Unsound at Bozar

19:30 - 20:30 | Piotr Kurek presents ‘Smartwoods' with visuals by Tomasz Kowalski

Taking his cues from early and post-medieval composition, baroque and experimental jazz, Warsaw-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Piotr Kurek doesn't shackle himself to the past, instead using experimental digital techniques to propose an uncanny possible future. His music is centered on the human voice – something best witnessed on the theatrical Peach Blossom (2023) – but Kurek has an innate ability to dance between the organic and the artificial, smearing his lush instrumentation into expressionistic electro-acoustic portraits on World Speaks and propagating shapeshifting, hypnagogic root systems on the acclaimed Smartwoods. For Unsound, he teams up with Belgian musicians, including bass player Federico Stocchi.

The show will feature visuals by Polish artist Tomasz Kowalski, responsible for the Smartwoods album art and the visual identity of Unsound Brussels.

20:45 - 21:45 | EGO DEATH (Aho Ssan & Resina)

EGO DEATH is a collaboration between French electronic artist Aho Ssan and the Polish composer/cellist Resina. The duo first met as contributors to Nicolás Jaar's Weavings and quickly discovered a powerful musical connection, developed further with Unsound. Pitchfork says Aho Ssan's sonic art “feels like a snapshot of something being torn at the molecular level," while The Quietus lauds Resina's "evocative sound-world... moving from dreamily luminous to unnervingly dark." Together, these two cutting-edge creators have created a confrontational, complex and entrancing soundscape for this exciting festival edition.  

22:00 - 23:00 | Rainy Miller presents 'Joseph, What Have You Done'

Born and bred in the north of England, Rainy Miller received an early taste of the grime scene when it travelled upwards from London in the mid '00s, offering the dispirited youth a kinetic output for their creativity. Years later, that spirit still haunts the foundations of his sound, a blend of drill, experimental R&B, noise and murky ambience that Miller open-heartedly describes as "therapy". In the last few years, he's worked alongside his friends Space Afrika and Blackhaine, galvanising his idiosyncratic identity on a run of acclaimed solo releases that culminated with 2022's emotional Desquamation (Fire, Burn. Nobody). And his live performances feed off this energy – confrontational, noisy, genre-agnostic transmissions straight from the heart of an artist who's constantly pushing culture towards a more equitable, more open-minded future.