DOOM
You might have heard of Daniel Dumile through such projects as Danger Doom (with Danger Mouse) and Madvillain (with Madlib), but his main incarnation is the uncanny DOOM, known for many years as MF Doom, where MF was short for Metal Face: the rapper hides his face behind a steel mask. The artist earned respect and a following in the underground hip-hop world and outside the rap scene with his 1999 debut Operation: Doomsday, which drew praise for its original albeit hermetic style. Nowadays, DOOM records with the biggest names in the industry, but no longer as an underdog: he’s now one of the greatest, most charismatic figures in avant-garde hip-hop, and has even been noticed by Portishead, who invited him to last year’s ATP, which they curated.
Chrome Hoof performs "Hydrozagadka"
We’ve barely finished this year’s new and improved edition of OFF Club (featuring Barn Owl, A Hawk And A Hacksaw, and Tim Hecker performing the music to films by Wilhelm Sasnal, Sergei Parajanov, and Werner Herzog), and we’re already transplanting the idea into the OFF Festival! This time we’ve got something truly powerful in store for you: Andrzej Kondratiuk’s Hydrozagadka — featuring Ace, Poland’s first superhero, on the trail of Doctor Spot and other evil villains — will be screened with a new soundtrack arranged and performed by the UK’s Chrome Hoof. So what should you be expecting? Everything, really! Founded by the bassist of Cathedral, this orchestra combines funk, disco, metal, and jazz into a unique and colorful variety of futuresque music.
The Wedding Present performs Seamonsters
Founded in Leeds in 1985, this band was hailed as the worthy heirs to The Smiths by the enthusiastic British music press. And while The Wedding Present has suffered perennial lineup changes since all but their earliest years, they’ve managed to release a few albums that went on to become indispensable elements of the UK guitar rock scene of the late 80s and early 90s. Take, for instance, their third album, Seamonsters, produced by Steve Albini. And while The Wedding Present recently resurfaced with a successful ninth studio release (Valentina), their show at the OFF Festival will spirit us away to the year 1991 with a performance of Seamonsters in its entirety.
Snowman
This critically-acclaimed, Poznań-based group on the Kayax label debuted in 2009 with the album Lazy, and resurfaced last year with the record The Best is Yet to Come. Their original, multi-threaded music combines intelligent pop and jazz, charming you with poetic lyrics, only to lash out with bit of rock. Frontman Michał Kowalonek recently joined Myslovitz as the band’s new singer.
Łona / Webber
“Don’t ask where we’re coming from or where we’re going” the Szczecin-based rapper Łona rhymes on his latest record, Cztery i pół. We won’t ask: we’re just excited that his itinerary takes him through Katowice. Łona is a rare example of a rapper who bows down to no one and yet ties together the most disparate musical scenes, from true-school street rappers who admire his original style and craft, to occasional rap consumers who appreciate his irony and erudition. Either way, Łona is the absolute pinnacle of Polish hip-hop, and we’re glad to have him perform at the OFF Festival.
Tides From Nebula & Blindead
Blindead, the Tri-City act lead by an ex-guitarist of the band Behemoth, was the first group in Poland to explore the vast world of post-metal, reinterpreting the genre in their own, original fashion. Their explorations have thus far culminated in the astounding concept album Affliction XXIX II MXMVI, which tells the story of a girl stricken with autism and is one of the best records in the history of heavy Polish guitar music. Their good pals from the Warsaw quartet Tides From Nebula are known for their intense live shows and have won numerous awards. Even more significantly, the famous Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner called them up after seeing them live and offered to produce their next record, a collaboration that resulted in the excellent album Earthshine. What do Blindead and Tides From Nebula have in store for their first joint set? We don’t have a clue, but we’re preparing for the best…
Tickets and passes are available at the OFF Store on the official OFF Festival website, as well as through Seetickets in the UK.
Now available:
OFF 3-Day Festival Pass with or without Campground Access: 160/200 zł, provides access to all three days of the festival at Dolina Trzech Stawów, August 3 to 5. Listed prices are valid till June 11.
Who’s Doctor Spot? If that pseudonym doesn’t ring a bell, then you’d better brush up on classic Polish cinema! We recommend you start with Andrzej Kondratiuk’s Hydrozagadka, because this year’s OFF Festival will feature the British avant-garde group Chrome Hoof performing the music to this cult comedy live! The lineup in Katowice will also feature a certain artist known as DOOM, who jumped off the pages of Marvel comics to roam the streets of New York City.