – Bad Song (1:31)
7. Peter Broderick – Three Cats (0:43)
8. Stinky Wizzleteat – megtilda (2:32)
9. Barn Owl – Voice Of The Other (5:02)
10. Eagle Twin – 10,000 Birds of Black Hot Fire (9:02)
11. Blue Sabbath Black Fiji – Six Fingers For California (3:50)
12. Melt Banana – Spider Snipe (2:12)
13. Melt Banana – Stick Out (0:48)
14. Cave – High, I Am (4:35)
15. NEU! – HERO (7:11)
16. Dosh – yer face (3:22)
17. Lash Frenzy – C (25:44)

Don’t forget if you haven’t got your tickets yet they are available from HERE

A special sound piece will be performed at this year’s festival by Nicholas Bullen (Napalm Death, Scorn, Black Galaxy).

The ‘Breach’ project is a series of live performances for voice and prepared sound.

‘Developed as a demonstrative companion to a text piece focused on strategies for ‘silencing’ language, the live performances utilise the human voice as a medium for exploring ways in which the voice itself can be used to undermine the codes which govern discourse.Multiple microphones, live sampling and electronic processing are used to capture, layer and transform the voice: breath, whispers, glottal tics, snarls, growls, wails and cries become a shifting soundfield of immersive drones, radiator vibrations, rhythmic pulses and shards of noise denuded of linguistic content.’ Nicholas Bullen

This piece will be performed in the Theatre Space.

Friday 22nd October 9pm – 2.30am
Tickets £20 BUY NOW
Headlined by Napalm Death
with Dead Fader, Demons (feat Sick Llama), Devil Man (feat DJ Scotch Egg), Drumcorps, Fukpig, Gum Takes Tooth, Necro Deathmort, PCM

Saturday 23rd October 4pm – 1.30am
Tickets £35 BUY NOW
Headlined by Godflesh + Melt Banana
with Blue Sabbath Black Fiji, Cave, Cloaks (DJ set), Dosh, Eagle Twin, Gnaw, Gnod, King Midas Sound, Lash Frenzy vs KK Null, Lichens, Melt Banana, oVo, Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides, People Like Us, Steve Troman & Dan Nicholls Duo, Stinky Wizzleteat, Tweak Bird
+ talks, films, workshops, market place, tea room

Sunday 24th October 2pm – 12.30am
Tickets £35 BUY NOW
Headlined by Swans + Hallogallo
with Barn Owl, Black Sun Drum Corps, Bong, Factory Floor, Jailbreak feat. Chris Corsano + Heather Leigh, James Blackshaw, Master Musicians of Bukkake + Khyam Allami, Mugstar, Nisennenmondai, Peter Broderick, Pierre Bastien & Male Instrumenty, Voice Of The Seven Thunders, Zeni Geva
+ talks, films, workshops, market place, tea room

Weekend tickets £75 BUY NOW

Supersonic needs YOU!

Capsule’s internationally renowned festival runs 22nd to 24th October 2010 and there’s plenty of opportunities to get involved as a volunteer. The festival is small enough for everyone involved to gain not just an overview of how the festival works, but to give real value and be part of a dynamic team.

We need a team of volunteers to help deliver the festival over the weekend of the event itself – we are looking for people to work over the festival weekend 22nd -24th October and in the run up to Supersonic from early October onwards. We expect a minimum of 12 hrs over the festival period in exchange for a weekend wristband.

In addition we are looking for professional quality photographers to help us document the festival

How to apply:
To apply send an email to volunteer[at]capsule.org.uk
Mark in the SUBJECT of the email VOLUNTEER or PHOTOGRAPHER

We will send you an application form, which you need to fill out and email back to us before the deadline which is the 21st September. There will then be a meeting on the evening of the 22nd of September to find out more about the festival and to meet the team.

Please note, unfortunately we can only receive applications from people over 18 years of age.

For further info about the festival check: http://www.supersonicfestival.com

Please feel free to spread the word.

We asked Birminghams very own answer to John Peel, Little Chris of Brum Cast fame to put together three podcasts featuring a taster of bands performing at this years Supersonic Festival to give you an insight to what’s on offer. This is the first one featuring a great selection for your aural delight, enjoy!

Playlist as follows!
1. Necro Deathmort – I fought the law and the law won because fighting is against the law (4:01)
2. Melt Banana – Mind Thief (1:44)
3. Dead Fader – Autumn Rot (3:46)
4. Fukpig – Die Bastard (0:59)
5. Neu! – Hallo Gallo (10:07)
6. Nisennenmondai – Pop Group (6:21)
7. Khyam Allami – Taqsim Nahawand (4:40)
8. Tweak Bird – Spaceships (3:30)
9. Pierre Bastien – L’Orchestre Thermo-Dynamique (4:57)
10. Godflesh – Like Rats (4:27)
11. Swans – New Mind (5:13)
12. Lichens – Kirilian Auras (11:33)
13. Factory Floor – Lying (5:07)
14. Napalm Death – Continuing War on Stupidity (3:10)
15. Bong – Wizards Of Krull (Excerpt) (6:21)
16. People Like Us – The Doody Waltz (5:54)

Tickets are available from www.theticketsellers.co.uk

Michael Rother speaks about the formation and inspiration behind the incredible music of NEU! in this great documentary “Krautrock: The rebirth of Germany”. He will  performing live at this years SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL, Birmingham as HALLOGALLO 2010 with Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) & Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) on SUNDAY 24th October.
Tickets can be purchased from:

Friday: £20, Sat/Sun: £35, Weekend: £75 (+ booking fee)

Available from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk

Weekend Tickets from:
www.seetickets.com