We asked Birminghams very own answer to John Peel, Little Chris of Brum Cast fame to put together three podcasts featuring a taster of bands performing at this years Supersonic Festival to give you an insight to what’s on offer. This is the first one featuring a great selection for your aural delight, enjoy!

Playlist as follows!
1. Necro Deathmort – I fought the law and the law won because fighting is against the law (4:01)
2. Melt Banana – Mind Thief (1:44)
3. Dead Fader – Autumn Rot (3:46)
4. Fukpig – Die Bastard (0:59)
5. Neu! – Hallo Gallo (10:07)
6. Nisennenmondai – Pop Group (6:21)
7. Khyam Allami – Taqsim Nahawand (4:40)
8. Tweak Bird – Spaceships (3:30)
9. Pierre Bastien – L’Orchestre Thermo-Dynamique (4:57)
10. Godflesh – Like Rats (4:27)
11. Swans – New Mind (5:13)
12. Lichens – Kirilian Auras (11:33)
13. Factory Floor – Lying (5:07)
14. Napalm Death – Continuing War on Stupidity (3:10)
15. Bong – Wizards Of Krull (Excerpt) (6:21)
16. People Like Us – The Doody Waltz (5:54)

More info about the festival check www.supersonicfestival.com
Tickets are available from www.theticketsellers.co.uk

During this year’s Supersonic you are invited to enter the tiny musical world of Pierre Bastien & Male Instrumenty, bringing together the French composer and surrealist inventor together with the Polish toy orchestra for a very special performance entitled ‘Toy Music’.

Pierre Bastien has been building musical machinery since the 1970s and has an expansive practice as a musician, composer and sound artist. Male Instrumenty is a five piece orchestra of toys and small instruments from Wrocław, Poland. Founded in 2006, Małe Instrumenty (meaning Small Instruments) explore an exciting and diverse sound world through their huge collection of small instruments.

http://www.maleinstrumenty.pl

http://www.pierrebastien.com/

Supersonic Festival 2010:
Friday: £20, Sat/Sun: £35, Weekend: £75 (+ booking fee)

Available from:
www.theticketsellers.co.uk

Weekend Tickets from:
www.seetickets.com

An excerpt of this journey through the Weakest Link  by Mr Ken Searle features in our most recent zine, as promised here is the full article…

February 2010
The time, what’s the fucking time? I’ve been stuck in the BBC Studios (Weakest Link Division) for an interminable length of time, I’m feeling like a session with the Spanish Inquisition and Gestapo combined would be about as heavy as the systematic ‘Death By Quizshow’ that the BBC – a body funded by the taxpayer – are putting me through. When it started, I felt like Rocky Balboa, ready for that underdog-inspired round. Now, I feel like I’ve just been kneecapped by the IRA. Survival, not prestige or the money, is all that matters.
They’ve all gone – the Welshman, the Geordie, the dinnerlady, the DJ, the psychic, the Mancunian, the single Mum. Just me – the student – and the pensioner left. Youth vs wisdom, and £1510 to be snatched. So he thought GK Chesterton wrote a collection of stories about Father Ted, and I thought you needed a Permit to Ride (damn the Beatles!), but this is the ultimate battle now. Anne Robinson, a much-stretched hag with a manner somewhere between that of Thatcher and your least favourite elderly relative, hangs in the manner of a bat in Notre Dame, surveying those to beneath who dare to peer on her imperious surroundings. Sadly, she’s not upside-down, but I’m sure she can afford to have her face look more like a Picasso painting if she tries.
I thought I’d have used up my luck long, long before this moment, so the initial nerves were gone and I’m just knackered and wanting to go home in one piece, yet still anxious to keep going. It’s been a long day, and I have to get on. Pensioner’s starting to crack, I think, as Sudden Death questions approach. Sanguinity is flooding through me as he misses his first penalty.
Robinson barks out my first question/penalty. I step up as it becomes apparent that I don’t have the faintest idea what she’s on about. Something about molluscs and their precious stone. Amber – no, I’ve seen Jurassic Park, it’s mosquitoes that produce them. Emerald? Can’t think of anything else. Nope, it’s pearl, I blast over the crossbar and it’s still all-square, the pensioner’s missed too. Who cares? 0-0.
Shot Two. Pensioner gets a good penalty in on a question about Bill and Ben, the Flowerpot Men. I’m alert now, the sweat patches are infecting the calm and it’s 1-0. Again, the question folds into itself and I only hear the keywords: 2002, runner, part of some motorway named after them – who’s the runner? Two names flash into my mind as I step up: Jonathan Edwards and Paula Radcliffe. A pause as I think, remembering Edwards was actually a triple-jumper, so it must be the People’s Paula, forgetting other runners exist. Oh, it is her. Good shot, it was a good guess, and it’s 1-1.
Shot three. It’s a miss! He only bloody passes a pisseasy question! The torture now is that I must score with a correct answer… and it could be anything. It could be cricket. I’m lining up the ball now, terrified, and I’m listening to a question on a Nirvana song from 1991: it’s either ‘Smells Like Team Spirit’ or ‘Lithium’. Is ‘Lithium’ an album though? I think so, so I plump for the former, though is it ‘Team’ or ‘Teen’. ‘Smells Like Te Spirit’ are the only words to tumble out, and the penalty is slot away easily, albeit a touch unfairly, to make it 2-1.
It’s now shot four, and the pensioner’s seeming anxious. Stalling a bit on his penalty question about which country in South East Asia totally banned smoking. The goal would be mine if I got that question – it’s Bhutan of course. But he’s unsure. He’s vacillating. And he’s saying Nepal and giving the keeper the easiest shot possible! If I score now I’m 3-1 up, but the question Robinson’s thrown at me… not a simple one. An English battle, fought in 1485, in 2010 they rearranged the sight. Okay, huff puff. This is gonna be tricky. Scrub the ‘rearranging in 2010’ and think of battles fought in England – Marston Moor (1640s), Bosworth Hill (?), Stamford Bridge (1066), Trafalgar (1805). Bosworth Hill has no date attached but stands out as a Big Battle, so hesitantly I say it. ‘The Battle of Bosworth Field, I’ll accept’. Again, pure luck, but 3-1 and the best of the five. Pensioner can’t come back.
A bit of controversy abounds over whether Bosworth Hill is acceptable. But it is, and the victory is mine. I’ve got hands to shake, torsos to hug, but that will come later. Now, I’m in a daze. This is no anti-climax. Robinson briskly approaches me, outstretching a gnarled hand. ‘Young lad, young lad’, she trills, before walking off and preparing for her next group. For her, it’s all just a job. For provincial nobodies like me, unfit to walk on this hallowed turf except with a security pass as ‘Guest’, it is life-changing. Elation will come later. Survival has come first. As I later comment, ‘I don’t think I deserve to win. If I had to be honest, I think the real victor was Trivia’.

If you missed, or want to revisit, last week’s excellent, Silver Apples show,  then head to Phantom Circuit where you can hear an interview with Simeon himself and hear excerpts from his performance.

Here’s the blurb:

Featuring an interview with Simeon of the hugely influential electronics + percussion band Silver Apples, formed in New York in 1967 and still carving out new sonic territory as a solo project. The interview is accompanied by some highlights of Silver Apples’ live set in Birmingham last week (5th August).
Of course, we also offer you some of the core new releases and some older picks plucked from the orchard of aural delights.
More about the show and the music featured can be found at phantomcircuit.com

And tonight will see Tunng + Health & Efficiency at mac – there’s the possibility this show will be moved to the theatre space due to the crummy weather, which is a smaller capacity so secure your ticket here

Tonights show with TUNNG + HEALTH & EFFICIENCY at MAC will still be going ahead come rain or shine. Should the weather not clear up by 3pm the show will be moved inside to the theatre space, as such this will reduce the capacity so you will need to get your tickets now to avoid disappointment
box office 0121 446 3232.
This will be a great evening – god bless the British weather!

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

OPEN CALL:

Eastside Projects and Supersonic Festival are looking for performers for GOTTESRAUSCHEN (GOD’S WHITE NOISE) conceived by artist Christian Jendreiko. Taking place at Eastside Projects on Saturday 23 October, 12–7pm. We are looking for people interested in going through the GOTTESRAUSCHEN experience: You do not need to be a trained guitar player, however you should be interested in sonic exploration of the self. The full performance lasts 7 hours — involvement for the duration is optional: players may come and go. Performers are required to bring their own electric guitar and amplifier, which can be stored securely at Eastside Projects for the full festival weekend. Contact info[at]eastsideprojects.org for more details as places are limited.

Düsseldorf-based artist Christian Jendreiko is known for making actions with large ensembles of trained or untrained performers in novel, site-specific settings. Jendreiko specifically seeks to reconsider acoustics as aspects of how body and mind are constructed, through a decentralized and sculptural approach towards performance. Lasting anywhere between two and seven hours and featuring classically trained musicians alongside untrained performers in nonhierarchical and improvisatory fashion, Jendreiko transforms groups into social sculpture.

For the Birmingham premiere of ‘GOTTESRAUSCHEN (GOD’S WHITE NOISE): Action for Players, Guitars & Amplifiers’, a number of musicians and artists will perform at Eastside Projects over the course of 7 hours. Intended as a performance for an indeterminate number of guitarists and amplifiers, and taking its cue from a passage by Friedrich Schiller on man’s relationship to a series of sensual and formal compulsions (“For all beauty is ultimately but a property of … movement”), GOD’S WHITE NOISE will unfold over a single day, with guests free to enter, circulate throughout, and remain in the gallery space as long as they wish.

Weekend Tickets for Supersonic Festival are available from www.theticketsellers.co.uk
Polar Bear – Kings Heath + Swordfish – Birmingham city centre