Unsound Releases Second Round of Artists For 2023 Kraków Festival. Unsound Three-Night Club Passes on Sale

LINEUP SO FAR (new artists in bold):

¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U (JP) / 33EMYBW & Joey Holder (CN/UK) - premiere / 3Phaz (EG) / 7038634357 (US) / Ale Hop & Laura Robles pres. Agua Dulce (PE) / Autechre (UK) / Blawan (UK) - live / claire rousay & Martyna Basta (US/PL) - premiere / DADABOTS (US) / Dawuna (US) / DJ Babatr (VZ) / DJ K (BR) / dreamcrusher vs. Kill Alters (US) / Dynasonic (PL) / Heinali pres. Kyiv Eternal (UA) / HiTech (US) / Iceboy Violet (UK) / IFS MA (JP/PL) / Jennifer Walshe (IR) / Julia Reidy (AU) / KAKUHAN feat. Adam Gołębiewski (JP/PL) - premiere / Kitty Sarcasm b2b Semprey (PL) / Lee Gamble pres. Models with Candela Capitán & Jacqueline Sobiszewski (UK/ES/PL) - premiere / Lonnie Holley (US) / LustSickPuppy (US) / Mabe Fratti feat. I. La Católica, Hubert Zemler & Spółdzielnia Muzyczna contemporary ensemble (GT/MX/PL) - premiere / Marginal Consort (JP) / Meuko! Meuko! & NONEYE pres. 無形將軍 Invisible General : e2 - premiere (TW) / Natural Wonder Beauty Concept (DJ Python & Ana Roxanne) (US) / Negativland & SUE-C (US) / Nick León (US) - European live premiere / Nikki Nair (US) / Ojoo (MA) / OPLA (PL) / PLF (Elvin Brandhi, Lukas Koenig, Peter Kutin) (AT/UK) /

Rama (EG) / Raphael Rogiński presents Žaltys feat. Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė (PL/LT) - premiere / Robert Piotrowicz pres. Afterlife (PL) - premiere / Rosa Pistola (CO/MX) / Rrose plays Prière de toucher A/V (US) / Shapednoise & Sevi Iko Dømochevsky pres. Absurd Matter (IT/ES) / Sherelle b2b VTSS (UK/PL) / Teoniki Rożynek & Aleksandra Słyż pres. And The Sun Stood Still (PL) / Tirzah (UK) / Toumba (JO) - live premiere / Voice Actor (UK) / Zaumne (PL) / Ziúr - EYEROLL with Elvin Brandhi, Iceboy Violet & Sander Houtkruijer (DE/UK/NL) + MORE TBC SOON

Unsound takes place in Kraków between October 1 - 8 centred around the theme Dada, and it’s time to announce a second round of names, programmed in consultation with AIAD, our Artificially Intelligent Artistic Director. (AIAD has become more irritating throughout the year, taunting humans for a lack of decisiveness – yet also questioning our decisions). A big third round of artist names arrives on August 22, when tickets to all individual events go on sale along with the full program. 

While full Unsound passes are sold out, we’re now selling a limited number of Unsound Club Passes, which cover late-night events from October 5 – 7. We’re pleased to announce that included in the club pass is the Unsound debut of Tirzah, whose idiosyncratic yet moving experimental pop is rooted in UK garage, grime and R&B. 

Also already on sale are tickets to Autechre on Friday October 6. Joining the bill that night is Guatemala’s Mabe Fratti, who we can now reveal will rearrange and revisit her discography and perform new works for a special presentation accompanied by I. La Católica on heavy guitars, Warsaw's Hubert Zemler on percussion, and winds from Kraków's Spółdzielnia Muzyczna contemporary ensemble. Opening is the live premiere of Robert Piotrowicz’s Afterlife, where uncanny fictional organ pieces create a bold and shimmering mass. Fired up by the spirit of dada and data, composer and vocalist Jennifer Walshe will draw on material from her album A Late Anthology to give a brief, unique performance. 

Focusing on new material from their album Please Touch, Rrose will present a special live set incorporating imagery from Dada films from the 1920s – a fitting choice, considering their artist name derives from Marcel Duchamp's alter ego. Following their Ephemera Festival concert in Warsaw, Teoniki Rożynek and Aleksandra Słyż will further develop the Ephemera-commissioned piece And the Sun Stood Still, inspired by the primal mysticism of the sun and involving electronics, a brass section and voice. Also further developing a commission at Ephemera, Ukraine’s Heinali will present a live version of Kyiv Eternal, collagaging pre-war field recordings from Kyiv with contemporaneous footage of the city collected from the public via an open call.

A/V shows in the Unsound Club Pass include Taiwan's Meuko! Meuko! & NONEYE presenting the premiere of 無形將軍 Invisible General : e2, investigating mythology, tech-animalism and gaming culture. Italy’s Shapednoise teams up with Sevi Iko Dømochevsky to present the A/V show Absurd Matter, spiralling around the two poles of extreme noise and hip-hop. Ziúr brings to life the restless, radical sound of her new album Eyeroll, joined by Iceboy Violet, Elvin Brandhi and visual artist Sander Houtkruijer. Polish producer Zaumne appears in the wake of his album Parfum, filled with dub-pop, ASMR whispers, and dreamlike ambient.

Following the release of PANICO NO SUBMUNDO, Nyege Nyege presents the European premiere of DJ K’s Brazilian funk mutations, encapsulating São Paulo's Bruxaria sound. Following his brilliant Hessle Audio and Nervous Horizon releases, Jordan’s Toumba will present a premiere live set. Detroit trio HiTech bring their energetic blend of street rap, jit and full-throttle techno with a live show that’s taking the world by storm. Following a legendary pre-pandemic Unsound show, dreamcrusher returns to play a special set alongside fellow New Yorkers Kill Alters traversing noise, digital hardcore, electronics, punk and beyond. Polish producer duo IFS and Japanese rapper MA team up for the live premiere of REIFSMA, a collective ritual at 160bpm. DJ sets include Colombia's Rosa Pistola, who triumphantly returns to Unsound, Egypt's Rama, and Kraków’s own Semprey who goes b2b with Wrocław’s Kitty Sarcasm.

Note: the venue for club events is Kamienna 12, which we’ll especially prepare for Unsound in appearance and practical terms. As much as we wish it could be otherwise, Hotel Forum remains unavailable. We are always looking for alternatives, but finding unique venues in a city in the throes of gentrification is no easy task.

But if you would like a little taste of Hotel Forum, then come along to the Unsound opening party on Wednesday October 4 at 89, the former strip club that lies beneath, about the only part of the building’s interior that remains wonderfully intact. Headlining is Blawan, who will play a live set following the release his brilliant new EP Dismantled Into Juice. Note: this event is not included in either the Unsound Pass or Club Pass, and tickets will go on sale on August 22, along with the full lineup.

Finally, tickets are now also on sale to a performance by Japanese ensemble Marginal Consort. We’re delighted that this rare three-hour show will take place in the glorious 19th-century tram hall at The Museum of Engineering and Technology, the first Unsound event there in 5 years, taking place in the afternoon on Saturday October 7th. Remember, this event is not included in the Unsound Pass.

The free Unsound daytime discourse program will embrace the spirit of Dada as well as its shadow theme Data. Jennifer Walshe – who performs in the music program – will give a new presentation called 13 Ways of Looking at AI. Unsound will also collaborate with leading independent publishers in contemporary thought, with Urbanomic’s Amy Ireland and Maya B. Kronic premiering their Cute Accelerationism manifesto, while Ignota’s Susanna Davies-Crook with Sarah Shin will curate a series of meditative journeys titled Body in the Form of a Planet. Polish digital artist and curator Kat Zavada will team up with Dazed’s Günseli Yalcinkaya for an AI-fueled workshop, generating new ideologies and alternative concepts of statehood, appropriating alt-right discourse. Günseli will also host a panel discussion exploring the possibilities of AI and spiritual practices within music creation.

Dutch media theorist Geert Lovink will unveil his latest research into Dreamful Computing and join the performance of the UKRAiNATV crew – one of the winners of the Unsound 2023 open call. Another winner of the open call is legal scholar and researcher Zachary Cooper, who will share his ongoing study into state dependency on techno-architectures, investigating nonsense and incoherence as emancipatory practices. 

Remember: the next announcement is coming on August 22nd, when individual tickets go on sale.

Unsound is made possible thanks to the financing from the City of Kraków as well as many partners. Unsound is also a member of SHAPE+ platform co-financed by the Creative Europe programme. 2023 performances of Heinali, Ojoo, Candela Capitán, and Martyna Basta are supported by SHAPE+.