Thank you to all who came out to see the Alif Ensemble at Ikon Gallery last week – it was a really special event with some incredible musicianship. Thanks also to all the performers, the Ikon Gallery staff and Khyam Allami for putting it all together.

Pictures below by Katja Ogrin

Simon Fox opened the show with a beautiful acoustic set

We’ve got two great shows in store for you next week, of a slightly different nature. Space rockers Bardo Pond perform at the Hare & Hounds on Wednesday 1st August and we’ve got a Supersonic Taster at Eastside Projects on Saturday 4th August, featuring King Midas Sound System, JK Flesh and a host of experimental musicians. Tickets for both shows are available via https://www.theticketsellers.co.uk

You cab read an interview with Khyam Allami in advance of his show with the Alif Ensemble in Birmingham on Thursday 19th July about his first experiences of Arabic music and a little of what you can expect from this exciting show.

Despite his cultural background, Khyam Allami wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Middle Eastern music.

Having moved with his family from Damascus at the age of nine, and quick to embrace his new home, it was the electric guitar wizardry and thumping drum solos of rock music that got his heart beating quickly.

Then in 2003, a US-led coalition invaded Iraq and Allami found his world view shifting.

“It wasn’t so much that I wanted to play Middle Eastern music per se, it was more that I wanted to immerse myself in music full stop,” he explains.

Read More http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-culture/liverpool-arts/2012/07/12/interview-the-alif-ensemble-s-khyam-allami-on-his-philharmonic-hall-concert-99623-31366193/#ixzz20toxFopi

The Alif Ensemble have posted up this teaser in advance of their UK tour dates. One of the most exciting new projects to come from the Arab world, bringing together musicians from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt and Iraq for a beguiling blend of acoustic and contemporary electronic sounds. The ensemble will feature Capsule favourite Khyam Allami, who has blown Supersonic audiences away both solo and in collaboration with Master Musicians of Bukkake.

The Alif Ensemble will perform at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham on Thursday 19th July. Support comes from Simon Fox whose work ranges from traditional folk songs to more challenging sonic experiments.

Tickets are available via https://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/

Join us this Sunday as part of Ikon Gallerys Autumn Almanac. Capsule present an evening inspired by the sound of Birmingham (visit https://third.co.uk/ for more info) its industrial heritage and metal origins.

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.

Mark Ryden

On Wednesday 24th June Jenny & I have been invited to do a talk at the Ikon Gallery as part of their ‘These are a few of my favourite things’ series. Whereby a number of well-known individuals undertake a series of talks inspired by Desert Island Discs. Asked to select their eight favourite works of art,  speakers will reveal their personal inspirations, illustrated by a slide show.

Places are free but should be reserved by calling Ikon on tel. 0121 248 0708.
6.30–7.30pm Free

http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk

David Hockney