From August 28 to August 30, 2009 Katowice will become one of the most important places on the music map of Poland, due to the fact that after a two-year break 4th edition of Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival will be held here again. This year’s festival does not only mean the traditional choice of artists based on what is most fascinating in the contemporary electronic music, but also a thoroughly new venue – the grounds of the former “Katowice” Coal Mine. The buildings left after the coal mine situated right in the city center face the chance of becoming a real Mecca for the fans of progressive sounds and the industrial scenery, full of mysterious machineries, perfectly emphasizes the intermingling of tradition and modernity as one of the most essential distinguishing features of the festival, from the very beginning closely related to Silesia.
That’s exactly where the artists whose albums had a great impact on the electronic music scene during recent years are going to give their shows within three days. The most intriguing debutants won’t be missing, as well. The first day of festival is a real feast for the ears for the fans of unconventional hip-hop, as Dan le Sac & Scroobius Pip duet has never appeared in Poland before. They present explosive mixture of simple rhythms, jazz samples and lyrics, describing contemporary culture and civilisation perceived by the eyes of a charismatic, snappy and having an incredible sense of humour leader, who, not without a reason, is nicknamed a rapping Tom Waits. A moment later the main stage of the festival will be ruled by Speech Debelle, a British debutant, whose this year’s album has been commonly acclaimed as one of the greatest revelations of hip-hop. The right dose of dance frenzy will be guaranteed by extravagant Ebony Bones, incorporating in their music both punk simplicity together with the liking for African rhythms and feminist message. Another great star of the evening will be the Australian group, Pivot, who, after such a plentiful dose of black music, will let the audience rest while listening to the complex compositions in which the influence of ambient and post-rock intermingle in a perfect way.
Saturday – the second day of the festival - is an opportunity to get to know the creative activity of a few unquestioned stars of a widely perceived scene of electronic music. One of them will be Tim Exile, proclaimed a new David Bowie by the music line media, who within a few years of scenic career managed to redefine and define from the scratch such kinds as drum’n’bass or IDM, mixing an excellent feeling for dance music with skillfull experimenting with the audience inclinations. The second great star of the evening, Flying Lotus, an American DJ and producer, is the one responsible for Los Angeles album considered by many critics and commentators the best album of the previous year and one of the most interesting experiments of recent years, showing a thoroughly different attitude to instrumental hip-hop. The exquisite choice of artists will be completed by Jon Hopkins, a WARP record company star whose ambient compositions were complimented by Brian Eno, the father of the kind of music himself. There will be also an English performer and vocalist, Planningtorock, who mixes in her works the elements of opera, hip-hop, aggressive electronic music on the verge of digital hardcore, pop melodies and complex video installations. The last but not least, the audience will listen to an outstanding debutant, Hudson Mohawke, who after releasing just a few singles and one EP has been acclaimed one of the most promising artists of contemporary dance music, feeling at hope in seemingly so incongruent kinds as grime and IDM.
The climax of the second day of festival will definitely come with the first in Poland performance of the legendary Knife duet vocalist, Karin Anderson, who will be presenting her new project, Fever Ray. It’s hard to imagine a better setting for the gloomy and cold compositions of the Swedish artist, whose whole work concentrates on discovering a human trace in the world dominated by machines and technologies, than the postindustrial space of a Silesian coal mine.
The final day of the festival is once again an excellent blend of refined experiment with music which can make anybody dance. The third day is the chance to see and listen to one of the greatest freaks of contemporary electronic music, Dan Deacon who, together with the company of 15-people-band, will introduce us to the compositions from his new album, Bromst, even today speculated to be one of the most serious candidates for the title of the best album recorded in 2009. The fans of a bit quieter sounds will be able to relax on Sunday during the performance of another artist, a French DJ nicknamed Onra and get to know how to create a masterpiece impossible to be defined, making use of classic hip-hop motives and solutions, and deriving inspiration from the music of the Far East. And for the lovers of fairy tale atmosphere and ethereal melodies, played both on traditional instruments and thanks to the use of complex sets of electronic devices, the fulfillment of the evening will definitely come together with the gig of an Icelandic group widely acclaimed in Poland, Mum.
Obviously, it’s not the end of the attractions of 4th edition of Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival, which besides magnificent music has also other surprises to offer, such as turbo-golf competitions or tours of industrial landmarks of Silesia, organised as a part of Alternatiff Turistik project. The whole programme of the Festival and the connected events can be found on the following website: http://www.festiwalnowamuzyka.pl
lineup:
FEVER RAY (The Knife)
http://www.myspace.com/feverray
ROOTS MANUVA
http://www.myspace.com/rootsmanuva
FLYING LOTUS
http://www.myspace.com/flyinglotus
EBONY BONES
http://www.myspace.com/ebonybones
MUM
http://www.myspace.com/mumtheband
DAN DEACON ENSENBLE
http://www.myspace.com/dandeacon
PIVOT
http://www.myspace.com/pivotpivot
TIM EXILE
http://www.myspace.com/timexile
DAN LE SAC vs SCROOBIUS PIP
www.myspace.com/lesacvspip
www.myspace.com/scroobiuspip
www.myspace.com/danlesac
HUDSON MOHAWKE
http://www.myspace.com/hudsonmo
JON HOPKINS
http://www.myspace.com/jonhopkins
SPEECH DEBELLE
http://www.myspace.com/speechdebellemusic
ONRA
http://www.myspace.com/onra
PLANNINGTOROCK
http://www.myspace.com/planningtorock
THE BUG
http://www.myspace.com/thebuguk
iTAL tEK
http://www.myspace.com/italtekmusic
KING CANNIBAL
http://www.myspace.com/kingcannibal
+ more.
For tickets and info please visit www.festiwalnowamuzyka.pl