Press Release * Dated Material * For Immediate Release * 02.16.2012

UNSOUND FESTIVAL NEW YORK CONFIRMS MORE ACTS

Unsound Festival New York, the New York offshoot of the acclaimed Kraków festival, is a festival for the exciting and turbulent new decade we find ourselves living in. From its first outing in February 2010, Unsound Festival New York established itself with fans and critics as an essential addition to the New York culture calendar –no small feat in a city where every week can feel like a festival. But by embracing a broad range of genres from contemporary classical music to post-industrial sounds to black metal to new directions in bass driven club music, Unsound Festival New York uniquely explores what it means to be cutting-edge in our current music scene..

Working with partners including the Polish Cultural Institute New York and the Goethe-Institute New York and the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York and San Francisco, the New York edition of Unsound has a mandate to connect lesser-known artists from Eastern Europe with their Western counterparts. To this end over the last two years Unsound Festival New York has brought vibrant performers and composers from over twenty-four different countries to New York. The range of talent has been diverse in both scope and scale, including many debut appearances and specially commissioned original projects, such as the noted Tarkovsky-inspired classical music of Ben Frost and Daníel Bjarnason with Sinfonietta Cracovia at Alice Tully Hall last year and Carl Craig’s original soundtrack to Andy Warhol movie in 2010.

The third round of Unsound Festival New York will take place (save the dates) on Wednesday, April 18th through Sunday, April 22nd at venues across the New York, including BAMcinématek, (Le) Poisson Rouge, The Bunker, David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center and ISSUE Project Room..

Confirmed acts include
* 2562 (Netherlands): Hailing from The Hague, Dave Huismans has made a name for himself in the bass music scene by releasing two albums on the respected Tectonic label
BAABA (Poland): Warsaw-based underground supergroup is described by Last.fm as "one of the most crazy improvising bands in Poland." For Unsound Festival New York the band will create a new live soundtrack for Polish classics of animated film.
BIOSPHERE (Norway) & LUSTMORD (USA): The worldwide debut of a special commission by Unsound and The Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York and San Francisco, TRINITY features two legendary pioneers of ambient music joining forces for the first time. Though they hail from very different worlds – Los Angeles-based Lustmord is shrouded in darkness, while Biosphere's equally mysterious persona is deeply connected with the Arctic Circle – together they will create a work inspired by the first testing and development of atomic weapons in the New Mexico desert.
* BLACK RAIN (USA): A prescient electronic-music project with roots in '80s/'90s New York and the mind of Stuart Argabright (also of Ike Yard and Death Comet Crew), Black Rain just released a collection of archival music made for work by William Gibson on the label Blackest Ever Black. Black Rain will perform as part of the Labs program in collaboration with Kotra
* DAVE TOMPKINS (USA): Author of the acclaimed “How To Wreck a Nice Beach: The Vocodor from World War II to HipHop” will give a talk entitled
“Sustained Decay: A Natural History of Bass in Miami”
* DEMDIKE STARE (UK): This cult horror film-inspired Northern British duo have just released their third album "Elemental" as a series of 4 EPs.
* DISTAL (USA): Producer/DJ from Atlanta who runs the label Embassy Recordings, and creates bass music at all tempos.
HIEROGLYPHIC BEING (USA): One of the most unusual artists in the Chicago house music scene, Hieroglyphic Being is influenced by Sun Ra, the classic Ron Hardy Warehouse sound and the more New Wave, industrial sounds of 80s-90s Chicago club Medusa. His live appearances in New York are rare.
* LAUREL HALO (USA) Brooklyn based producer whose most recent release (Feb) was for a new Mute UK side label. A new album follows in early summer.
* JULIA HOLTER (USA): Pitchfork recently described her as an “LA artist who makes bedroom pop that’s ethereal enough to fill a church.” Her new album “Ekstasis” is out early March on RVNG intl,
* JENNY HVAL (Norway) writes songs that are travel stories rooted in the body, both sensual and provocative. Her most recent album “Viscera” was released by Rune Grammofon last November.
HYPE WILLIAMS (Russia/UK): The art, film and music duo of Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland will be releasing a new album of their uniquely twisted art-pop “Black is Beautiful” on the highly regarded Hyperdub imprint under their own names the same week as their Unsound live show appearance.
* INNER TUBE (USA): A collaboration between Mark McGuire of Emeralds fame and Spencer Clark. Inspired by Australian surf movies from the 80s, this is the worldwide debut performance of this new project.
ITAL (USA): Originally releasing music on Not Not Fun side label 100% Silk, former Dischord-signed hardcore DC native and now Brooklyn-based ITAL is releasing his debut album “Hive Mind” in early March on Planet Mu.
JACASZEK (Poland): Hailing from the North of Poland, Jacaszek performed live at the debut Unsound Festival New York in 2010. Earlier this year he released a new album “Glimmer“ on respected US indie label Ghostly International that received praise on NPR and elsewhere.
* LXMP (Poland): A musical project of the "two best-dressed people in Warsaw," Piotr Zabrodzki and Macio Moretti, better known in some circles as the rhythm section of Baaba. They will reprise their reinterpretation of Herbie Hancock’s “Future Shock” album from Unsound Kraków 2011.
* JULIA KENT (USA): New York-based cellist who released her experimental album “Green and Grey” last year.
* KOTRA (UKRAINE) is radical artist and producer Dmytro Fedorenko well known for his violent abstract music. He is responsible for two of the biggest experimental electronic music festivals in Ukraine and runs his own label, called Kvitnu. He will perform as part of the Labs program in collaboration with Black Rain.
* MARIA MINERVA (Estonia): This twisted pop producer gained attention throughout 2011 for songs she released on 12", cassette and YouTube leading up to her debut LP "Cabaret Cixous” for Not Not Fun.
* MONOLAKE (Germany): Celebrated Berlin-based producer of bass and techno music is renowned for his unique knowledge and use of Ableton Live. He will release his new album “Ghosts” on his own Computer Imbalance imprint at the end of February.
* NGUZUNGUZU (USA): Los Angeles electro synth duo fond of booming beats and 8-bit sounds.
* PEAKING LIGHTS (USA): An American duo exploring the boundaries between noise pop and electronic music.
POLE (Germany): Innovative Berlin-based dub Techno producer who is currently releasing a new series of “Waldgeschichten” EPs leading up to a new album for his new imprint also titled POLE.
* SEPALCURE (USA): Brooklyn/Berlin duo Sepalcure have appeared at Unsound Festival New York in 2010 and 2011, but now celebrate their very well received debut album and new single with a live A/V set.
SUN ARAW (USA): Since 2007 he’s released four albums, three EPs, and five cassettes featuring everything from psychedelic drone to melted Afrobeat, from warped dub to minimal composition. Sun Araw will perform with his band.
* THROWING SNOW (UK): is a producer writing everything from folk to dubstep. He also runs the label A Future Without.

* before name indicates New announcement

Further acts and specific details for events as well as detailed day-by-day press releases will be released shortly.

Additionally, Unsound Festival New York will feature experimental and unusual programming, all free to the public, under the heading Unsound LABS. Last year this programming preceded the main festival ticket; this year it will be integrated into the programming.

To support this, Unsound recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for Unsound LABS. The musical part of the LABS program matches artists to work, creating unique contexts for new performances. The results of these pairings will be presented in a series of daytime concerts at ISSUE Project Room in Brooklyn. The LABS program will feature talks, presentations, workshops, tours and different forms of discussion, as well as occasional one-off events in the city throughout the year. The Unsound LABS Kickstarter campaign, launched in an effort to expand the project in New York and beyond, will remain active until March 3, 2012. You can support Unsound Labs by visiting and pledging at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1463925974/unsound-labs-2012

You can also mark your calendars for October 2012 when Unsound Festival in Kraków, Poland is set to deliver its one of its most adventurous programs yet with a special Tenth Anniversary program showing just how far this festival has grown – from a small cellar in Kraków's Old Town into one of Europe's most prominent and influential festivals for electronic and experimental music..

Press Contact: Gamall Awad - Backspin Promotions
Email: g(AT)backspinpromo.com
Tumblr: http://backspinpromo.tumblr.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/backspinpromo

UNSOUND FESTIVAL NEW YORK 2012

WEDNESDAY APRIL 18th - full press releases forthcoming
THURSDAY APRIL 19th - full press releases forthcoming
FRIDAY APRIL 20th - full press releases forthcoming
SATURDAY APRIL 21st - full press releases forthcoming
SUNDAY APRIL 22nd - full press releases forthcoming

Unsound Festival New York is presented by Fundacja Tone, the Polish Cultural Institute New York and the Goethe-Institut New York

In Cooperation with Trust for Mutual Understanding, the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York and San Francisco, the Consulate General of Finland in New York, the Netherlands Cultural Service, European Commission Programme Culture, ECAS - European Cities of Advanced Sound

The Bunker, The Blackened Music Series, Communikey Festival, Dub War, The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, The Electronic Music Foundation, Goethe-Institut Wyoming Buidling, ISSUE Project Room, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Percussion Lab

Fundacja Tone is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 2008 to promote new forms of art, sonic and visual, initiating intercultural dialogue by fostering international collaborations. Based in Kraków, Fundacja Tone organizes Unsound Festival in Kraków. Like Unsound, Fundacja Tone is committed to promoting music and artists from the eastern side of the EU and creating bonds between the East and West of Europe. Fundacja Tone has realized various cultural projects thanks to support of, and in collaboration with, major Polish and international public institutions and partners..

The Polish Cultural Institute New York, established in 2000, is a diplomatic mission dedicated to nurturing and promoting cultural ties between the United States and Poland. The Institute initiates, organizes, promotes and produces a broad range of cultural events in theater, music, film, literature and the fine arts. It has collaborated with such cultural institutions as Lincoln Center Festival, BAM, Film Society of Lincoln Center, The Museum of Modern Art, Jewish Museum, PEN World Voices Festival, Yale University, and many more..

The Goethe-Institut New York is a branch of the Federal Republic of Germany's global cultural institute, established to promote the study of German and German culture abroad, encourage international cultural exchange, and provide information on Germany's culture, society, and politics.

The Biosphere and Lustmord Project TRINITY is commissioned by Unsound with the support of the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York and San Francisco and Communikey Festival in Boulder as a commissioning partner.

Links
Unsound
The Polish Cultural Institute New York
The Goethe-Institut New York
Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York & San Francisco