“Shellac played its first shows in Chicago in 1993 and has done a lot of stuff since then, including playing on a party boat in Serbia and a record 74 times at various ATP events. Bob has one wife, a yellow bike and is acquiring more cats; Todd has one dog, no wife, a silver Telecaster and two blouses; Steve has three cats, a fiancee and a PT Cruiser, which is quite roomy and not dorky or a mom car fuck you guys. Shellac has released 4 LPs and a few 7-inch singles, which most people agree are very good. The most recent LP, Excellent Italian Greyhound, was released in June of 2007, and is the best looking record. The band members all work for a living, and playing in the band is their pastime. Because of this, they don’t tour often or for very long. Todd, Steve and Bob love playing music together. We assume that the band will continue to release albums and play live at the same sporadic pace indefinitely. You should be so lucky.”

Helen Money is Alison Chesley, a Los Angeles based cellist who has become known for her unique sound, bold compositions and compelling stage performance.

Adrian Utley is devoted to breaking new ground and exploring the potential of the guitar. As a member of the experimental electronic band, Portishead, Utley is jazz trained, with a passion for the minimalist approach to playing. To celebrate his love of experimental techniques, Utley’s task for the Discovery Season is to spearhead a guitar orchestra that will be re-interpret Terry Riley’s ‘In C’, which although written in 1964, is one of the most influential music pieces of the 20th century.

Adrian Utley’s Guitar Orchestra – In C Preview from Mintonfilm on Vimeo.

The audience will witness fifty three different ways of the playing the C note which will form an unforgettable performance, supported by organ music and percussionists. To commemoratethis unique concert, Invada Records will release a recorded live version in the Autumn of 2013.

Let us take you on a meandering journey through the senses where you taste, see, touch and hear the words. Companis invites you to dive into the world of books and immerse yourself wholly in the realms they create in an elaborate five course sensory mobile meal. Using the new architecture of the Library of Birmingham, you will be subject to readings, sensory deprivation and enlightenment.
Feel uplifted and moved by evocative passages whilst consuming exquisite and delectable morsels inspired by the text. Companis asks that you trust them implicitly, and place your senses and yourselves at their mercy. The Library is a place to gain knowledge, and they shall lead you to the path of wisdom via sensorial exultation!
Companis, meaning to ‘break bread with someone’ is a very tongue-in-cheek creative trio. They delight in the absurd and the naughty, weaving this into their work of bespoke and humorous dining experiences which thoroughly chew and spit out the norms associated with eating, immersing the diner in a fusion of performance, food and spectacle. www.companis.co.uk

Sunday Film Club presented by KINO 10 sees a quirky mix of films for each month of the Discovery season. Tickets are £5, FREE for under 12s

10th November at 2pm
In November, we’ll be playing host to the UK’s most prominent silent film accompanist, Neil Brand, who will be doing something completely magical on the piano as he accompanies Charlie Chaplin in his 1917, 20 minute film, The Immigrant, Buster Keaton in his classic short One Week, and a surprise film from another silent comedy giant. A real treat for the eyes and ears.

Silent comedy shorts: The Immigrant (Charlie Chaplin) + One Week (Buster Keaton)
A programme of silent comedy shorts with live piano accompaniment.

Pop-up cinema purveyors, KINO 10 are taking over the new library theatre for a season of family-friendly Sunday afternoon film screenings. With a mix of live theatre and music accompanying the films, and featuring films as old as cinema itself, this is a programme of experiential audiovisual delights that you won’t find in the multiplexes.

www.kino10.com

An extended residency in our Pavilion series. The project was the brainchild of Birmingham based artist Susan Kruse in 2011 as a way to celebrate the move from the old Central library to the new Library of Birmingham in 2013. She assembled a collection of the library’s unwanted, damaged books and sent them to more than 40 artists and printmakers from around the UK to re-work, breathing new life into them through their interactions and interventions. Because many of the books are old, or obscure, this was a unique opportunity for artists to work with books, manuscripts, papers, typefaces and bindings that they might not otherwise have an opportunity so to do. www.thelibraryoflostbooks.blogspot.co.uk

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The Pavilion will host a rolling programme of Creative Residencies. Artists, film makers, book makers and a range of other creatives will set up home in The Pavilion for a week, making new work and offering a variety of free activities for Library visitors.

Each week, visitors entering the space will be treated to a different experience, ranging from interactive pieces such as audience inspired theatre and film workshops to exhibitions of sci-fi sculptures made from junk and artefacts honouring lost mythical deities. The Library’s collections and literary resources inspired much of the programme, and each residency will encourage audiences to discover something new in the Library of Birmingham.

Part of the Discovery season.

Charlemagne Palestine is an American composer, performer, and visual artist. A contemporary of Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Phill Niblock, and Steve Reich. Rhys Chatham is a composer, guitarist and trumpet player from Manhattan, currently living in Paris, who altered the DNA of rock.

Chatham and Palestine first met in the late 60s in New York, at the end of 2012; they decided to revisit their collaboration. This will be a UK exclusive and an incredible opportunity to see two giants in contemporary composition perform together.

www.rhyschatham.net  www.charlemagnepalestine.org

Charlemagne Palestine

Ex-Easter Island Head are a Liverpool-based ensemble composing and performing for solid body electric guitar, percussion and other instruments. Their music – played on horizontally mounted mallet-struck guitars alongside a battery of unusual percussion – has been compared to the likes of Steve Reich, Balinese Gamelan and Claude Debussy.

For half term week Girls Who Draw are in residency with their Museum of Mythical Creatures. The museum is a collection of magical characters, fabulous beasts and imaginary beings inspired by myths, legends and folklore from around the world. Created by illustrators Girls Who Draw, they have painted, printed, cut, drawn and even sewn an array of imaginative artwork and unusual objects to inspire, intrigue and entertain visitors of all ages. Over the last few years Girls Who Draw has evolved from a small group into a larger network including both emerging and established illustrators.

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The Pavilion will host a rolling programme of Creative Residencies. Artists, film makers, book makers and a range of other creatives will set up home in The Pavilion for a week, making new work and offering a variety of free activities for Library visitors.

Each week, visitors entering the space will be treated to a different experience, ranging from interactive pieces such as audience inspired theatre and film workshops to exhibitions of sci-fi sculptures made from junk and artefacts honouring lost mythical deities. The Library’s collections and literary resources inspired much of the programme, and each residency will encourage audiences to discover something new in the Library of Birmingham.

Part of the Discovery season.