Capsule are partnering with Flatpack Festival to present a Saturday night knees-up is that promises to be a psychedelic phantasmagoria. As well as welcoming two of North America’s finest proponents of mesmeric wig-out music, we’ll be plastering the walls of the festival hub with a visual stew of super 8, oil wheels and kaleidoscopic trickery (as if four days of Flatpack weren’t disorientating enough). Plus guest DJs including Grindi (Club Unlikely) and off to one side a rolling programme of shorts from the far side of the moon.

One of the stand-out acts at last year’s Supersonic, Brooklyn four-piece WHITE HILLS produce an almighty, fuzzed-up space-rock noise described by Julian Cope as “straddling a wide sonic rift valley, with references that stretch from the southern latitudes of Spain’s Viaje A800 to the northern majesty of Black Sabbath and Harvey Milk via the Doors.” They’ll be preceded by PONTIAK, three brothers from rural Virginia with a distinctive, swampy take on blues and Americana.

http://www.myspace.com/whitehills

http://www.myspace.com/pontiak

http://www.flatpackfestival.org/

Poster designed by An Endless Supply

Teeth of the Sea is a psychedelic rock band from London. The group (Sam Barton, Mike Bourne, John Hirst and Jimmy Martin) were inspired to forge forth in search of oblivion unknown after experiencing an epiphany during a Wolf Eyes gig.

After the release of their January 2009 album ‘Orphaned By The Ocean’ on Rocket Recordings John Hirst left the band, to be replaced by Mat Colegate. After a tour with Oneida, an appearance at the Offset Festival, and November’s ‘Holy Trinity’ tour with Gnod and Thought Foms, Teeth Of The Sea released the twenty-four-minute-long ‘Hypnoticon’ EP in January 2010. and their second album, ‘Your Mercury’ was released in November 2010. 2011 saw them tour with British Sea Power, Esben & The Witch and Parts & Labor, as well as playing the Supersonic, Standon Calling and Supernormal Festivals, along with dates with Circle, Crippled Black Phoenix and Vessels. . A third album is planned for later in 2012, also to be released on Rocket Recordings.

http://www.myspace.com/thewrongjaws

Health & Efficiency

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.
http://healthandefficiency.net/

Victories At Sea are an experimental 3 piece from the Midlands, citing influences as wide and diverse as Slowdive, Boards of Canada, and M83 through to more unadulterated alternatives such as Echo and The Bunnymen, New Order and mid 80’s Cure. By using various electronics and drum loops live, their traditional set up is enveloped by resonating layers of sound cast against the backdrop of the city at night.

http://victoriesatsea.co.uk/

An end of year party for the following independents and their friends (and frankly, anyone else who wants in)

Birmingham Bike Foundry
http://birminghambikefoundry.org/
Capsule
https://capsule.org.uk/
Ideal
http://www.idealbirmingham.co.uk/
Polar Bear
http://www.facebook.com/groups/163506481495/

There’ll be live music, DJs and of course some cake to round up the year.

Live bands:

Backwards – Drunk songs for the drunk

Stinky Wizzleteat – Blood, sweat and broken amplifiers

Selfless – somewhere between Black Flag and Here

Daniel Higgs from Sandy Carson Photography on Vimeo.

Daniel A.I.U Higgs, Interdimensional Song-Seamstress and Corpse-Dancer of the Mystic Crags was born in the Harbor City of Baltimore, USA in the early-mid sixties of the previous millenium. Having begun singing 25 years ago, he is perhaps best known as the singer and lyricist of the band Lungfish, which is now, as it often has been, quasi if not entirely defunct. Presently, the music Daniel manifests proceeds without the blessing/curse and help/hinderance of collaborative influence.

Daniel currently has three solo albums available, “Magic Alphabet” on Ian MacKaye’s Northern Liberties imprint, “Ancestral Songs” on Holy Mountain and “Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot”, the new book/cd and LP on Thrill Jockey.

Co promotion with Polar Bear Records

Autumn Almanac is a four-day celebration of Birmingham’s creative life showcasing the city’s artists, filmmakers and musicians. Ikon’s gallery spaces will exclusively exhibit works created in Birmingham, also hosting some of our best- known music festivals and organisations in a programme of live performances.

 At the heart of Capsule’s activity is the support of Birmingham based talent, and for this exciting event at IKON we will present works from the artist Andrew Moscardo-Parker and the ensemble Ore.

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’. At Supersonic Festival 2011 Andrew collaborated with German artist Christian Jendreiko to create the 24 hour performance Velzuvial, where artists were invited to improvise and collaborate over a 24 hour period. His work as Lash Frency 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.

Interview with Sam Underwood about the Ore project here – http://www.supersonicfestival.com

For the full Autumn Almanac programme, which includes a night of film hosted by 7 inch cinema and music from the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group go here http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk

For those who don’t know:
The Melvins have been a band for over 25 years…

The Melvins have done a shit load of albums…. How many is a shit load? No one really knows.

The Melvins have four members.
King Buzzo… Longest surviving and only original member left. When they get around to replacing him there will be no original members!
Dale Crover… Long standing drummer and part time guitar player. Dale likes his booze in a High Ball glass.
Jared Warren… Bass player, singer and part time drama geek. Jared also plays in the band Big Business.
Coady Willis… Drummer. Coady has a funny story about trying to play a gig in leather pants. Ask him, it’s funny as shit! Coady also plays drums in Big Business.

So there you have it!
You can find other interesting bits and bobs about the Melvins on line and some of it is even true! Well, it’s at least as true as what the band would tell you in person.

http://www.melvins.com/

Supersonic Festival 2011 performances
Mike Watt + The Missingmen . Cloaks . Secret Chiefs 3 . Scorn . The Berg Sans Nipple . Nathan Bell . Orthodox . Teeth of the Sea . Agathe Max . Bardo Pond . Antilles . Kogumaza . Lucky Dragons . Wolves in the Throne Room . Backwards . Pharaoh Overlord . Electric Wizard . Klaus Kinski . The Skull Defekts . Zombi . Monarch . Pekko Kappi .  Modulate .  Eternal Tapestry . Selfless . Drum Eyes . Barn Owl . Astro . iconAclass . Cut Hands . Tony Conrad . Silver Apples . ENVY . Drunk in Hell .  Alva Noto . Circle . Byetone . White Hills . Turbonegro . a.P.A.t.T. . Slabdragger . DJ Scotch Egg . Part Chimp . Drumcunt . Fire! with Oren Ambarchi . Alexander Tucker . ORE

Capsule the brains behind Supersonic Festival are curators, promoters and fans of the finest music, revealing the otherwise indescribable connections between contemporary music and art, crafting extraordinary events for adventurous audiences.

Now in its 9th year, the event will once again take place in and around the Custard Factory in the heart of Eastside Birmingham utilising a number of spaces for music, art, film and cake.

“Supersonic, in our opinion the best festival in the world right now” – Rock-A-Rolla Magazine

Supersonic Festival 2011 initial line up:

Zu93 (Zu & David Tibet), Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, Tony Conrad, Silver Apples, Secret Chiefs 3, Electric Wizard,a.P.A.t.T., Agathe Max, Antilles, Astro, Bardo Pond, Blarke Bayer/Black Widow, Cloaks, Eternal Tapestry, Fire! w/ Oren Ambarchi, Lucky Dragons, Monarch, Pekko Käppi, Scorn, The Skull Defekts, White Hills, Wolves In The Throne Room, Zombi

For full line up, news, announcements and more info go here: http://supersonicfestival.com/

Look how much fun we had last year…