9 years ago, one of Capsule’s favourite bands Fugazi played a gig for us at what was then known as The Sanctuary in Digbeth. Historic! You can now relive that night as part of the newly released Fugazi live archive series.

Though the band has been on indefinite hiatus since 2003 the members continue to work together on the Fugazi Live Series archive project. More than 800 of Fugazi’s shows were recorded by the band’s sound engineers. Over time each of these recordings will be made available to download for a small fee and will be presented beside available photos, flyers and general show info.  Dischord

http://www.dischord.com/release/FLS28/birmingham-uk-oct-22-2002

Thanks to all who made it on Sunday for our event at IKON. Part of the gallery’s Autumn Almanac series, celebrating the city’s cultural activity, we were invited to program a night of music and sound art. This seemed a wonderful way to round off our wonderful Home of Metal year, celebrating the sound of Birmingham with two exciting performances that explored the concept of Heavy Metal and created something entirely new.

Fresh from their Supersonic debut, Ore played their tuba doom. Referencing Metal, Classical and Experimental sounds.

Andrew Moscardo Parker took inspiration from the newly reformed godfathers of Metal, taking the first three notes of the song ‘Black Sabbath’ ( these notes were known as the Devil’s Intervals in Medieval times) and creating a 30 minute string piece. Eight string players surrounded the audience to create a truly immersive piece of work.

Capsule’s very own Ms Sara Fowles (centre) contributes viola

Huge thanks to all the players, to SOUNDkitchen for contributing field recordings based around the notion of ‘Metal’ and to IKON.

Capsule’s Home Of Metal project got a great mention in yesterdays FT newspaper in reference to the very exciting announcement by Black Sabbath about their reformation next year and embarking on a world tour.

Yet Brummies have rarely boasted of their music, unlike chirpy Scousers and cocky Mancunians – a result of Birmingham’s modesty as well as wariness of mainstream indifference to the subculture.
That is changing. Home of Metal, a series of exhibitions and events in the region, has been held over the past few months. An international conference on heavy metal has just taken place at the University of Wolverhampton. It discussed academic studies from the use of “grotesque realism in grindcore politics” to the role of women in “death metal”.
All this comes amid society’s yearning to return to its industrial roots in what George Osbourne calls a ‘march of the makers’. Yet manufacturing’s recovery is stalling amid turmoil in European markets. With the desired rebalancing so hard to achieve, heavy metal looks a more assured export.

Brian Groom

Read full article HERE

We also appeared on Sky News alongside the guys from Polar Bear Records & Alex of former Brummie band Beestung Lips who declared he was “Frankly power-chuffed” by the announcement. No doubt this statement will in itself go down in history.

Join us this Sunday as part of Ikon Gallerys Autumn Almanac. Capsule present an evening inspired by the sound of Birmingham & its industrial heritage and metal origins.

Andrew Moscardo-Parker performs as Lash Frenzy. Central to his sound work is a rejection of narrative and a focus upon the present, the ‘now’. His work as Lash Frenzy explores the action of playing, turning performances into immersive, participatory events. For this performance, Andrew will be paying tribute to Birmingham musical history, as the piece will work around the first 3 notes of the song ‘Black Sabbath’. These particular 3 notes are called Tritones and were known in Medieval times as the ‘Devil’s Intervals’.

Ore are a drone doom tuba group. The Sound of Ore can be heard where classical, experimental and metal musics engage. The material is rare; a synthesis of musical elements. Ore forge the power and depth of brass with the care of craftsmen. It is the sound of Birmingham: its industrial heritage, metal-working origins and creative innovation. Listen HERE

In addition you will be able to hear a selection of works by SOUNDkitchen,  in response to Capsule’s Home of Metal project, sound artists have  submitted material based on the notions of ‘metal’.

Tickets available online HERE and will also be available on the door.
The event begins at 8:00pm.

Just released: LTD heavy weight vinyl recording of Tweak Bird at Supersonic 2010 – BUY NOW

Long standing fans of the brothers Tweak, we at Capsule were thrilled to invite TWEAK BIRD for their debut Supersonic Festival performance. Heavy rock has never felt so fun, or so sugar soaked! They joined a bill we were immensely proud of, with Swans joining us on the tour no one thought would ever happen and Godflesh performing a rare and much anticipated home coming show, along with new and exciting discoveries. So here we’ve captured one of our favorite performances of the weekend in our series of live releases, whether reminiscing or hearing it for the first time, enjoy this little piece of Supersonic history.

TWEAK BIRD is Caleb and Ashton Bird on vocals, guitar, drums, and all other intentional or unintentional instrumentation, and featuring Rene Everts on saxophone. Engineered live by Taylor Spray. Recording mixed and edited by Toshi “Gold Glove” Kasai at Nephews Closet in Los Angeles.

Photo by JWRobinson

Also a handful left of  Iron Lung live at Supersonic 09, Harvey Milk live at Supersonic 08 clear vinyl

Wowza. What a show. Was great to have Capsule favourites Melvins playing in Birmingham. Thanks to all who came out, it was a great crowd and a perfect post Supersonic party.

Here’s some pictures of the show taken by Katja Ogrin

Join us for our next event  – we’re showcasing some excellent Birmingham talent at IKON’s Autumn Almanac on 20th November, including Ore and Andrew Moscardo Parker

Missing Supersonic? Fear not, your live music enjoyment is not over for the year by a long shot. We’ve got Melvins playing at HMV Institute tonight. A firm Capsule favourite, this will be unmissable.

Tickets are still available this afternoon from theticketsellers