It’s Supersonic Festival time again and I’m really looking forward to it. The timetable has been posted and, as expected, it’s a delightful mess of stuff I’ve never heard of before and can’t wait to experience for the first time.
That said, despite playing the neophyte card I have been going to these things for a few years now so I do have a smidgen of knowledge with which to make the odd recommendation. So, using the just released timetable as my guide, here goes.
DJ Scotch Egg (Friday, Boxxed) is a Supersonic regular. I was entranced by his Gameboy glitching antics in 2008 and will be at the front for whatever he has cooked up this year.
Scorn (Friday, Boxxed) I missed in 2009 when they were scheduled against Sunn 0))) so this will be a chance to put that right. Expecting very noisy noise.
Bardo Pond (Saturday, Space 2) appeared on the legendary Tribute to Spacemen 3 album I bought on a whim from Tempest circa 1998 and have been haunting me with that one track ever since. For some reason I never got around to finding out more about them. That’s about to be rectified.
Zombi (Saturday, Space 2) I saw play in 2006 and they blew me away so this will be a reunion of sorts. Took some of my favourite photos from that year of them too.
Kogumaza (Saturday, Old Library) were supporting Enablers on Friday (photos) and were very pleasing. Started with the usual post-rock noodling but drove it into a very interesting direction with some quite down-tempo drums and interesting guitar antics.
Ore (Sunday, Theatre) is a project from, amongst others, my chum Sam Underwood and is an exploration of the Doom Metal genre using the tuba. It promises to be quite fantastic on a number of levels. Big grins and chinstrokey ponderings are guaranteed. This is my hidden gem of the weekend, I think.
Modulate (Sunday, Boxed) did a gig at the Mac the other month which took my understanding of audio-visual art-music to another place. There’s a maturity and subtlety to their work which most VJs can’t hope to achieve yet they still have the power to shock.
Drum Eyes (Sunday, Boxxed) is Scotch Egg (see above) with chums who played Supersonic in 2010. Less bleepy, more rock, still brilliant.
Alva Noto (Sunday, Boxxed) I came across him last month and fell in love immediately, so you can imagine my delight to hear he was playing this year. I’ve been listening to his stuff while working at night but I’m assured it’s a whole ‘nother thing at the proper volume – loud. This is the set I’m circling in the programme as a mustn’t miss.
So that’s what I know will be good at Supersonic 2011. But I have to say I’ll just be checking in on those of these that I’ve seen before. Supersonic, for me, is about seeing stuff I’ve never seen before, at times things I’d never contemplated were possible. I’m not the sort of nerd who buries his head deep in The Wire each month to keep on top of the contemporary avant-garde (I’m a different sort of nerd) but I do like this sort of thing and Supersonic is the chance for me to see it on my doorstep. I urge you to give it a go, especially if none of the names on the bill are known to you. That’s the point.
And now for the obligatory interactive bit. Are you a Supersonic veteran? What can you recommend from this year’s lineup?
From the Twitters:
@mapsadaisical says: Alva Noto, Fire!, Cut Hands, Pekko Kappi, Barn Owl, Byetone, Alex Tucker.
@johnxela says: Astro should be incredible!
@stef says: Alva Noto. Amazing experience live.
Any more?
If I were going, which I’m not because once again logistics bit me on the arse, I would be front and centre for Mike Watt and the Missingmen. Since he’s up against DJ Scotch Egg you won’t be :)
@jez
Checked out Mike Watt’s bio. Blimey! I might well have to skip the Egg…
Several times in the past few weeks I’ve been mildly surprised to astounded by things you’ve reveal you didn’t know (although of course the details escape me right now). One always assume that what you know yourself is commonplace. Anyway, it’s still something of a shock to me that you, a chap counting down to 40, listening to the music I know you’ve listened to, hadn’t encountered Mike Watt at some point in the last 20 years :)
It’s something I’ve gotten comfortable in the last decade, particularly with music since the Internet took over how I find out about stuff. There’s SO MUCH of it that whenever you meet someone the chances are they’ll know a bunch of cool things you don’t and vice versa, so every meeting is a door opening to a whole nother world. It’s so much better than the tedious “yeah, I saw them last year man” NME-style smugness.
I also think I came at music from a slight tangent, not really getting into the good stuff until my mid 20s (Pixies aside) so I don’t have that foundation of teen-driven knowledge. My real foundations comes from the comix/zines, not music.
For a straightforward-but-exhilarating rocky headbut in the face – Drunk In Hell. They have that rare oomph that most heavy bands like to pretend they have.
Thanks for other folks recommendations, I need to do some listening when i get in from work.
Loooking forward to it – from a personal perspective, it’s the best line-up for a few years and the first time I’ve bought a weekend ticket since….2007? I can’t remember.
Friday – Part Chimp, Mike Watt, I’ve heard good words on Secret Chiefs 3 but haven’t heard them
Saturday – Bardo Pond and then a meander around to catch as much as I can
Sunday – Eternal Tapestry, Barn Owl, Envy, Circle, White Hills. I’m guessing I need to see Alva Noto based on the comments here.