First wave of names for Unsound Kraków 2024. Passes on Sale Wednesday June 12
It’s that time of year again – the first Unsound Kraków 2024 announcement is upon us!
That means this Unsound Dispatch is more in the form of a traditional Unsound newsletter, full of… Unsound news. You’ll find the first batch of names in the lineup below as well as on our website, along with info on where to buy Weekly and Long Weekend passes – which go on sale tomorrow Wednesday June 12 at 3pm CEST via Going. Follow Unsound Telegram or Instagram to get a notification and link when they go up.
This is also a good moment to let you know we’re releasing an album by Polish producer 2K88. Before you read the Unsound lineup news below, get in the mood with this video for the first single SHAME, directed by Kuba Bujas.
See you in Krakow in the autumn! And remember, the next lineup announcement is coming soon!
Mat Schulz, Unsound Artistic Director
Unsound Kraków 2024 Lineup
1127 (EG) / Actress b2b Skee Mask (UK/DE) / Aïsha Devi x Slikback ft. special guests (CH/ KE) / Ash Fure presents Animal (US) / bela, Theresa Baumgartner and Lukas Feigelfeld present Noise and Cries (굉음과 울음) (KO/DE) / Chris Watson & Izabela Dłużyk present Białowieża (UK/PL) / Crystallmess live (FR) / DJ /rupture (US) / DJ Anderson Do Paraíso (BR) / Florence Sinclair (UK) / FUJI||||||||||TA (JP) / Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko present Гільдеґарда (UA) / Ka Baird with Henry Fraser, Artur Majewski & Paulina Woś (US/PL) / Kali Malone presents All Life Long (for organ, choir & brass) feat. Capella Cracoviensis (US/SE/PL) / Kode9 presents History of Hyperdub DJ set (UK) / Lankum (IE) / Lasse Marhaug (NO) / Lord Spikeheart (KE) / Marco Fusinato presents DESASTRES (AU) / Mica Levi & Sinfonietta Cracovia (UK/PL) / ML Buch (DK) / MOPCUT (US/AT/FR) / Piotr Kurek presents Songs and Bodies (PL) / Rafael Toral (PT) / Rick Farin & Actual Objects (US) / sideproject (IS) / Still House Plants (UK) / Surusinghe b2b TSVI (AU/IT) / Tarta Relena present És pregunta (ES) / Tayhana (AR/MX) / The Body & Dis Fig (US/DE) / upsammy & Valentina Magaletti (NL/IT) / Wolf Eyes & Anthony Braxton (US) / Zamilska (PL)
+ MUCH MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
Unsound 2024 takes place this year from Sunday September 29 – Sunday October 6, around the theme NOISE, but in a small shakeup the main music program begins on a contemplative note with a free Morning Glory concert on Monday September 30. (A film program and other events will take place on Sunday September 29.) Weekly and Long Weekend Passes are on sale via Going tomorrow June 12th at 3pm CEST, priced at PLN 790 (Weekly) and PLN 670 (Long Weekend).
Tickets also go on sale tomorrow for concerts on Saturday October 5 in the auditorium hall at ICE, with a double bill including the Polish premiere of the Dublin band Lankum, exploring their dark, contemporary take on traditional Irish folk forms, and Kali Malone, who will present All Life Long (for organ, choir & brass), music from her critically acclaimed album, to be performed by Malone and Stephen O’Malley (organ), Capella Cracoviensis (choir), and a brass section of local musicians. (Note: this event is also included in the festival pass.)
Other special projects include Mica Levi, one of the most singular voices in contemporary music, who recently scored the film The Zone of Interest. At Unsound they will present a suite of orchestral works with Sinfonietta Cracovia, including a new commissioned piece. Co-commissioned with Berlin’s CTM Festival, GMEA and Subset / Athens Epidaurus Festival, Ukrainian composer Heinali will present a new show with Yasia called Гільдеґарда based on the work of Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th century abbess, composer, philosopher and visionary, fusing modular synthesis, Ukrainian folk singing and high mediaeval polyphony and monophony. Field recordists Chris Watson and Izabela Dłużyk will present the continuation of Białowieża, their collaboration based on field recordings from the last primaeval forest in Europe, on the border between Poland and Belarus. This project is part of TIMES project, co-commissioned by Atonal, Semibreve and Sónar.
Further collaborations will take place between jazz legend Anthony Braxton and Detroit noise outfit Wolf Eyes; New York experimentalist Ka Baird teams up with bassist Henry Fraser, Wrocław trumpet player Artur Majewski and violinist and violist Paulina Woś. (Note: these two shows will take place in the daytime on Saturday October 5th at the ICE Theatre Hall, and will require a separate ticket on top of the pass.) Dis Fig will perform with American metal duo The Body after their celebrated collaborative album.
Aïsha Devi and Slikback will present the premiere of a new collaboration, joined on stage by bela and Lord Spikeheart. Korean artist bela will present a new show based on their album Noise and Cries (굉음과 울음) in collaboration with Theresa Baumgartner featuring visuals from Lukas Feigelfeld, commissioned by Unsound, Le Guess Who? and Lunchmeat. Other premiere performances include Catalan duo Tarta Relena presenting És pregunta around the release of their new album, and Crystallmess debuting her live show, joined on stage by Oxhy, curated with Le Guess Who as part of TIMES. Piotr Kurek will return to Unsound with the new project Songs and Bodies, bringing his singular sound to life with an ensemble of guitar, electric bass, and drums, venturing closer than ever to songwriting.
Visual artist and noise musician Marco Fusinato will present DESASTRES, a show for guitar and visuals which was formed at 2022’s Venice Biennale, where he performed for 200 consecutive days. Norwegian noise musician Lasse Marhaug draws from jazz, rock and extreme metal, and performs ahead of a new album. Lord Spikeheart – of the duo Duma – will take the stage with his dark fusion of metal and club music. Experimental trio MOPCUT is made up of drummer Lukas König, guitarist Julien Desprez and vocalist Audrey Chen. Mobilising the elemental force of sound, composer and sound artist Ash Fure will perform her work Animal, while Polish artist Zamilska presents a new show blurring industrial, noise and techno. On a much quieter tip are Japanese experimental organist FUJI|||||||||||TA and Portuguese ambient guitarist Rafael Toral.
Experimental rock band Still House Plants will show why they’re one of the most talked-about acts of the moment; Danish experimental alt-rock sensation ML Buch will bring her ultra-vibrant sound; Valentina Magaletti and upsammy will present a collaborative show blending electronics and percussion; Actual Objects and Rick Farin, known for visuals for everyone from Jai Paul to J Balvin, will present their AV show; UK rapper and producer Florence Sinclair will bring their unique postmodern sample blend; Björk-endorsed newcomers sideproject will play in the wake of their SVBKVLT release.
In terms of DJ sets, the influential Jace Clayton aka DJ /rupture will make a long overdue Unsound appearance following the re-release of his iconic mixtape 1 + 1 = 3, and Brazil’s DJ Anderson Do Paraíso will debut his minimalist dark version of funk mineiro. UK techno innovator Actress – who just released a new album – will go back to back with German breakbeat wizard Skee Mask for the first time, as will Surusinghe and TSVI. Argentinian DJ, producer and Rosalía collaborator Tayhana will return to Unsound. Kode9 will play a special DJ set celebrating and navigating 20 years of Hyperdub.
One of the artists selected from the Unsound Open Call is Cairo-based 1127, fusing grime and techno into Egyptian music. We will announce all other names selected from the open call, including the discourse program, in the next announcement – and contact everyone who submitted soon.
Amongst the first confirmed participants of the discourse program are artist-researcher Eryk Salvaggio reviewing the cacophony of AI-generated noise; Jace Clayton aka DJ /rupture in an artist talk investigating his impactful career and ideas; artist and noise musicians Marco Fusinato and Ash Fure; Daniel Muzyczuk, curator at the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź; a discussion about tinnitus including journalists Seb Wheeler and Cyryl Rozwadowski; and Chris Watson and Izabela Dłużyk, discussing their field recording project.
The discourse program will also host the multifaceted Noise Research Union, whose members – Martina Raponi, Sonia de Jager, Cécile Malaspina, Mattin, Miguel Prado, and Inigo Wilkins – will lead diagramming workshops opening the doors into noise’s multidisciplinary (re)interpretation. Noise Research Union representatives will also be joined by scholar and translator Patrick Leftwich in a discussion on alien noise.
Additionally, please note that this year, following the Unsound Lab Summer School in Sokołowsko in July and August, the discourse program will also include a special strand of Unsound Lab events, furthering and enhancing the discussion and topics undertaken at the Summer School.
We’re also pleased to announce the return of the notorious Unsound Movie Marathon, this year curated by the formidable duo of Natalia Sielewicz (art historian and curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw) and Daša Anosova (Ukrainian curator and researcher).
We hope to see you in Kraków in autumn! The next announcement is coming soon, with many more names included in the Unsound program!