Posted in Whathaveyou on February 19th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
When I started this post, Poland’s Red Smoke Festival had just unveiled the first names for its 2024 edition, set for this July 12-14. That was Domkraft, Coogans Bluff, Earth Tongue and Narbo Dacal. You know how it goes, you get caught up with stuff, a couple days go by, and now there’s four more adds in Acid Rooster, Kanaan, Perilymph and Tuskar, so it’s safe to say the event is taking shape at a fairly good clip. I don’t know the announcement schedule or anything like that, but if you’re in Poland or thinking of making the trip, I imagine you also don’t need me to suggest following their socials, etc. Even if you don’t, I believe you are capable.
So does the festival, which admirably dispenses with some of the social-media-era hoopla around these things by making a slogan out of ‘The Less You Know the Better.’ They might be right, or at least there’s a philosophical argument waiting to be made there. Either way, there were YouTube and Facebook links for the bands, but again, I believe in your power to dig and would encourage you to do so. I only took them out because it looked funny on the page and this site does weird things with YouTube hyperlinks. Certainly all parties involved have online presences and audio, which even 30 years later kind of makes the internet feel like a miracle. Not to mention it’s how I know this fest exists in the first place.
Even so, I don’t know much more than this, so I suppose I’m doing alright in that regard:
First announcements for RSF2024
COOGANS BLUFF – Horns Rock’n’Roll Dance From Germany
Domkraft – Riffs Riffs Riffs Repeat From Sweden With Love
Earth Tongue – Odd But Gold Heavy Psych Fuzz From New Zealand
Narbo Dacal – (Be)Witching Metal From Poland
Acid Rooster – Endless Trippy Kraut Experience from Germany
Kanaan – Blazing Freeform Psychedelic Rock From Norway
Perilymph – Beautiful Psychedelic Sounds From Germany
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 10th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
You might recall last year when German psychedelic instrumentalists Acid Rooster released their Ad Astra (review here) LP, the hype around it was thick enough to swim in. The music itself was prone more to drift, as it happened, but with the narrative behind it of being recorded live in an outdoor space during the pandemic, a small gathering put to tape at a singularly desperate moment, the gorgeousness of its two extended tracks took on a depth not often granted to improv-based psych. Three labels have lined up to release Flowers and Dead Souls, the new full-length from Acid Rooster, on Aug. 25.
They’re listed below along with the territories being covered between the UK, Europe and the US — that’s Cardinal Fuzz, Tonzonen and Little Cloud, respectively — while there’s no audio yet, I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if when the album arrives, it isn’t also a two-songer with “Flowers” on one side and “Dead Souls” on the other. Not saying I know that — because I don’t — but given the context of Ad Astra it’s certainly possible, and the thought of more explorations from this particular outfit is enticing given the patience and breadth they demonstrated last time out.
I assume what happens next is the album details, maybe one of the songs — or more, if there are more — streamed ahead of time through an outlet likely much cooler than this one, and preorders, etc., but Acid Rooster also have a couple gigs coming up including a stop at Krach am Bach, a swing through the Other Side Festival in London, and a slot supporting Dopelord in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Album cover and particulars, as per socials:
NEWS FROM ACID ROOSTER
‘Hey fellows, we are over the moon to finally share the news and announce that our second studio album will be released on august 25th via Tonzonen (EU), Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Little Cloud Records (US) !!
Check out the artwork for „Flowers and Dead Souls” by our friend and genius Marco Heinzmann aka @superquiet.
We have some more exciting things coming up, so stay tuned and save the date !
Pre Order starts soon !’
Acid Rooster live: Aug 04 Krach am Bach Beelen, Germany Oct 14 The Victoria, Dalston London, UK (Other Side Festival) Oct 21 Doornroosje Nijmegen, Netherlands (w/ Dopelord, Bismut)
Posted in Reviews on September 20th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Day two of the Fall 2022 Quarterly Review brings a fresh batch of 10 releases en route to the total 100 by next Friday. Some of this is brand new, some of it is older, some of it is doom, some is rock, some is BongBongBeerWizards, and so on. Sometimes these things get weird, and I guess that’s where it’s at for me these days, but you’re going to find plenty of ground to latch onto despite that. Wherever you end up, I hope you’re digging this so far half as much as I am. Much love as always as we dive back in.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Fu Manchu, Fu30 Pt. 2
Like everyone’s everything in the era, Fu Manchu‘s 30th anniversary celebration didn’t go as planned, but with their Fu30 Pt. 2 three-songer, they give 2020’s Fu30 Pt. 1 EP (posted here) the sequel its title implied and present two originals and one cover in keeping with that prior release’s format. Tracked in 2021, “Strange Plan” and the start-stop-riffed “Low Road” are quintessential works of Fu fuzz, so SoCal they’re practically in Baja, and bolstered by the kinds of grooves that have held the band in good stead with listeners throughout these three-plus decades. “Strange Plan” is more aggressive in its shove, but perhaps not so confrontational as the cover of Surf Punks‘ 1980 B-side “My Wave,” a quaint bit of surferly gatekeeping with the lines, “Go back to the Valley/And don’t come back,” in its chorus. As they will with their covers, the four-piece from San Clemente bring the song into their own sound rather than chase down trying to sound like Reagan-era punk, and that too is a method well proven on the part of the band. If you ever believed heavy rock and roll could be classic, Fu Manchu are that, and for experienced heads who’ve heard them through the years as they’ve tried different production styles, Fu30 Pt. 2 finds an effective middle ground between impact and mellow groove.
Not so much a pendulum as a giant slaughterhouse blade swinging from one side to the other like some kind of horrific grandfather clock, Valborg pull out all the industrial/keyboard elements from their sound and strip down their songwriting about as far as it will go on Der Alte, the 13-track follow-up to 2019’s Zentrum (review here) and their eighth album overall since 2009. Accordingly, the bone-cruncher pummel in cuts like “Kommando aus der Zukunft” and the shout-punky centerpiece “Hektor” is furious and raw. I’m not going to say I hope they never bring back the other aspects of their sound, but it’s hard not to appreciate the directness of the approach on Der Alte, on which only the title-track crosses the four-minute mark in runtime (it has a 30 second intro; such self-indulgence!), and their sound is still resoundingly their own in tone and the throaty harsh vocals on “Saturn Eros Xenomorph” and “Hoehle Hoelle” and the rest across the album’s intense, largely-furious-but-still-not-lacking-atmosphere span. If it was another band, you might call it death metal. As it stands, Der Alte is just Valborg, distilled to their purest and meanest form.
2022 is probably a good year to put out a record based around Frank Herbert’s Dune universe (the Duniverse?), what with the gargantuan feature film last year and another one coming at some point as blah blah franchise everything, but Montreal four-piece Sons of Arrakis have had at least some of the songs on Volume I in the works for the better part of four years, guitarists Frédéric Couture (also vocals) and Francis Duchesne (also keys) handling recording for the eight-song/30-minute outing with Vick Trigger on bass and Eliot Landry on drums locking in tight grooves pushing all that sci-fi and fuzz along at a pace that one only wishes the movie had shared. I’ve never read Dune, which is only relevant information here because Volume I doesn’t leave me feeling out of the loop as “Temple of the Desert” locks in quintessential stoner rock janga-janga shuffle and “Lonesome Preacher” culminates in twisty fuzz that should well please fans of Valley of the Sun before bleeding directly and smoothly into the melodic highlight “Abomination” in a way that, to me at least, bodes better for their longer term potential than whatever happenstance novelty of subject matter surrounds. There’s plenty of Dune out there if they want to stick to the theme, but songwriting like this could be about brushing your teeth and it’d still work.
Voidward‘s self-titled full-length debut lands some nine years after the Durham, North Carolina, trio’s 2013 Knives EP, and accordingly features nearly a decade’s worth of difference in sound, casting off longer-form post-black metal duggery in favor of more riff-based explorations. Still at least partially metallic in its roots, as opener “Apologize” makes plain and the immediate nodder roll of “Wolves” backs up, the eight-song/47-minute outing is distinguished by the clean, floating vocal approach of guitarist Greg Sheriff, who almost reminds of Dave Heumann from Arbouretum, though no doubt other listeners will hear other influences, and yes that’s a compliment. Joined by bassist/backing vocalist Alec Ferrell — harmonies persist on “Wolves” and elsewhere — and drummer Noah Kessler, Sheriff brings just a hint of char to the tone of “Oblivion,” but the blend of classic heavy rock and metal throughout points Voidward to someplace semi-psychedelic but nonetheless richly ambient, and even the most straightforward inclusion, arguably “Chemicals” though closer “Cobalt” has plenty of punch as well, is rich in its execution. They even thrash a bit on “Horses,” so as long as it’s not another nine years before they do anything else, they sound like they can go wherever they want. Rare for a debut.
The second long-player from Long Island, New York’s Indus Valley Kings, Origin brings together nine songs across an expansive 55 minutes, and sees the trio working from a relatively straightforward heavy rock foundation toward more complex purposes, whether that’s the spacious guitar stretch-out of “A Cold Wind” or the tell-tale chug in the second half of centerpiece “Dark Side of the Sun.” They effectively shift back and forth between lengthier guitar-led jams and more straight-up verses and choruses, but structure is never left too far behind to pick up again as need be, and the confidence behind their play comes through amid a relatively barebones production style, the rush of the penultimate “Drowned” providing a later surge in answer to the more breadth-minded unfurling of “Demon Beast” and the bluesy “Mohenjo Daro.” So maybe they’re not actually from the Indus Valley. Fine. I’ll take the Ripple-esque have-riffs-have-shred-ready-to-roll “Hell to Pay” wherever it’s coming from, and the swing of the earlier “…And the Dead Shall Rise” doesn’t so much dogwhistle its penchant for classic heavy as serve it to the listener on a platter. If we’re picking favorites, I might take “A Cold Wind,” but there’s plenty to dig on one way or the other, and Origin issues invitations early and often for listeners to get on board.
Clearly whoever said there were no second chances in rock and roll just hadn’t lived long enough. After reissuing one-upon-a-time Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden‘s largely-lost classic Population II (discussed here) for its 50th anniversary in 2020, RidingEasy Records offers Holden‘s sequel in Population III. And is it the work for which Holden will be remembered? No. But it is six songs and 57 minutes of Holden‘s craft, guitar playing, vocals and groove, and, well, that feels like something worth treasuring. Holden was in his 60s when he and Randy Pratt (also of Cactus) began to put together Population III, and for the 21-minute “Land of the Sun” alone, the album’s release a decade later is more than welcome both from an archival standpoint and in the actual listening experience, and as “Swamp Stomp” reminds how much of the ‘Comedown Era’s birth of heavy rock was born of blues influence, “Money’s Talkin'” tears into its solo with a genuine sense of catharsis. Holden may never get his due among the various ‘guitar gods’ of lore, but if Population III exposes more ears to his work and legacy, so much the better.
Gleefully oddball Montana three-piece The Gray Goo remind my East Coast ears a bit of one-time Brooklynites Eggnogg for their ability to bring together funk and heavy/sometimes-psychedelic rock, but that’s not by any means the extent of what they offer with their debut album, 1943, which given the level of shenanigans in 10-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Bicycle Day” alone, I’m going to guess is named after the NES game. In any case, from “Bicycle Day” on down through the closing “Cop Punk,” the pandemic-born outfit find escape in right-right-right-on nods and bass tone, partially stonerized but casting off expectation with an aplomb that manifests in the maybe-throwing-an-elbow noise of “Problem Child,” and the somehow-sleek rehearsal-space funk of “Launch” and “The Comedown,” which arrives ahead of “Shakes and Spins” — a love song, of sorts, with fluid tempo changes and a Primus influence buried in there somewhere — and pulls itself out of the ultra-’90s jam just in time for a last plodding hook. Wrapping with the 1:31 noise interlude “Goo” and the aforementioned “Cop Punk,” which gets the prize lyrically even with the competition surrounding, 1943 is going right on my list of 2022’s best debut albums with a hope for more mischief to come.
Oh, sweet serenity. Maybe if we all had been in that German garden on the day in summer 2020 when Acid Rooster reportedly performed the two extended jams that comprise Ad Astra — “Zu den Sternen” (22:28) and “Phasenschieber” (23:12) — at least some of us might’ve gotten the message and the assurance so desperately needed at the time that things were going to be okay. And that would’ve been nice even if not necessarily the truth. But as it stands, Ad Astra documents that secret outdoor showcase on the part of the band, unfolding with improvised grace across its longform pieces, hopeful in spirit and plenty loud by the time they get there but never fully departing from a hopeful sensibility, some vague notion of a better day to come. Even in the wholesale drone immersion of “Phasenschieber,” with the drums of “Zu den Sternen” seemingly disappeared into that lush ether, I want to close my eyes and be in that place and time, to have lived this moment. Impossible, right? Couldn’t have happened. And yet some were there, or so I’m told. The rest of us have the LP, and that’s not nothing considering how evocative this music is, but the sheer aural therapy of that moment must have been a powerful experience indeed. Hard not to feel lucky even getting a glimpse.
A sophomore full-length from the Dortmund trio of guitarist/synthesist Bong Travolta, bassist/vocalist Reib Asnah and (introducing) drummer/vocalist Chill Collins — collectively operating as BongBongBeerWizards — Ampire is a call to worship for Weed and Loud alike, made up of three tracks arranged longest to shortest (immediate points) and lit by sacred rumble of spacious stoner doom. Plod as god. Tonal tectonics. This is not about innovation, but celebrating noise and lumber for the catharsis they can be when so summoned. Willfully repetitive, primitive and uncooperative, there’s some debt of mindset to the likes of Poland’s Belzebong or the largesse of half-speed Slomatics/Conan/Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, but again, if you come into the 23-minute leadoff “Choirs and Masses” expecting genre-shaping originality, you’ve already fucked up. Get crushed instead. Put it on loud and be consumed. It won’t work for everybody, but it’s not supposed to. But if you’re the sort of head crusty enough to appreciate the synth-laced hypnotic finish of “Unison” or the destructive mastery of “Slumber,” you’re gonna shit a brick when the riffs come around. They’re not the only church in town, but it’s just the right kind of fun for melting your brains with volume.
Any way you want to cut it with Mosara‘s second album, Only the Dead Know Our Secrets, the root word you’re looking for is “heavy.” You’d say, “Oh, well ‘Magissa’ has elements of early-to-mid-aughts sludge and doom at work with a raw presentation in its cymbal splash and shouted vocals.” Or you’d say, “‘The Permanence of Isolation’ arrives at a chugging resolution after a deceptively intricate intro,” or “the acoustic beginning of ‘Zion’s Eyes’ leads to a massive, engaging nod that shows thoughtfulness of construction in its later intertwining of lead guitar lines.” Or that the closing title-track flips the structure to end quiet after an especially tortured stretch of nonetheless-ambient sludge. All that’s true, but you know what it rounds out to when you take away the blah blah blah? It’s fucking heavy. Whatever angle you’re approaching from — mood, tone, songwriting, performance — it’s fucking heavy. Sometimes there’s just no other way, no better way, to say it. Mosara‘s 2021 self-titled debut (review here) was too. It’s just how it is. I bet their next one will be as well, or at very least I hope so. If you’re old enough to recall Twingiant, there’s members of that band here, but even if not, what you need to know is that Only the Dead Know Our Secrets is fucking heavy. So there.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 1st, 2021 by JJ Koczan
What, you thought because Roadburn was going virtual this year it wouldn’t find a way to be completely overwhelming? Behold 55 new additions to Roadburn Redux, set for just over two weeks from now — shit I need to get on WCD copy — and staggering in its scope as Roadburn consistently manages to be. Find me checking out Steve Von Till, Body Void, Astrosoniq, Doctors of Space, Nadja, Year of No Light, SÂVER and a ton of others, and yeah, fucking a. You know it’s Roadburn when all you can really do is throw your hands up and give in to it.
The full announcement follows here. I don’t even know what to say anymore.
From the PR wire:
ROADBURN REDUX: Steve Von Till, Aaron Turner and 53 more names confirmed
Redefining heaviness with exclusive performances and premieres – wherever you are in the world.
Roadburn Redux has confirmed an enormous 55 new names that will be participating in the online event taking place between April 16-18. They will be joining the already-announced line up that includes Hexvessel, Die Wilde Jagd, Inter Arma, Mizmor, Primitive Man, Wolvennest and many, many more.
Artistic Director Walter Hoeijmakers comments: “Roadburn has always been a gathering of kindred spirits; shining a light on varying creative corners of our beloved underground and beyond. This year is no different. We’re beyond elated to announce that a vast number of inspiring bands and artists – from Roadburn luminaries such as Steve Von Till and Aaron Turner to young, to upcoming hopefuls like Knoll – have been added to our final, virtual lineup. We’re honoured to provide a platform in these trying times, whether they will bring you exclusive sets or present their debut albums. Together they will give us hope, inspiration, and most of all, the opportunity to reconnect with each other and keep our thriving community going for bands and fans alike. Despite the fact that Jo Quail and several musicians working with her on ‘The Cartographer’ can’t make it to Tilburg due to the travel restrictions – she’ll still be a part of the festival this year, whilst the commissioned performance will take place in 2022. Such is the communal vibe of Roadburn, and we can’t wait to welcome you to Roadburn Redux – wherever you are in the world.”
Roadburn Redux will take place online between April 16-18. Roadburnredux.com for more information.
New Additions
STEVE VON TILL presents A Remote Wilderness Steve Von Till has performed at Roadburn as part of Neurosis, as a curator, as a solo artist, and a guest musician – and now he will be performing for us within a digital realm as part of Roadburn Redux.
Filmed and recorded live at the legendary Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, we’re delighted to be able to present to you a Steve Von Till performance titled A Remote Wilderness. Joined by a dynamic group of Seattle based musicians Von Till will perform his latest album, No Wilderness Deep Enough, in its entirety – with a few older songs woven throughout.
PERFORMANCES As well as Steve Von Till’s amazing contribution to Roadburn Redux, we’re thrilled to bring a huge swathe of exclusive, specially recorded performances to Roadburn audiences, including a special solo set from Aaron Turner, a short set from Jo Quail to tide us over until The Cartographer performance next year, the unveiling of two new Dawn Ray’d songs via an exclusive performance video, a very special improv set from Blanck Mass, a psychedelic freakout courtesy of Doctors of Space and much more. Click the artist names below to find out more about each of their performances.
Aaron Turner Amulets Svart Sessions: Doodswens Blanck Mass Body Void Dawn Ray’d Doctors of Space Drowse Jo Quail Jonathan Hulten Knoll Nadja Nero Di Marte Sula Bassana Wesenwille
COMMISSIONED: Also performing for us will be two further artists commissioned specifically by Roadburn for the occasion.
BADA BADA was created in 2019 by Anna Von Hausswolff and fellow Gothenburg musicians David Sabel, Gianluca Grasselli, Filip Leyman and Hannes Nilsson – some of whom also perform as part of Von Hausswolff’s solo project. Through cinematic drone, tribal rhythms, heavy distortions and a shared desire to “reunite the essential bonds between music and physical worlds”, BADA is a captivating and constantly evolving force of creativity that demands to be witnessed.
TAU PRESENTS DREAM AWAKE Tau are bringing their transcendental visions to Roadburn Redux, with an exclusive two-part set entitled Dream Awake, that will include a special guest appearance from Clannad’s Pól Brennan. Led by Dubliner Seán Mulrooney, Tau’s hypnotic neo-folk transports listeners on a meditative voyage, taking in shamanic chants, psychedelic flourishes and traditional folk elements, from Irish to Mongolian.
PELAGIC PRESENTS We’ve joined forces with Germany’s Pelagic Records to showcase artists on the label’s roster under the banner ‘Pelagic Presents’. With no indication of slowing down, this positively prolific label is churning out stellar release after stellar release, even during the last twelve challenging months. Join us as we team up to bring you an exciting collection of premiers, exclusive performances and we’ll even be unveiling some brand new signings to the label over the Redux weekend.
The following artists will be participating in the Pelagic Presents showcase:
Blessings Briqueville Crown Johan G. Winther LLNN Lustmord & Karin Park Oslo Tapes Psychonaut Sâver SOM The Ocean performing Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic Year of No Light
ALBUM PREMIERES In addition to already announced full album premieres, we’re delighted to confirm three more – including Spill Gold performing their album Highway Hypnosis, broadcast live from the 013 venue. Might performing Might Spill Gold performing Highway Hypnosis Trialogos performing Stroh Zu Gold
THE SONGS OF TOWNES VAN ZANDT The installment of The Songs of Townes Van Zandt is on the horizon during Roadburn Redux the artists involved with the latest album will be unveiled. With previous participants including John Baizley, Scott Kelly and Mike Scheidt, the pedigree of the artists is in no doubt. To find out more click here – and tune in April 16-18 for the big reveal. Click here for more info.
AUDIO/VIDEO PREMIERES: Roadburn Redux will also be the proud host of a number of audio and visual premieres over the festival weekend. Ranging from previously recordings from previous editions of the festival through to brand new a material from upcoming albums, there’s a feast for both the eyes and ears planned this April courtesy of the following artists:
Acid Rooster Algiers Alora Crucible An Autumn For Crippled Children Astrosoniq Blodet Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou Hand Model Hante Kayo Dot Midwife Noctule Obsidian Kingdom Of Wolves Sunrot Talea Jacta Meets Electric Moon Tesa Thy Catafalque Witch Mountain Wolf King Wolves In The Condo
VIRTUAL PIT STOP We are partnering up with a brand new as yet un-released to public virtual social gathering platform called Bramble to bring you a daily place to hang out with fellow Roadburners virtually – just like the real life Pit Stop in Tilburg.
Anyone who has ever played video games will feel right at home in Bramble, where conversations happen inside of a psychedelic venue. Guests walk around a trippy world as an avatar – connecting with your long lost community. As you move your avatar around, the people you see and hear change depending on who you’re close to, like moving around a physical space. There will be four separate spaces – The Grass Company, 8.6 Bar, The Weirdo Canyon, and The Skate Hall – open from 5pm CET til 3am CET each day of Roadburn Redux.
Bramble was invented by Artery, a global community for intimate culture and social infrastructure. Its unique gathering platform has been used for everything from open-mics to an album listening party celebration, as well as birthday parties, family gatherings and dozens of companies establishing virtual spaces for their remote workforce.
TICKETS & INFO Roadburn Redux will be available to access between April 16-18 with a full programme of content online for free (or pay what you like).
Already announced is commissioned projects from Mizmor, Primitive Man Die Wilde Jagd, Dirk Serries, GOLD, Jo Quail, Neptunian Maximalism, Of Blood And Mercury, Radar Men From The Moon, Solar Temple, TDC Inc, and The Nest, plus album premieres from Autarkh, Die Wilde Jagd, Emptiness, Plague Organ and Wolvennest, and a series of sets recorded under the banner of The Svart Sessions – highlighting the best of the Finnish label’s roster.
Roadburn Redux has been made possible due to the support from Brabant C, Gemeente Tilburg, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Provincie Noord-Brabant, Bavaria 8.6, Ticket to Tilburg.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 4th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
As ever, there’s a lot going on in this announcement for Roadburn. It’s only the second one from Roadburn 2020 and already the festival seems to be setting its course to once again be bigger than ever as it continues to redefine itself and broaden its outlook on the underground. Two curators for the first time was announced last time around, now it’s two artists in residence, and oh, by the way, they’ll also collaborate for a set, because it’s fucking Roadburn and that’s just how it has to be. Lingua Ignota‘s set at the skate park at this year’s edition of the festival was the talk of the weekend — at least until Thou did those Misfits covers — and Full of Hell aren’t exactly strangers to Roadburn either. It’s going to be a busy and all over the place kind of Roadburn, I expect. Who would have it any other way?
If you haven’t, I can only urge you to check out Dool, who’ve also been added, and I’ve included the stream of Acid Rooster‘s 2019 self-titled debut below because its dreamy tones are sitting just right this afternoon.
Dig it:
ROADBURN 2020
– For the first time, Roadburn Festival will have two Artists In Residence
– First announcements for curated events including HIDE and BOY HARSHER
– Tickets on sale September 24
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
Every edition of Roadburn has an Artist in Residence who will perform multiple times across the four days of the festival – each time showcasing a different facet of their creativity. Much like with other aspects at Roadburn 2020, this year we’re mixing things up a bit; for the first time there will be two Artist In Residence positions…
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: FULL OF HELL
With 30+ releases – EPs, splits, full lengths and more – there’s rich pickings to pull together material for four distinctive sets at Roadburn 2020. Full of Hell will perform Weeping Choir in full, as well as sister album Trumpeting Ecstasy. Also on the slate is a set comprising of their early material including songs from Roots of Earth Are Consuming My Home, as well as early 7” releases – and perhaps even a couple of covers thrown in for good measure. The twist in the tale is that for one of their four sets they will collaborate with fellow Artist In Residence Kristin Hayter AKA Lingua Ignota.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: LINGUA IGNOTA
Performing four times over the course of the festival weekend, Kristin Hayter will peel back a layer of the Lingua Ignota form, shining a light in a dark corner. Performing alongside our other Artist In Residence, Full of Hell, some dark forces are sure to be summoned by the unholy noise they’ll make collaboratively. In addition to that, there will be an extremely special covers set (the details of which we will keep under wraps for now) and a performance comprising entirely of ALL BITCHES DIE material. The centrepiece of Kristin’s residency will be a grand re-imagining of CALIGULA – pulled apart and elegantly pieced back together in a new way.
EMMA RUTH RUNDLE’S- THE GILDED CAGE CURATED EVENT
HIDE
The first artist to be confirmed as part of Emma Ruth Rundle’s curated event is HIDE. An uncompromising duo who have a message that alone deserves to be heard, but the accompanying pulse of grit-flecked industro-slickness is what makes HIDE an essential booking for Roadburn. Demonstrating that heavy music doesn’t need a guitar to be crushing, HIDE are dragging ‘heaviness’, kicking and screaming, in their wake. Emma commented: “I’m very happy to announce HIDE as the first band in my curation. No one else is touching on all the subjects that really twist the blade in my being the way they can. Their work is brutal, visceral, painful and poignant in all ways. From their videos, albums, lyrics, uniquely sourced samples and undeniably intense live performance- HIDE not only transcend – they absolutely destroy.”
JAMES KENT’S CURATED EVENT
BOY HARSHER
Boy Harsher’s minimal synths, beats and fuzzed up vocals have been in our eyeline for a while now – and we’re thrilled that our intentions line up with those of our curator.
He comments: “Boy Harsher brings a kind of visceral darkness through their minimal electronic beats that is extremely fascinating. The whispering-like vocals mixed with detuned-synths and old drum machines always felt to me like an invitation to a forbidden yet alluring world.”
HEALTH
HEALTH has plenty of sharp edges; jagged, pixelated, and raw. The complex layers of synths and samples coagulate into a hypnotic, pulsating mass – perfect for those who find comfort in the claustrophobic confines of noise and synthwave.
James comments: “Health are amongst my favorite acts out there at the moment. Their unique sound blending heavy electronics, pop vocals and aggressive noise will make for a perfect addition to the festival.”
SHE PAST AWAY
As part of James Kent’s curation for Roadburn 2020, we are thrilled to announce that modern Turkish darkwave legends She Past Away will be joining us to share this year’s Disko Anksiyete in its entirety. Over the course of their prior albums, the band built a strong identity rooted in genre classics yet carving its own path rather than merely following in the same well trodden gothic footsteps.
Also announced…
DOOL
As the band gear up for the release of their as-yet-unnamed second album, we’re thrilled to announce that Dool will be premiering their new material at Roadburn next year. We may have to wait a little longer for the juicy details of the release, but much like it was in 2016 when they first debuted at Roadburn, our faith in them delivering the goods is unwavering.
BADA
BADA is another vessel for the Gothenburg-based musicians Anna Von Hausswolff, David Sabel, Gianluca Grasselli, Filip Leyman and Hannes Nilsson (some of whom also perform as part of Anna Von Hausswolff’s solo project) to channel their creativity. BADA’s output is a cinematic drone – sliced through with abrasive noise passages and ominous darkness. Fans of Dead Magic might have to adjust their receivers to be able to detect the Anna they’re most familiar with, but through the layers of static something special will still shine through.
ACID ROOSTER
Though Acid Rooster have flown their freak flag high for many moons, the band only released their impressive S/T debut very recently. And not to exaggerate — Acid Rooster is one of the best contemporary psych records around, hence inviting them for Roadburn 2020.
ROADBURN 2020 TICKETS
Tickets to Roadburn 2020 will go on sale on Tuesday, September 24. More details will be made available in the coming weeks.
Already announced for Roadburn 2020 is: Emma Ruth Rundle and James Kent as curators, commissioned projects from James Kent & Johannes Persson, Jo Quail, and Vile Creature & Bismuth, and the return of Julie Christmas.
