The Unsound festival will take place in Krakow for the seventeenth time from 6th to 13th of October. This year theme will be “Solidarity” and there’s third Artist Announcement.

New additions to the music program include:

○  700 Bliss (US) ○ Badsista b2b Cashu (BR) ○ Balázs Pándi & Mikołaj Trzaska (HU/PL) ○ Bambounou b2b Lutto Lento(FR/PL, world premiere) ○ Bartosz Kruczyński & Poly Chain (PL/UA) ○ Burnt Friedman & João Pais Filipe (DE/PT, world premiere) ○ DJ Python (US) ○ Dominik Strycharski Core + Orkiestra Ursus present URSUS Symphony Live (PL, world premiere) ○ FOQL & Edka Jarząb present Mother Earth’s Doom Vibes (PL) ○ HHY & The Kampala Unit present Omutaba Lithium Blast (PT/UG) ○ Hildur Guðnadóttir presents Chernobyl feat. Chris Watson & Sam Slater (IS/UK, world premiere) ○ Klein presents Lifetime (UK) ○ Kwartludium (PL, world premiere) ○ Lady Lykez & Scratchclart (UK) ○ Lotto (PL) ○ Lyra Pramuk (US/DE, world premiere) ○ Mentos Gulgendo (PL) ○ Muqata’a (PS) ○ Niemy Dotyk (PL) ○ Opla (PL) ○ Piotr Kurek(PL) ○ Roly Porter & MFO present Kistvaen feat. Katarzyna Smoluk-Moczydłowska, Agata Harz & Barbara Wilińska(UK/DE/PL) ○ Rudeboyz (ZA) ○ Uwalmassa (ID) ○ Zamilska (PL) ○ Zvanai (PL)

As organisers say:

At a time of widespread instability, solidarity is a word that belongs to no one group. It takes as a starting point the 30th anniversary of democratic elections in Poland, a result of protests that spread across Central and Eastern Europe. Thirty years on, the festival will explore what solidarity means today, in the context of the wider world and Unsound.

The theme considers how we might exist at a time when optimism itself can feel like an act of resistance, when history has not ended as Francis Fukuyama predicted, but assails us in a disorienting present through a 24-hour news cycle and the relentless churn of social media. With ecological, economic and democratic systems in crisis, how do we fight isolation and distraction, to collectively and positively imagine possible futures and shared purpose? How do we look for solidarity beyond borders and passports? What does solidarity mean in relation to ecosystems and the beings that inhabit them?

The theme is embodied in the very idea of what Unsound is – a festival around which a global community has formed, raising questions of how collective experience generates kinship and takes on wider meanings.

Solidarity will explore how music unites, both on a sonic level via its presence in a physical space or online, as well as culturally and politically, through scenes, collectives and movements. Are the platforms fostered by corporations ever really communities — and how are forms of solidarity commodified and rendered impotent? How can notions of empathy and collaboration be reconciled with the myth of the solitary creator? Does the present moment demand colour and light in response to the bleak, unstable reality around us? What is an alternative to algorithm-driven platforms that exploit artists financially? What forms might protest music take in 2019?

Confirmed program so far:

○ 33EMYBW presents Arthropods – live (CN, world premiere) ○ 8ULENTINA (US) – dj ○ Anthony Pateras presents This Ain’t My First Rodeo (AU) ○ Bastarda (PL) ○ The Caretaker & Weirdcore (UK, world premiere) ○ CCL – dj (UK/US) ○ Deena Abdelwahed – dj (TN) ○ DJ Marcelle – dj (NL) ○ Dreamcrusher (US) ○ Eli Keszler & Nate Boyce present Pedagogy (US, European premiere) ○ Emptyset presents Blossoms – live (UK, world premiere) ○ Eris Drew b2b Octo Octa – dj (US) ○ Félicia Atkinson (FR) ○ FOOZOOL – dj (US) ○ Gabber Modus Operandi – live (ID) ○ Goat (JP) ○ ○ HHY & The Macumbas + HHY & The Kampala Unit (PT/UG, world premiere) ○ HYPH11E b2b Slikback – dj (CN/KE) ○ Holly Herndon presents Proto (US/DE) ○ Jasmine Infiniti – dj (US) ○ Jay Mitta & Ant Virus – live (TZ, European premiere) ○ JD Twitch presents Against Fascism Trax – dj (UK, world premiere) ○ Ka Baird (US) ○ Lingua Ignota (US) ○ LOFT (UK) ○ LSDXOXO – dj (US/DE) ○ Luz – dj (BE/DE) ○ Manara – dj (UK) ○ MCZO & Duke – live (TZ) ○ Matias Aguayo presents Support Alien Invasion (CI/DE, world premiere) ○ Matmos presents Plastic Anniversary (US) ○ MC Yallah & Debmaster (UG/KE/FR) ○ Monster – dj (PL) ○ Moor Mother & London Contemporary Orchestra present The Great Bailout (US/UK, world premiere) ○ MSYLMA feat. ZULI, Karim el Ghazoly & Omar El Sadek (SA/EG/CZ, world premiere) ○ Nazira (KZ) ○ The Necks, Ilan Volkov & Sinfonietta Cracovia (AU/IL/PL, world premiere) ○ Objekt × Ezra Miller – live (DE/US) ○ Olivia & Chino present Radiation 30376 – live (PL, world premiere) ○ Osheyack & Adam Dupré present Memory Hierarchy (US/CN, world premiere) ○ Paula Temple – dj (UK) ○ Population One – live (US) ○ Prison Religion – live (US) ○ Robert Henke presents CBM 8032 AV (DE, world premiere) ○ Teki Latex b2b Betty – dj (FR) ○ Teto Preto (BR) ○ The Round Table Orchestra (PL) ○ Sherelle b2b FAUZIA – dj (UK) ○ Sote presents Parallel Persia (IR) ○ Sunn O))) (US) ○ Upsammy – dj (NL) ○ Violet – live (PT) ○ Vladislav Delay feat. AGF presents Rakka (FI) ○ VTSS – live (PL) ○ WIXAPOL presents Prześniona Rejwolucja / Draemt-thru Raveolutoin – live (PL, world premiere) ○ Yen Tech presents Hypercanto (KR/US/CN, world premiere) ○ Zimpel/Shackleton (UK/DE/PL, world premiere)

Films:

○ SIKSA. Stabat Mater Dolorosa (PL) ○ Black to Techno (UK/NG) ○ Hail Satan (US) ○ Hi, AI – Love Stories From the Future (DE) ○ Solidarity According to Women (PL) ○ Symphony for the Ursus Factory (PL)

My reviews of Unsound:

Nowe idzie od morza is a media partner of the festival.