Emily

OFF Festival Katowice 2016: Hour by hour

That wonderful August weekend is getting closer, and you can start planning the details today! You can also buy one-day tickets, though we’re sure you’ll want to stick around once you’ve seen just how rich this year’s lineup is.

Shoegaze, hip-hop, noise, folk, techno, grind, ethno, sludge, soul, black metal, drum’n’bass, punk, jazz, house, rock’n’roll, grunge, ambient, blues… Like every year, the OFF Festival’s four stages will bring together artists representing every variety of alternative music for a three-day celebration of freedom and art. If you can’t stay for the whole weekend, you can now purchase tickets for individual days for €35 + booking fee. Passes for the whole festival are still on sale.

Here's a detailed program of the entire festival to make it easy for you to plan your stay in Katowice.

Friday, August 5

City of Music Stage
16.10–16.55 – So Slow
17.50–18.40 – Willis Earl Beal
19.45–20.45 – Clutch
21.55–23.05 – Brodka
00.30–01.40 – Devendra Banhart

T-Mobile Electronic Beats Stage
15.35–16.05 – Niemoc
17.00–17.45 – Liima
18.45–19.40 – Masecki vs Sienkiewicz
20.50–21.50 – Sleaford Mods
23.10–00.30 – Andrew Weatherall b2b Roman Flügel
01.40–03.10 – DJ Koze

Trójka Stage
15.00–15.30 – Rosa Vertov
16.10–16.55 – Show Me The Body
17.50–18.40 – Komety grają Partię
19.45–20.45 – Minor Victories
21.55–23.05 – Napalm Death
00.30–01.40 – Yung Lean

Experimental Stage
15.35–16.05 – Adam Gołębiewski
17.00–17.45 – Ziołek / Zimpel
18.45–19.40 – Jenny Hval
20.50–22.00 – The Master Musicians Of Jajouka
23.10–00.30 – Zomby
01.40–03.10 – Mgła

Saturday, August 6

City of Music Stage
16.10–16.55 – The Feral Trees
17.50–18.40 – Fidlar
19.45–20.45 – Lush
21.55–23.05 – GZA
00.30–01.40 – The Kills

T-Mobile Electronic Beats Stage
15.35–16.05 – Sotei
17.00–17.45 – Rysy
18.45–19.40 – Islam Chipsy
20.50–21.50 – Jaga Jazzist
23.10–00.30 – GusGus
01.40–03.10 – Derrick May

Trójka Stage
15.00–15.30 – Żółte Kalendarze
16.10–16.55 – JAAA!
17.50–18.40 – Mutoid Man
19.45–20.45 – Basia Bulat
21.55–23.05 – SBB gra „Nowy horyzont”
00.30–01.40 – Machinedrum

Experimental Stage – Ethno Day
15.35–16.05 – Odpoczno
17.00–17.45 – Goat
18.45–19.40 – Janusz Prusinowski Kompania
20.50–21.50 – Ata Kak
23.10–00.30 – Orlando Julius & the Heliocentrics
01.40–03.10 – Jambinai

Sunday, August 7

City of Music Stage
16.10–16.55 – Lotto
17.50–18.40 – Beach Slang
19.45–20.45 – Mudhoney
21.55–23.05 – Kaliber 44
00.30–01.40 – Anohni

T-Mobile Electronic Beats Stage
15.35–16.05 – Jóga
17.00–17.45 – Kero Kero Bonito
18.45–19.40 – 67,5 Minut Projekt
20.50–21.50 – Pantha Du Prince presents The Triad
23.10–00.30 – Kiasmos
01.40–03.10 – Rødhåd

Trójka Stage
15.00–15.30 – Jesień
16.10–16.55 – Mass Ghotic
17.50–18.40 – Thundercat
19.45–20.45 – Księżyc
21.55–23.10 – Daniel Avery
00.30–01.40 – Flatbush Zombies

Experimental Stage
15.35–16.05 – Lauda
17.00–17.45 – Heroiny
18.45–19.40 – Lightning Bolt
20.50–21.50 – Powell
23.10–00.30 – William Basinski
01.40–03.10 – Syny

Tickets
3 Day festival Pass from £42 / 53 Euros + booking fee
Camping Pass from £12 / 15 Euros + booking fee
1 Day festival pass from 35 Euros + booking fee
Buy tickets here: https://www.festicket.com/packages/off-festival-2016
Buy tickets here: http://www.seetickets.com/event/off-festival-2016

About OFF
A truly unique boutique music festival, OFF Festival takes place in ‘Three Lake Valley’, Katowice – a beautiful green oasis in the heart of industrial Silesia. OFF Festival is a way of life, one that flies in the face of current trends and stays true to itself, and the ethos of organiser Artur Rojek is firmly aimed at supporting art and music with the festival bringing many acts to Poland for the first time. OFF Festival is growing in prominence year on year driven by the festivals forward–thinking, eclectic music policy. From the greatest alternative music stars from around the world to the increasingly strong Polish scene, OFF festival has inspiring music in abundance.

More info here: http://off-festival.pl/

by Emily

OFF Festival Katowice 2016: Eccentrics and their Experiments

We’re wrapping up this year’s lineup with a dozen extraordinary artists. Please welcome William Basinski, The Master Musicians of Jajouka, Komety (performing Partia), Księżyc, Adam Gołębiewski, The Feral Trees, Żółte Kalendarze, JAAA!, Lotto, Lauda, Heroiny, and Jesień.

William Basinski
Inspired by Brian Eno’s ambient sounds and minimalists in the vein of Steve Reich, this American avant-garde composer infuses his meditative, ascetic compositions with field recordings and prepared tape. His best known piece is the monumental four-part album The Disintegration Loops, but Basinski will take the stage at the OFF Festival for a premiere performance of a new and exceptional composition: an homage to the late David Bowie, titled A Shadow in Time / For David Robert Jones.

The Master Musicians of Jajouka
Hailing from a small town high up in the mountains of Morocco, The Master Musicians of Jajouka have done more than just preserve a Sufi musical tradition passed on from generation to generation: for over 50 years, they’ve also been its foremost ambassador to the West. The Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones himself produced their 1969 album, just a month before his tragic death in a swimming pool. The list of the band’s high-profile collaborators goes on: Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Bill Laswell, and Lee Ranaldo, to name a few. Mick Jagger once called them “one of the most musically inspiring groups still left on the planet.” Who are we to argue with Jagger?

Komety perform Partia
Partia is a legendary (i.e. not particularly popular but much beloved) Warsaw rock’n’roll band that takes inspiration from British guitar rock, from The Jam to The Smiths, while somehow managing to capture the spirit of Warsaw as few others can: not just the city as it is today, but also the Warsaw that is long gone and lives on in literature and old movies. After Partia called it quits in 2003, the band’s leader Lesław carried on his mission with a new group known as Komety. Get ready for a retrospective performance at the OFF Festival: Komety will perform a set made up of tracks from Partia’s three major albums: Partia, Dziewczyny kontra chłopcy, and Żoliborz – Mokotów.

Księżyc
A true treasure of the 1990s Polish music scene: psychedelic contemporary music inspired by Eastern European folk songs. After releasing their debut LP to excellent reviews in 1996, the band disappeared for nearly two decades, reemerging in 2015 with the album Rabbit Eclipse, even more avant-garde and disconcerting than the tracks that won Księżyc their legendary status. This is going to be one magical concert.

Adam Gołębiewski
Drummer. Improviser. Visionary. Gołębiewski is no stranger to the uncharted realm between jazz, free improv, and contemporary music, and is constantly in the process of expanding the sonic capabilities of his drum set. His list of past collaborations includes Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, and Mikołaj Trzaska.

The Feral Trees
They’re a group of musicians from the Puławy hardcore punk scene, members of the band Hidden World. She’s a Colorado singer-songwriter who plays the banjo and acoustic guitar and is in love with old-time American folk music. Together they formed a group that was rightfully hailed as one of the top discoveries of the Polish music scene last year, thanks to their eponymous debut release, which blends subtle melodies with the power of post metal, as well as their hypnotic live shows.

Lotto
You never know what sound and musical genre this lottery machine is going to spit out. Made up of bassist Mike Majkowski (a leading figure on the improvised music scenes in Sydney, Berlin, and here in Poland, and a collaborator of Mikołaj Trzaska’s), guitarist Łukasz Rychlicki (Kristen), and drummer Paweł Szpura (Cukunft, Hera, Wovoka), this eclectic trio eagerly and effortlessly combines seemingly incompatible elements: free jazz, noise rock, country, and ambient. Their two albums, Ask the Dust and Elite Feline are as hypnotic as they are adventurous. Their live shows are even more so.

JAAA!
Previously associated with Contemporary Noise Quartet, Napszykłat, and Daktari, the musicians in JAAA! have come together to explore their own artistic idiom, departing from electronic music and arriving — if only temporarily — at progressive rock. Last year they self-published an excellent debut record titled Remik. Their engrossing concerts feature jaw-dropping visualizations.

Żółte Kalendarze
Żółte Kalendarze debuted in 2010 with the mini-album Boli mnie serce i dusza, returning just a few months later with the full-length The Best Of. They’re a true phenomenon on the Gorzów Wielkopolski music scene, combining melancholy with humor and pathos with kitsch. The lineup features Magdalena Turłaj (formerly of Kawałek Kulki) and Maurycy Kiebzak-Górski (ex-UL/KR) playing a repertoire of songs influenced by grunge and techno.

Lauda
How do you translate your sweet daily routine into the language of art? Błażej Król (no stranger to OFF Festival audiences) and his wife Iwona have found an answer, translating their everyday home life into soothing ambient compositions. We hope their live show has the same dreamy, sparse atmosphere as their fascinating debut record, Gennin.

Heroiny
Piotr Kurek is one of the most remarkable figures on the Polish alternative music scene, and naturally he’s performed at the OFF Festival before, but never in this incarnation. In Heroiny, which debuted on Dunno Recordings last year with the album Ahh-Ohh, Kurek takes control of the dance floor with a drum machine beat and trippy splotches of guitar sounds complemented with synths. It’s easy to get lost in this.

Jesień
The Toruń-based trio serves up a genre of music whose tradition in Poland goes way back, but is largely abandoned today: Ewa Braun and Starzy Singers no longer exist, while Ścianka has remained meaningfully silent. Jesień, meanwhile, explores the elusive and challenging world of post-punk experimentation, venturing into noise rock and jazz and everything in between. They’ve got three EPs to their name and an excellent and mature full-length debut titled Jeleń, released by Music is the Weapon.

OFF Festival Katowice 2016 line-up (A-Z):
67,5 Minut Projekt / Adam Gołębiewski / Andrew Weatherall b2b Roman Flügel / Anohni / Ata Kak / Basia Bulat / Beach Slang / Brodka / Clutch / Daniel Avery / Derrick May / Devendra Banhart / DJ Koze / Fidlar / Flatbush Zombies / Goat / GusGus / GZA / Heroiny / Islam Chipsy / JAAA! / Jaga Jazzist / Jambinai / Janusz Prusinowski Kompania / Jenny Hval / Jesień / Jóga / Kaliber 44 / Kero Kero Bonito / Księżyc / Kiasmos / Komety perform Partia / Lauda / Lightning Bolt / Liima / Lotto / Lush / Machinedrum / Mass Gothic / Masecki vs Sienkiewicz / Minor Victories / Mudhoney / Mutoid Man / Napalm Death / Niemoc / Odpoczno / Orlando Julius & the Heliocentrics / Pantha du Prince presents The Triad / Powell / Rødhåd / Rosa Vertov / Rysy / SBB plays „Nowy Horyzont“ / Show Me The Body / Sleaford Mods / Sotei / Syny / The Kills / The Master Musicians of Jajouka / The Feral Trees / Thundercat / William Basinski / Willis Earl Beal / Yung Lean / Zimpel/Ziołek / Żółte Kalendarze / Zomby

Tickets
3 Day festival Pass from £42 / 53 Euros + booking fee
Camping Pass from £12 / 15 Euros + booking fee
Buy tickets here: https://www.festicket.com/packages/off-festival-2016

About OFF
A truly unique boutique music festival, OFF Festival takes place in ‘Three Lake Valley’, Katowice – a beautiful green oasis in the heart of industrial Silesia. OFF Festival is a way of life, one that flies in the face of current trends and stays true to itself, and the ethos of organiser Artur Rojek is firmly aimed at supporting art and music with the festival bringing many acts to Poland for the first time. OFF Festival is growing in prominence year on year driven by the festivals forward–thinking, eclectic music policy. From the greatest alternative music stars from around the world to the increasingly strong Polish scene, OFF festival has inspiring music in abundance.

More info here: http://off-festival.pl/

Contact
Emily Segameglio | Global Publicity

by Emily

OFF Festival Katowice 2016: Electronic Beats Stage

We’re pleased to announce that this year’s edition of the OFF Festival will feature the Electronic Beats Stage, showcasing a variety of outstanding local and international electronic music artists, including Derrick May, Pantha du Prince, Masecki vs Sienkiewicz, and Rødhåd. Launched over a decade ago, Electronic Beats by T-Mobile is a program created to promote the visionary music of the future. The Electronic Beats Stage will be located on the spot of what was previously the Forest Stage.

Derrick May
It’s no accident that one of his albums bears the title Innovator. And there’s a reason why, for many years, Derrick performed under the stage name Rhythim is Rhythim. This man is a living legend, a contemporary electronic music pioneer, one of the founding fathers of the Detroit techno scene. An artist who changed the face of electronic music forever, pushing it down the path we know today. Though he hasn’t recorded any new material in a while, his live shows confirm that Derrick is at the top of his league. Come and see Professor May deliver a lecture on what techno is supposed to sound like.

Pantha du Prince presents The Triad
We’re all perfectly familiar with Pantha du Prince: he’s a visionary artist who pushes the boundaries of contemporary electronic music, one who revels in tearing down the walls separating musical genres and even artistic disciplines. Just check out the noise experiments he conducts on the appropriately titled album Black Noise, or Elements of Light, a futuristic symphony for electronic instruments and bells. But what’s this Triad all about? For starters, it’s the title of the German artist’s latest album, but it’s also an exceptional project of sorts, one that also features the guitarist Scott Mou (of Panda Bear fame, and one half of the duo known as Jane) and the Norwegian drummer/composer Bendik Hovik Kjeldsberg. Together they create an audiovisual universe in which electronic minimalism coexists with a psychedelic racket and danceable rhythms.

Masecki vs Sienkiewicz
One of Poland’s most outstanding and versatile pianists, and a pillar of the Polish electronic music scene, performing together at the OFF Festival! The unpredictable Marcin Masecki and the master of constant self reinvention, Jacek Sienkiewicz. Will they cooperate, or will they attempt to dominate one another? Should we expect contemporary music, or is this going to be the future sound of Poland? We don’t know, but we can’t wait to find out. What we do know is that their performance at the OFF Festival will mark the announcement of the duo’s upcoming collaborative release.

Rødhåd
His music exists in the triangle formed by throbbing bass, late-night melancholy, and the hypnotizing power of ascetic beats. One of the leading figures on the Berlin techno scene, Rødhåd is the man behind the legendary series of events known as Dystopian and the founder of the label by the same name. Once you’ve dived into his dub techno, you’ll have a hard time coming up for air.

Kero Kero Bonito
A crazy British act whose music blends video game scores with dancehall, only to get lost in a frenetic J-pop chorus. Kero Kero Bonito features two producers at the helm, Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled, along with the energetic Sarah Midori Perry on vocals. There’s no way this wasn’t going to work, and sure enough, it did. Check out their debut album Intro Bonito as well as the recently released single Lipslap, promoting their upcoming LP.

Rysy
A musical project by Wojtek Urbański (V/O) and Łukasz Stachurko (Sonar Soul) that took the Polish electronic music scene by storm last year. Their debut album Traveler scored enthusiastic reviews, their song “Przyjmij brak” (sung by Justyna Święs of The Dumplings and Piotr Zioło) became a hit, they played sold-out shows, and they landed a handful of industry awards (from the Aktivist’s Nocne Marki to the Monoludy prize). It’s about time they appeared at the OFF Festival.

67,5 Minut Projekt
A group founded by Piotr Zabrodzki and Macio Moretti. It’d be easier to make a list of alternative Polish bands they don’t play in, so let’s just say that these guys are great. And they’re from the label Lado ABC. Let’s hear what they have to say: “This time, after blowing out several speakers and touring exotic countries like Poland and Sweden, the duo invited half of the band 15 Minut Projekt — the turbodrummer Janek Młynarski — to join the team.”

Niemoc
Their name might translate as “impotence,” but don’t be fooled: this is some potent stuff. Borrowing from the cold and dark sounds of 80s post punk and the somewhat embarrassing dancefloor excesses of the following decade, this Zielona Góra-based trio works just as well in the studio (find out how well this May when the EP Paramaribo comes out) and on stage, where things often take an unexpected turn…

Jóga
When Jóga appeared on a popular TV talent show, they provoked both an enthusiastic response and consternation: what was this intimate, soulful music doing in the temple of commerce? Rafał Skowroński (vocals, effects, bass) and Kamil Łukasiuk (guitar, effects, bass) will be right at home at the OFF Festival, though, because the event was made for artists like these: fanatical individualists who go against the grain. The duo from Katowice doesn’t have much of a catalog so far, aside from their self-released EP Skin, but that’ll change soon enough.

Sotei
A duo made up of the drummer Wojtek Sobura (a regular collaborator with Kasia Nosowska and Skubas) and the excellent producer Teielte, who has released four solo albums of his own. The two joined forces and laid down some tracks that they claim will “release your inner beast when you hear them live,” thanks to the “spacious sound of the sampler and the reckless drumwork.” The record is set for release this spring on U Know Me records, and they’ve got a show coming up this August (you know where).

The Electronic Beats Stage lineup will also feature the previously-announced artists DJ Koze, GusGus, Andrew Weatherall b2b Roman Flugel, Jaga Jazzist, Sleaford Mods, Kiasmos, Liima, and Islam Chipsy.

OFF Festival Katowice 2016 line-up (announced so far):
Devendra Banhart, Anohni, The Kills, Mudhoney, GZA, Lush, GusGus, Thundercat, Minor Victories, Kiasmos, Napalm Death, Jaga Jazzist, SBB plays „Nowy Horyzont“, Sleaford Mods, DJ Koze, Zomby, Lightning Bolt, Andrew Weatherall b2b Roman Flügel, Brodka, Kaliber 44, Orlando Julius & the Heliocentrics, Liima, Daniel Avery, Clutch, Mutoid Man, Powell, Zimpel/Ziołek, Basia Bulat, Janusz Prusinowski Kompania, Syny, Beach Slang, Willis Earl Beal, Jenny Hval, Flatbush Zombies, Machinedrum, Yung Lean, Mass Gothic, Jambinai, Islam Chipsy, Show Me The Body, Ata Kak, Goat, Fidlar, Odpoczno, Rosa Vertov, Derrick May, Pantha du Prince presents The Triad, Masecki vs Sienkiewicz, Rødhåd, Kero Kero Bonito, Rysy, 67,5 Minut Projekt, Niemoc, Jóga, Sotei.

Contact:
Emily Segameglio | Global Publicity
emily@46.32.240.39

by Emily