This Wednesday sees the launch of FutureEverything – an annual festival of art, music and ideas hosted in Manchester – and as part of its fantastic musical program, this friday will see the ‘New Sounds of the North’ take us by storm.
Now in its seventeenth year, FutureEverything features 52 artists, 45 musicians and 70 speakers across 11 venues between 16-19 May including the launch and a conference that takes place at the Museum of Science and Industry.
This doesn’t sound like anything new, right? Wrong. FutureEverything really is quite unique in that its focus is on how developments in science and technology affect our creative endeavors and our connectivity with the world. As part of the music program FutureEverything and Now Wave present ‘New Sounds of the North’ a live event this Friday featuring six of the most exciting bands in the north of England.
It says in the downloadable FutureEverything brochure “Technology has profoundly changed the way people connect, work and play. People can collaborate with tens or thousands of strangers across networks to create original, sometimes beautiful, media projects in which the results of individual creativity can be seen.” With this in mind, you soon see that ‘New Sounds of the North’, despite its name, is far from your average gig night with a long list of unknown bands, but rather a thoughtful curation of some of the most forward thinking musical collectives on the scene.
With six acts on from 6-12pm, this genuinely eclectic line-up with be a million light-years away from boredom inducing. First up is the wonderfully raw and feminine tribalism of Pins. Then there’s the wonderfully disjointed, twangy and moody meditational vibe of Great Waves (i’ve heard they do great things with lights). But don’t worry about getting too comfortable as FutureEverything and Now Wave then slot in Stealing Sheep, who will certainly shake you out of your swoon and back to earth with their interesting brand of jolty, lively and spritely electro-folk.
Then for the second half of the show we’re into the realms of serious electro mystery. The poundingly sublime etherality of the still yet unknown No Ceremony/// make their live debut at FutureEverything amidst whispers and rumors as to who or what they are. Before the headliners you can get even more blissfully dizzy to the expansive and melancholy tones of Money. Their delay heavy and echo-fuelled sound will gladly pad your No Ceremony/// instigated euphoria straight through to the final act.
After such a multi-coloured spectrum of musical tones and textures come the seriously fantastic ∆ (Alt-J) (it’s not a name, it’s a keyboard command). Their geometric sound is sharp and bright. They are both roaringly reverbed and delicately tinkley; interlaced with worldly beats and topped with lead vocals that are grindy and spliced enough to rival any such ‘On A Ragga Tip’ excitement.
If you haven’t heard of them already I thoroughly recommend you check out all of these fantastic acts online before the show; you will see exactly why they have been brought together for an event such as FutureEverything. Each individually embodies the spirit of technological experimentation and connectivity. From the beautiful stop animation video of Stealing Sheep, to the Soundcloud of ∆ (Alt-J) where you are encouraged to download individually recorded tracks to remix and make into your own song. They all have interesting videos to watch and singles or albums to download for free (as is the case with No Ceremony///) or buy (∆ (Alt-J)’s debut is due for release on the 28th May).
Knowing FutureEverything, it’s certain to be so much more than just fantastic music. Both FutureEverything and Now Wave have stretched out their digital fingers and collected together what i’m sure will turn out to be the best ‘New Sounds of the North’.
DATE: Friday 18 May 2012
LINE-UP: Alt-J, Money, No Ceremony, Stealing Sheep, Great Waves, Pins
VENUE: Quay House, Spinningfields, Manchester
DOORS: 6PM-11PM
TICKETS: £8 in advance from SeeTickets
EVENT: FutureEverything in association with Now Wave
