Wedlock- what a success! We raised approx £300 (got some shrapnel to count!) for Japan Red Cross so a big thanks you to all the bands, DJs and stall holders but mainly a big thank you to everyone who made it down.
Here’s some pictures below from Katja Ogrin, plus a couple of videos that have been circulating…
Dream Dreams the Dreamer began proceedings with a 5-piece noise orchestra.
It was the Birmingham debut for Backwards; early Swans-esque filth.
Followed by Fickle Twin
and Bargepole
And on to the next event, the amazing Matmos will be performing a very special show at mac on Sunday 15th May, featuring J Lesser and with support from John Wiese -get your tickets here
This Saturday, celebrate the bank holiday weekend and get away from the Royal Wedding frenzy with Capsule. We’ll be hosting a party, acting as a fundraiser for Japan Red Cross, with bands and DJs as well as local record labels selling their wares.
Bargepole are a self destructive mix of Jesus Lizard, Hot Snakes and Charles Bukowski and features ex members of Beestung Lips and Knives. Backwards is a new, much anticipated project from ex members of Napalm Death, Beestung Lips and Una Corda, with double bass attack! Also playing are Dream Dreams the Dreamer, an epic noise orchestra of percussion, violin, guitars, vocals and more plus Fickle Twin…
Emeralds are an ambient / drone / psychedelic music trio from Cleveland, Ohio, United States, who consist of John Elliott, Mark McGuire and Steve Hauschildt, as Emeralds, focus on live improvisation. Since June 2006, the group has released over fourty recordings, on labels such as Hanson Records, American Tapes, Manhand, Ecstatic Peace! and also on their own imprint Wagon.
They have collaborated with Aaron Dilloway on the cassette Under Pressure, released a split tour CD with Japanese noise musician Pain Jerk and opened for Throbbing Gristle in New York. The band has also had the pleasure of performing headlining spots in Carlos Giffoni’s No Fun Fest in New York and Stockholm, Sweden. Mark McGuire and Steve Hauschildt also perform and record under their own names. John Elliott performs as Outer Space, Imaginary Softwoods, Lilypad, colored mushroom and the medicine rocks, and as various other aliases.
Emeralds are noted for blending ambient music with 80’s synthesizer textures, German kosmische music and the minimalism of Terry Riley.
Iron Fist of the Sun – bitter, cold, contemporary power electronics/industrial that steers clear of the cliches that pollute the scene. Synth heavy and tonal, drawing inspirations from electro-acoustic academia as much as underground black metal. Hailing originally from Druids Heath in Birmingham. Iron Fist of the Sun is the current sonic project of extreme noise protagonist Lee Howard. Experimental sonic terrorism and Black Metal are all encompassed in an unforgiving soundtrack to your most brutal nightmares… just don’t dare call it “Art Noise”
Mr Underwood fuses an array of electronic and acoustic sounds in his improvised live performances. Drawing inspiration from electronica and Musique concrète, Mr.Underwood weaves a complex sonic tapestry, from delicate and intricate sounds to more beat driven compositions. Using his ever growing collection of obscure and self-made instruments Mr.Underwood’s live performances are rich with distinctive sounds and textures. www.mrunderwood.co.uk
Emeralds + Iron Fist of the Sun + Mr Underwood will be playing at The Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath on Sunday 22nd May 2011.
Tickets are £10 adv + booking fee and are available at:
Matmos is M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel, from San Francisco aided and abetted by many others. In their recordings and live performances from 1995, Matmos have used the sounds of:
Amplified crayfish nerve tissue, the pages of bibles turning , liposuction surgery, chin implant surgery, contact microphones on human hair,, rat cages, tanks of helium, human skulls, cards shuffling, field recordings of conversations in hot tubs, frequency response tests for defective hearing aids, a steel guitar recorded in a sewer, electrical interference generated by laser eye surgery, latex fetish clothing, rhinestones on a dinner plate, Polish trains, insects, aspirin tablets, dogs barking, people reading aloud, life support systems and inflatable blankets, an acupuncture point detector conducting electrical current through human skin, rock salt crunching underfoot, solid gold coins spinning on bars of solid silver, the sound of a frozen stream thawing in the sun, a five gallon bucket of oatmeal and the vagina, uterus, and reproductive tract of a cow, among other things.
SaturdayApril 9th M.C. Schmidt will have a special screening of his video work at the IKON Gallery.
J Lesser is a musician known for his unrepentant approach to sound creation. Born and raised around California, Lesser began his music career listening to, and playing, black metal and punk. In San Diego, he had a job coloring New Kids on the Block comic books using computers. Lesser became an honorary member of Matmos when they toured with Björk as an opening act in addition to playing as supporting musicians in her band on her Vespertine tour in 2001. Also in 2001, his album Gearhound won an Honorable Mention for Digital Musics in the Prix Ars Electronica.
John Wiese is an artist and composer from Los Angeles, California. His ongoing projects include LHD and Sissy Spacek, but is known for his collaborations with many artists as diverse as Sunn O))), Wolf Eyes, Merzbow, Thurston Moore, No Age, Smegma, Kevin Drumm, Cattle Decapitation, and C. Spencer Yeh as well as his work as a solo artist. He has toured extensively throughout the world, covering Europe, Scandinavia and Australia as a member of Sunn O))), the UK as part of the Free Noise tour (a tentet including Evan Parker, C. Spencer Yeh, Yellow Swans, etc.), the United States alongside Wolf Eyes, and recently performed in the 52nd Venice Biennale with artist Nico Vascellari. While releasing albums on a variety of international labels, Wiese often releases work on his own label, Helicopter.
ARBOURETUM
Arbouretum first began in late 2002 as a vehicle for singer/guitarist David Heumann’s songwriting. The sweeping, atmospheric textures of the first record soon gave way to a more visceral, elemental approach. Amplifiers were turned up, drums were hit harder, and songs crescendoed into spiraling, noise-soaked climaxes on the second full-length, Rites of Uncovering. Released on Thrill Jockey in early 2007, the record garnered much attention and critical acclaim. XLR8R called it “the best doom-folk record of all time” and Uncut referred to it as an instant “cult classic”.
Arboretum’s 4th Album,’The Gathering’ was inspired by Carl Jung’s ‘The Red Book’, with the central metaphor of the song ‘The White Bird’ referring directly to the work. The album’s theme is one of loosing one’s way and finding it again, detailed by ellaborate allegorical imagery. Heumann’s lyrics take you on an adventure through conflict, redemption and revelation.
The Examinerstated that, ‘The attention to detail in recording and in writing, in concert with the performance, result in the other-worldly experience of The Gathering.’
HEALTH AND EFFICIENCY
The Band say of themselves: ‘Twelve feet strong with a head for dizzying heights, Health & Efficiency were raised by wolves in a forest. Leaving the pack and relocating to their practice space in historic Deritend, they experiment with sounds and music, surrounded by priceless works of contemporary art.’
Their music traverses an encyclopaedia of influences; psych, folk, no wave noise and electronic perhaps being some of the more predominant. They utilise banjo, two basses, two guitars, synths, samplers and more effects and loop pedals than it’s reasonable for one band to need.
Uniquely tuned guitars howl, chiming harmonics sing, drones and loops are punctuated by distant chanting and crisp syncopated drumbeats. Sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, always Health & Efficiency.
TIGERNAUT
Tigernaut make instrumental rock music that combines delicate guitar melodies with serious riffs. Folk elements vie with math and jazz time signature changes and inviting soundscapes to make music that always drives forwards, but often hides pleasant surprises. Spending years practicing in garages and bedrooms (in their words, ‘gathering momentum like New Labour circa 1994’), unable to afford the latest musical technology advertised in Guitar Monthly, Tigernaut were forced to fall back on music carefully written to engage the listener. They now have two delay pedals between them, but the habit has stuck.
SEEFEEL
Before the electro-infused indie and post-rock of today, there was Seefeel. They provided a bridge between the electronic nouveau and indie-rock; being ultimately instrumental in opening up the parallel reality of electronic music to the more adventurous members of the indie scene.
They released their first EPs and first album on the British independent label Too Pure in 1993. Seefeel’s music was stylistically situated at the intersection of dream pop/shoegaze and ambient techno/IDM. The band signed with electronic label Warp Records in 1994, after which point Seefeel’s music became much darker and more abstract.
In 2008 Mark Clifford and Sarah Peacock relaunched Seefeel and were joined by Shigeru Ishihara (DJ Scotch Egg) and former Boredoms drummer Iida Kazuhisa (E-Da) who fill in the bass and percussive sections respectively.
Following the success of their comeback EP Faults, Seefeel are proud to announce the true fruits of their recent labours. Seefeel, the band’s new LP and first full length since 1996’s (Ch-Vox).
DEAD FADER
Rollin’, batterin’, FUBAR-steppin’, maxed-out, funky-ass bastards. That’s who Dead Fader are. Their hybrid of distorto-death grooves, limited-to-hell wonky-not-wonky productions, sound like Distance playing though Slayer’s back line.. On first impression it’s hardly a production sound you’d associate with the backdrop of Dead Fader’s home base, Brighton. This sounds more like it was born out of some grim industrial slum on lockdown, all pent up anger and a serious need to party hard; 2-step garage from a Hair Police state.
‘It’s playful but sick. Like a puppy with extremely sharp teeth’ – Justin K Broadrick http://www.myspace.com/deadfader
EPIC 45
Epic45’s acclaimed 2007 album May Your Heart Be The Map was a vivid exploration of the British countryside, tinted by childhood memories and the metamorphosis of the seasons, influenced by dramatic post-rock structures and warm acoustic folk. Last year’s mini album In All The Empty Houses explore the resonances of abandoned buildings; the ghosts of past lives and memories that inhabit them as they fall into dilapidation.
“Tracing emotional reactions to shifting seasons, May Your Heart Be the Map did something new with old materials and gave the Black Country its very own Boards of Canada.” – Word Magazine, Best of the Noughties
http://www.epic45.com/
The first Capsule gig of the year got off with a theatrical start with avant jazz metallers Bilbao Syndrome, featuring vocals from Andrew Plummer of World Sanguine Report
Jeremiah Cymerman offered beautiful solo clarinet work, an intriguing and understated set
Headliners Kayo Dot finished their set with a fantastic percussive conclusion, tin cans and buckets galore!
The next show sees the return of the wonderful Woods, the Capsule team are buzzing in anticipation! Not just hella great musicians they run the prolific Woodsist label that has put out releases from, amongst others, Exceptor, Ducktails and Sun Araw. Check out all the Woods / Woodsist news here and buy tickets for the show here
After reading these stellar reviews of the new Phosphorescent album we’re getting more than a bit excited about his show on Saturday…
“…an undiscovered gem” Q Magazine
“…this is a really amazing album. Incredibly honest, very human, emotionally brave, musically coherent, with moments of real poetry. Thoroughly recommended, with a tear in the eye.” The Line of Best Fit
