Unsound Festival returns to the town of its birth - Krakow, Poland - this October 13th to October 20th for its 11th edition.

For the last few years Unsound Festival has chosen a specific theme as a way of exploring and organizing the program around a basic concept, which is then elaborated on via the selection of artists. In 2013 the theme for Unsound is INTERFERENCE. This relates to the physics of sound, including the overlay of varied sound waves and rhythms, distortion, disrupted audio, sonic disturbance, and the act of obstructing or impeding. More than ever before, these elements are used in a wide range of contemporary music, from the developing noise scene to ever- evolving club music.

Additionally, the theme will be explored for its social and cultural significance, questioning the meaning of "underground" in today's networked, commodified and data-driven world. INTERFERENCE will set this year’s Unsound festival on the amorphous border between entertainment and challenging experience, often playing against the easy consumption of music and demanding engagement from audiences. You won't find huge headliners at Unsound. It won't be transmitted via the Internet in easy video chunks. But for one week the festival will create a unique temporary autonomous zone for audience and artists alike that will feel like nowhere else.

The theme will also manifest itself via the placement of unique installations and performances in unusual spaces.

An example of this will be "Sleep Concert" by ambient music legend ROBERT RICH. Robert’s San Francisco sleep concerts of the 1990s were legendary affairs, lasting throughout the night, but he has not performed this way before a live audience since 1996. Expect more details soon, and in the meantime be sure to get your sleeping bags and feather pillows ready.

Unsound Festival is also delighted to announce that PORTER RICKS will perform their first live show in many years at the festival. Thomas Köner and Andy Mellwig were pioneers in blurring and bending the line between the dance floor and experimental "listening experience", as captured on their seminal techno album "Biokinetics", originally issued on Chain Reaction and re-released last year on Type Records. 

Drone doom pioneers EARTH will also feature as a key point in the program, performing for the first time in Poland. Headed throughout the years by Dylan Carlson, their influence can be widely felt, most directly on Sunn O))), who formed as a tribute band to EARTH. EARTH marks the inclusion of more guitar-based music than usual in this year's program, especially sounds arranged via unique / distinct application of reverb or feedback.

ROBERT HENKE aka MONOLAKE - who has a long association with Unsound - will present a brand new show. Derived from his recent installation works, LUMIÈRE promises to not only manifest itself as a radical sonic experience, but also provide a massive yet ephemeral visual counterpoint. Two powerful lasers will draw repeating shapes, symbols, incomprehensible signs and ultra short pulses of light whilst an autonomous audio engine creates rhythmical structures, intense grids of bass and spectral noises.

KING MIDAS SOUND will make their long-overdue debut appearance at Unsound. This comes on the heels of their critically acclaimed “Aroo” EP, released on Ninja Tune, which is set to be followed by an album also exploring a sound the band describes as "My Bloody Valentine in dub", with walls of immersive guitar.

The Swedish trio FIRE! is also confirmed to appear. This supergroup featuring saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling (Tape) and drummer Andreas Werliin (Wildbirds & Peacedrums) is known for vibrant compositions and explorations that incorporate jazz, psychedelia, krautrock and punk, clashing genres against one another to wonderful effect.

As in recent years, Unsound will again have a strong representation of artists from across the Atlantic. Los Angeles duo TROPIC OF CANCER will celebrate their new autumn album on Blackest Ever Black with a live show that promises to expand on their dark, textured sound.

New York's PHARMAKON is also programmed, a female artist who has broken the boundaries of the male dominated noise scene with her debut album "Abandon", of which the New York Times said: "She makes whatever is one step beyond ominousness — music that suggests actual collapse or apocalypse rather than the coming of it."

Unsound will also look to America for the initial acts to be announced for two club music nights, presented again at the incredible Hotel Forum, an abandoned communist-era hotel reanimated by Unsound last year after lying empty for a decade.

First up, Unsound is pleased to announce that another musical pioneer, R.P. BOO, will perform his first ever European show at Unsound. His recent album, "Legacy" (Planet Mu), has brought him to the fore as the core originator of Chicago's Footwork movement. Boomkat called “Legacy”: "a mind-blowing meeting of immediate function and practically avant-garde aesthetics. Ask us: we'll tell you this is the best original Footwork LP by a mile, and a pivotal moment in the history of electronic music."

Additionally, Unsound is inviting New Jersey's DJ QU to bring his don’t-give-a-damn-about-hype, highly artistic take on modern club music, labeled by some as "dark house"; it reminds people that techno and house have shared roots.

Looking to the UK, Unsound is pleased to announce the inclusion of KARENN - BLAWAN and PARIAH's live project, based entirely around analogue hardware. Karenn is part of a long lineage of dark industrial techno reaching back to the 1990's, and their extreme sound has helped kick off a new revival of interest in this strain of music.

Club nights will also feature Belgium’s STELLAR OM SOURCE, fresh off releasing an album for the ever-expanding RVNG label. The record marks a radical shift from her drifting synth soundscapes into a beat-driven techno/house hybrid, and was mixed and arranged by Kassem Mosse. HELENA HAUFF - resident DJ at Golden Pudel Club in Hamburg - will present a wild, shape-shifting set incorporating everything from electro and ghettotech to industrial sounds.

And as ever, of course, Unsound Festival will spotlight Polish acts. The first confirmed Polish act is STEFAN WESOŁOWSKI, who will debut a show based on his album "Liebestod" (Important Records) at Unsound. Until now, Stefan is perhaps best known for working with Jacaszek on string arrangements for his "Treny" album. ”Liebestod” and his live show will reveal his own haunting sound, drawing on post-classical elements, electronics and field recordings. His band will feature trombone, tuba and cello, with Stefan on piano, violin and electronics.

Expect more artist names soon!

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ANNOUNCED LINE UP SO FAR:

DJ QU (USA)
EARTH (USA) - Polish Premiere
FIRE! (SE)
HELENA HAUFF (DE) - Polish Premiere
KARENN (BLAWAN & PARIAH) (UK) - Polish Live Premiere
KING MIDAS SOUND (UK)
PHARMAKON (USA) - Polish Premiere
PORTER RICKS (DE) - Polish Premiere
ROBERT HENKE (AKA MONOLAKE) PRESENTS: LUMIÈRE (DE) - World Premiere
ROBERT RICH PRESENTS: SLEEP CONCERT (USA) – Polish Premiere
R.P. BOO (USA) - European Premiere
STEFAN WESOŁOWSKI PRESENTS LIEBESTOD (PL) – Album Launch
STELLAR OM SOURCE (BE)
TROPIC OF CANCER (USA) - Polish Premiere

+ MUCH MORE TO COME!