Aiming to unite contrasting narratives, art forms and music genres, the first release ever by Unsound Festival from Krakow (Poland) is finally here! Titled Intermission, it includes both a book and album that embody the intersectional elements of the past year, reflecting on a critical time for the music world. Inspired by a precarious era, Intermission documents the year of 2020 with contributions from musicians, artists and authors. Intended as a time capsule, the release comes as a response to a year of disruption, made up of words, field recordings and music.
The project comes as an extension of Unsound 2020’s online festival, they explain that the title Intermission comes from "a break in a performance or production, here it also refers to the rupture caused by Covid-19, a period starkly separating before from after. The word, therefore, embodies multiple, and somehow contradictory, forces.” The book includes memoir, critical texts and poetry, with twenty-five written pieces that reflect on a number of themes that have come to define life over the last year. From racism, LGBTQ+ rights, mental health in the era of isolation, the uncertainty of music-making and field recording, nostalgia and identity.
Written works feature a mixture of journalists, novelists, poets, theorists, curators and activists including American DJ Jace Clayton, poet and musician Moor Mother, artist and writer S.J Norman and Polish feminist and social activist Sylwia Chutnik. In a period of looking at how we can make the world a better place, artist and writer Andrew Brooks addresses anti-Black violence and listening as a mode of solidarity, breath and futurity, in his passage, Five Propositions on Listening and Breath. An excerpt from the text reads, “the world can neither be stilled nor silenced. While humans can only hear certain frequencies, we can feel much more of the vibrational choreography of the world. Listening is an embodied event, a modality of contact. Such a model of listening brings us into contact with the world in all of its relationality.”
The album, which will be released digitally and on double vinyl, presents new and unreleased music in a collaborative body of work. Featuring carefully collected music from a variety of electronic and innovative artists, the tracks offer an atmosphere of serenity and reflection, mixed in with a dark undertone. Whispered pulses of field recordings and electric sound mixing are the essence of the album. Artists featured on the compilation include collaborations from the late experimental pop artist and producer Sophie, whose music is known for its unique and intoxicating sound design, and unconventional arrhythmic electronic artist Jlin, along with Weavings, conceived, curated and mixed by Nicolás Jaar, who continues to push the boundaries of music with his inventive, hypnotic electronic sounds. Other artists include Polish musician Mala Herba and Icelandic Ben Frost.
Diversity is at the core of the project, drawing from a collection of artists from contrasting spheres of background and sound. The combination of Intermission’s text and audio creates a unique realm of inner and external reflection, illuminating the different ways of navigating through the world in its new state. You’ll definitely want to get your hands on this multi-angled response to the events that have taken place over the last year.
Written works feature a mixture of journalists, novelists, poets, theorists, curators and activists including American DJ Jace Clayton, poet and musician Moor Mother, artist and writer S.J Norman and Polish feminist and social activist Sylwia Chutnik. In a period of looking at how we can make the world a better place, artist and writer Andrew Brooks addresses anti-Black violence and listening as a mode of solidarity, breath and futurity, in his passage, Five Propositions on Listening and Breath. An excerpt from the text reads, “the world can neither be stilled nor silenced. While humans can only hear certain frequencies, we can feel much more of the vibrational choreography of the world. Listening is an embodied event, a modality of contact. Such a model of listening brings us into contact with the world in all of its relationality.”
The album, which will be released digitally and on double vinyl, presents new and unreleased music in a collaborative body of work. Featuring carefully collected music from a variety of electronic and innovative artists, the tracks offer an atmosphere of serenity and reflection, mixed in with a dark undertone. Whispered pulses of field recordings and electric sound mixing are the essence of the album. Artists featured on the compilation include collaborations from the late experimental pop artist and producer Sophie, whose music is known for its unique and intoxicating sound design, and unconventional arrhythmic electronic artist Jlin, along with Weavings, conceived, curated and mixed by Nicolás Jaar, who continues to push the boundaries of music with his inventive, hypnotic electronic sounds. Other artists include Polish musician Mala Herba and Icelandic Ben Frost.
Diversity is at the core of the project, drawing from a collection of artists from contrasting spheres of background and sound. The combination of Intermission’s text and audio creates a unique realm of inner and external reflection, illuminating the different ways of navigating through the world in its new state. You’ll definitely want to get your hands on this multi-angled response to the events that have taken place over the last year.
