Many of the artists we’re announcing today have already appeared at the OFF Festival, just not with this music and under these names. That just makes us all the more excited to have them back. Please welcome Minor Victories, Liima, Zimpel/Ziołek, Mutoid Man, Powell, and Mass Gothic.
Minor Victories
The term “supergroup” is frequently abused as a way of selling new ideas by old artists, but what else would call a band that brings together Slowdive vocalist Rachel Goswell, Mogwai guitarist Stuart Braithwaite, Editors guitarist Justin Lockey, and his brother James Lockey (bass and, with Justin, the co-creator of the Hand Held Cine Club video collective)? Minor Victories insist that we just call them a band, because they’re not a short-lived flight of fancy, nor a “project,” but a group founded on the members’ shared musical interests, an act that’s going to be here for years to come. We’re still waiting for their eponymous debut album, slated for release in June on Play It Again Sam, featuring a duet by Goswell and guest artists Marek Kozelek. We’ll have enough time between June and August to memorize the album, which is currently being promoted with the excellent single “A Hundred Ropes.”
Liima
This Danish-Finnish group, based mainly out of Berlin, is releasing their first album, featuring the single “Amerika,” through a legendary British label: it’s a small world after all. The band is called Liima and comprises the phenomenal Finnish drummer Tatu Rönkkö together with Mads, Casper, and Rasmus, whom you might remember from the band Efterklang, which has always been pretty keen on rhythm. Liima’s first album, ii, comes out in late March on 4AD and we think it’s safe to say that this is going to be one of the most interesting debuts of the year.
Zimpel / Ziołek
Wacław Zimpel is a renowned clarinetist and a brilliant improviser, one who combines his classical education with free jazz and an inquisitive approach to roots music. He’s best known for his contributions to such bands as Hera, The Light, and Wacław Zimpel Quartet, as well as his excellent solo album, Lines, released in February. The eternal explorer Kuba Ziołek is a familiar face at the OFF Festival. The list of bands he’s collaborated with is just as impressive as Zimpel’s, but we would be remiss not to mention a few: Stara Rzeka, Alameda 5, Ed Wood, Innercity Ensemble, Kapital, and T’ien Lai. Put together, Zimpel and Ziołek are equal parts potential and mystery: could there be a better reason to see this concert?
Mutoid Man
Buzz! Yes, that’s the right word: there’s been quite a buzz about this band, and it started before anyone had even heard a single note. No wonder: Mutoid Man is a project that brings together some big names from the alternative margins of the metal world. There’s the singer-guitarist Steve Brodsky from Cave In and the drummer Ben Koller of Converge and All Pigs Must Die. Together with Nick Cageao on bass, they form a power trio that absorbs (and then releases onstage) the very best in uncompromising guitar music from the past couple decades. Hymnic heavy metal choruses clash with frenetic Mars Volta-style prog rock before blasting out of the psychedelic curve and into the final, furious hard-core stretch. Their massive debut album Bleeder is a must-listen, though nothing can really prepare you for what’s going to happen at this show.
Powell
According to Resident Advisor, “the club music Oscar Powell wanted to hear didn’t exist, so he made it himself.” The British producer Oscar Powell claims to love post-punk and no wave, but since drum’n’bass is the sound of his generation, he decided to combine all three. The result is a kind of dance music that is at once rough, abrasive, and menacing. He records on his own label, Diagonal, but also works with the Mute sublabel Liberation Technologies, and Death of Rave, a subsidiary of Boomkat. This sounds like the future.
Mass Gothic
Mass Gothic might be a new name, but it ought to catch the attention of anyone who’s into the melancholic electro-rock recordings of New York’s Hooray for Earth. Their frontman disbanded the group in 2014 and subsequently reinvented himself under the moniker Mass Gothic. “I allowed myself to return to the beginning,” he says. His repeat debut Mass Gothic, released on Sub Pop, continues his synth-rock odyssey, combining melancholy with post-punk hostility.
We love contrasts: it’s what the OFF Festival is all about. That’s why we’re inviting you to check out the performance by DJ Koze, one of the top producers on the German scene, as well as a dangerous experiment from New York City known as Show Me The Body.
DJ Koze
The DJ and producer Stefan Kozalla, better known as DJ Koze, is one of the leading figures on the German scene. A long-time associate of the legendary label Kompakt and head of his own label, Pampa, DJ Koze started out in underground hip-hop before moving up to the world’s top clubs with his thrilling dance productions. It’s only fitting that he’d get the honor of compiling the milestone 50th edition of DJ-Kicks for !K7: there are few producers in the world of contemporary electronic music that are as versatile as they are are distinct.
Show Me The Body
Remember last year’s Ho99o9 show? Prepare to sustain similar injuries at the hands of NYC’s Show Me The Body. Combining hardcore with noise and hip-hop, the trio is known for being one of the best live acts to demolish your favorite venue in the past ten years. The hype around these guys is going to get pretty loud. Their concert is going to be even louder.
Experience the best in alternative music this summer at OFF. Already confirmed acts: Anohni, The Kills, Mudhoney, GZA, Lush, GusGus, Thundercat, Napalm Death, Jaga Jazzist, SBB, Sleaford Mods, Lightning Bolt, Andrew Weatherall b2b Roman Flügel, Brodka, Kaliber 44, Daniel Avery, Clutch, Beach Slang, Willis Earl Beal, Flatbush Zombies, Machinedrum, Yung Lean & Fidlar.
OFF Festival Katowice 2016 – August 5th – 7th
More info and tickets: www.off-festival.pl
Contact:
Nikki McNeill | Global Publicity
nikki@46.32.240.39