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ANDY CLARKSON

Records are his life. The DJ's DJ...c'mon dee-jay play me one more song. Payback Hi-Fi resident and recent show-stealer from Andy Weatherall, in action at Venn for the first time. Tip your hat.

 

ANTON MAIOF

Acousmatic Composer Anton Maiof - known as the frontman of artful Bristol noise-rockers Geisha, for solo work as My Ambulance Is On Fire and as a member of Bronnt Industries Kapital - talks about the development of his latest project DTV, and its key hand built component 'The Orgoneophone'.
www.myspace.com/antonmaiof

 

ARNAUD REBOTINI

From disco to death metal, the Black Strobe main man's eclectic tastes cover many bases. Here the Gallic producer goes future primitive. No laptops, just vintage live electro/techno from his bank of analogue synths and drum machines. Releases on Vitalic's Citizen Records, Goodlife and Kling Klong.
www.myspace.com/arnaudrebotini

 

ARTAMANOVA feat. JONNY MATTOCK (ex-Spaceman 3/Spiritualized/Lupine Howl)

Conjures dirty great riffs alongside expansive atmospieces. From Russia via Bristol, she appears in hysterical art-noise duo Staff Panic Only Wall Unit and solo as White Nightie. This guise sees her on that wild edge between acoustic folk and low-tech electronics - in exclusive collaboration with JONNY MATTOCK, a master of drone-rock metronomy who kept things locked for both Spaceman 3 and Spiritualized when both bands were at their fiery, fuzzy peak.
www.myspace.com/artamonova

 

BANJO OR FREAKOUT

Bedroom explosions of broken analogue-hearted melody and splendour, casting one errant eye out upon the same lovelorn, dub-drizzled plains as Arthur Russell.
www.banjoorfreakout.blogspot.com

 

BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB

Deep, irresistable glitterball noir from enigmatic Frenchman Bernard Fevre, who formed the Disco Club in the late-seventies heyday of the genre. Rephlex Records rediscovered Fevre's work and found it a new, post-millenial dancefloor populated by disco kids looking for the 'freak' in 'freak-out'. It's here, kids. Fill your cosmic boots.
www.myspace.com/blackdevildiscoclub26

 

BLAZEY

Bristol resident and crowd murker extraordinaire, Blazey has been here since the birth of grime. Instigator of the mighty Subloaded night with DJ Pinch and the newest addition to the H.E.N.C.H family, he pledges to duppy Venn with a mish mash of thunderous grime, bassline and dubstep.
www.myspace.com/thedjblazey

 

THE BLESSING

Red hot Bristol jazzers with experience alongside Portishead, Robert Plant and the Super Furry Animals, sucking in deep and exhaling startlingly fresh gusts of brass-rock energy. Widescreen and future/retro but no subtitles needed.
www.theblessing.co.uk

 

BOP

Bristol based multi-disciplined artists Kathy Hinde and Teresa Dillon create special visual-sound pieces with a theatrical and electro-acoustic inspired twist. Here with N.I.P.
http://newinterfaces.net

 

BUCKY

The wildest, funnest two-piece pop/punk juggernaut in this or any state return to rollick Venn. Definitely a case of better late than never - Simon & Joff will have even the most timid crowd giggling, moshing and scratching their collective bonce at the sheer speed, energy and undisguised JOY of it all. Get Bucked.
www.buckytheband.com

 

CAMPARI SAFARI

Here from London town to bang the box, having played host to unhinged hoedowns at The Lock Tavern and Hoxton Bar and guested on BBC Radio 6. A fidget / acid 88 / distortion / techno / french touch love-in - or something to that effect.
www.myspace.com/campari_safari

 

CHEW MAGNA

‘I took a trip to the country, got lost, and ended up at a techno rave near Chew Magna…’ The husky-voiced Master Chaynjis singer meets Buoyancy main man Lukas and sparks fly. A jacking hybrid of scuzzed up electro, glitterball indie and farmhouse cider. All roads lead to North Somerset.
www.myspace.com/chewmagna

 

CHIK BUDO

Spiky young UK buccaneers with the dancefloor in their pocket but room for more. Channelling Lightning Bolt, Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem into a fearsome compound of bass, rhythm and no-wave noise with double-headed sax power. Skronk party.
www.myspace.com/chikbudo

 

CHRIS CUNDY

Single reed avant-wind blower. The man who puts the guile into The Guillemots draws all hell, parp and thunder from a bass clarinet the size of a man.
www.myspace.com/christophercundy

 

COREY ORBISON

Jittery no-wave with cut-up tunes and a nervous energy inherited from the stripped-down disco-thèque. Impulsive, rhythmic/off-rhythmic and erratic, the three-piece group boasts members of Headfall, Lesbo Pig and The Awkward Dancers.
www.myspace.com/coreyorbison

 

DAMIEN SCHNEIDER

Simplexity….an idea explored in Schneider's pursuit of the perfect balance between high-energy rhythms, elegant melodies, minimal sounds and full-on tracks. Floating somewhere between absolute control and improvised explosion, his marathon late night sets are legendary.
www.damienschneider.com

 

DAVE CRIDGE

Born & bred Bristolian Cridge found his musical roots in the late 80's alongside the seminal westside likes of DJ Die, The Wild Bunch and Smith & Mighty. Finding his groove in the rave scene, Cridge played at classic nights like Universe and Helter Skelter, and was also warm up DJ for The Prodigy - not to mention cutting globetrotting rhythms with Up, Bustle & Out and setting up Tribe Recordings (now with a dubstep arm, Tribe Steppaz). Here at Venn to give us a history lesson in drum & bass.
www.myspace.com/triberecordings

 

DAVID HOPKINSON

Artist, curator and mischief-maker David Hopkinson presents an intimate and humorous video-turntablist rove through his extensive audio/visual archives, reworking the familiar and fresh from years of obsessive collecting and constructing. Expect expertly manipulated moments from sundry sources including previous Venns, plus re-cut-up films and friends.
www.myspace.com/cuttingupmyfriends

 

DIRTY ELECTRONICS ENSEMBLE

Workshop followed by live performance led by John Richards, who brings his dirty electronics aesthetic to Venn in the form of the Sudophone: a DIY electronic instrument made from a junk tin can, oscillator and grip bolt. Come join the ensemble. A unique opportunity to make your own instrument and take part in a large group performance. The performance will include specially written pieces for the ensemble and instrument by Merzbow, Howard Skempton (founder of the Scratch Orchestra), Nic Bullen (ex Napalm Death and Scorn) and Gabriel Prokofiev.
www.jsrichards.com

 

DJ FETT

The 7" smasher from Berlin is coming to get you. DJ Fett is not afraid of getting his hands dirty - which is why he is able to concoct an enticing brew of crackling old soul 45s, strange beat, ecstatic jazz and German curiousities.
www.myspace.com/fettdj

 

DRINKS

Featuring members of Soeza and You & The Atom Bomb as well as Ali Chant, Bristol’s safest pair of studio hands, Drinks are a bona fide local supergroup. Musically they clang and coo a la The Sea & Cake, and pull off that subtle clean guitar swell like latter-era Sonic Youth on a jolly to Chicago - albeit via Lagos and Dusseldorf.

 

ERGO PHIZMIZ 'Forest: Part One'

Sound art's ingenious crown-freak conjures an enchanted Bavarian woodland made of twigs, cutlery, mechanical birds and constant, ever-evolving sound – and puts it in a room for Venn to enjoy. A three-day sonic fairytale installation at the Scout Hut.
www.ergophizmiz.com

 

ERRORSMITH

One half of legendary jacking cut-up techno duo Smith N Hack, Berlin's Errorsmith does it just as well on his own: rattling raw glitch-funk, fractured disco and crunchy house textures slapped about on the fly. From the city that knows how.
www.errorsmith.de

 

EVIL KITTY DJS

The only way to make the Venn finale make sense is to enlist these freak-rock-funk connoisseurs. OK, so it's..sitar swirlers, glam glitches, Turkish delights, Dutch nightmare funk, folk-rock flavours, pan-global psychedelic beats 'n' pieces and flat-out fuzz and hammond abuse.
www.myspace.com/evilkittyuk

 

FLYING LOTUS

From the family that brought you John and Alice Coltrane, self-schooled in Dre, J Dilla and dubstep. we give you Warp's Flying Lotus: a consumate LA craftsman delivering a live masterclass in beat machine bug-out and woozy electro jams. Has reshaped Kelis, Madvillain and Mr Oizo to great effect. Known to sink boats with his snares.
www.myspace.com/flyinglotus

 

FUCK BUTTONS

A bloodied but blissed-out smile of a sound from former Bristol homeboys signed to ATP. A truly exciting post noise/rave outfit that galvanises the UK's disparate underground music scenes.
www.myspace.com/fuckbuttons

 

THE FUNGUS MOTH

He cometh out of the dark into this world, playing creaky and cracked modern and antique sound snatches. This is home-brewed anarchic music for an unstable world. Highly recommended and has been releasing tapes since early 80's.

 

HAMMERFEST by I Am The Mighty Jungulator & Stephen Ireland

An unique blend of film, philosophy, literature and music, 'Hammerfest' is a remarkable re-imagining of the films of English silent-cinema pioneer, RW Paul. Using material from Paul's films and featuring an original IATMJ score as well as a Stephen Ireland narrative, Hammerfest explores Paul's work in the context of the environmental crisis, the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, and the folk-tale 'Snow White'. The result develop Paul's work into a metaphor for humankind's narcissistic relationship with the natural world.
www.iamthemightyjungulator.com

 

HAUSCHKA

Captivating Dusseldorf-based virtuoso who opens up his piano and playfully performs public operations on its innards using guitar strings, gaffer tape and other bits of junk. John Cage, Eric Satie and Indonesian gamelan all get a look in.
www.hauschka-net.de

 

THE HEADS

One of thee most consistently brilliant live act from Bristol in the last twenty years. The Heads in the flesh are a howling cyclone of psychedelic riffage that will blow everything from the neck upwards clean off - so enjoy their eye-popping light show while you can. A rock band, you might say.
www.theheadsrock.com

 

THE HELIOCENTRICS

A BIG band Venn highlight. This is a voyage into the real funkadelic shit from DJ Shadow's backing band. Saturated by the eternal groove, brimming with blown brass, hip-hop percussion and sample heavy vistas. Fans of Madlib, Ennio Morricone, James Brown and Portishead raise yr hands. 'Out There' out on Stones Throw.
www.myspace.com/heliocentrics

 

INFINITE LIVEZ VS STADE FEAT. JOY FREMPONG

Big Dada's puppet-wielding scourge of play-it-safe hip hop clubs together with his buddies, Swiss electro/jazz upstarts Stade. Like Roots Manuva caving in to the chaos.
www.myspace.com/vinnietifeilz

 

JOANIE LEMERCIER (ANTI VJ)

.Now focused on projections on volume, visual artist Joanie Lemercier has moved away from conventional 4:3 screens to using the actual architecture of a building/object/shape. His work explores the relations between projected light, optical illusions and perception. For this special collaboration with Murcof he will use the planetarium dome as a canvas.
www.antivj.com

 

JOE HART

Minimal fuss from this ex-Bristol dweller and resident of Bloc/Baselogic, Normalise and Westcountry Shakedown: just an arsenal of the choicest android funk, chunky italo and deadly disco firepower, patched together with a certain suave finesse by this field marshall of the freak zone. Handclaps at ten paces.
www.myspace.com/systemalive

 

JOHN FAIRHURST

Cut-glass English guitar folk with vibrant shades of Indian classicism. Fairhurst's debut album 'Joys Of Spring' was recorded in his shed, but is very much global in its scope. Different strokes recall Ravi Shankar, John Fahey and Burt Jansch, yet Fairhurst is taking his own distinctive strides.
www.myspace.com/johnfairhurst

 

JOHN WALL

A championed neo-classical sample collagist turned perennial sonic manipulator, sharing and breaking noise with friends the world over. Wall runs the gamut of the frequencies for Venn.
www.utterpsalm.com

 

K.NERS

A homegrown hip hop treat. K.NERS is the prize nag in the Cristal City stable, responsible for the finest raw raps and bumping West Coast beats to have emerged from these parts since Aspects. Hotfooting back from recording a Radio 1 live session just for us.
www.myspace.com/kners

 

KATAPULTO

Broken and smashed beat genius from Rzeszow, Poland in the shape of Katapulto. He wants to take over the UK music charts and pays tribute to Phil Collins, the 'King of England'. Katapulto is any siege engine which uses an arm to hurl a projectile a great distance (not always).A sense of excited buzzing trepidation surrounds this wrong artiste.

 

KOEN HOLTKAMP

Detailed fields of electronic rituals from a core member of key US outfit Mountains. Clear and lush horizontal soundscapes and luminous collages from subtly tweaked guitar and field recordings.
www.myspace.com/koenholtkamp

 

LAZERBOY

Lazerboy lives in a neon bunker & likes italo, electro, cosmic disco & romantic techno. Sometimes he leaves the bunker to play his favourite records for other people.
www.lazerboy.co.uk

 

LE VOLUME COURBE

Art house song par excellence. Charlotte Marionneau and her band channel the spirit of Nico, The Ramones and Yoko Ono into beautiful new songs. Her songs are full of sun drenched rooms and spooky corridors, occasionally she opens doors to let in friends such as Kevin Shields, Hope Sandoval and Keith Tenniswood.
www.myspace.com/levolumecourbe

 

MATMOS WITH J. LESSER

A rare UK appearance for the supremely intricate electronix hi-jinx duo. Bjork's favourite sailors of sample culture's seas present concepts and sounds carefully dissected, assembled and sequenced into outlandish but frankly awe-inspiring tracks. Poetical, political and beat savvy, San Fran's most mischievous are touting synth-tastic new album 'Supreme Balloon'.
http://brainwashed.com/matmos

 

MC MABON

AKA Gruff Meredith: formerly 'G-Man' in legendary Welsh politico hip-hop outfit Tystion, andgenre-hopper par excellence. His idiosyncratic take on Welsh life is these days rooted in a fertile (though slightly pongy) bed of anarchic guitarrista-rockabilly-rap. His latest album, 'Jonez Williamz', was recorded in the small Patagonian desert town of Gaiman- the first Welsh-language record to be made in the former Wels colony. Expect tales of mad dogs, air hostesses, and an unhealthy farm machinery fetish.
www.myspace.com/mcmabon

 

MOHA!

A jaw-dropping trainwreck at the junction of punk, skrunk and electronix from two crazed Norwegian spirits with links to Jaga Jazzist and Noxagt. Irresistable churning tides of the good hard stuff.
www.myspace.com/themoha

 

MORITZ VON OSWALD

This is deep. He of Basic Channel and Rhythm and Sound who reinvented techno and dub, laying the sleek and seminal guidelines for minimal technoids such as Hawtin and Villalobos to ghost along in later years. Nowadays this dance music legend is more dubbed-up than ever.
www.basicchannel.com

 

MUNCH MUNCH

Tenderfoot two-cum-foursome working to a gloriously corrupted pop logic, with Vitamin C synths and poly-rhythms beaten out on the rim of chaos via 2 drumkits. Venn opens the trapdoor to yet more Bristol weirdness and it's a wonderful thing.
www.myspace.com/munchmunchband

 

MURCOF

The consummate Mexican king of rich, drone-laden techno timbre plays two very special audio-visual shows at the At-Bristol Planetarium.
www.murcof.com

 

NANCY ELIZABETH

She has one the most gently powerful voices, her folk is enchanted but matter of fact and her arrangements are to die for. Nancy Elizabeth is going to be backed by drummer and multi-instrumentalist Paddy Steer to make the music even more luscious and vivacious. She will steal your heart and amuse.
www.nancyelizabeth.co.uk

 

OCTOBER

Julian Smith and his Caravan label are under eager watch. Under the guise of October he combines forensic sampling and audio recording with a radical remodelling of the synthetic and rhythmic principles of techno music. Absorbing fractured beats and Perlon-esque vocal edits he has swung dancefloors in Berlin and Bristol.
www.myspace.com/djoctober

 

OLO WORMS

Stream of consciousness daydreams punctuated with found sounds, flights of surrealist fancy, field recordings and tuti-fruiti sing-songs from the sprawling multi-media collective that is Olo Worms.
http://oloworms.blogspot.com/

 

PAUSAL

Micro-orchestral insect music played with beautiful economy and minimalist repetition. Has played with Stars Of The Lid and released on Highpoint Lowlife. Joined by dreamy moving images.
http://pausal.net

 

PEVERELIST

The Punch Drunk Records boss also releases advanced dubstep and is a killer DJ. Arriving at a sound which references dubstep, techno and electronica whilst remaining thoroughly unique. He has re-mixed Pole, his releases on Skull Disco get caned by Luciano and Surgeon, and he moves air with bass.
www.myspace.com/punchdrunkrecords

 

PHILIP JECK

Turntable/vinyl obsessive but not your average crate digger. This renowned sound artist coaxes eerie half-remembered textures from the surface noise and locked grooves of junk shop vinyl. A master of the art of decay like Fennesz or William Basinksi.
www.philipjeck.com

 

PHIL MINTON'S CENTURY FC

100 feral voices from Bristol's communities, all trained by vocalist extraordinaire Phil Minton, and given a platform to perform their unique composition. Really like nothing you will ever hear again. A unique set of voices go in discovery of the instinctive and unusual with startling results. MORE
www.philmintonsferalchoir.com

 

POLE

Heavy pulsating 21st century dubness from the ~scape label boss. A huge influence on a whole new generation of computer musicians, this is warm-blooded machine funk that inhabits the cracks between dub-step, techno and the art of glitch.
www.myspace.com/poleartist

 

PUNKSI

Course he had to play. A gloriously sketchy stew of Balkan, dubstep, house, breakcore, blagbeat, (Sea)bass and whatever random discs of fun lurk on the floor in his car. ADD'd and proud of it. Venn calls him family.
www.myspace.com/punksi

 

RACHEL UNTHANK & THE WINTERSET

Forging links between the folk worlds old, new and other, Rachel and her set have blown a bracing north-easterly gale through traditional English song, casting it in an endlessly inventive and playful new mould.
www.rachelunthank.com

 

SKELETONS & THE KINGS OF ALL CITIES

Like the Dirty Projectors, New Yorkers the Skeletons smash pop into base particles and reconstitute it with love. Languid funk/soul figures, glory jazz, afrobeat and Animal Collective mania wrapped up in a sweet fleshy mass.
www.myspace.com/skeletonsandthegirlfacedboys

 

SIMON WHETHAM

The sounds of the rainforest replayed in high definition. Sound recordist/artist supported by Venn on his trip to the Amazon Rainforest region of Brazil as part of the Mamori Sound Project, who took part in a residential field recording workshop based there as run by Francisco Lopez. These recordings document his amazing experience.
www.myspace.com/simonwhetham

 

SNORKEL

A six piece serve ball into territories such as afro-kraut and post-jazz-rock and electronica. Infused with tribal undertow and sonic atmospheres this band come at us from all areas.
www.myspace.com/bandsnorkel

 

'SPEND THE AFTERNOON WITH SUNBURNED' with THE MICHAEL FLOWER BAND + ICE BIRD SPIRAL + SUNBURNED SIDE PROJECTS

This band of brothers/sisters follows no rules. This very afternoon, they are launching into new projects, solo shows and bringing in special guests. We know there will be ecstatic rock, wild drone and electronics. The performances could also involve The Drifter, theatre, comedy, The Clear People, films and action painting. They do their own thing so well, Venn has given them the boat. Highly recommended.
www.myspace.com/icebirdspiral | www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-tVn_v4sNA

 

SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN

Raw freak out. Playing Venn In FULL band mode and special unit sets. This set of maverick music makers unleash a vast sound - from short and sweet sonic assaults to crazed funk jams and sprawling half-hour rockers. Like a wild jungle river, you never know what is round the bend. The real deal.
www.myspace.com/sunburnedhandoftheman

 

TIGHT FIT

Shake it all up at high velocity. These two ladies squeeze out booty shake and electro anthems for MonkeyKnifeFight!. They bang faces and make Lions roar where ever they drop.
www.myspace.com/tightfitmusic

 

TOKTEK

'Illogical hardware bending' from this Dutch sonic scientist, The outcomes or electronic 'songs' are played via hacked joysticks and various objects (plastic toys, records etc), creating wild tracks with colourful visual impact.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr4BzdZb7Cg

 

TRACTOR

Hardcore sound colour saturation from Bristol's scorching and embattled 3 piece. Wake up and smell the oil.
www.superfirecords.co.uk/tractor

 

TWOCSINAK

The tears of this clown run down his long cheek. A sonic manipulator whose mischievous, self-obsessed and carefully constructed sound world is delivered live in manners most surprising. Bound to beautifully dada up the place.
www.myspace.com/twocsandsarah

 

UBERDOG

A driving force behind Bristol's notorious Toxic Dancehall parties and culture portal spannered.org, Uberdog's DJ sets are like Haile Selassie cross-pollinating Chas & Dave with the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.
www.spannered.org

 

THE WAILINGEST CATS

From out of nowhere and everywhere comes a very cinematic shake down of rockin' ramshackle, doom-jazz hell-bebop. Hard, angular guitars, hip rhythms, crushing keys and sax are deployed with beatific decorum. Howl.
www.myspace.com/decorumrecords

 

WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS

Tremendously hot, exotic property. A boy and a girl from Sweden sing sweet and raw. Newly signed to Leaf, with songs that melt down glaciers. Mary Margaret O'Hara with whiskey or Kate Bush with wings.
www.wildbirdsandpeacedrums.com

 

ZUNZUNEGUI

Bristol-based band who mark a wild, musically lawless and HIGHLY danceable path somewhere between El Guincho and Oxbow. Throw in Konono No. 1 melodic surges, Boredoms-like sonic barrages and Kushal Gaya, a totemic Mauritian frontman who prowls his stage domain like a wounded panther.
www.myspace.com/zunzunegui