Exciting news – the ever intriguing Matmos will play at mac, Birmingham this Sunday 15th May and they are looking for people to contribute vocals to their performance.

Members of Dream Dreams the Dreamer will be involved and Matmos are looking for 4 more people to perform. mac staff will be recruiting people on the night as they collect their tickets so if you fancy taking up this unique opportunity to contribute to Matmos’ show then grab your ticket here and look out for mac staff on the night.

You don’t need to be an experienced, or even talented, vocalist and instructions will be given on the night (you can’t just sing anything I’m afraid).

We’re even more excited than before- should be a cracker!

Music-News have published a review of our gig with Seefeel at Hare & Hounds last month.

Seefeel certainly had something more than a legacy to live up to, as they took the Hare & Hounds back towards a dreamy beautification from a far gone shoegaze era.

It was a great gig with wonderful support from Brighton’s Dead Fader (whose almighty unleashing of bass seemed to startle more than a few gig goers) and shoegazers Epic 45.

Click here to see the full review

“Could you imagine Elgar, Bach or Vaughn Williams’ cello adagios thunder-busting the bass-bins? Before tonight, me neither. Which is why Lori Goldston’s not quite so mellow cello opening set of angst-fueled arpeggios, left punters mesmerized, bewildered, fascinated and eye-bleedingly catatonic in equal measure.”

Lori Goldston opens for Earth

Followed by Earth joining Lori on stage

The godfather of drone Dylan Carlson

Earth play to a sell out audience – Thanks you

“Tonight, it bordered on reverence, and we know how H&H punters don’t take prisoners. Primal, tribal, viscerally asymmetric, it has to be said Earth’s dronal incantations are not everyone’s chosen vat of hemlock: their bruised muse being very much for the alternatively, esoterically inclined. But, subtle wiles are this band’s perplexing charm. And damnably nice people as well. Happy Daze! Thanks to Capsule for another great gig.”

Read full review by John Kennedy on Brum Live with thanks to Katja Ogrin for her fantastic photos

Last Wednesday the Arts Council announced their National Portfolio, unfortunately Capsule’s application was not successful.

This was the first time that Capsule had been invited to apply for such support through Arts Council, with the intention of supporting our year round program and underpinning the activity of the organisation. Our application was received very positively in the first round, however we were turned down in the second round and feedback was that due to the current financial landscape & competition we were not taken on.

Whilst the decision is of course extremely disappointing to us, it will not halt us in our dedication to conducting a first class, innovative programme of activity.

2011 is set to be an exciting year with the ground breaking Home of Metal project to be launched across the region in late June.

We’d like to thank our audience for their continued support and to say that we need you now more than ever, so watch this space for exciting announcements over the coming months!!

Image taken from http://dachshundlove.blogspot.com/

RIP Elizabeth Taylor, the actor best known for her roles in Cleopatra, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and National Velvet died of heart failure aged 79

…another excellent event coming up at Flatpack Festival. This Thursday 25th March at IKON Eastside, Flatpack will be screening ‘We Don’t Care About Music Anyway’, a portrait of the Japanese experimental music scene with a performance from Sakamoto Hiromichi, an intriguing cellist who also uses voice, musical saw and an array of instruments to craft beautiful, and always surprising, pieces. I’m personally hugely excited, having discovered him through his collaborations with sound artist Haco.

Tickets are available here, and there will also be opportunities to donate to the Red Cross at the event in the wake of recent events in Japan.

Don’t forget on Saturday 26th March Home of Metal will be screening ‘In Bed with Chris Needham’ at IKON Eastside, tickets for that event are available here

…than with Home of Metal?

If you’re around the Black Country, you may have seen Home of Metal splashed all over your buses, metro stations and more, all promoting our Heavy Metal dedicated day on Saturday 26th March.

We’re starting off at The Public, West Brom where we’re inviting Heavy Metal fans to bring along their memorabilia to add to our digital archive, anything from t-shirts, ticket stubs, fanzines and records are all invaluable to the project!

Johnny Doom will be hosting the event, interviewing cult metal hero Krusher (former ‘Raw Power’ presenter and Kerrang! art director) who will be talking about some of the Black Sabbath and Monsters of Rock artwork he has created.

Steve Gerrard will be giving a masterlass in music photography, showing you how to get the perfect live shot. Please note that this class is now full.

Steve has been an accredited photographer for bands such as Radiohead, Metallica, Kiss, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, Iron Maiden, The Sex Pistols, Bon Jovi and Melvins. As part of the Home of Metal open day he will be giving one lucky unsigned band a free photoshoot!

We’ll also be screening the first and only Led Zeppelin feature film  ‘Song Remains the Same’ – along with (sometimes bizarre) dream sequences the film sees the band storm through ‘Stairway to Heaven’, ‘Black Dog’, ‘Heartbreaker’ and the rest, to thunderous effect.

Birmingham based artists Juneau Projects will be in attendance on the day to help you create your very own  electronic cardboard instrument. Use cardboard to build your own Telecaster or Flying V, drumkit, keyboard or invent your own instrument. Then add some simple electronics to trigger sound samples, take to the stage, dress up and play!

It’ll be a great day, and it’s all FREE – Home of Metal Open Day, The Public, 11am-4pm

And that’s not all as in the evening we’re hooking up with Flatpack Festival and The Quietus to bring you a very exciting screening of ‘In Bed with Chris Needham’ at IKON Eastside

“The plot: Chris Needham, a 17 year-old Thrash Metal fan from Loughbrough who has been absolutely lacerated by the puberty stick, is about to play his first gig with his band, Manslaughter. The problem is, they’re complete rammel. Between their first painful attempts to stand musically upright and their debut gig, Chris takes the time to defend Metal and Youth, unleashes torrents of adolescent venom upon the Green movement, ‘old bastards’, vegetarians, ‘Chart Music’, organised religion, teachers, and Neighbours, conducts a relationship with his girlfriend in excruciating silence, gets hassled by Mr Taggart and His Amazing Shirt, and goes fishing.”
– Al Needham, Leftlion

‘In Bed with Chris Needham’, IKON Eastside, 8.30pm, tickets from HERE

For up to date news and to contribute to the archive go to http://www.homeofmetal.com/

Capsule is delighted to announce they have been awarded a grant of £60,000 over two years from Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The award will be used toward capacity and organisational development in particular the successful delivery of forthcoming projects Home of Metal and Supersonic 2011, and the development of a five year plan.

We are really grateful to the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for recognising the contribution we are making to the region and further a-field. The grant will be of enormous benefit to Capsule  and particularly help secure our future during these uncertain times. It’s wonderful to get recognition from such a prestigious organisation.

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation Arts programme supports the development and dissemination of new ideas to increase people’s experience, enjoyment and involvement in the arts.