Cloaks have put together an amazing set for the Electronic Explorations podcast show, featuring a Justin Broadrick remix of their track ‘Rust on Metal’ plus remixes of Ben Frost, Altar of Plagues and tracks from Supersonic friends Dead Fader and Devilman. Cloaks, Dead Fader and Devilman all feature on the 3by3 label roster, run by Steve Cloaks himself.
Here the full podcast

Anybody who attended Supersonic 2010 will be familiar with this heavy, industrial dubstep outfit. Steve Cloaks played a noise/dub DJ set that fit perfectly before the astounding amount of bass to come from Kings Midas Sound and Godflesh. Look out for the full Cloaks duo performing this year.

Cloaks performing at Supersonic Festival 2010:

Abstract Cabinet Show at The Event, 2009

Anybody attending this year’s Supersonic Festival will be happy to hear that another exciting arts festival will be taking place in the Eastside area of Birmingham at the same time. The Event is a contemporary arts festival showcasing the best in artist-led activity and  will take place from 21 – 30 October 2011 at a variety of venues including former industrial warehouses and recently opened artist-led gallery spaces.

The Event is delivered by some of the city’s key artist-led groups to explore a range of contemporary arts activity including visual arts, performance, live art, film, video, web-based, installation, intervention and sound, all demonstrating the diversity of the thriving arts community in the city.

Check the website for news of the programme along with special collaborative events.

www.the-event.org

Hello folks. My name’s David and I’m the Marketing intern for Supersonic 2011. I’m based in Manchester so I have the dubious pleasure of getting to know the M6 in intimate detail over the next few months. One of my first jobs has been to put together a Spotify playlist for artists performing at this year’s festival. It’s been great to check out some fantastic acts – hope you enjoy listening. Personally I’m excited about Skull Defekts (their current record ‘Peer Amid’ with Daniel Higgs is superb), Wolves in the Throne Room, Nathan Bell and Bardo Pond. Cloaks are my newest discovery too. Liking them a lot.

Listen here:
http://open.spotify.com/user/littleredrabbit/playlist/1G2nW0tTKUmIoANAR4t14a

Video by HTF Media

Here’s a reminder in a mere 90 seconds of all the fun and games that we got up to at last years festival, which included the first UK show of GODFLESH in over a decade, the almighty SWANS, with honourable mentions for incredible performances by NISSENMONDAI, LICHENS and ZENI GEVA.
We’re getting pretty psyched as we put the finishing touches to this years festival line up – keep your eyes peeled for forthcoming announcements in the next few weeks.

Lichens performed in the Old Library creating a mesmerising improvise set

Melt Banana headlined Saturday night with a riotous performance

Nisennenmondai wowed crowds with their awesome danceable beats

Photos by Mark E Rhodes

Weekend tickets are just £75 for 3 days – you can get them from HERE
Hotel info with special Supersonic rates is available from HERE

Lyon based musician Agathe Max was one of the first artists we announced for this year’s festival, a prominent artist in the French underground we’re very excited that she is performing this year. Her performances are largely improvised and her inventive use of the violin involves loops, distortions and drones.

Hear more from Agathe Max here, and If you like the sound of this, you might be also like Tony Conrad.

Weekend tickets are available from:

www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

Further line up announcements for this year’s Supersonic Festival include exciting appearances from Circle and Pharaoh Overlord. Fresh from their artist residency at Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands , Circle and Pharaoh Overlord will both perform at this year’s festival. Circle bring together krautrock beat, heavy riffs and showmanship to induce a trance like state, while Pharaoh Overlord  (featuring members of Circle) lets out their stoner/space rock side. To celebrate the appearance of these Finnish legends we will be screening a new documentary ‘Man with a Video Camera’. The film follows a Swedish Circle fan who decides to make a documentary of the band, and finds them to be kindred spirits despite their lack of interest in his film…

Here are Circle performing at Supersonic Festival 2006

Other acts confirmed to play are  Silver Apples, enormously influential pioneers of electronic music, their odd breed of psychedelia has inspired scores of other bands. Nathan Bell, formerly of Lungfish will perform his cyclic banjo music. Avant -garde violinist and sound artist Tony Conrad will also be appearing – an experimental musician, film maker and writer, every performance of his is a unique event.

Early bird tickets went flying out the door and are now sold out. Weekend tickets are available here for £75, giving you three days of music, art, film and cake.

—

Supersonic Festival 2011

21-23 October

feat: Bardo Pond, Circle, Cloaks, Electric Wizard, Fire! feat. Oren Ambarchi, Secret Chiefs 3, Zombi, ZU93, a.P.a.t.T, Agathe Max, Antilles, Astro, Blarke Bayer//Black Widow, Eternal Tapestry, Lucky Dragons, Monarch, Pekko Kappi, Scorn, The Skull Defekts, White Hills, Wolves in the Throne Room, Nathan Bell, Tony Conrad, Silver Apples, Pharaoh Overlord and many more to be announced.

TONY CONRAD is a giant in the American soundscape. Since the early 1960s, he has utilized intense amplification, long duration and precise pitch to forge an aggressively mesmerizing “Dream Music. “Conrad articulated the Big Bang of “minimalism” and played a pivotal role in the formation of the Velvet Underground. Conrad continues to exert a primal influence over succeeding generations with his ecstatic oscillations and hypnotic drones.

“Tony Conrad is a pioneer, as seminal in his way to American music as Johnny Cash or Captain Beefheart or Ornette Coleman, one of those really savvy old guys whom all the kids want to emulate because their ideas, their style are electric and new and somehow indivisible.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Conrad invents a new musical language … unbearably intense and gloriously ecstatic.” The Wire

http://www.tonyconrad.net

Christoph Hahn of Swans fame

Robert Lowe aka Lichens

Congratulations to Supersonic photographer Jamie Robinson, who for the past couple of years has helped to capture some amazing images at the festival, a few of which will be on display as part of a group show in New York.
The show opens on the 23rd of June – for more details check
www.meatyardarts.com
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=215294815156558

To see more of Jamies Supersonic photos check our Flickr group

Supersonic Festival 2011
Fri 21 – 23rd October
Birmingham UK

Line up includes special guests Zu93, Electric Wizard and Secret Chiefs 3
joined by
a.P.A.t.T., Agathe Max, Antilles, Astro, Bardo Pond, Blarke Bayer/Black Widow, Cloaks, Eternal Tapestry, Fire! w/ Oren Ambarchi, Lucky Dragons, Monarch, Pekko Käppi, Scorn, The Skull Defekts, White Hills, Wolves In The Throne Room, Zombi

Limited early bird tickets available from www.theticketsellers.co.uk

In-keeping with tradition, Supersonic Festival 2011 will return to its natural home, the Custard Factory, Birmingham for another year. This year, we are proud to welcome to the main stage one of the heaviest bands in the world, Electric Wizard. Zu93, an exciting collaboration that began three years ago when members of Italian avant rock band ZU, and David Tibet first met. Supersonic are also proud to welcome back Zombi, after bringing them to the UK for the first time back in 2006. Also gracing the main stage is one of the most visible and prolific names in the avant garde underground, Secret Chiefs 3. Providing an alchemical fusion of wild sounds spanning multiple genres, including “Morricone-esque cinematic grandeur, midnight surf guitar, traditional Middle Eastern rhythms and time signatures, demonic death metal, and electronic deviance” (Pitchfork).

Particularly exciting is the announcement that Supersonic will bring an extra special collaborative project to UK shores going by the name Fire! Combining the musical talent of Mats Gustafsson on sax, rhodes and electronics, Andreas from Wildbirds & Peacedrums on drums, Johan Berthling from Tape on bass, plus mind-bending master musician Oren Ambarchi playing guitar and electronics, Fire! perfectly amalgamate noise, rock and free-improv with a groovy Krautrock mantra. This promises to be the collaboration that everyone will be talking about!

White Hills will bring their mind-melting psychedelia to the festival for those people looking for “the rightful heir to Hawkwind’s massive legacy.” (Goldmine) whilst Lucky Dragons will astound with their notoriously immersive live shows where the audience is as integral to their performance as they are. The Skull Defekts are amongst the line up bringing their unique form of experimental rock as well as Wolves In The Throne Room, heralded by the press as one of the most promising Black Metal bands to emerge from the United States.

Experimentalists of the truest kind, Eternal Tapestry have confirmed their invitation, so expect finely crafted free improvised guitar with structured rhythms and lots of layered ambient sound. Add to that, Bardo Pond who will also take to the stage later this year performing their notorious esoteric psychedelia, replete with droning guitars, feedback, dense distortion and surges of reverb and white noise. Meanwhile local legend Mick Harris (Former member of Napalm Death) performs as Scorn, taking blast- beats to an entirely other level. And for that dose of chaotic sounds and wild unpredictability comes Japanese noise artist Astro, solo project of Japanese musician Hiroshi Hasegawa of the influential noise music group C.C.C.C and also a.P.A.t.T who sound like the best bits of everything you’ve ever heard.

Bringing something new to the festival is Antilles, a well-kept secret in the French underground community, whilst fellow French violinist Agathe Max will be gently weaving her elegant violin threads into cacophonous sounds. Keeping up the French connection are Monarch, one of the slowest, heaviest and loudest funeral doom metal bands Europe has to offer, driven by the pure intent on creating blood curdling feedback drenched physical sound through the use of insane volume and low end frequencies, and with a wall of sweet vintage amps. Welcomed back with open arms is innovative artist Cloaks, returning for a consecutive year.  And coming all the way from Melbourne Australia will be Blarke Bayer / Black Widow, a wildly experimental duo comprising Ben Andrews (Blarke Bayer) also a member of My Disco Robert MacManus (Black Widow) formerly a member of Grey Daturas. Pekko Käppi is sure to take our breath away, performing traditional Finnish runo-singing.

On top of all that there is still art, film, panel discussions and most importantly cake, details of other special guests to be revealed…

For further details about our line up check HERE
For our special hotel deals check HERE

Stunning footage of Peter Brodericks set from Supersonic 2010, it’s not all about the heavy noise but lots more – filmed and edited by by HTF Media
Keep an eye on this space news of Supersonic 2011 coming very soon

This great image is courtesy of Poupi postcards

Happy new year all, Some of you may remember our blog post calling for suggestions to be made for Supersonic 2010, well now is your chance to let us know who you’d like to see perform at Supersonic 2011. You never know your dream just may come true – after all many of you asked for Corrupted in 2009 and Godflesh for 2010, and so they came!

Great review in the current issue of  The Wire Magazine

Supersonic confirms that there’s certainly something in the air in Birmingham, or, as one of the organisers suggests, in the city’s architecture, that makes even the older artists come across as fresh. That’s because you’re not observing them on display in a ‘zoo’, but working in their natural habitat: a post-industrial space. So many other music festivals offer what you expect to hear, merely affirming your good taste in music, Supersonic is a place to be educated and surprised: new, experimental and intellectually nourishing material is cleverly smuggled in under a black cloak of fist-pumping riffs and cathartic noise.

David Moats

Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson: 1955-2010

Along with the rest of Throbbing Gristle, Sleazy was a bold provocateur and activist. But he was also one of the most innovative musicians of his generation. Coil played the first ever Supersonic Festival in 2003, it was a real honour.

It is with great sadness that this morning the Quietus is having to report that Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson of Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Coil and X-TG has died. He was 55, and reportedly passed away in his sleep. The news was broken in the early hours of the morning by Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti, who tweeted “Our dearest beautiful Sleazy left this mortal coil as he slept in peace last night.words cannot express our grief”. The Throbbing Gristle website simply features Sleazy’s name, and the dates of his life: 1955 – 2010.

From The Quietus

There is also a piece on the Guardian website

So it’s almost a month since Supersonic Festival 2010 – here is a little video which whizzes through some of the highlights.

In case you missed day 1 of Supersonic here’s some photographic highlights::

Devilman::

Napalm Death::

Dead Fader::

Demons::

Drumcorps::

PCM::

With Godflesh, King Midas Sound, Melt Banana, Cloaks, Cave and Tweak Bird still to play, be sure you don’t miss a second night.

If you can’t make it, and you have a good excuse, Rhubarb Radio are streaming live sets from the festival all night, so I guess that’s the next best thing.

x

Follow Ben Waddington on twitter

Calling Birds – Dancefloor Cube

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..

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

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.

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

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.

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