ARP

Alexis Georgopoulos once was a founding member of the band Tussle, but in 2006 he decided to concentrate on his personal artistic activities. His fascination for the search of spontaneity in electronic music lead to his album “In Light” (Smalltown Supersound), a brilliant record on which he blends a synthesis of Alice Coltrane alike experiment, minimalism and seventies synth music. Like a 2008 version of Manuel Göttsching and Dieter Möbius. Arp is at the forefront of a legion of new contemporary musicians that aim to bring back the early spontaneous feeling of the seventies and early eighties into today’s electronic music.

KÖHN

Jürgen De Blonde is practically regarded as the godfather of Belgian electronica. During the long silence following his epic double-cd “Koen”, he particularly focussed on music for theater and dance productions, and now he returns with an amazing come-back lp titled “We need more Space in the Cosmos”. On this album he declares his love to old old idols, e.g. Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schülze and Jean-Michel Jarre. The result is a synth-driven album, that has as much to do with eighties electronic music as with the unique Köhn universe. On Pauze festival he presents this synth fetish release for the first time to the public.

SWORD HEAVEN

Sword Heaven originates from the flowering scene of Columbus, Ohio which was already represented at the Kraak Festival in March this year with performances by Pink Reason and Psychedelic Horseshit. However, the music of two-piece Sword Heaven has little similarity with the new generation of lo-fi punkers, but rather focuses on slow, tribal and rather physical noise. Think of a more percussion oriented version of Yellow Swans or Lightning Bolt after swallowing an overdose of valium supplemented with distorted death cries and a tonal mush of sound effects. Their sound is often compared to the early work of industrial rock bands such as Swans and Godflesh. Without any doubt Sword Heaven is one of the most interesting contemporary musical vehicles when it comes to bloody noise.

WOODEN SHJIPS

Wooden Shjips is pure charm. For these new born hippies, the summer of love isn’t a time document, but rather a way of life. Their self titled debut-LP on Holy Mountain Records convinced psych lovers all over the world that psychedelic rock can also be boogie. Their music has all the necessary ingredients: repetitive drums, funky bass licks, fuzzy guitar solos, far-out vocals and lots of delay-ay-ay. Wooden Shjips are the best ever cross breed between the Doors and Spacemen 3 in the year 2525. After a very short après-ATP tour this summer, they are finally touring the whole of Europe. For Benelux exclusively on Pauze festival.

Thomas Draschan

To the Happy Few,(5′, 2003)

Begegnung im All,(7′, 2004)

Influence of Ocular Light Perception, (6′, 2006)

Delight, (3′, 2008)

The Germany-based Austrian artist Thomas Draschan makes collage films in which he cuts up and recycles existing visual footage. His films typically contain a constant stream of iconographic images rushing in front of the viewers’ eyes in a rhythmically pulsating montage. Nearly all of the footage is from the pre-video era in which celluloid still reigned supreme and was widely and frequently used. Scientific experiments, First Aid education, cheap B-movies, soft pornography and nature documentaries; they can all be found in the rich visual archives used by Draschan in his films. The influence of Bruce Conner, the godfather of collage film, clearly echoes through in his films, but whereas Conner shot all his films in black and white, and sepia tones, Draschan’s work shines in glamorous Kodak and Agfa color. By means of suggestive sequences and visual rhyme, Draschan manages to provide the film material with an additional layer. Camera angles, gestures, movements and looks which would hardly catch the eye or only had a functional meaning in their original context, start a new life in the hands of Draschan. They lose their innocence, unintentionally become funny or are suddenly laden with eroticism. 

Nathaniel Davies

Dança Angola (numuw mix) (5′, 2008)

Naniou Mougne, (7′, 2008)

Daniel, (1′, 2008)

Tend My Garden, (7′, 2008)

The American Nathaniel Davies, more widely known under his video pseudonym NUMUW, is just like Draschan engaged in making collage films but yet his approach is completely different. Whereas Draschan can be described as a celluloid fetishist, Davis goes for the lo-fi aestheticism of home video and trash television. Time code, tracking lines, drop-outs and on-screen display are equally part of his pallet of images as the grubbiness of VHS tapes copied five times too many, slow-motion car crashes and touristy video images of the Neuschwanstein castle. The soundtrack, featuring music ranging from the Senegalese artist Ndiaga Mbay, Dança Angola and Davis’ own mixes of funk and spineless metal, seems to be wavering loosely above the images and gives an ironic and alienating touch to the whole.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot - John Heyn & Jeff Krulik

17′, 1986 (usa)

Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a short underground documentary from the eighties in which two young men interview some metal fans gathered on a parking before a Judas Priest gig. Most interviewees look rather wasted already and they show their passion for the heavy metal genre in a frankly manner. 

KIM DOO SOO

Kim Doo Soo is a South-Korean folk singer who was only active in the underground circuit for years. Yet he still perfectly complements the international folk tradition that also brought people like Tomokawa Kazuki, Mikami Kan and Fikret Kizilok to the world’s attention. It took until 2007, when the Japanese label PSF released his debut album, before he was finally discovered by an international audience. On the Pauze Festival, Kim Doo Soo will present his subtle protest folk to the European public on a first trip outside his own continent.

SATO YUKI

Sato Yuki is one of the main men behind a new group of experimenting artists in Seoul. A couple of years ago he started to organize concerts in the capital to which he invited Korean but also foreign artists. His main musical activity is the psychedelic band Kopchangjongol, but he’s also a big name in the local improv scene. Solo he focuses on guitar-based expirment.

RYU HANKIL & CHOI JOONYONG

Ryu Hankil & Choi Joonyong are both prominent artists in the Relay Collective, a group of young improvisers in Seoul. Ryu has a background in several indie pop bands, but he got the improv virus after seeing a concert of Otomo Yoshide, Sachiko M, Axel Dörner and Taku Unami. These days he’s mostly into the musical capabilities of non-music instruments for which he dismantles i.e. electronic typewriters and telephones…

Choi Joonyong also began as a songwriter but developed an interest in all things noisy after graduating high school. His music originates from opening cd and mp3-players, video recorders and reel tape recorders. With a shared passion for breaking electronic gear, the two immediately formed a good friendship and this shows on stage. 

KANG TAE HWAN

Percussionist Kim Dae Hwan (died 2004), trumpet player Choi Sun Bae [tsjwè son bè], and alto saxophone player Kang Tae Hwan [kang tè hwan, 1944] are the big three of the first generation of Korean improvisation artists. Kan Tae Hwan’s playing is a combination of Korean aestheticism in terms of composition and tone spectrum, and unique techniques (circular breathing, multi-phony, etc.). In recent years, he has been performing as member of a trio also comprising pianist Miyeon [mijon] and percussionist Park Chejun [pak tsjédzjon]. As a soloist and co-bandleader he recorded around ten full-length albums. His most recent album recorded with Miyeon and Park is called Isaiah and has been released on the Audioguy label.

Gajok Chosanghwa (My Family Portrait) - Kim Young-Jo

67′, 2007 (kor) 

Spurred on by the loss of hair, director Kim begins a journey of discovery into more than just his genetic make up. As he delves into his family origins, his investigations uncover more than he expects. This family portrait deals with the complexity of relationships and how our perceptions impact our life story. Kim candidly shares with us his feelings, resentments and questions as he learns more about the enigma that is his family. This autobiographical detective story discloses the consequences of Korean society cautiously opening the doors to the West. 

WYSPA - Tae-young Park

49′, 2004 (kor) 

Right in the middle of a tiny island in Korea called Jah Wol-Do is an asylum for elderly people run by a Christian foundation. A 34 year old epileptic woman lives among the old people. Abandoned there by her family, she is placed in the care of the priest, who is more concerned by the escape of some black goats or the effectiveness of the symbol of the cross. She is bored, hurts herself and wants to leave, but cannot, and she is not sure if she is satisfied with a helmet. This strange community gradually mixes the plots… 

REINES D'ANGLETERRE (with Ghédalia Tazartes, él-g en Jo T.)

Ghédalia Tazartes is an avant-garde musician who adamantly keeps delving into his own unconventional way of composing to this present day. Ever since ’77 he explores musical repetition, cut & paste techniques, concrete sound and the possibilities of the human voice without fearing any direction or genre. From balladry to noise eruption, it all belongs to his sound pallet. In his fascination for absurdism and the human voice he found the young Parisian balladeer él-g (KRAAK), and his interest for noise and deconstruction led him to Jo Tanz (Placenta Popeye, Tanzproces). Together they formed the trio Reines d’Angleterre. After their first gig on The Colour Out Of Space festival in Brighton, the Pauze festival proudly introduces you this new, brain-melting combo.

REINHOLD FRIEDLs NEO-BECHSTEIN

The Neo-Bechstein is a piano (manufactured in 1929) with a built-in gramophone and radio. It is, in fact, a vulgar and commercial product with only five remaining copies remaining in the whole world. Artistic director of the zeitktratzer ensemble, Reinhold Friedl, who is known not to shun away from the odd experiment, endeavours to transpose this kitsch instrument to the world of serious musical practice. He does so in collaboration with sound engineer Sukandar Kartadinata, who developed special hardware for this occasion enabling spatialization of the piano sounds and sending them out to a multi-channel system. In this modernized setup, the Neo-Bechstein is the ideal instrument for playing so-called sound/space compositions.

People Who Do Noise - Adam Cornelius

82′, 2008 (us)

People Who Do Noise is the debut film of American documentary maker Adam Cornelius. He gives a nice view on the noise scene in Portland, Oregon. With live footage, special sessions and a series of interviews with 14 scenesters, he doesn’t only show the hang in Portland, but also a much broader look at the phenomenon of “noise” from many different angles. 

Wild Combination: a Portrait of Arthur Russell – Matt Wolf

71′, 2007 (us)

In the seventies and eighties Arthur Russell was a well-respected avant-garde figure in New York. He played the cello but his progressive ideas made him a pioneer of leftfield dance and disco. Matt Wolf (US) made a documentary about this man featuring interviews with a.o. Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg. The documentary premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February this year and received rave reviews.

YURI LANDMAN

(lecture will take place in IPEM)

Yuri Landman is a Dutch instrument builder and musicologist. In recent years he gathered some attention with his extravagant guitar creatures such as “the Robocop”, the 72 string “electric cymbalom” and the 12-string overtone zither. Weird stuff that made into the rehearsal spaces of a.o. Lee Ranaldo and Jad Fair. Landman presents his instruments in a lecture/demonstration that links his inventions to modern composition, Pythagoras and the antique Chinese tone system. Only for heavy music neurotics. 

BLAASTAAL!

14 and 15 November in brugzaal

Another edition with the crazy brains behind the Blaastaal! radio show on Radio Centraal in Antwerp. For the entire three days these dudes will document the festival in their own bizarre way. With interviews, found sound and absurd visual entertainment, they close the festival nights on Friday and Saturday.