OFF Festival Katowice 2012: Stephen Malkmus and Saharan Guitar Tunes

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
We’ve finally stopped badgering him with questions about a Pavement reunion. That band is done and gone, and if you were into them, you had your chance to see them live. Now the leader of one of alternative rock’s most important bands can devote himself fully to his latest artistic incarnation, known to the world as Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks. Their latest album, Mirror Traffic, produced by Beck and released last year on Domino, proves yet again that while Malkmus may avoid the spotlight, he remains unsurpassed as a songwriter. But his songs are about more than just his signature sound and powerful melodies; make sure to notice the astute observations and wry wit in his lyrics.

Demdike Stare
The occult, dusty vinyl records, and VHS tapes: Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker have done their homework on 1960s psychedelic music and probably know the vintage cult horror flick canon by heart. The music of Demdike Stare is a dark yet fascinating blend of ambient and dub, while their movie clip-enhanced live shows are a once in a lifetime experience. Long gone are the days of heavy metal’s monopoly on scary music.

Group Doueh
Although they’ve been performing for going on 30 years, Group Doueh have been the best kept secret of the West Saharan city of Dakhla. They were discovered in 2005 by the legendary American record label Sublime Frequencies, whose head heard them on a Moroccan radio station. Since their 2009 tour of Europe alongside Omar Souleyman, Group Doueh have become media darlings and favorites on the festival circuit (including ATP, where the band was selected to perform by Animal Collective).
“The savage flipside to the careworn sound of Tinariwen.”
— Uncut
“It has a tone like a rusty knife; the track is a brain-laser. Can you take it?”
— The New York Times
“He effortlessly channels all the power of a sandstorm onto the six strings of his guitar.”
— Brainwashed

Coldair
A solo project by Kyst frontman Tobiasz Biliński. His downright poppy melodies and lo-fi sparseness have charmed audiences since his 2010 debut Persephone, but it’s only with last fall’s Far South that Coldair has truly spread its wings. “The possible comparisons and metaphors are endless, but what’s the point? For one, every listener will just choose their own, and — two — this isn’t the kind of album that encourages you to share your opinions. Quite the opposite: it’s wonderful to just listen to it in silence,” wrote one reviewer at T-Moble Music. And he’s right. Let’s have a moment of silence.

Napszykłat
The Poznań duo Robert Piernikowski and Marek Karolczyk march to the beat of their own drummer, exploring the area between experimental hip-hop, noise, and contemporary electronic music. Their 2011 album, Kultur Shock, is one of the most original alternative releases on the local music scene, while their collaboration with MC Dälek has won them attention throughout the hip-hop underground. It should surprise no one that the duo have been invited to perform everywhere from Slovakia to the UK and Japan. They’ll also be performing this year at the Primavera Sound Festival in Spain.

Levity
A jazz trio? Only at first listen. That might be where Levity started, but by 2010 they were boldly deconstructing our national composer on the excellent album Chopin Shuffle, which features collaborations with such artists as the legendary Japanese trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. They took their third record, Afternoon Delights (late 2011) even further. Jazz isn’t quite the right word: contemporary improvised music with a (post) rock bite would be a more appropriate description. The musicians in Levity have previously performed in such acts as Pink Freud, Profesjonalizm, Wojtek Mazolewski Trio/Quintet, and Trifonidis Orchestra.

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.