OFF Festival Katowice 2012: Summer Loving
With all the noisy announcements of the past few weeks, it’s time for a breath of fresh air: The House of Love, King Creosote, Jon Hopkins, and Nerwowe Wakacje will be performing at this year’s OFF Festival Trójka Stage.
The House of Love
There’s no mistaking the sound of British indie rock from the turn of the 80s and 90s: catchy tunes sprinkled here and there with a touch of noise and psychedelia. The House of Love whetted their fans’ appetites with two years’ worth of excellent EPs before finally coming out with their debut album in the spring of 1988, a release that won them critical acclaim and a cult status among audiences. The group broke up just three records later, but luckily went back on stage and into the studio in 2005, giving us the album Days Run Away. It’s about time we saw this British legend live.
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins
What could a folk bard possibly have in common with a musician steeped in experimental electronic music? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Kenny Anderson, a Scottish singer/songwriter who performs under the name King Creosote, and Jon Hopkins, the London-based producer who’s worked with such artists as Imogen Heap, Brian Eno, and Coldplay, came out with a collaborative album titled Diamond Mine on Domino Records in the spring of 2011. The LP is a breathtaking combination of King Creosote’s subtle hymns and Hopkin’s field recordings and minimal beats. Their prestigious Mercury Award nomination and appearances on many of last year’s Top 10 British album lists thus comes as no surprise.
Nerwowe Wakacje
Founded in 2007 by Jacek Szabrański (of The Car is on Fire) and Michał Szturomski (Afro Kolektyw), Nerwowe Wakacje take inspiration from Polish classics such as Skaldowie and Czerwone Gitary, but it’s clear that the artists grew up on British alternative rock. There’s something retro about them, and yet they’re 100% fresh. The debut release by Nerwowe Wakacje, subversively titled Polish Rock, was one of the best albums to come out of the local music scene in 2011. Yet it wasn’t as much about giving us a some new choruses to hum as it was about provoking a debate about the identity of Polish popular music.
We’d like to remind everyone that tickets and passes are now on sale at the OFF Store at the OFF Festival website as well as the ticket sales network Seetickets (UK) .
The following tickets and passes are currently available:
1. 3-Day Festival OFF Passwith or without Campground Access: 120/160 PLN — provides access to all three days of the festival at Dolina Trzech Stawów, August 3 to 5.
2. 4-Day Festival OFF Pass with or without Campground Access: 160/200 PLN — provides access to all events on August 2 as well as all three days of the festival at Dolina Trzech Stawów, August 3 to 5.
3. OFF Before Party Ticket: 75 PLN — provides access to concerts at the Katowice Cultural Center and Hipnoza (Matthew Herbert, Alva Noto, Nils Frahm, Sleep Party People).
Remember! Prices listed above are only valid until April 16.