Everybody’s favourite new band at Supersonic last year was London psych band Teeth of the Sea and so we’ve brought them back for an intimate gig at Hare & Hounds, on Monday 5^th March. Come along to witness one of the stand out bands of last year’s festival, pure space rock that stomps and prowls in a menacing fashion. Also are on the bill are psych, folk and no wave ensemble Health & Efficiency and Victories at Sea.

Each year we love to get involved with the excellent Flatpack Festival and we’re thrilled that this year we’re working in partnership to present the Saturday night knees up on 17^th March at Custard Factory. And what a knees up it will be! A night of psych of the highest order Panopticon will feature the full on wig out of White Hills and Pontiak as well as psych films and a DJ set from Club Unlikey. Tickets are available HERE

In collaboration with another Birmingham festival, we are presenting a night of sound art and performance as part of Fierce. The inimitable Grouper will present her recent work Violet Replacement at VIVID on Friday 30^th March, comprised of tape loops, field recordings and submerged atmospherics. Also on the bill are organic noisemakers Diamond Catalog and a merging of folk and abstract instrumentation from Swallows. Tickets to the show include entrance to the festival afterparty.

The festival began with Eli Keszler, who i didn’t know much about apart from his recent Cold Pin installation. Turns out he is predominately a percussionist and played around the drumkit with a Corsano rate of inventiveness and precision, but far removed from any free jazz percussive traditions.

The two highlights of the whole weekend for me followed. The reliably awesome John Wiese (who played at our show at mac with Matmos last year) played by the sound desk, inviting the audience to sit on stage and hear his set as a wash of noise behind the speakers. Next followed R/S - the duo of Peter Rehberg and Marcus Schmikler. A torrent of noise that probably a lot more fun then intended – with an added bonus of Stephen O’Malley headbanging in the crowd and big smiles all round.

I missed most of day two’s opener,  Sicilian Valerio Tricoli who performed an electronic soundscape set, with what looked like a ridiculously complex set up. The finale came from CC Hennix and Werner Durand. This closing piece was totally removed from the all noise and electronic push of the weekend, this was a minimlaist set of organic sounds. Durand is an instrument maker, check out his construction for this show:

Hennix’s vocal range was astonishing, but there were no acrobatics here, utterly restrained, her voice calmly dropped deeper and deeper throughout the set so that she created a continuous rumble behind Durand’s wind instruments.

A varied and impressive showcase, check out more about PAN’s releases here and the always impressive programme at Cafe OTO here

Lisa says “By considering your identity , taking the time to produce good quality material you convey the love that you’ll be paying to all elements of the festival; that’s what we’ve built our reputation on’.

The artwork shows designs and illustrations by Heavy Object, Stuart Kolakovich, Karoline Rerrie and Savage Pencil

2011 has been an incredible year for Capsule with tons of wonderful events and unforgettable moments. Feel free to let us know what your highlights were from our 2011 program and let us know what you’re keen to see more of in 2012.

The year started with some great shows at the Hare & Hounds, showcasing local talent alongside international touring bands. We were thrilled to host Kayo Dot, Seefeel, Woods and Arbouretum in Birmingham, an ever bass heavy set from Dead Fader and a great new discovery in Cambridge’s The Doozer.

Woods at Hare & Hounds on 14th March 2011 – photo by Katja Ogrin

Just one of the awesome gig posters produced for by Tom J Hughes

March saw us revving up for a full on year of Home of Metal events with a screening of ‘In Bed with Chris Needham’ at Flatpack Festival, a cult piece of video that follows a 17 year old Thrash Metal fan through those difficult teenage years. We also held a Home of Metal Open Day - think Antique’s Roadshow for Metal fans, at The Public with special guest Krusher and a DIY cardboard guitar making workshop with Juneau Projects.

Some pretty serious guitar design, photo by Katja Ogrin

Spring saw some really special shows take place as Capsule favourites Earth played in April, the ever intriguing Matmos and Emeralds played in May. We also had our own Royal Wedding party with some great Birmingham bands, including new  favourites Backwards. Behind the scenes we were busy putting together our major Home of Metal exhibition at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and planning for the season of Heavy Metal celebrations.

Matmos at the mac, 15th May 2011 photo by Kate Fitzgeorge

Backwards at Hare & Hounds, 30th April 2011

‘Home of Metal: 40 years of Heavy Metal and its unique birthplace’ opened at BM&AG on 18th June 2011 and ran through out the summer. We were more than a bit hyped when Black Sabbath guitarist and all round hero was our special guest of honour at the opening. The exhibition explored the ingredients that together created Heavy Metal and was greeted with amazing audience figures and a huge amount of press attention. Thanks again to all who contributed to the show’s success – it was a landmark moment for the project and for Capsule as an organisation.

Johnny Doom keeping it casual in our recreation of Ozzy’s Aston home, photo by Katja Ogrin

The show included a number of key objects from the featured bands history, including Judas Priest stage costumes and Sabbath’s Mob Rules stage cross. Photo by Katja Ogrin

Yeah, that’s right – Tony Iommi. Photo by Katja Ogrin

The Home of Metal season also saw exhibitions across the Black Country, exploring various themes relating to Heavy Metal, from the music’s visual impact to the metal working industries of the region. Home of Metal also hosted the UK’s first Heavy Metal academic conference which saw world leaders in the field of metal studies discuss ‘Heavy Metal and Place’. A weekender of activity around the Black Country included the ‘Metal on Film’ festival, the touring Vintage Mobile Cinema, more DIY guitar action with Juneau Projects and as ever some great live music from bands like Gentleman’s Pistols, Stinky Wizzleteat and Selfless.

A newly commissioned work by Nicholas Bullen and Damien Deroubaix, referencing the first Napalm Death record. Photo by Katja Ogrin

Crust/grind band Selfless perform at the screening of ”Heavy Metal Parking Lot’ at Wolverhampton Lighthouse. Photo by Katja Ogrin.

The crowd watching Gentleman’s Pistols at New art Gallery Walsall.  Photo by Katja Ogrin.

Clearly, you never quite know what to expect on a day out in Dudley

It was an exhausting but awesome summer, but the momentum couldn’t stop there as that little ol thing Supersonic crept up on us in October. We were thrilled to have Tony Conrad, Secret Chiefs 3, Alva Noto and many more influential names on the line up as well as showcase exciting new or underground artists such as Teeth of the Sea, Drunk in Hell, Agathe Max and Ore.

This (literally) ceiling shattering set was one of the last chances to catch Scorn live. Photo by Greg Neate

After filling the Theatre Space in 2010, Barn Owl took to the largest stage at the festival, and played a beautiful set. Photo by Robert Knowles

Lucky Dragons’ participatory performance was a highlight for many. Photo by Craig Earp.

Supersonic 2011 in 90 seconds by HTF media. For more photos and reviews visit the Supersonic Collective Memory

Thanks to all who came along, performed, volunteered and generally supported. Since then we’ve has two excellent shows with firm favourites The Melvins performing in November, may a Capsule fist in the air! IKON invited Capsule to curate a night as part of their Autumn Almanac series of events. It was the Sound of Birmingham and saw performance from tuba doom band Ore, a Black Sabbath inspired improvised piece by Andrew Moscardo Parker and a collective of string players plus field recordings inspired by ‘metal’ by SOUNDkitchen.

Buzz of The Melvins, 1st November 2011. Photo by Katja Ogrin.

Don’t forget we’ll be having a Christmas party on 18th December at Hare & Hounds with our friends Polar Bear Records, Birmingham Bike Foundry and Ideal. There’ll be live music in the form of Backwards, Stinky Wizzleteat and Selfless, a raffle and other treats. Tickets available here, hope to see you there!

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

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.

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