After already two very successful festival editions at Radialsystem
Berlin and London's St Johns Sessions in late spring, Denovali is
returning to the home edition in the city of Essen/Germany with a 4-day-long festival, happening during the first weekend of October 2015.
This year's edition comes with a special focus on audiovisual performances. 10 artists extended their live-sets with high quality video material featuring sets by Holly Herndon - "the queen of tech-topia" (The Guardian), the master of disintegrated loops William Basinski, Istanbul's blissed-out space traveler and RBMA academy participant Ah! Kosmos, French producer Mondkopf and his doom laden electronic beats, Blanck Mass - the electronic solo project of Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power, the British futuristic pioneers of dubstep and noise-based sound design Emptyset and Thomas Köner with his new multimedia performance "Expanding Illuminance" amongst others. Though mainly conceived as a label festival, we have invited further guest artists like drone legend and Sunn O))) founder Stephen O'Malley, Austrians Elektro Guzzi with their instrument-based approach to cathartic club rhythms and Noveller - the solo electric guitar project of Brooklyn-based composer and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate, who supported St. Vincent on her 2014 tour.
Not limited to one musical genre, the Denovali Festival offers a diverse range of music styles from darker experimental sounds, ambient, drone, indie and electronica to darkjazz, jazz or piano and string driven modern compositions presenting artists from our roster with New York City's industrial noise composer Oneirogen, Hidden Orchestra with a special remix set, Brighton-based pianist/ violinist Poppy Ackroyd known for her unconventional approach to neoclassical music, Munich's pianist and composer Carlos Cipa whose music is fraught with beauty, tension and emotional intensity, Greek electronic music composer Subheim or Orson Hentschel from Düsseldorf with a live-set that has been a blast with its powerful light show and live-drumming on this years label anniversary tour.
The festival again takes place on 4 days (October 1st until October 4th 2014) at the wonderful industrial venue WeststadtHalle. This year's edition will present 21 acts on the three regular days and a pre-event with 2 artists on Thursday October 1st. Their sets will as always be as long as a proper club concert (around an hour). The ticket preorder has already started and tickets are available for purchase at the festival page.
Denovali has shared the nearly complete line-up of the Denovali Festival Essen edition. One further artist will follow in the next few weeks.
DENOVALI FESTIVAL ESSEN 2015 // EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
October 1st-4th 2015, special edition with audiovisual performances
DATES: Thursday October 1st - Sunday October 4th 2015
VENUE: Weststadthalle Essen · Germany
TICKETS: www.denovali.com/festival/essen/?tickets
- 13 Euro Pre-Evening (Thursday, seated concert, limited to 250 tickets)
- 30 Euro Single Day Ticket (FR, SAT or SUN)
- 90 Euro Festival Ticket (FRI - SUN, excluding Thursday)
FESTIVAL PAGE: www.denovali.com/festival
BRIEF LINEUP (* Denovali Label Artists)
THURSDAY, OCT. 1st
Thomas Köner (ger)*
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith (us)
FRIDAY, OCT. 2nd
TBA
Holly Herndon (us)
Ah! Kosmos (tr)*
Mondkopf (fr)
Multicast Dynamics (nl/fi)*
Oneirogen (us)*
Moon Zero (uk)*
SATURDAY, OCT. 3rd
Blanck Mass (uk)
Emptyset (uk)
Orson Hentschel (ger)*
Stephen O'Malley (us)
Noveller (us)
Second Moon Of Winter (irl)*
Witxes (fr)*
SUNDAY, OCT. 4th
William Basinski (us)
Elekto Guzzi (at)
Carlos Cipa (ger)
Hidden Orchestra (uk)
Subheim (gr)
Poppy Ackroyd (uk)
Sankt Otten (ger)
FESTIVAL HISTORY
Denovali Records is a Germany based independent music label founded in 2005. Not confined to a specific genre the label supports worldwide sound researchers. The program of Denovali Records varies from sometimes improvised darker experimental sounds, ambient, drone, indie and electronica to darkjazz, jazz or piano and string driven modern compositions.
Since 2007 Denovali curates and organizes an international music festival called Denovali Festival. The first editions took place in Essen, Germany - since 2013 Denovali presents similar events in London and Berlin. Focused on various forms of experimental and adventurous music the lineup offers a wonderful opportunity to discover a wide range of international Denovali artists live and is rounded off by various renowned non-label guest artists. A hallmark of the festival is the renunciation of the headliner principle: all artists are receiving the same attention - the length of each artist's concert is equal. The music program has over the years more and more attracted an attentive and excitable international audience travelling from mostly European countries, but as well North America, Russia or Australia, which rounds of the concerts sensitive, challenging and enjoyable vibes.
In the past years artists like Andy Stott (uk), Anna von Hausswolff (dk), Barn Owl (usa), Ben Frost (au), Biosphere (no), Bohren und der Club Of Gore (ger), Brandt Brauer Frick (ger), Demdike Stare (uk), Fennesz (a), Forest Swords (uk), Hauschka (ger), James Holden (uk), Jon Hassel (us), Kammerflimmer Kollektief (ger), Karen Gwyer (uk), Moritz von Oswald Trio (ger), Murcof (mex), Nils Frahm (ger), Nils Petter Molvaer (no), Oneohtrix Point Never (us), Oval (ger), Pinch (uk), Porter Ricks (ger), Sunn O))) (us), Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (can), The Haxan Cloak (uk), Thomas Köner (ger), Tim Hecker (can), Ulrich Schnauss (ger) or William Basinski (usa) have joined the festival.
Since 2011 Denovali Festival Essen is taking place at the WeststadtHalle Essen right in the center of the city. The building is one of the industrial monuments of the Ruhr District, which has been transformed into a modern culture venue with a unique atmosphere linked to its heritage.
DETAILED PROGRAM
THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER · WESTSTADTHALLE ESSEN
THOMAS KÖNER (GER) audiovisual performance
::: Over his long, much celebrated career, Thomas Köner has worked on several distinguished installation works, sound art and minimal soundscapes. At the Denovali Festival Essen 2015 he will present his new multimedia performance "Expanding Illuminance" for which he has chosen two classic Science-Fiction movies from different periods in order to reveal hidden layers and narratives in a deeply immerse audiovisual experience.
KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH (US)
::: Performing on a Buchla 100 synthesizer had a profound effect on her electronic compositions. Mesmerized by the Buchla’s potential she creates rhythmic patterns and melodic pulses, sculpting lush and exciting worlds of sound.
FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER · WESTSTADTHALLE ESSEN
TBA
HOLLY HERNDON (US)
audiovisual performance
:::"Holly Herndon’s songs play new tricks on you with each listen. The Bay Area composer and singer’s work percolates in the mind first, unlike the elemental club music that informs its sprightly tempos and ebbing bass. Platform may turn out to be the most thought-provoking experimental electronic music release of the year.(Pitchfork)
AH! KOSMOS (TR) audiovisual performance
::: Ah! Kosmos is the moniker of Istanbul-based producer and instrumentalist Başak Günak. Spaced-out layers of beats and blissed-out sounds and textures create a sense of slow, echoic wonder that eventually builds to a multi-rhythmic universe of its own.
MONDKOPF (FR) audiovisual performance
::: the live set of French producer Mondkopf (aka Paul Régimbeau) is bringing the crushing weight of metal into the dance music stratosphere with its suffocating, doom laden electronic beats that are featured in his brand new live A/V performance.
MULTICAST DYNAMICS (NL/FI)
::: Multicast Dynamics creates ever-evolving sound textures culminating in intriguing soundscapes. Drawing inspiration from nature, technology, film and fiction, his music audiovisual work presents a carefully arranged, recorded and processed body of work, using a vast amount of layered sound textures, field recordings and live improvisation.
ONEIROGEN (US)
::: "A startling new compositional voice, with wistful melodies haunting an abrasive mix of modernist integrity and anarchic noise" (Time Out New York) Oneirogen's performance is a concise blast of intensity, featuring vivid contrasts between industrial noise and expansive ambient music.
MOON ZERO (UK) audiovisual performance
::: It's the finest incarnation yet of an aesthetic that’s both minimal and cinematic, confining itself to bygone ‘post-club’ tropes. "Tim Garratt plays with the possibilities of maximalist ambience, pitting a full range of reverberating overtones against each other to create overpowering aural experiences. Beautiful, odd and mesmerizing." (Slug Mag)
SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER · WESTSTADTHALLE ESSEN
BLANCK MASS (UK) audiovisual performance
::: Blanck Mass, the electronic solo project of Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power. His music is "an exercise in the sweeping emotional and physical power of sound itself." (Pitchfork)
EMPTYSET (UK) audiovisual performance
::: Emptyset examines the physical properties of sound through electromagnetism, architecture and process based image making. Their work considers the legacy of analogue media reflecting the perceptual boundaries between noise and music.
ORSON HENTSCHEL (GER) audiovisual performance
::: The current live performance of Düsseldorf based electronic producer and video artist Orson Hentschel is a energetic, loud and haunting experience -, supported by a live drummer, special light design and visuals.
STEPHEN O'MALLEY (US)
::: Drone legend Stephen O'Malley participates in numerous drone, doom and experimental music groups, most notable Sunn O))) and KTL. He perfected a sound that is sculpting slow guitars and walls of noise with majestic power in a neverendig anti-climax.
NOVELLER (US)
::: Handling the electric guitar as her muse, Noveller summons a sonic palette so rich as to challenge the listener to conceive of how it’s housed in a single instrument manipulated by a solitary performer. She has toured with St. Vincent, Xiu Xiu, Aidan Baker, Emeralds amongst others.
SECOND MOON OF WINTER (IRL)
::: SECOND MOON OF WINTER is a new experimental three piece ensemble from Ireland melting discordant ambiences with luminous soprano. "A distinct purity and fragile beauty resonates powerfully throughout the rich sonic voyages." (Fractured Air)
WITXES (FR)
::: Witxes creates abstract yet often tonal pieces, blurring lines between acoustic and electronic sources. His live performances usually offer an intense physical and hypnotic sound by building walls of sound. "Witxes bring something surprisingly accessible to ambient and drone music something with thundering climaxes underwritten by danceable beats and erupting, post-rock surges" (4zzz fm)
SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER · WESTSTADTHALLE ESSEN
WILLIAM BASINSKI (US)
::: "Basinski’s innovation was to [...] find the organic change—the aging, if you will—at the heart of early audio machinery. Basinski’s loops are defined by the fact that machines are always in the process of failing, and that change itself is a form of composition." The New Yorker
ELEKTRO GUZZI (AT)
::: As digital as Austrian's Elektro Guzzi may sound, they couldn't be more analogue, producing and performing with the most classic of all setups: bass, guitar, and drums. Minimal and dubbed out soundscapes, but no loops and no overdubs - 100% live.
CARLOS CIPA (GER)
::: Carlos Cipa creates unique contemporary compositions fraught with beauty, tension and emotional intensity. "The hush that falls as he takes to the stage is further proof both of the respect for this 22-year-old and of young Germany's love affair with classical piano." (The Quietus)
HIDDEN ORCHESTRA (UK)
live remix duo set
::: Joe Acheson's Hidden Orchestra is known for cinematic soundscapes with big sound, that can be described as 'electronic music by acoustic means'. Special live remix set
SUBHEIM (GR)
::: Subheim is the project of Greek electronic music composer and visual artist Kostas K., a downtempo, experimental venture fusing IDM elements with rich ambiance.
POPPY ACKROYD (UK)
audiovisual performance
::: Poppy Ackroyd's music impresses with its delicate, intricate and beautifully atmospheric, which she creates by manipulating and multi-tracking sounds from piano and violin.
SANKT OTTEN (GER)
::: The German duo SANKT OTTEN maintain their characteristic Holy Trinity of krautrock, ambient, and 80ies electronica. Floating, meditative, dazing and catchy at times.
This year's edition comes with a special focus on audiovisual performances. 10 artists extended their live-sets with high quality video material featuring sets by Holly Herndon - "the queen of tech-topia" (The Guardian), the master of disintegrated loops William Basinski, Istanbul's blissed-out space traveler and RBMA academy participant Ah! Kosmos, French producer Mondkopf and his doom laden electronic beats, Blanck Mass - the electronic solo project of Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power, the British futuristic pioneers of dubstep and noise-based sound design Emptyset and Thomas Köner with his new multimedia performance "Expanding Illuminance" amongst others. Though mainly conceived as a label festival, we have invited further guest artists like drone legend and Sunn O))) founder Stephen O'Malley, Austrians Elektro Guzzi with their instrument-based approach to cathartic club rhythms and Noveller - the solo electric guitar project of Brooklyn-based composer and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate, who supported St. Vincent on her 2014 tour.
Not limited to one musical genre, the Denovali Festival offers a diverse range of music styles from darker experimental sounds, ambient, drone, indie and electronica to darkjazz, jazz or piano and string driven modern compositions presenting artists from our roster with New York City's industrial noise composer Oneirogen, Hidden Orchestra with a special remix set, Brighton-based pianist/ violinist Poppy Ackroyd known for her unconventional approach to neoclassical music, Munich's pianist and composer Carlos Cipa whose music is fraught with beauty, tension and emotional intensity, Greek electronic music composer Subheim or Orson Hentschel from Düsseldorf with a live-set that has been a blast with its powerful light show and live-drumming on this years label anniversary tour.
The festival again takes place on 4 days (October 1st until October 4th 2014) at the wonderful industrial venue WeststadtHalle. This year's edition will present 21 acts on the three regular days and a pre-event with 2 artists on Thursday October 1st. Their sets will as always be as long as a proper club concert (around an hour). The ticket preorder has already started and tickets are available for purchase at the festival page.
Denovali has shared the nearly complete line-up of the Denovali Festival Essen edition. One further artist will follow in the next few weeks.
DENOVALI FESTIVAL ESSEN 2015 // EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
October 1st-4th 2015, special edition with audiovisual performances
DATES: Thursday October 1st - Sunday October 4th 2015
VENUE: Weststadthalle Essen · Germany
TICKETS: www.denovali.com/festival/essen/?tickets
- 13 Euro Pre-Evening (Thursday, seated concert, limited to 250 tickets)
- 30 Euro Single Day Ticket (FR, SAT or SUN)
- 90 Euro Festival Ticket (FRI - SUN, excluding Thursday)
FESTIVAL PAGE: www.denovali.com/festival
BRIEF LINEUP (* Denovali Label Artists)
THURSDAY, OCT. 1st
Thomas Köner (ger)*
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith (us)
FRIDAY, OCT. 2nd
TBA
Holly Herndon (us)
Ah! Kosmos (tr)*
Mondkopf (fr)
Multicast Dynamics (nl/fi)*
Oneirogen (us)*
Moon Zero (uk)*
SATURDAY, OCT. 3rd
Blanck Mass (uk)
Emptyset (uk)
Orson Hentschel (ger)*
Stephen O'Malley (us)
Noveller (us)
Second Moon Of Winter (irl)*
Witxes (fr)*
SUNDAY, OCT. 4th
William Basinski (us)
Elekto Guzzi (at)
Carlos Cipa (ger)
Hidden Orchestra (uk)
Subheim (gr)
Poppy Ackroyd (uk)
Sankt Otten (ger)
FESTIVAL HISTORY
Denovali Records is a Germany based independent music label founded in 2005. Not confined to a specific genre the label supports worldwide sound researchers. The program of Denovali Records varies from sometimes improvised darker experimental sounds, ambient, drone, indie and electronica to darkjazz, jazz or piano and string driven modern compositions.
Since 2007 Denovali curates and organizes an international music festival called Denovali Festival. The first editions took place in Essen, Germany - since 2013 Denovali presents similar events in London and Berlin. Focused on various forms of experimental and adventurous music the lineup offers a wonderful opportunity to discover a wide range of international Denovali artists live and is rounded off by various renowned non-label guest artists. A hallmark of the festival is the renunciation of the headliner principle: all artists are receiving the same attention - the length of each artist's concert is equal. The music program has over the years more and more attracted an attentive and excitable international audience travelling from mostly European countries, but as well North America, Russia or Australia, which rounds of the concerts sensitive, challenging and enjoyable vibes.
In the past years artists like Andy Stott (uk), Anna von Hausswolff (dk), Barn Owl (usa), Ben Frost (au), Biosphere (no), Bohren und der Club Of Gore (ger), Brandt Brauer Frick (ger), Demdike Stare (uk), Fennesz (a), Forest Swords (uk), Hauschka (ger), James Holden (uk), Jon Hassel (us), Kammerflimmer Kollektief (ger), Karen Gwyer (uk), Moritz von Oswald Trio (ger), Murcof (mex), Nils Frahm (ger), Nils Petter Molvaer (no), Oneohtrix Point Never (us), Oval (ger), Pinch (uk), Porter Ricks (ger), Sunn O))) (us), Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (can), The Haxan Cloak (uk), Thomas Köner (ger), Tim Hecker (can), Ulrich Schnauss (ger) or William Basinski (usa) have joined the festival.
Since 2011 Denovali Festival Essen is taking place at the WeststadtHalle Essen right in the center of the city. The building is one of the industrial monuments of the Ruhr District, which has been transformed into a modern culture venue with a unique atmosphere linked to its heritage.
DETAILED PROGRAM
THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER · WESTSTADTHALLE ESSEN
THOMAS KÖNER (GER) audiovisual performance
::: Over his long, much celebrated career, Thomas Köner has worked on several distinguished installation works, sound art and minimal soundscapes. At the Denovali Festival Essen 2015 he will present his new multimedia performance "Expanding Illuminance" for which he has chosen two classic Science-Fiction movies from different periods in order to reveal hidden layers and narratives in a deeply immerse audiovisual experience.
KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH (US)
::: Performing on a Buchla 100 synthesizer had a profound effect on her electronic compositions. Mesmerized by the Buchla’s potential she creates rhythmic patterns and melodic pulses, sculpting lush and exciting worlds of sound.
FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER · WESTSTADTHALLE ESSEN
TBA
HOLLY HERNDON (US)
audiovisual performance
:::"Holly Herndon’s songs play new tricks on you with each listen. The Bay Area composer and singer’s work percolates in the mind first, unlike the elemental club music that informs its sprightly tempos and ebbing bass. Platform may turn out to be the most thought-provoking experimental electronic music release of the year.(Pitchfork)
AH! KOSMOS (TR) audiovisual performance
::: Ah! Kosmos is the moniker of Istanbul-based producer and instrumentalist Başak Günak. Spaced-out layers of beats and blissed-out sounds and textures create a sense of slow, echoic wonder that eventually builds to a multi-rhythmic universe of its own.
MONDKOPF (FR) audiovisual performance
::: the live set of French producer Mondkopf (aka Paul Régimbeau) is bringing the crushing weight of metal into the dance music stratosphere with its suffocating, doom laden electronic beats that are featured in his brand new live A/V performance.
MULTICAST DYNAMICS (NL/FI)
::: Multicast Dynamics creates ever-evolving sound textures culminating in intriguing soundscapes. Drawing inspiration from nature, technology, film and fiction, his music audiovisual work presents a carefully arranged, recorded and processed body of work, using a vast amount of layered sound textures, field recordings and live improvisation.
ONEIROGEN (US)
::: "A startling new compositional voice, with wistful melodies haunting an abrasive mix of modernist integrity and anarchic noise" (Time Out New York) Oneirogen's performance is a concise blast of intensity, featuring vivid contrasts between industrial noise and expansive ambient music.
MOON ZERO (UK) audiovisual performance
::: It's the finest incarnation yet of an aesthetic that’s both minimal and cinematic, confining itself to bygone ‘post-club’ tropes. "Tim Garratt plays with the possibilities of maximalist ambience, pitting a full range of reverberating overtones against each other to create overpowering aural experiences. Beautiful, odd and mesmerizing." (Slug Mag)
SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER · WESTSTADTHALLE ESSEN
BLANCK MASS (UK) audiovisual performance
::: Blanck Mass, the electronic solo project of Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power. His music is "an exercise in the sweeping emotional and physical power of sound itself." (Pitchfork)
EMPTYSET (UK) audiovisual performance
::: Emptyset examines the physical properties of sound through electromagnetism, architecture and process based image making. Their work considers the legacy of analogue media reflecting the perceptual boundaries between noise and music.
ORSON HENTSCHEL (GER) audiovisual performance
::: The current live performance of Düsseldorf based electronic producer and video artist Orson Hentschel is a energetic, loud and haunting experience -, supported by a live drummer, special light design and visuals.
STEPHEN O'MALLEY (US)
::: Drone legend Stephen O'Malley participates in numerous drone, doom and experimental music groups, most notable Sunn O))) and KTL. He perfected a sound that is sculpting slow guitars and walls of noise with majestic power in a neverendig anti-climax.
NOVELLER (US)
::: Handling the electric guitar as her muse, Noveller summons a sonic palette so rich as to challenge the listener to conceive of how it’s housed in a single instrument manipulated by a solitary performer. She has toured with St. Vincent, Xiu Xiu, Aidan Baker, Emeralds amongst others.
SECOND MOON OF WINTER (IRL)
::: SECOND MOON OF WINTER is a new experimental three piece ensemble from Ireland melting discordant ambiences with luminous soprano. "A distinct purity and fragile beauty resonates powerfully throughout the rich sonic voyages." (Fractured Air)
WITXES (FR)
::: Witxes creates abstract yet often tonal pieces, blurring lines between acoustic and electronic sources. His live performances usually offer an intense physical and hypnotic sound by building walls of sound. "Witxes bring something surprisingly accessible to ambient and drone music something with thundering climaxes underwritten by danceable beats and erupting, post-rock surges" (4zzz fm)
SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER · WESTSTADTHALLE ESSEN
WILLIAM BASINSKI (US)
::: "Basinski’s innovation was to [...] find the organic change—the aging, if you will—at the heart of early audio machinery. Basinski’s loops are defined by the fact that machines are always in the process of failing, and that change itself is a form of composition." The New Yorker
ELEKTRO GUZZI (AT)
::: As digital as Austrian's Elektro Guzzi may sound, they couldn't be more analogue, producing and performing with the most classic of all setups: bass, guitar, and drums. Minimal and dubbed out soundscapes, but no loops and no overdubs - 100% live.
CARLOS CIPA (GER)
::: Carlos Cipa creates unique contemporary compositions fraught with beauty, tension and emotional intensity. "The hush that falls as he takes to the stage is further proof both of the respect for this 22-year-old and of young Germany's love affair with classical piano." (The Quietus)
HIDDEN ORCHESTRA (UK)
live remix duo set
::: Joe Acheson's Hidden Orchestra is known for cinematic soundscapes with big sound, that can be described as 'electronic music by acoustic means'. Special live remix set
SUBHEIM (GR)
::: Subheim is the project of Greek electronic music composer and visual artist Kostas K., a downtempo, experimental venture fusing IDM elements with rich ambiance.
POPPY ACKROYD (UK)
audiovisual performance
::: Poppy Ackroyd's music impresses with its delicate, intricate and beautifully atmospheric, which she creates by manipulating and multi-tracking sounds from piano and violin.
SANKT OTTEN (GER)
::: The German duo SANKT OTTEN maintain their characteristic Holy Trinity of krautrock, ambient, and 80ies electronica. Floating, meditative, dazing and catchy at times.
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