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| May 26th, 2006 by Jonathan Fletcher (Permalink) Add Comments |
Whilst covering both All Tomorrow Parties festivals this month, an encroaching sense of disappointment washed over me. When Autechre curated there was a sublimely eclectic line-up (on one night, at random, Farmers Manual followed by El-P & Murs followed by Public Enemy followed by The Fall!!) and certainly, within the limitations of entertainment, a genuine sense of the carnivalesque. Instead of choosing what to see, you could drift without plan and stumble across the unexpected. Then there would be DJ’s in the Ballroom upstairs (Aphex Twin followed by Rhythm & Sound). Each year has seemed less inventive and now, two amazing weekends are defined by over-stimulation and the meeting of new and old companions. The music seems somewhat irrelevant.
So, where do those who want to experience live music that is adventurous, eclectic, dangerous and uncompromising head out to? Is there an alternative to the alternative?
Well, actually, yeah, there is. It’s in Bristol and its called Venn Festival.
Over 3 days, from 2nd to 4th June, and a number of venues, artists, bands and DJ’s (yes, DJ’s- remember them ATP) take over the Stokes Croft area of Bristol. So, you get a range of artists from Vashti Bunyan renaissance folk through to V/VM’s apocalyptic digital noise or Ariel Pink’s parallel universe 60’s pop to Kode 9’s abstract dubstep. On top of that, there are demo clashes, workshops and a Sun Ra tribute whereby anybody is invited to attend a sessions with an instrument of some sort so that a monolithic righteous noise can be made in tribute to the brother from another planet.
To whet your appetite then, there follows a selection of mini previews of some of the artists on offer over this truly fine and brave weekend.
Aliens: A bolt from the blue, Aliens features ex-members of Beta Band and Lone Pigeon and what a bizarre concoction they are. Their just release EP ‘Alienoid Starmonica’ runs the gamut from found sound through bizarre fake country & western through robo-disco and then to harmonic Psychedelia. Genuinely inventive and progressively skewed, The Aliens promise really great things.
V/VM: V/VM is recom’d on the front page if you want to check that out but suffice it to say that our Pig mask wearing anti hero will be delivering the sound of the end of the (cultural) world on a slab- this will be a performance for the strong and the brave but one that curiously cleanses. V/VM comes to an end this year so this will be an opportunity to catch this anti-everything car crash.
Kode 9: Kode 9 has been DJing and recording for years now but his recent mix CD for Tempa, Dubstep Allstars Volume 3 is a work of pure fucking genius. Ploughing through 28 different tunes and stretching collaborator Spaceape across the soundscape this is the mix as artwork. Reviving the most ecstatic elements of rave and 2 step but imbibing all of it with a sense of space and blissful dread, Kode 9 has forged his own abstracted vision of dubstep. He also runs the Hyperdub label responsible for issuing the new Burial album (see front page showcase) and is a key figure in a scene that is going to dominate underground UK. Believe you me- this will be the hippest, most cutting edge place you could possibly be anywhere on this night.
Ass Droids: The Village People jamming with Einsturzende Neubaten in an extremely bad mood. Need I say more?
Baba Zula: “The Turkish-Oriental dub massive” runs the programme and it aint wrong. Baba Zula’s new album is produced by Mad Professor and is a thing of genre-defying beauty. Expect exotic space.
Ariel Pink: Ariel Pink has managed to chuck out at least 3 masterpieces in the last 2 years which is quite a big deal when you think about it. The Pink plays pop recorded on battered old tape recorders whose subsequent distortion genuinely makes it sound like a radio transmission from outer space. This is a parallel pop universe- an impossible never never land for rock. The other side to this strange coin is the unavoidable haunting quality this music carries- you feel like you’ve heard it before but it’s just not right. Ariel Pink delivers elusive sidereal memories of the charts that never were.
Rose McDowell: Collaborator with Coil and Current 93 and former half of popsters Strawberry Switchblade, this will be a session of strange unearthly eerie folk.
OK then- that is just a smattering of what’s going on, the tip of the iceberg.
This is what happens when you get a festival right. It’s not just the music but the variety and the imagination, the potential for surprise and maybe revelation. Don’t plan too much, just know the possibilities. This is a chance for a cultural derive of the highest kind.
Get your ticket, get your map, choose your poisons and get lost.
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