Supersonic Tix on sale

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SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL RETURNS THIS JUNE
FOR THE TWELFTH EDITION OF ADVENTUROUS MUSIC AND ARTS

INITIAL LINE UP ANNOUNCED AS EARLY BIRD TICKETS GO ON SALE VIA A KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

“Birmingham’s Supersonic Festival occupies an exalted position at the vanguard of the festival circuit. And rightly so. Since its inception over ten years ago, it has maintained a staggeringly focused and intelligent curatorial policy, transcending the music and art worlds to present a programme teeming with invention, audience participation and a certain amount of unpredictability. It’s also a bloody good knees up.”
– THE SKINNY

Since 2003, we have brought you Supersonic Festival, an internationally-renowned experimental music and arts festival with genre-bending sound and performance at its heart.

Over the years, Supersonic Festival is privileged to have garnered an incredibly loyal audience and is widely regarded as one of the best experimental arts festivals in the UK, last year selling out in record time.

Whether you’ve been to every Supersonic that ever was or this year you’ll be dipping your toes into our welcoming waters for the first time, we are sure you’ll love our unmissable line-up. Get your tickets at one of the Eventbrite alternatives, or our website today!

Will Gregory Moog Ensemble Supersonic Website Dimensions

Kicking off proceedings on Thursday 11th June will be an opening concert at the legendary Birmingham Town Hall, an impressive Grade 1 listed building which has seen past performances by the likes of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Supersonic are delighted to host the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble.  As one half of the electronic music sensation Goldfrapp, Will Gregory is passionate about creating new sounds and reinventing old ones. Here a stellar line-up stretches the possibilities of the Moog synthesiser through newly composed music, transcriptions of classical works, and their own versions of music from popular culture and film.  Marvel at 10 musicians on stage, including Portishead’s Adrian Utley and composer Graham Fitkin, performing works by Bach, John Carpenter, Burt Bacharach and Oliver Messiaen on a fascinating array of vintage instruments.  Moreover, a new piece by Will Gregory features a clocking device specially built for the ensemble that enables all 10 synths to be synced, producing music previously impossible to perform live.

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Following on, Post punk provocateurs The Pop Group will be bringing their pioneering throb to Supersonic. Drawing on an eclectic range of influences from free jazz, conscious funk, heavyweight dub to avant-garde experimentalism, alongside contemporaries like Public Image Limited, This Heat and Throbbing Gristle, they were at the forefront of a musical period marked out by its ground-breaking innovation. With a legion of admirers, they have inspired many from Nick Cave to Fugazi. As dissonant as they are danceable,  they recently announced the release of their first album in 35 years, Citizen Zombie, as well as single ‘Mad Truth’, proving as relevant now as they ever were.

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Six Organs Of Admittance (Ben Chasny) will be performing, dissecting and demonstrating The Hexadic System – the name of his soon-to-be released album for Drag City, and a malleable, open-ended system of musical composition that Chasny developed for song-crafting, taking in aspects of language, graphics and chance. Decipher the workings for yourself at a limited workshop Chasny will be hosting.

Liima Supersonic Website Dimensions

Also announced to play across the weekend are Liima, a new collaborative quartet formed of Danish indie-pop trio Efterklang and Finland’s finest improvisational percussionist Tatu Rönkkö. Liima is the Finnish word for ‘glue’, and this is an apt metaphor for the band’s combination of processed vocals, guitar, looped percussion and complex interweaving synthesised sounds, which create a free and emotionally raw live experience.

Liturgy 1 Supersonic Website Dimensions

The esteemed Thrill Jockey record label has two artists present for the festival – Portland’s psych rock explorers Eternal Tapestry will be making the journey across the Atlantic to fry some synapses in support of their new album Wild Strawberries, whilst post-everything black metal lone wolves Liturgy will showcase their detailed dissections of cross-fertilising hardstyle beats and occult-orientated rap present on their soon-to-be-released LP, The Ark Work.

Happy Meals 1 Supersonic Website Dimensions

Glasgow’s Happy Meals, life-partners since high school finding expression in cosmic pop form, will be bringing their sophisticated Franco-Scottish hedonism to the festival.

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While super-kinetic London future jazz outfit Tomaga, the anonymous sundrenched sounds of Slow Magic, and Swedish maxi-experimentalist duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums shall all also be in attendance.

 Flamingods 2 Supersonic Website Dimensions

Flamingods, Bahrain-born, Brixton-based troupe take African rhythms, repetitive grooves and a pleasure-seeking sensibility to form a riot of sound and fury that’s both sonically adventurous and feverishly compelling. Bringing a welcome and vibrant splash of day-glo to the main festival programme, they will also lead the Supersonic Kids Gig – Big Sounds For Little People, a special show for the under 7’s.

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On Sunday 14th June, Richard Dawson curates an afternoon of performance, named after his infamous podcast Delight Is Right. The programme will play host to a number of very rare live UK performances by artists handpicked by Dawson, those whom he holds dear and sites as an influence on his own songwriting.   The skewed troubadour shall also be performing on this day. His shambolically virtuosic guitar playing is at once charming and abrasive,  stumbling from music-hall tune-smithery to spidery swatches of noise-colour, swathed in amp static and teetering on the edge of feedback. His songs are both chucklesome and tragic, rooted in a febrile imagination.

Ever looking forward, Supersonic is re-imagining its format this year.  The 2015 edition will be relocating to ‘The Crossing’ in Digbeth which is a brand new venue and one of Birmingham’s hidden venue gems with state of the art sound, lighting and a/v gear specifically designed for live amplified music. The second stage is located a minutes walk away in Boxxed, a post industrial warehouse space where the festival has taken place in previous years. These spaces will play host to live performances, a market place, talks, workshops and the famous Supersonic Tea Room full of epicurean delights.

You can expect PLENTY more from the festival in the way of dance and debate, participation and observation, as well as more acts to be announced in the coming months, so do keep tuned lest you miss out on what marvels are in store.

Early-bird tickets are available now from www.supersonicfestival.com
A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to offer unqiue treats to those who wish to purchase these advance tickets.

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Supersonic 2015 dates announced

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We’re delighted to be able to announce the dates for Supersonic Festival 2015 11-14 June.
Early-bird tickets will go on sale at 9am on Friday 13th Feb via a Kickstarter campaign – when we reveal the first tranche of confirmed artists.
For now here is a little reminder of last years festival which sold out in record time.

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Xmas cocktail podcast

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A massive thanks to the Hickeysonic duo for creating an awesome podcast for us, there are loads of related tracks for our Xmas Cocktail event on the 13 Dec, it will give you a taster of what we have in store. Hickeysonic were the duo responsible for the ‘Panic & Carousels’ show on basic.fm for the past couple of years until the station closed at the end of September, we’re delighted that we could coax them out of early retirement. Enjoy!

A christmas cocktail by Hickeysonic on Mixcloud

tracklist

Hickeysonic – intro…
Gallon Drunk – Christmas [The Rotten Mile]
The Sonics – Don’t Believe In Christmas
Palehorse – Bird Feed [Harm Starts Here]
Billy Childish – A Poundland Christmas [Christmas 1979]
Table Scraps – Foot Of Our Stairs [b-side]
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds – Kris Kringle Ju Ju [Dracula Boots]
Evil Blizzard – Nothing For Xmas
Glatze – Cafe Vixen [Glatze EP]
Ravioli Me Away – Mic Check
Iggy Pop – White Christmas [Gimme Some Skin]
The Lowest Form – Telepathy [Negative Ecstasy]
Year Of Birds – The Wax Hour [Slack Handfuls of Nothing]
Paddy Steer – ANCHIHOYE H4C
Hordes – All the White Crosses Stood In Rows [I]
Ben Frost – Secant [A U R O R A ]
Chris Herbert – Crest [Constants]
Sly & the Family Drone – Wine into Water [Appetite for Tax Deduction]
Cathode – the sky at night [before we split frequencies vol.2]

Tickets for the Xmas Cocktail at the Hare & Hounds on Dec 13 can be purchased directly from Milque & Muhle or via theticketsellers.co.uk

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Supersonic Ltd Edtn 2014


Back by popular demand and after a successful 10 years of existence, Supersonic Festival return and are taking the event back to its core values

by curating ‘Supersonic Festival Ltd Edtn’ an intimate two day event. On 30th and 31st May, Capsule present Supersonic Festival Ltd Edtn and shall return to the Custard Factory where it all began.

Since the inception of Supersonic Festival in 2003, Capsule have firmly established the event as a unique, inner-city festival, with an undeniably vibrant atmosphere, always presenting a variety of performers – the inaugural event featured the bewildering blend of Coil, DJ Food, LCD soundsystem, The Bug and more – and where the film programme, workshops and exhibitions are as paramount to the event’s atmosphere as the live performances. Year in, year out, Capsule unite discerning music fans, embracing eclectic tastes and have over the years adapted a creative space for music lovers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, record stalls and independent businesses to thrive.

As this is a limited event, there are only 400 weekend tickets available at just £45 and they will be going on sale on Friday morning at 10am, so grab them while you can via the www.theticketsellers.co.uk

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Supersonic have already confirmed the billing for the event, which will take place at a new space within the Custard Factory, and are delighted to welcome back Swans. Michael Gira, Norman Westberg, Christoph Hahn, Phil Puleo, Thor Harris and Christopher Pravdica are no strangers to Supersonic Festival, and are thrilled to play host to their infamous, dominant and strikingly powerful live show.

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Baltimore duo Matmos shall bring their dizzyingly diverse assemblage to Supersonic Limited in support of their 2013 album. Their music comprises stomping techno, eerie synth

jams, musique concrete, Latin rhythms, and Ethiopian music, at once at home in the academy, the art gallery, the nightclub and the noise warehouse, perfect fit for the festival then.

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Liverpool based ensemble, Ex Easter Island Head, will bring their expanded Large Electric Ensemble which includes twelve prepared electric guitars and drums to create a maximalist wash of amplified strings and droning overtones. The ensemble adopt a new vocabulary of playing based around various guitar preparations, from billowing harp-like arpeggios to ‘bowing’ the strings with allen keys to produce luminous upper register drones. Microtonal intervals create shimmering tones akin to the struck metallophones of Balinese gamelan, whilst the thrum of electrified strings creates a dense undertow of singing harmonies. Scored in custom notation the piece places free flowing passages alongside conductor cues, allowing the players to collectively create a distinctive sonic landscape. What Supersonic event would be complete without something special such as this?

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Supersonic are pleased to welcome back, the infamous blistering noise of Wolf Eyes. From touring with Sonic Youth and Andrew W.K., Wolf Eyes have crossed borders into popularity which few other such confrontational units of their ilk have been able to and kept straight and narrow on their blazing path, and are on top form. The overwhelming force of Wolf Eyes must be seen to to be believed.

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Sleaford Mods will bring their aggressive verbal onslaught to the Custard Factory, a great setting to spout about all that is contrived and connected to the day-to-day hammer of low paid employment and domestic situations arising from that trap.

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Also returning to the festival, is French artist Agathe Max. With an elegant command of melody and a strident use of rhythm, Max creates dynamic, fast-flowing loop pieces that encompass noise, post-classicism and krautrock with nods to the High Lonesome Raga as filtered through Henry Flynt.

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We warmly welcome a rising talent to this rich mix in the form of Basic House, the work of the UK’s Stephen Bishop, the man behind the ever more impressive label that is Opal Tapes and also vocalist of Drunk In Hell who played an unforgettable set at Supersonic in 2012. His textural and rhythmic explorations are fast growing in acclaim, described as “somewhere between Kassem Mosse, The New Blockaders and Zoviet*France.”

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Finally, provocative Norwegian singer, composer, lyricist and writer Jenny Hval shall perform at Supersonic. Multidisciplinary and transgressive are words often employed to describe her art, but Jenny Hval’s polyphonic artistry is in fact seamlessly interwoven between musical, literary, visual and performative modes of expression. Despite her young age, she has already infused, carved and modulated an artistic voice that is altogether present, accessible and obscurely complex at the same time. We cannot wait!

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Let’s not forget the other elements which always make Supersonic so special, the workshops and participatory events. Supersonic have selected If Wet to feature at the festival. If Wet is a monthly event of sonic exploration, usually held in a rural village hall; chaired by musical instrument designers MortonUnderwood. Part show and tell, part test bed, part salon. A place for artists to showcase their latest sonic works and research. A place to revel and discuss. After a successful inaugural season MortonUnderwood have decided to extend the reach of If Wet beyond the village hall and it is with great pleasure that they will transport their distinctive event to Supersonic 2014.

Supersonic Ltd Edtn will launch Capsule’s inaugural ‘Labs’ (artist development and commissioning scheme) devised to create more opportunities for commissioning experimental, cross-disciplinary art. More information about this will be coming soon.

Bill Drummond: The 25 Paintings

Legendary musician and artist Bill Drummond will begin a twelve year ‘World Tour’ under Spaghetti Junction marking this momentous event with an exhibition at Eastside Projects.
The exhibition focuses on ‘The 25 Paintings’, a series of artworks that signpost actions Drummond will perform across Birmingham during his three month stay in the city including, but by no means limited to, giving away bunches of daffodils, discovering Dead Oak Rings, building rafts, hiding in cafes, making beds, sweeping the streets clean and brewing tea. Also on show will be The SIXTY Posters, The 25 Sixty Second Films, an evolving selection of photographs, a globe of the world and a large map of the city.
www.eastsideprojects.org

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Supersonic 2011 podcast no.1


It’s that time of year again when things start hotting up on the Supersonic front. The wonderful Little Chris of Brumcast fame has lovingly put together a series of podcasts together for your listening pleasure. Here is the first Supersonic special – ENJOY!

Supersonic Festival 2011 Preview Podcast 1 by Brumcast Presents…. on Mixcloud

Tracklist
Zombi Slow Oscillations
Wolves In The Throne Room Dea Artio
A.P.A.T.T. Purple Ackee
Secret Chiefs 3 Akramachamarei
The Skull Defekts No More Always
White Hills Ulan
Bardo Pond Destroying Angel (Peel Sessions)
Scorn Name’s Not Down Not Coming In
Electric Wizard Turn Off Your Mind
Lucky Dragons I Keep Waiting For Earthquakes
Zu Beata Viscera
Current 93 Sunflower
Eternal Tapestry Hermetic Secrets
Cloaks Junk
Pharoah Overlord Test Flight

Supersonic Festival Weekend tickets are available HERE
As well as from Polar Bear – Kings Heath, Swordfish – Birmingham, Plugd – Cork

Current line up includes: ALVA NOTO / a.P.A.t.T. /AGATHE MAX /ANTILLES /ASTRO /BARDO POND /BLARKE BAYER/BLACK WIDOW/ BYETONE/ CIRCLE/ CLOAKS /CUT HANDS /ELECTRIC WIZARD / ETERNAL TAPESTRY/ FIRE!/ KOGUMAZA/ LUCKY DRAGONS/ MONARCH/ NATHAN BELL/ PART CHIMP/ PHARAOH OVERLORD/ PEKKO KAPPI/ SCORN/ SECRET CHIEFS / SILVER APPLES / SKULL DEFEKTS / SLABDRAGGER/ TEETH OF THE SEA / THE BERG SANS NIPPLE/ TONY CONRAD/ WHITE HILLS / WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM / ZOMBI / ZU93

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Day tickets released for Supersonic 2010


DAY TICKETS RELEASED FOR
SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2010

FINAL ACTS ADDED TO LINE-UP

KING MIDAS SOUND / ZENI GEVA / CLOAKS (exclusive solo DJ set) /
FACTORY FLOOR / NISENNENMONDAI / MUGSTAR /  DEVILMAN / PETER BRODERICK PIERRE BASTIEN + MALE INSTRUMENTY / FUKPIG  / LASH FRENZY vs KK NULL /
KHYAM ALLAMI AND MASTER MUSICIANS OF UKKAKE PRESENT: BOSPHOREAN  / MONARCH/ DEAD FADER / STINKY WIZZLETEAT

Joining confirmed acts including:
NAPALM DEATH / GODFLESH / SWANS
HALLOGALLO – Michael Rother + Friends present the music of NEU!

PEOPLE LIKE US / DEMONS (W/SICK LLAMA) / OvO / PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES / DOSH / TWEAK BIRD / DRUMCORPS / CAVE / PCM / JAILBREAK FEAT. CHRIS CORSANO + HEATHER LEIGH / MELT BANANA / JAMES BLACKSHAW / LICHENS / BONG / GNOD / VOICE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS / NECRO DEATHMORT / GNAW / EAGLE TWIN / BLUE SABBATH BLACK FIJI

Tickets on sale now from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

Friday: £20, Sat/Sun: £35, Weekend: £75

Following the news that the 2010 edition of Birmingham’s acclaimed annual Supersonic Festival will be headlined by NAPALM DEATH, SWANS, GODFLESH and HALLOGALLO, Capsule are pleased to announce that a limited number of individual day tickets are now on sale, priced £20 (Friday) and £35 (Saturday/Sunday), with weekend tickets on sale at £75.

Friday night will be headlined by Birmingham extreme metallers Napalm Death, Saturday by Godflesh, for their first UK appearance in over 10 years, and Sunday by two equally unmissable acts, Swans and Hallogallo 2010 – Michael Rother + friends play the music of NEU!

Supersonic are also excited to reveal the final round of incredible artists who will be appearing at this year’s festival. From Doom to dun step 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.

Regarded as pioneers of experimental music by the likes of Sonic Youth and Merzbow, KK Null’s incredible collective Zeni Geva will be bringing their prog-hardcore to the Supersonic stage, and KK will also be appearing alongside Birmingham sound artist, Lash Frenzy, in a truly unmissable performance. Also confirmed, Kevin Martin, creator of experimental dancehall project The Bug, with his incredible, critically acclaimed new project, King Midas Sound.

Aggressive, noisy and hailed by many as the successor to Napalm Death, Fukpig will be playing their new breed of Birmingham grindcore, along with heavy, heavy dub from Devilman aka DJ Scotch Egg and Dokkebi Q. Also confirmed, Monarch, with the demonic, throat-shredding shrieks of Emilie, whose petite appearance belies one of the harshest throats in the underground Doom spectrum.
Following a knock-out 2009 performance, Nisennenmondai return, bringing their driving rhythm section and metallic guitar sound, along with Mugstar, who will be playing their unique underground mix of psychedelia and krautrock.  Also confirmed, the most exciting new band to come out of London, Factory Floor, who will also be putting in one of their legendary brutal, live performances, and there will be an unmissable Cloaks DJ set from Steve Cloaks, who will be playing strictly Cloaks material only, in an exclusive performance for Supersonic 2010. There will also be heaviness, good times and volume a-plenty from Birmingham’s very own Stinky Weezleteet and distorto-death groves from Brighton’s Dead Fader.
World music meets psychedelic rock in a unique performance from Khyam Allami and Master Musicians of Bukkake, combining the sublime Oud playing of Iraqi musician Khyam Allami with the 7-piece out rock unit, Master Musicians of Bukkake. French composer and surrealist inventor Pierre Bastien will also be bringing his musical machinery, which he has been making since the 1970s, and will share the bill with Male Instrumenty, the fantastic five-piece orchestra of toys and small instruments from Poland. Also, the “painfully young and unnervingly talented” American multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick, who will be exploring minimalism and instrumentalism with tinges of folk.

For further details check out our website www.supersonicfestival.com

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HALLOGALLO + NAPALM DEATH to play Supersonic Festival


FURTHER ACTS ANNOUNCED FOR
SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2010

HALLOGALLO 2010 – Michael Rother + Friends present the music of NEU!
NAPALM DEATH
PEOPLE LIKE US / DEMONS (W/SICK LLAMA) / OvO
PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES / DOSH /
TWEAK BIRD / DRUMCORPS / CAVE / PCM

Joining confirmed acts including:

GODFLESH / SWANS / JAILBREAK FEAT. CHRIS CORSANO + HEATHER LEIGH / MELT BANANA / JAMES BLACKSHAW / LICHENS / BONG / GNOD /
VOICE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS / NECRO DEATHMORT / GNAW /
EAGLE TWIN / BLUE SABBATH BLACK FIJI

NEW FESTIVAL DATES!
22 – 24 OCTOBER 2010
Birmingham, UK
www.supersonicfestival.com

Tickets on sale now from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

Following the news that the 2010 edition of Birmingham’s acclaimed annual Supersonic Festival will be headlined by SWANS and GODFLESH, Capsule are excited to announce a further round of live acts who will also perform at this year’s festival, including HALLOGALLO 2010 and NAPALM DEATH. Tickets are now on sale!

“I´m thrilled to return to Supersonic this year with my new live project Hallogallo 2010. We will present some favourite music by NEU!, Harmonia and from my solo albums. I look forward to Supersonic this year because two great musicians and friends are joining me in Hallogallo 2010: Steve Shelley (drummer of Sonic Youth) and Aaron Mullan (guitar player of Tall Firs). Expect some fast-forward movement!” – Michael Rother, Hallogallo 2010/NEU!

Capsule are also excited to confirm that unquestionably the most influential band in extreme music’s ferocious history NAPALM DEATH will be performing in their hometown to make their first ever Supersonic Festival appearance. Acclaimed as the creators of Grindcore, Napalm Death will be pushing the envelope of metal to new extremes in what is guaranteed to be an unforgettable performance.

“We are very much looking forward to playing Supersonic this year. It’s always great to play a hometown gig, and with this festival being so diverse musically it’s going to be even more fun for us as we rarely get the chance to play such events –  and on the same stage as SWANS, well what can I say?” – Shane Embury, Napalm Death

Also confirmed are an incredible, eclectic mix of music and visual artists, including PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES with their mesmerizing and unforgettable avant-primitivism,  oVo with their incredible combination of heavy riffage, bombastic drumming and unforgettable vocals, as well as a return from the dark lords of Drum and Bass, PCM. DOSH will be performing, complete with mandatory pots and pans, as well as DRUMCORPS, with their unique, high-energy mix of music production values and the raw power of American hardcore.

TWEAK BIRD are also confirmed, bringing their big drums, fuzzed out baritone guitar and tandem spacey vocal melodies, and also CAVE, with their sickeningly tight drum and bass. There will also be multi-sensory art in the form of DJ and multimedia artist Vicki Bennett, aka PEOPLE LIKE US, and dark visual music trio DEMONS (W/SICK LLAMA).

This latest announcement forms part of a series of line up announcements for Supersonic 2010 with many more exciting acts and artists to be revealed in the coming weeks and months.

Tickets on sale now from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

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Godflesh live footage

This bit of footage makes us SUPER excited about Godflesh playing SUPERSONIC in October.
Tickets from
www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

from 19th of April tickets also available from:

Swordfish Record Shop
Cheltenham House
14-16 Temple St, Birmingham, B2 5BG
0121 633 4859

Polar Bear

10 York Rd
Kings Heath, Birmingham, B14 7RZ
0121 441 5202

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