DOMINO # 15: the artistic guidelines
The finale edition of the Domino festival welcomes approximately 30 performers, spread over 7 days. We can now sum them all up for you perfectly, without needing to cheat, in alphabetical order. You can pick out the headliners (BATTLES, BELLE & SEBASTIAN, AGNES OBEL, BLIXA BARGELD, JOSE GONZALEZ,…) yourself right away. Allow us however to make a constructive first move and explain exactly what the concept behind this edition is. Or maybe first this:
’99. The first edition of Domino was being put together. Feeling nostalgic, we dived back into the archives again. We found a folder with what was communicated at the time. Don't be surprised: the folder was full of faxes.
’11. The final edition of Domino is being put together. Every month we read our favourite mag The Wire. Go to All Tomorrow’s Parties (Minehead, UK), SXSW (Texas, Us) and try to get to our share of shows in this Belgian land. MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Pitchfork (the category ‘Best New Music’), Boomkat and Kindamuzik are indispensable. But we're above all assisted by insider tips (thank you, Mauro Pawlowski, for Liturgy!). Just when we thought we were up-to-date it feels like we have to start from scratch. Suddenly there is witch house, hypnagogic pop, post dubstep, we read Ruis (we're fans but are looking for links) and just when we've almost ploughed through Pitchfork... then you can start on their shadow-site ‘Altered Zones’.
Call Domino # 15 the result of this work ethic. So we'd like to explain the main themes for you.
1. Straight from the internet, onto the stage.
Christopher Greenspan – the man behind witch house act oOoOO – has certainly got it right: “I feel like so much of music development happens online now. Kids in Florida or Paris can seek out whatever music they want, and bands around the world can seek out like-minded artists from anywhere for inspiration.”
Take, for example, WU LYF. Still not a single official release but the buzz around them is now enormous thanks to a series of tracks circulating on the internet. The Guardian noticed them too: “They're baffling. Wu Lyf are fucking brilliant.". The same goes for HYPE WILLIAMS. The man should be releasing his first album about now but the buzz around this equally mysterious act originated on the net.
We also picked up THE BEAUTIFUL BAND (with the likes of Ignatz amongst the members) on the internet. Just like Brussels' intriguing SPOOKHUISJE. A release? That's not even in the planning. In the past that would have been an obstacle, these days its an informal advantage.
2. Witch house, post dubstep and hypnagogic pop. Still with us?
It's a part of Domino's task to capture the spirit of the times. Today you'll find witch house, post dubstep and hypnagogic pop blowing in the wind. Wonderful to lose yourself in new subgenres, as we already did in the past with dubstep or funky.
Aside Salem, Creep, Balam Acab and White Ring, oOoOO (pronounce it: ‘oh’) is one of the flag bearers of the witch house genre. Unless you would rather refer to it as drag house or haunted house. Lets just say: a mysterious mixture of r&b, dubstep, electro, drugs and witchcraft. Witch house even made it into De Morgen as one of the words that defined 2010. More than enough reasons to invite oOoOO to Domino.
More than enough post dubstep in recent months. Lets just say: performers who feel strongly about the recent legacy of Skream and Benga but give it a musique concrète or pop switch. So soon we'll be seeing coming man James Blake, who's on the verge of the big breakthrough. Mount Kimbie is also grafting itself upon the dubstep sound but does it with a bite of musique concrète. The most poppy of all is pseudo pop-band DARKSTAR that shines in Hyperdub, the holy grail of futuristic dub. To think that BBC even called it sadstep too. The next big thing?
Then there's Hypnagogic Pop, an invention of The Wire. As aid, this auditive tip: listen online to the Boomkat compilation ‘Hypnagogic Heat Haze’ (think: Ariel Pink, Pocahaunted, Sun Arraw,…). Where were we? Hypnagogic pop? According to The Wire “music that reaches beyond its performers' abilities. It refashions 80s chart pop-rock into a hazy, psychedelic drone. It is listening to Beverly Hills Cop and hearing the music of the spheres. It is the sound that remains after the boys of summer have gone". We wouldn't want to miss this wave either. Domino is thus pleased to welcome HYPE WILLAMS and ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER. You decide. To the top or back to the beginning.
3. The Art Of Noise. L’Arte Dei Rumori.
In 1913 Italian Luigi Russolo wrote his futuristic manifest THE ART OF NOISE (L’Arte Dei Rumori). Russolo was also a maker of musical instruments, including the Russolophone and ‘intonarumori’ or ‘noise machines’. If he hadn't died in ’47 then in '11 he would surely enthusiastically sate himself on the work of Japanese noise God MERZBOW or Brooklyn's SIGHTINGS. Noise has been more the rule than the exception at Domino in previous editions. Remember the visits of Lou Reed (with ‘Metal Machine Music’), Black Dice or Wolf Eyes. Apart from that, The Art Of Noise will now become a new series offering a platform in the AB for the underground noise genre.
4. Electronica excels.
Refined, undanceable, electronica has been another constant to Domino in previous editions. That's no different this time. Just remember transgender CINDYTALK: once side by side with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, now working on a second life via the impressive Viennese electronica label Editions Mego (see too: Emeralds, Bill Orcutt, Oneohtrix Point Never,…). ALVA NOTO – our big minimal electronica hero – will also be passing by the AB. His label Raster_Noton (now a welcome guest in art galleries worldwide) was already a central guest a number of years ago, unfortunately without his presence however.
Also visiting: top-notch electronica label TOUCH delivers a fantastic bill, with MIKA VAINIO (Pan Sonic), Icelandic cellist HILDUR GUDNADÓTTIR and Dutchman THOMAS ANKERSMIT.
5. Special projects / collaborations.
No finer dream for a concert hall than to see collaborations occur or to create them. Just take ALVA NOTO and BLIXA BARGELD. Already fans of each other's work for years but only in ’10 did that result in an impressive reference work: the album ‘Mimikry’. No finer moment than Domino to see them together on stage.
JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ also does his thing in collaboration with the twenty-member GÖTEBURG STRING THEORY. We're already curious how his versions of ‘Teardrops’ (Massive Attack) and ‘Heartbeats’ (The Knife) will sound with this line-up.
6. Lastly: respect for the history of Domino!
It would be disrespectful to not give a nod to the history of our very own Domino in this final edition. You can quiz to your hearts content yourself but allow us to make a first move in the meantime.
An evening encompassing the impressive – almost 30 year active – Touch. label is a big nod to the exhibition we did in ’05 around the work of JON WOZENCROFT, Touch.'s label owner and in-house designer. Berlin's minimal electronica label RASTER_NOTON was the next exhibiting focal point, in ’07 (as was an evening around the label, with the likes of Kanding Ray and Olaf Bender,…). So we're also pleased to be able to welcome founding father ALVA NOTO.
Which impeccably leads us to BLIXA BARGELD, EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN leader. They've appeared here to a sold-out house, twice, no less. Just as the popular BELLE & SEBASTIAN, who already appeared at Domino in ’04.
BATTLES too is an 'old faithful’ and debuted phenomenally on Flemish soil during Domino in ’06. Just one more last nod: THE BEAUTIFUL BAND conceals IGNATZ and members of R.O.T. All previous valued Domino guests too.
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