Reach Manchester: FUTURE EVERYTHING SUMMIT ft OM’MAS KEITH, LAPALUX, HOLY OTHER, HIEROGLYOHIC BEING, ANDY STOTT, SPACE DIMENSION CONTROLLER

Future Everything returns to Manchester in a slightly morphed form for 2013, with a focus on the event as a summit of ‘ideas and digital invention’ rather than a full on festival. The music content remains strong however, so we’ve decided to preview what’s coming up. If you want the whole shebang including conferences, visit the site or download the handbook and timetable.

I have a couple of highlights from past events, which I think showcase how fundamental occasions like this are to the city. One – Rustie and then Flying Lotus blowing a RZA-headlined audience away in 2008, well before Fly Lo was as widely regarded as he is now. Two – a collective jaw dropping at Daedelus’ Monome tinkering. And three, a personal-taste highlight, Illum Sphere dropping the 1000 Names Doctor Who theme interpretation just before Hud Mo came on.

The core of the music programme takes place at Salford’s Islington Mill, with an offshoot at Media City. Read on (all info swiped from Futr) …

BUY TICKETS FOR ALL EVENTS.

 

WED 20 MARCH 2013 19:30 // ISLINGTON MILL

BRANDT BRAUER FRICK ft OM’MAS KEITH – LAPALUX – 65daysofstatic

Sometimes what you don’t do is as important as what you do. Brandt Brauer Frick have made a name for themselves producing techno without the technology, using classical instruments in preference to synthesisers and computers. It’s a negative that’s had positive results.

A unique approach to producing contemporary beat driven music, Brandt Brauer Frick combine the disciplines of jazz, techno and hip hop to create a musical identity that is quite their own. Their last full length release, 2011′s Mr. Machine was a brave and challenging attempt to employ a ten piece classical ensemble in a contemporary context. The result was a modern masterpiece of cross-genre experimentation.

On the back of the release of brand new LP Miami, Berlin-based Brandt Brauer Frick are set to perform at Islington Mill as part of the FutureEverything music programme. Joining them will be Om’Mas Keith of hugely influential Los Angeles based hip-hop collective Sa-Ra. Taking their style and philosophy from the legendary free jazz composer Sun Ra, Sa-Ra have changed many people’s perceptions of what hip-hop can be, and have worked with artists including Jurassic 5, Dr. Dre, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu.

This is a live performance that will manipulate and blend sounds across the spectrum of jazz, hip-hop and techno, questioning established musical genre definitions.

Also performing will be Stuart Howard, aka Lapalux. Lapalux bathes your brain in lush textures, surprising and explosive atmospheres set in unencountered, unearthly spaces. Whether working with a singer or deconstructing found samples and his own voice, Howard stretches, bends and warps sound to make soul – not plastic posturing but real emotion made of synthetic sound and hazy, woozy emotion.

THU 21 MARCH 2013 20:00 // ISLINGTON MILL 

HOLY OTHER – WIFE – BEARCUBS – TOURIST

We are delighted to welcome the enigmatic Manchester based artist Holy Other to FutureEverything 2013. Showcasing his ability to combine dark, lurching melodies with affecting pitched vocal snippets and hip-hop-flavored percussion, his debut LP ‘Held’ is already garnering its share of accolades. Having released on the hugely respected Tri Angle imprint (oOoOO, How To Dress Well),Holy Other produces beautiful R&B inspired electronica while keeping live performances seductively minimalist and intriguing, even going to extent of performing hidden under black cloth to allow the music, rather than the live persona take centre stage.  “The perfect marriage of ghostly vocals and spectral sonics.” (The Guardian).

25 year old multi instrumentalist James Kelly (WIFE) has until recently been best known as the sole permanent member and writer behind black metal outfit Altar Of Plagues, who have released two critically acclaimed albums on iconic labels Profound Lore andCandlelight. Using found sounds, homemade instruments and field recordings as a base, Altar Of Plagues create music “Full of radical tangents and alien-to-black metal elements, more focused on frailty and struggle than majesty and grandeur” (Pitchfork).

Embracing his long standing passion for electronic music, WIFE showcases a diverse range of influences with music that is built to endure, from mournful hypnotics as found in Bodies, through the cold mantra of Trials, to the shuffling trickery of Circles. With an uncompromising vision – and an remarkable live show – to back up these initial offerings, WIFE is a truly unique talent.

 

FRI 22 MARCH 2013 21:00 // ISLINGTON MILL

ANDY STOTT – HIEROGLYPHIC BEING – LEE GAMBLE – RASHAD BECKER – POWELL

Andy Stott will present a headline live set including material from his hugely acclaimed ‘Luxury Problems’ LP (8.7 on Pitchfork, but who’s counting?). The innovative, Manchester-based producer is a core member of our city’s Modern Love crew (Demdike Stare / Suum Cuique / G.H.), known for combining influences from Basic Channel to UK Hardcore, concrète noise and industrial dub with a distinctly individual production palette, recently incorporating vocals from his former piano teacher, Alison Skidmore.

Former pirate radio junglist-come-computer music headwrecker, Lee Gamble released two LPs to near-unanimous praise in 2012, hailed as some of the best in PAN records’ already estimable catalogue. ‘Diversions 1994-1996′ transformed loops and fragments of classic jungle breakdowns into ghostly ambient compositions reminiscent of V/Vm’s The Death Of Rave series and Mark Leckey’s ‘Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore’ soundtrack, whilst ‘Dutch Tvashtar Plumes’ crossed dimensions between Actress-like Techno and the psychoacoustic computer trikery associated with Florian Hecker.

Rashad Becker will present a rare live set of his “traditional music of notional species”. Whilst best known among techno fans and audiophiles as the head engineer at Berlin’s revered Dubplates & Mastering (D&M) facilities, Becker also creates precise, phantasmic computer sound designs encouraging audiences to focus their hearing. This performance will coincide with release of his debut LP on PAN records.

Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being is a Chicago-based artist/DJ/producer in the lineage of Ron Hardy, Adonis and Steve Poindexter. Inspired by the Afro-Futurist myth science of Sun-Ra and the experience of visiting underage Chicago clubs such as Medusa’s and the Power Plant in the mid-late ’80s, he’s honed a unique production and DJing style as close to free jazz and avant-garde noise as house and disco.

Powell’s productions re-pattern ideas from New York No Wave to European Techno and UK D&B with incisive, ascetic vision. The most recent issue on his Diagonal imprint was hailed as the single of 2012 by local online record store, Boomkat.com, and his next 12″ is due on Faktion-affiliated imprint, The Death Of Rave. His music is also championed by the likes of PAN’s Bill Kouligas, Blackest Ever Black, FACT magazine, The Quietus.

DJ support from Faktion’s Conor Thomas.

THU 21 MARCH 2013 19:30 // DIGITAL PERFORMANCE LAB, MEDIA CITY UK

CARTER TUTTI (THROBBING GRISTLE) – HARMONIC COACTION

Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti formed Carter Tutti out of the ashes of seminal Industrial band Throbbing Gristle. Throbbing Gristle founded the Industrial music genre and were one of the first bands to successfully fuse electronic and acoustic instrumentation. Their musical legacy is still very much in evidence today. Regularly cited as one of the original forerunners of the Techno andElectronica genres, they are often cited by bands and DJs as hugely influential. Since their inception, Carter & Tutti have collaborated with such artists and musical luminaries as Monte Cazazza, Coil, Current 93, John Duncan, Erasure, The Eurythmics, Boyd Rice, Robert Wyatt and many more. Their music has also been remixed by Carl Craig, Cosmic Connection, Fred Giannelli, Daniel Miller, U -Ziq, Vapourspace and Andrew Weatherall.

HARMONIC COACTION – A live audio assimilation of person, place and time.
‘Harmonic Coaction’ is a series of sound works constructed from audio field recordings relating to the performance site. The work is created live in situ using those recordings as key components, deconstructing and manipulating the sounds in juxtaposition and harmony. The accompanying visuals consist of images inspired by the site to create an audio visual continuum.

Special guest for this event is Holly Herdon.

 

FRI 22 MARCH 2013 21:00 // SOUP KITCHEN

AFICIONADO PRESENTS LAND OF LIGHT

 

This year Aficionado celebrates its 15th year of existence  with a live performance by Land of Light.

Land Of Light are the London-based duo Jonny Nash and Kyle Martin. Separately, Nash has earned praise from the likes of David Mancuso and François K for his Sombrero Galaxy project, and Kyle plays synth for ex-Ozric Tentacles/Planet Gong-fronted space rock band Dream Machine. Together, the pair make atmospheric, new worlds of sound which float just out of reach in Vangelis-tinged smoothness. Their self-titled debut album – released in November 2012 via ESP Institute has received critical acclaim worldwide.

DJ Support supplied by Moonboots and Jason Boardman (Aficionado), Jolyon Green (Lowlife) and Simon Tonkinson (Be My Guest).

FRI 22 MARCH 2013 19:30 // DIGITAL PERFORMANCE LAB, MEDIA CITY UK

LOSCIL – ROBERTO FABBRICIANI 

 

 

The serene ambient compositions of Loscil come courtesy of Vancouver-based musician Scott Morgan. Taking his moniker from the “looping oscillator” function in the computer music language Csound, Morgan uses custom made Max for Live devices and the occasional live instrument to build robust, droning soundscapes. One of Kranky records longest standing artists, Morgan influences range from krautrock pioneers Cluster, minimalist composer Gavin Bryars, and film music composition.

Roberto Fabbriciani will follow Loscil with ‘Maderna and new routes of the flute in the second ’900′; a medley of experimental scores for flute by composers Bruno Maderna, Andrea Mannucci, Fabricciani and many more. Fabricciani is widely considered to have reinvented the flute during the latter part of the 20th and into the early part of our current century, through personal research into the instrument’s sonorous possibilities. He is most noted for his work with Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, Salvatore Sciarrino, Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage. He worked for many years with Luigi Nono, in the experimental studio of the SWF in Freiburg, blazing new and unusual trails in music.

This event brings highly regarded international artists from the classical avant garde and experimental electronic ouvres together for one night of experimentation in sound in a unique and intimate venue.

 

CLOSING PARTY

SUN 23 MARCH 2013 21:00 // ISLINGTON MILL

SPACE DIMENSION CONTROLLER – JAM CITY –  SAOIRSE – RUF DUG  

As a closing party for the FutureEverything music programme, we’re partnering up with Resident Advisor to present a late night event featuring some of the UK’s most exciting and forward thinking producers and DJs, featuring Space Dimension Controller and Jam City.

A leading figure in what is known as ‘Galactic Funk’, Space Dimension Controller blends the psychedelic boogie and funk philosophy of George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic with a contemporary nu disco meets house sound often associated with the likes of Midnight Magic, Greg Wilson and Escort. Taking references from the synth-led soundtracks of video games and science fiction films of the 1980s along the way, Space Dimension Controller’s music is a fantastic and overwhelmingly enjoyable exploration of dancefloor retro-futurism. With a brand new LP ‘You Can’t Have My Love’ out on the hugely respected R&S label (home to James Blake and Lone, among others) set to be a landmark release of 2013, we are thrilled to have him land at FutureEverything.

Also performing will be Jam City, fresh from the release of ‘Classical Curves’ – a record conceived out of (but not confined to) the legacy of the great rhythm trak muziks: Chicago House, Detroit Techno, Grime and Club. Classical Curves deconstructs, then reconfigures these blueprints as skeletal, emotionally charged pop songs. We are thrashed and contorted by sheets of metal then suspended in breathy quiet of sighing voices and raindrops kissing the windowpane – and then it erupts again.

DJ support comes from Saoirse (Resident Advisor) and Ruf Dug (Ruf Kutz)