We are pleased to announce several additions to our workshop and seminar series’ roster. Andrew McKenzie of The Hafler Trio focuses on “Strategies and Techniques of the Creative Act”, Mark Fell (of SND) leads a workshop delving deep into his custom Max/MSP patches, Goodiepal discusses and demonstrates the futility of post-modern music and Marco Donnarumma explores biophysical feedback devices.
Further information is on the Supernatant website.
Following our extremely well-received Supernatant UK pilot scheme in early 2013, we wanted to say thanks for your support, attendance and feedback! We’re working hard to expand our programme and scale up the events, and strengthen the community framework that brings together creatives working in different fields and locations. A fresh wave of Supernatant happenings are in the planning stages with sessions around the UK and Europe pencilled in. Stay tuned for further updates!
In the meantime, next up is a Supernatant “Music In The Internet Age” panel discussion chaired by Wassim Alsindi and joined by Gerd Janson, Justin Gibbon, John Schenk and Thomas Schreiber. It’s free to attend on Saturday 4th May from 8pm at The Boom Room in Philadelphia PA (USA). Following the panel will be a very intimate Rizumu party. Do come if you can! Tickets are available here / Facebook event page.
The Centrifuge’s 2013 programme of PRSF-supported “Supernatant” sessions consisting of workshops, seminars, panel discussions and live performances continues with two further events in March.
[UK] 07/03/13 Supernatant Seminars @ Music Hackspace, London
An evening seminar session will take place in conjunction with the Music Hackspace at Troyganic Cafe (Troyganic, 138 Kingsland Road, E2 8DY) on Thursday March 7th 2013 with Robert Tubb aka Cursor Miner (QML, University of London) and Gordon Charlton (aka Beat Frequency) speaking about mathematical approaches to rhythm sequencing and advanced theremin techniques. Full details are at the Supernatant London event page.
Further details of the forthcoming Supernatant events taking place in York and Edinburgh in February have been announced and details are available from the links below.
The first of our 2013 programme of PRSF-supported “Supernatant” sessions consisting of workshops, seminars, panel discussions and live performances commences in February 2013.
[UK] 05/02/13 Supernatant Seminars & Performances @ Music Research Center, University of York
Ben Eyes (University of York)
Matthew Collings (University of Edinburgh)
Nicolas Bougaieff (University of Huddersfield)
Oliver Larkin (University of York)
Robert Tubb (Queen Mary, University of London)
Theo Burt (University of York)
Wassim Alsindi (Supernatant Laboratories)
[UK] 13-14/02/13 Supernatant Workshops @ Inspace, University of Edinburgh
Ben Eyes (University of York)
Christos Michalakos (University of Edinburgh)
Drew Hammond (Supernatant Laboratories)
Gary Naylor (Supernatant Laboratories)
Matthew Collings (University of Edinburgh)
Nicolas Bougaieff (University of Huddersfield)
Wassim Alsindi (Supernatant Laboratories)
This edition will be comprised of sessions from Mark Fell (of SND), Rob Clouth (aka Vaetxh), Nicolas Bougaieff and Wassim Alsindi (aka missaw) and will consist of both workshops and live performances.
UPDATE: Thanks so much to all who came, played, sailed, raved and failed onboard THE LIFE ACIDIC. We’ve organised a lot of events in our time but that was the best party so far. Big up!
There are some photos on our Flickr, stay tuned for more audio.
/////
All aboard the Motorship Stubnitz, the former East German deep sea fishing-freezer turned roving arts, culture and rave centre. We’re excited to be taking over this historic vessel for one night only on the 10th of November at its current residence in the London Docklands in what is remarkably the first visit to the capital in Stubnitz’s history. Inspired by the rich nautical rave history of the legendary Acid-on-Sea parties in times past, and the timeless magic of the open waters, we present to you THE LIFE ACIDIC.
We’ve assembled a frankly ridiculous lineup of pan-European 303 enthusiasts with heavy emphasis on live performances and hardware sets. On the ACID DECK, we are excited to be hosting live sets from Rephlex legends CEEPHAX ACID CREW, DMX KREW and D’ARCANGELO alongside emerging 303 abuser ROY OF THE RAVERS and the perfect DJ accompaniment courtesy of the party-hearty Dutch acid crew 030303 from Utrecht.
So, get your best sea-faring garb ready and get on board! There’ll be prizes and goodies for the most appropriately-dressed of ye scurvy lot. Think diving gear, pirates and explorers, Robinson Crusoe, pondlife…space is limited and tickets are already selling fast, so don’t miss the boat on this one…
///
The Centrifuge Agency presents “THE LIFE ACIDIC”
Saturday 10th November / MS Stubnitz @ Docklands London / 10pm-6am
Tickets off-sale now but we have kept 100 for the door. Arrive early!
From Gallions Reach DLR:
Go south across the roundabout taking the A117 (Woolwich Manor Way) and go across the first long bridge, and then the second short bridge a couple of hundred metres later. Immediately after the second short bridge there is a brickwork staircase leading down on the left hand side with security personnel present. Follow this down and round to the boat!
By taxi:
The best address to give is Fishguard Way, E16 2RG. From there, return right onto Woolwich Manor Way and then look for the brickwork staircase on the right hand side descending just before the short bridge.
The Centrifuge Agency presents a 5th Anniversary Showcase:
EOD (030303, WeMe, Wil-Ru)
Ither aka Vaetxh (The Centrifuge)
missaw (The Centrifuge)
Omar León (Moog)
The Centrifuge continues celebrating its 5th Anniversary with a unique session in Barcelona’s cult MOOG CLUB with two of electronic music’s most praised emerging talents!
There will also be a Gallery session at NIU on 07/06/12 and an in-store session at Discos Paradiso -details to be announced on our Facebook + Twitter pages.
CN (aka EOD / 030303, WeMe, Wil-Ru)
CN is the machine-music alias of emerging Norwegian electronic musician Stian Gjevik, perhaps better known under his “EOD” alter ego. Informed by sci-fi imagery, alien landscapes, classic analog hardware, submerged Drexciyan sonics and cold teutonic rhythms, he creates a rich sound world where arpeggios and atmospheric synth pads transport you to another realm. http://www.eod.fm
Vaetxh (Detroit Underground, Schematic, The Centrifuge)
Vaetxh is a fast-rising star of bass and glitch. Discovered by The Centrifuge in 2010, his heady mix of laser-precision audio manipulation and high-fidelity bass frequency workouts is winning him fans across the globe. The end result is something refreshingly unique in today’s hyper-saturated sonic landscape – intricate, engaging and emotive scapes incorporating the aesthetics of dubstep, glitch, IDM, ambience and field recordings. It’s in the interplay of natural and unnatural, of the real and the synthetic, the planned and the unexpected, the mechanical and the organic, that Vaetxh finds his inspiration. http://www.vaetxh.com
missaw (The Centrifuge)
missaw is The Centrifuge’s founder, label curator and resident DJ. His repertoire spans the cutting-edge musical spectrum, from ambience and drone to electro, acid and drill & bass. He is equally at home in concert hall, lecture theatre, laboratory and club conditions, mining his well-travelled collection of classics, obscurities, forthcoming label material and exclusive music from the artists and labels The Centrifuge is affiliated with. https://www.thecentrifuge.co.uk
Quite a last-minute show so please help us to spread the word! The Centrifuge Agency is delighted to be welcoming the critically-acclaimed Orcas for their first ever London show, fresh from the release of their widely praised debut album on Morr Music. This will be a very special evening with both band members, each respected and established in their own right, also performing solo sets.
Seattle’s post-minimalist composer Rafael Anton Irisarri plays his only solo UK show this year and Michigan’s Benoît Pioulard returns to London after recently enchanting a full house at Cafe OTO with his unique guitar and vocal explorations. Be prepared for an evening of Pacific Northwestern experimental guitar music, avant-folk songcraft and symphonic neo-classical ambience.
Orcas is a new band by haze-pop auteur Benoît Pioulard and post-minimalist composer Rafael Anton Irisarri. Theirs is a style deeply rooted in personal variations on songform and ambient craft, and as a duo they bridge the furthest outlying aspects of their previous solo works.
“This type of collaboration between experimental pop musicians can too often devolve into aimless fancywork and tech shenanigans, but Meluch and Irisarri have crafted a genuine, coherent album that conjures immense shadows and immense depths worthy of its namesake.” – Pitchfork Music.
“Irisarri embodies the hybrid genre…the new kind of composer, who exists in an undifferentiated welter of pop, techno, and classical.†– Pitchfork (USA)
Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, curator, producer and interdisciplinary artist. He is predominantly associated with post-minimalist, drone and ambient music and has been exploring textural electronics for over half a decade. Irisarri’s recorded output captures an essential vision of floating tones, deep pulsing bass and textured Gaussian curves. His use of ostinato phrases taps into minimalist ideals, whilst his use of atmospheric layers of reverb suggests a more cinematic quality. In all, Irisarri’s compositions are deeply emotive and epic to the point of being symphonic.
He is also known as the main member of electronic shoegaze act The Sight Below, and one half of the critically-acclaimed new duo Orcas with…
/////
Benoît Pioulard
Since a young age, Michigan resident Thomas Meluch has been fascinated with the sounds of nature and tape decay—through almost a decade of recordings, he has fostered an infatuation with a sort of sonic density that combines remnants of pop song structures with the lushness and unpredictability of field recordings. A veteran drummer of a half dozen bands, Meluch chose guitar and voice as the primary instruments for his work as Benoît Pioulard. He began documenting field recordings and his own lo-fi compositions on dictaphones, discarded stereos and four-track machines in the mid 1990s, later focusing on highly limited CD-R and cassette releases of his experimental, folk-influenced songs for friends and family.
Mike Dred (R&S/Rephlex/Machine Codes/The Centrifuge)
Deep Space Orchestra (Use Of Weapons/Quintessentials)
Ed Chamberlain (BaseLogic/The Centrifuge)
Ither (The Centrifuge)
Streets Of Beige, The Centrifuge and 44 collaborate for The Centrifuge’s 5th Birthday with hardware enthusiast and all-round acid/techno/house purveyor Danny Wolfers aka Legowelt.
Although his output stretches back to 1996, Legowelt really got his footing from 2000 with releases on seminal Dutch label Bunker, followed by stunning work for Creme Organisation, Cocoon, Strange Life and in more recent years M>O>S, L.I.E.S, Echovolt and Clone. Such a schmorgasbord of label releases leaves Legowelt as a heavily individual artist, which is why it seems fitting that he should self-release his most recent LP ‘The TEAC Life’, and after offering it for free download was convinced enough to press the album in a four 12″ pack due to the overwhelming demand. A true electronic innovator and master of real techno, Legowelt’s live show is a spectacle not to be missed and if his recent Beats In Space mix is anything to go by London will be in for a night to remember.
Support comes from legendary R&S/Rephlex acid techno connoisseur Mike Dred, Manchester’s organic house duo Deep Space Orchestra, tweaked electro master Ed Chamberlain and the fresh new “avant house” sound of Ither.
Earlybirds are now sold out on RA, with limited £8 and £9 tickets available in advance.
The Centrifuge curates, produces and delivers the “Supernatant†programme of Workshops, ‘Make Sessions’, Lectures and Seminars. These have been designed to enrich and enliven artistic, cultural and electronic music festivals, outreach events, universities and beyond. Supernatant is a multi-faceted project focusing on artistic and technical practice at the interface of sound, experience, science, interactivity and futurism.
This 2-day session explores “creativity with electronics” with participatory synth-making sessions, game console hacking and theremin masterclasses and small-group seminars learning about advanced music software & interfaces and thinking about the future of music in the internet age. It is being provided for young Danish musicians from a variety of backgrounds including jazz and composition as well as electronic. Session conveners are Beat Frequency, Mr Underwood, Nick Bugayev, Scrubber Fox & DJ Stuff, Wassim Alsindi and are also joined by Marc Weiser, Mala and Michael F who will also be giving talks & performances.
For more information on our Supernatant Series, please check The Centrifuge Agency website or email agency[at]thecentrifuge.co.uk.
We return to our spiritual home of East London after myriad excursions around the festivals, warehouses and dancefloors of Europe and North America over the summer.
To celebrate our homecoming we’ve assembled a bumper lineup to test the outer reaches of the Rhythm Factory’s souped-up soundsystem. With no less than 5 cutting-edge live acts and the Dispatch Agency crew taking over the second room, somehow incredibly we’ve managed to keep it free entry too. All the more reason to come and celebrate!
CURSOR MINER is the avant pop anti-hero who continues to confound expectations, sport outlandish costumes and shatter genre preconceptions with his barnstorming live show. His last album on Uncharted Audio was a veritable tour de force straddling the line between perfectly crafted vocal pop and cerebral dancefloor electronics. Having torn the roof down at The Centrifuge’s 3rd Birthday Party in Berlin last year we are delighted to welcome him back for a romp in his home territory.
Did DEBASSER really start the whole UK bass scene? You better believe it, when his critically-acclaimed release on NovaMute “Fat Girls” came out it caused a ruckus and endless inspirants, imitations and countless sub-genres. Having just released a new single “The Tingler” on his own WIDE Records, this is his first live outing for The Centrifuge and the excitement is already building to hear those basslines on that PA.
Electro-pop noizenik RIVAL CONSOLES has just released his landmark 2nd album on Erased Tapes Records with an innovative viral campaign seeing each track released separately over a number of weeks. Now the album’s out! Listen, enjoy, then come and rave.
VAETXH is a fast-rising star of bass and glitch. Having been discovered by The Centrifuge in 2010, his heady mix of laser-precision audio manipulation and body-spasmic bass frequency workouts is winning him fans across the globe. Not least record label bosses, who are queuing up to sign him. Come hear (and feel) what all the fuss is about!
GARETH CLARKE is a master of melody like no other. Combining compositional virtuosity with dancefloor sensibility it’s no wonder why he is harbouring an impressive and growing legion of admirers comprised of the great and the good of forward-thinking electronic music.
United by the recent tragic events in Japan, The Centrifuge & Splutter team up once again to host an evening of altruism and cutting-edge music in the newly refurbished Islington Metal Works (aka Elektrowerkz). We’ve assembled a world-class lineup of musicians and artists to help us raise as much for charity as possible. 100% of the profits will go to Peace Winds who are providing aid and relief to the people most affected by the crisis.
We’re also holding a raffle prize draw, with exactly the kind of exclusive treats which money can’t buy, so you’ll want to bring a few extra pennies along!
Electronic music legend and “Jimi Hendrix of the TB-303” MIKE DRED aka THE KOSMIK KOMMANDO is heading up the lineup – check R&S, Rephlex and his own Machine Codes imprint to explore his expansive back catalogue. Resurgent drum’n’bass experimentalists ICARUS touch down for a rare London show, having recently remixed Caribou and Eclectic Method and ready to embark on a European tour this spring. LUKE’S ANGER promises to deliver his patented blend of rave-fuelled analogue techno whilst MONSTER X, POINT B and SCHEME BOY are geared up to pump out their own unique flavours of broken beats, bass and bleeps.
In the courtyard The Centrifuge and Splutter DJs and friends are on hand to fill the room with their latest sonic treats and we’re also pleased to announce that infamous street artist STIK is involved – known for his endearing humanoid stick characters which are seemingly endemic around London streets and art happenings.
Icarus – live shows in UK and Europe, April – May 2011
In 2011, after a long hiatus, UK electronicistas Icarus set out in search of their first complete studio album in over 5 years (since The Leaf Label‘s “I Tweet the Birdy Electric“), only to emerge for a short tour throughout April and May. Icarus issue forth their barrage of sculpted hyperrythms and microtonal flutter in select locations throughout the UK and Europe.
So far this year, Icarus have produced a flurry of remixes for the artists Inch-Time, Caribou and Eclectic Method featuring Chuck D. Imminently forthcoming is their collaborative limited-edition vinyl EP with Danish electronica duo Badun, with whom Icarus‘ musical affinity is clearly audible.
Icarus‘ major project, the forthcoming album, Fake Fish Distribution, due towards the end of the year, is a peculiar undertaking, taking the form of a 1,000 limited-edition digital release in which each version is different from the last, each track interpolating through vast variations in structure and content as the versions are downloaded, to form a huge tapestry of variation from a single body of music. The album is being created new techniques using the software Max for Live, developed by Icarus during a residency at STEIM in the Netherlands.
“Bown and Britton are craftsmen when it comes to building condensed and intricate sound formations, and while it is difficult to isolate the various sections of a piece, they collate them with precision.” -Â The Milk Factory
“Picking up Kamikaze for a buck in the clearance bin of Amoeba Records back in 2001 was one of the best decisions i’ve ever made!” -Â Last FM commenter
15/04/11  Brighton at Volks
16/04/11  Bristol at Cube Cinema with Vaetxh & missaw
20/04/11  Leeds at Enjoy Art Space with Quip & missaw
21/04/11  Leicester at The Arts Organisation with Myoptik & missaw
04/05/11  Geneva at Cave12
07/05/11Â Â Istanbul at Bigli University
08/05/11  Hamburg at Golden Pudel
27/05/11  Copenhagen at Byens Lys with Badun
For those who can’t make it to BLOC WEEKEND on the Thursday, come join us in East London for a good & proper session of acid, electro and rave – with guests:
MARK ARCHER (ex Altern8 / Nexus 21)
ED CHAMBERLAIN (Baselogic)
AGT RAVE CRU (I ♥ Acid)
EOD (030303)
HIM + ME (C.S.S.)
A.i (C.S.S.)
7pm-2am Thurs 10th March
@ The MacBeth
70 Hoxton St.
Headlining the night is none other than rave legend Mark Archer (of Altern8 & Nexus 21 fame) playing a pure vinyl set of stone cold acid & old skool classics.
Check this video of him in action at I <3 Acid back in 2009 – top one, nice one, get sorted!
BaseLogic founder member Edmund Chamberlain, preternaturally gifted composer and awkward gentleman, refused to commit his live sound to vinyl for many years and remained a shadowy figure despite calls from such luminaries as John Peel to come in from the cold and tell us what the deuce he was about. After years of tense negotiation, the three part â€Fixxy†series was prised from his white knuckles and unleashed on the world.
It went down like a spoon at a jam festival. The reaction was so overwhelming everyone had to sit down, and when no-one was looking Surgeon, Vent and Ochre did some remixes and the â€Mixxy†series was born. Stay tuned for further developments from Ed, as no-one can be quite sure what, if anything, will happen next.
The Chas and Dave of Rave, AGT run at a hundred-tracks-an-hour on stage, mashing up rave anthems, acid house, warehouse basslines, old skool classics, 80’s electro, hardcore jungle, and whatever else happens to be tickling them at the time…all at lightning speed without ever missing a beat.
Mysterious Scandinavian electronic transmissions with transcendental qualities for fans of braindance and electro. Sit up and take note music heads, this one’s star burns brightly for the future.
Joining us all the way from the Mediterranean isle of Malta are Complex Sound Sagacity crew members A.i (live) and Him + Me (DJ set). Expect sun-ripened advanced electro and acid from the islanders.