Editorial issue N° 7 — KRAAK festival 2016
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
You are holding the 7th edition of the irregularly published magazine wisely dubbed The Avant-Guardian. It's the third edition published on the occasion of the yearly KRAAK festival.
25 February 2016 |
AG 7
Ilta Hämära
Een ontmoeting tussen twee toonaangevende bakens in het muzikale rurale Vlaamse landschap.
24 February 2016 |
AG 7
Mark Fell
Mark Fell is a reluctant giant of contemporary electronic music, whose work has managed to remain in touch with both the experimental fringes ànd the more established zones of DJs and club scenes. Even at the start of his career, his musical partnership with Mat Steel as snd was at once the harbinger of the so-called glitch movement and the odd fellow within that movement due to its strong ties to house music. Renowned for his deep knowledge of software and equipment, and for injecting his sounds with political and philosophical pre-occupations, the deconstructionist approaches of Mark Fell have always kept their accessibility. But don’t forget to activate your brain while you headnod.
24 February 2016 |
AG 7
Lino Capra Vaccina
Vaccina is a legendary cult composer and percussionist which created a unique version of American minimalism. With gongs, Tuvan throat singing, and stripped down analogue electronica he composed the revolutionary and meditative album Antico Adagio somewhere deep in the 70ties. He disappeared after this release in the shadows of the music history. Luckily last year Die Schachtel re-released the album. And now, finally, live on stage in the heart of Europe.
24 February 2016 |
AG 7
75 Dollar Bill
Rick Brown and Che Chen form one of the most bizarre r'n'b duo's of the Western world. With complex guitar riffs and street musician-style percussion the inject the dead genre with Sun City Girls-like jams and polyrhythms. Wherever they play, under a bridge or on stage, brains will melt.
24 February 2016 |
AG 7
Yeah You
I don’t know what you do with your dad while driving around in his car, but Gustav Thomas and Elvin Brandhi started a band. It’s called Yeah You and their music sounds like you threw a bunch of pop records in a concrete mixer. But better.
24 February 2016 |
AG 7
Viper Pit
Viper pit is a band of three venomous young men. They released their debut single on Acid Mind Records, and this label's head honcho raves about their work in a stand-out article.
23 February 2016 |
AG 7
Widt
WARSAW, WIDT, GOMBROWICZ EN DE SINGULARITEIT. Er is iets gaande in Polen. Dat valt op zijn minst te vermoeden wanneer
je de uitstekende VHS beluistert die het audio-visuele duo Widt
uitbracht. Met analoge video, stem en elektronica scheppen zee
en psychedelische jungle dat het midden houdt tussen eigentijdse
post-internetelektronica en de tapecomposities van grootmeesters
L. Berio of P. Henry.
23 February 2016 |
AG 7
Hermann Nitsch
On first viewing the work of Hermann Nitsch, the uninitiated
may wonder whether he’s a murderous psychopath who conned
the art world into funding satanic rites and blood-drenched bacchanalia.
The reality is that Nitsch is the scraggly-bearded ringleader of the Orgy
Mystery Theater, a performance-art group and ongoing project that
staged nearly 100 ritualistic performances from the early 60s to the late
90s. The events were bizarre orgies of the senses replete with animal
immolation, crucifixion, piles of fruit, entrails, white robes, nudity, gallons
of vital fluids, and God knows what else. These irreverent celebrations
culminated in the Six-Day Play, Nitsch’s take on the story of creation,
which was held at a castle he has lived in for more than 40 years.
23 February 2016 |
AG 7
Guttersnipe
The New Wave of Northern England noise has finally arrived. Until 3
years ago, the scene was led by VCO and side projects, but a couple
of youngsters took over the scepter. Guttersnipe is one of the hardest
outfits, guitar & drum are their tools to make explosive and brain
melting noise. Hail to England’s Freak Empire.
23 February 2016 |
AG 7
Timeless Reality
Timeless Reality currently is my favorite band. They take the paths where you will find the craftsmanship of decent song-writing. When you are lost in thousand of new genres popping up everyday, their way feels like something to cling onto. Their sound is equally fueled by a loose, tense approach, taken from their earlier explorations throughout the field of drone and noise music. This makes that they walk the road backwards and blinded, the missteps and stumbles add up to their unique sound. I had a nice, although crackly chat with Alexander and Nicolas over Skype on the future of rock, scenes and looseness.
23 February 2016 |
AG 7
Volmacht
Volmacht is de nieuwe band van Dennis Tyfus en Floris Vanhoof. Toen ik een tijdje geleden een promotekst schreef, vond Floris de tekst te referentieel, te beschrijvend. Toen opende ik mijn brein, wroette — want voortwee grote geesten doe je moeite — en het volgende vloeide uit mijn pen: "Boze en grandioze muziek, hard en weird, laverend tussen powerelectronics
en slapstick. De heren pokten en mazelden zich elk in
de gevorderde stemtechniek en de modulaire geluidssynthese, en
scherpten zich respectievelijk tot archivaris der Oost-Belgische
folklore en documentalist der Groot-Antwerpse Ondergrond. De
rurale syntesthetische poëet en de grootsteedse collagekunstenaar
vinden elkaar in Volmacht. Ze verwekten een breinkind dat
walst zoals enkel homo-erotische macho’s en chaotische estheten
kunnen. Verknipte neo-fluxus vervuilt post-manieristisch
structuralisme, pure poezie is het resultaat."
23 February 2016 |
AG 7
Księżyc
Księżyc is a project from Poland, active since the 1990s. Members included
Agata Harz (vocals), Catherine Smoluk (vocals, piano), Robert
Niziński (wind instruments, keyboards), Lechosław Pole (accordion,
keyboards, synthesizers) and Remigiusz MazurHanaj (lyrics, tapes.
The spirit of the moon captures early and late medieval music
with a sound, rooted in the Slavic tradition combined with elements
of minimalism and vocal experiments of the 20th Century. The alchemy
of these constituent parts results in a breathtaking original
music, both delicate and sinister. The surreal fairy tale inspired lyrics
add to the inherent beauty, sadness and madness within. Their
songs display an intense and profane spiritualism and are as such the
perfect antitode to these consumerist and superfluous times.
A conversation with Księżyc!
23 February 2016 |
AG 7