Program | Concerts

From Detroit to Tokyo, today’s techno musicians and electronic avant-gardists invoke Roedelius’ hypnotic sound experiments. As early as the 1970s, he had a decisive influence on the British pop scene around David Bowie and Brian Eno; during that decade, Eno described Harmonia as the “most important rock band in the world.”

Roedelius continues to work on numerous projects, both solo and with band. He most recently released the 2013 album “Tiden”, a coproduction with Stefan Schneider of To Rococo Rot.

Roedelius looks back on a colorful life not just within, but beyond music as well: he served time in East Germany’s notorious Bautzen prison for trying to flee the GDR, took up a practice in the 1960s as a qualified physical therapist and masseur for celebrities, and in the 1970s founded a nudist colony on Corsica. About his biography he says, “I’ve been a miner in a coal pit, a shepherd, a toilet cleaner, a roofer, and a nurse who looked after the dying […]. My university was life itself.”

To celebrate Roedelius 80th birthday, Semibreve comissioned a special performance, in which, the german legend will be joined on stage with several Portuguese artists, working in the electronic music domain. André Gonçalves, José Alberto Gomes, Rui Dias and the visual artist Maria Mónica are the guests for this unique concert.

Inimitable electro duo Dopplereffekt are one of the most mysterious and consistently challenging entities in electronic music. Originated by Gerald Donald, one-half of Drexciya and also performing as Heinrich Müller/Der Zyklus/Japanese Telecom/Arpanet, Dopplereffekt recently resurfaced with 2013′s Tetrahymena EP on Leisure System as well as the wildly well-received split Hypnagogia 12″ with Objekt, also on Leisure System. Moving from their earlier electro sound into otherworldly synth experiments, Dopplereffekt inhabit an unique contemporary sonic world, with their arpeggiated melodies and one-of-a-kind visual show fitting as well in seated art spaces and non-traditional venues as a unique twist to major club nights or festival stages.

André Gonçalves works across the fields of visual arts, music, video, installation and performance.

His works have been presented in several galleries and festivals such as Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul; FILE, Sao Paulo; Experimental Intermedia Foundation, New York; Arnolfini, Bristol; Steim, Amsterdam; Pixelache, Helsinqui; 0047, Oslo; Museu Vostell Malpartida, Cáceres; Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; Fundação de Serralves, Porto.

His music work, solo or in collective projects, include more than 15 editions in several recording labels.

Over the past few years he has also built a solid reputation developing widely praised modular hardware synthesizers under ADDAC System brand, which are now being used by many musicians throughout the whole world.

Heatsick is the project of musician and visual artist Steven Warwick.

Using a Casio keyboard, a myriad of effects, vocals and percussion Warwick's music is created in real time based upon loops that are moulded, stretched and reduced to interlink, nestling and merging with one another in a similar way to his visual artwork, where objects and media combine and coalesce in an environment inviting the viewer's participation. Combining a palette of sources from early Chicago house mixtapes (in sound, texture AND mixing technique) through to musique concrète and psychedelia, – has been favourably received at venues, clubs and festivals across the world.

Warwick proposes a live dance music that expands and unlocks the senses: his use of limited resources to produce an immersive, maximalist sound environment is stretched beyond three hours and augmented by elements of his broader multi-sensory art practice for his Extended Play... performance-installation series, which, since being premiered at Unsound Festival in Krakow, Poland, has been presented in diverse club/art contexts including CTM at Berghain in Berlin, The Cube Cinema in Bristol and Werkleitz Festival in Halle.

The most recent Heatsick album 'Re-engineering' is described as a "cybernetic poem", indulging us in the mores of hypnotic dance music while holding a critical, and at times satirical, lens toward the culture writ large.

For SEMIBREVE Steven will develop a special commissioned work, developed within a artistic residency in Braga.

The slow-burning success of his 2010 album debut 'Holkham Drones' was something of a dream induction into the world of professional music-making for Norfolk's Luke Abbott: the “game-changing electronic opus” stood out as “far and away one of Drowned in Sound's favourite records of 2010” and landed in Mojo's 'Electronica Albums of 2010' list, amongst wide-spread critical acclaim.

Then finding yourself in the position of having to live up to the expectations of such early promise is a rather less enviable scenario, and it is a bold producer indeed that at this juncture chooses to shun the unending cycle of hype and hits to take a step back to the basic principle of making music as art. But that is just what Luke Abbott has done on his 'Wysing Forest' follow-up.

Far more than just the musical accessory of the moment, for Luke the infinite combinatorial possibilities of the modular synthesizer serves as the perfect conduit for his improvisational impulses, its tactile knobs providing him with the hands-on tools to experiment. For Luke Abbott is that surprisingly rare breed amongst modern day electronic musicians for whom genuine, heartfelt live performance – as opposed to the painstakingly arranged computer bound product, and accompanying cobbled together on rails playback live set – lies at the heart of what he does. Indeed, it is in this type of in-the-moment responsive live performance that Luke's raw talent is at its most obvious – as evidenced by the 'Wysing Forest' improvisational suite – and this modular-centred performative set-up awaits at the disposal of the often arts-funded and occasionally multimedia electronic music festival circuit.

But that is not to suggest that Luke has any intention of giving up on playing to a club audience: indeed, it is this very improvisational adaptability that lends itself to two complementary live touring strands. Ever since his earliest forays into the live performance arena the unique hedonistic freedom of the club dancefloor has provided an unusual – but inherently open-minded – sandbox testing ground for his improvisational impulses, and in this context the thudding heartbeat at the centre of 'Wysing Forest' may readily be fleshed out into something of a more club-friendly danceable nature. The occasional DJ friendly vinyl outing via spot of moonlighting for Gold Panda's Notown record label (in the form of the 'Modern Driveway' and 'Object is a Navigator' EPs) and a remix CV that reads like a Who's Who of the electronic fringes – from early adopters John Talabot and Dan Deacon through to the latest esteemed bunch of inductees including Jon Hopkins, East India Youth, Nils Frahm and Simian Ghost – have kept his club ties strong. 

Dedication for project is Die Von Brau's latest live act. Sound takes a more conceptual approach here, exploring the possibilities of classical composition contrasting with the artist´s main focus which is contemporary electronics. In dedication for project, each live act is unique, and with very few rehearsal´s or preparing. The artist believes it takes the full authenticity out of the moment. 

DforP is a musical piece with approximately one hour, filled with loops and constant rhythms where changes take time to develop, leaving space for the listener to focus on a meditative state. Die Von Brau is openly trying to create an interior debate within the audience between two fields "sound repetitiveness vs sound transitions" where the first is trying to beat the last. The goal is to create a sensation of comfort and peacefulness in the repetitiveness.

Inspired by composers like Brian Eno, Steve Reich, William Basinski or Laraaji, in DforP, Die Von Brau travels through sound loops that keep their intensity and atmosphere throughout the piece, sometimes improvising long spaced keys w/ Arpeggio. The Instruments used are usually of classical nature like strings, marimbas, keys and organic synths manipulated with big reverbs that give an illusion of dimension and space.

Vessel is the pseudonym of 24 year old Bristolian Sebastian Gainsborough. After rising to prominence in 2011 through acclaimed releases for left_blank and Astro-Dynamics, in early 2012 Seb signed with the all conquering Tri Angle Records (home to Balam Acab, oOoOO, Holy Other, Clams Casino, The Haxan Cloak) to release his debut album, Order Of Noise.

Taking influence as much from the bass heavy heritage of the city around him as from sounds emerging far further afield, Seb creates exciting, unclassifiable music. From the EBM pulse of Nylon Sunset, the warped boogie of Wax Dance, through to the recent industrial-tinged album taster Court Of Lions, there is a unique grasp of rhythm and an undeniable musicality at work in his productions.

As part of the Young Echo collective alongside fellow left_blank artist El Kid, and Punch Drunk signees Kahn & Zhou, Seb is at the forefront of a groundbreaking generation of new producers.

Maia’s works has been presented in several film festivals and galleries like Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Rencontres Internationales, Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art, MACBA Barcelona, etc.

Since 2004 has been developing live cinema concept, which collaborated with several musicians such as Fennesz, Panda Bear, Lee Ranaldo, Jacaszek, Craig Leon, Vessel, Demdike Stare, Shackleton and Tropic of Cancer; and performed in places like Serralves Contemporary Art Museum, Sónar Festival, Unsound Festival, All Tomorrow’s Party, Mutek, TaicoClub Japan.

Tim Hecker is a Juno award-winning Canadian composer and sound artist. He has spent the last decade inhabiting a unique intersection between noise, dissonance, and melody. In his varied and celebrated works, digital and organic sources tightly intertwine. The result is a hybrid aesthetic that recalls electronic abstraction and psychedelic minimalism. Hecker purposefully obfuscates the clear tonal distinctions of traditional instrumentation, preferring to cultivate enigmatic, uneasy soundscapes. The beauty and crush of Hecker’s sonically processed noise has been compared to “tectonic color plates” and “cathedral electronic music.” As the New York Times put it, he plays “foreboding, abstract pieces in which static and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow-moving notes and chords, like fissures in the earth waiting to swallow them whole.”

Tim Hecker is an extensive, vigorous live performer, and the immense power and menace of his live shows makes him a contemporary master of volume and texture. He has presented his works at the Institute of Contemporary Art (London), Primavera Sound (Barcelona), Unsound Festival (Krakow), All Tomorrow’s Parties (Minehead), Fondation Cartier (Paris), Bimhuis (Amsterdam), Columbia University’s Miller Theatre (New York City), among others.

In 2013 Hecker presented Virgins, the follow up to Ravedeath, 1972. The album was every bit as visceral as the previous garnering praise from The Quietus, which described it as his “rawest solo outing to date, and the strands he plaits together are less tightly wound this time” and received “Best New Music” from Pitchfork.

In addition to his solo compositional work, Hecker has worked alongside musicians such as Oren Ambarchi, David Bryant (Godspeed You! Black Emperor), Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) and Aidan Baker. Hecker’s work also includes commissions for contemporary dance, film scores, and various writings.

Klara Lewis is a Swedish composer born 1993. Her critically acclaimed debut album Ett was released by Viennese record label Editions Mego in 2014.

“[...] Ett is the work of a gifted and thoughtful sound sculptress, who combines found sounds, field recordings and electronic textures to create beguiling and resonant works that operate on all manner of levels.” Joseph Burnett, The Quietus

“The way [Lewis] manipulates these recordings of her own surroundings is expressive and intuitive, and the music sparkles with personality despite its sparseness.” Rory Gibb, The Wire

Lewis is studying her second year of a bachelor degree in Audio-visual Production. Lewis is currently collaborating with Simon Fisher Turner and Rainier Lericolais.

Peder Mannerfelt has served for the last decade as one of Sweden’s leading electronic artists. He’s collaborated under the pseudonym The Subliminal Kid with musicians such as Fever Ray, Blonde Redhead and Glasser and remixed the likes of Massive Attack, Lykke Li and Bat for Lashes. In recent years the prolific artist has released three studio albums as part of the experimental classical duo, Roll The Dice. In 2013 Mannerfelt unveiled a new solo direction under his given name, with EPs ‘Come Closer’ and ‘Stockholm Recorded’ via We Can Elude Control. These were followed in 2014 by the succinctly titled ‘I’ and ‘II’ as well as a split EP on Stockholm Ltd with label boss Pär Grindvik. In 2014 Mannerfelt unleashed his debut LP ‘Lines Describing Circles’, a ten track album that was met with approbation by the likes of Juno Plus and Fact Magazine. Alongside his burgeoning new artistic identity came a unique new Live PA, a machine-driven tour de force that he’s since performed at events worldwide, including Berlin’s Atonal and CTM festivals and Bunker in New York. 2014 also witnessed the birth of his label, Peder Mannerfelt Produktion; a channel established by Mannerfelt as a vehicle for his revised production focus, but also as a platform for likeminded artists, such as the highly talented Klara Lewis. Peder Mannerfelt is veteran producer and a singular artist, one at the inaugural stage of a renewed and blossoming solo career.

Powell established his Diagonal imprint in 2011 as an outlet for two acclaimed 12s that merged a personal fetish for No Wave, Post-Punk and EBM with a future-facing appreciation of outer dancefloor styles. He has since contributed EPs to Mute’s Liberation Technologies and the Boomkat-affiliated Death of Rave. In all of his tracks, live instrumentation, destitute samples, raw synth tones and quickfire bursts of analog noise jostle around   sinister,   muscular   grooves   that   drift   across   unconventional rhythmic structures. His DJ sets are fast,  npredictable and surprising — with   few   records   off-limits.   He   prides   himself   in   merging   disparate references into something intense, coherent and unexpected.

Oren Ambarchi's works are hesitant and tense extended songforms located in the cracks between several schools: modern electronics and processing; laminal improvisation and minimalism; hushed, pensive songwriting; the deceptive simplicity and temporal suspensions of composers such as Morton Feldman and Alvin Lucier; and the physicality of rock music, slowed down and stripped back to its bare bones, abstracted and replaced with pure signal.

From the late 90's his experiments in guitar abstraction and extended technique have led to a more personal and unique sound-world incorporating a broader palette of instruments and sensibilities. On releases such as Grapes From The Estate and In The Pendulum's Embrace Ambarchi employed glass harmonica, strings, bells, piano, drums and percussion, creating fragile textures as light as air which tenuously coexist with the deep, wall-shaking bass tones derived from his guitar.

Ambarchi has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists such as Fennesz, Charlemagne Palestine, Sunn 0)), Thomas Brinkmann, Keiji Haino, Alvin Lucier, John Zorn, Merzbow, Jim O'Rourke, Keith Rowe, Akio Suzuki, Phill Niblock, John Tilbury, Richard Pinhas, Evan Parker, crys cole, Fire! and many more.

Since 2001 Ambarchi has performed at major festivals such as ATP (UK), Sonar (Spain), Mutek (Canada), CTM (Germany), INA GRM (France), Roskilde (Denmark), Etna Fest (Italy), Festival De Mexico (Mexico) and many more including a recent live collaboration with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra at the Tectonics festival in Reykjavik.

Ambarchi has released numerous recordings for labels such as Touch, Southern Lord, Editions Mego, Drag City, Kranky and Tzadik. His solo release Sagittarian Domain was voted #1 in Spin magazine's Best Avant albums of 2012. His latest release is Quixotism which was listed in The Wire magazine's top 50 releases of 2014.

A Paris-based musician, visual artist and former architect Takami Nakamoto creates ethereal performances, immersive installations and dreamlike environments that envelop patrons and pulverize any bogus barriers separating the real from the virtual. Alongside French illustrator and musician Noemi Schipfer, Nakamoto cofounded Nonotak in 2011, a creative studio and collaborative duo known for their geometric, projection mapped works enhanced with echoes of glitch and flashing lights experimenting the realationship between space, light and sound. Nonotak’s dazzlingly emotive, kinetic A/V work has alternately seduced, frightened and blinded patrons at festivals around the world. Since releasing Opacity, a debut EP of coarse grained textures and sweetly soaring synths last fall, Nakamoto has devised an new, energetic, live A/V performance featuring drummer Sébastien Benoits and an elaborate lighting set up of stroboscopes, projectors and 33 Custom LED bars. Nakamoto and Benoits – longstanding collaborators who shared in the chart topping success of their French metal/post-hardcore quintet Doyle Airence – will set Semibreve ablaze with their energy loaded performance, oscillating between ambient IDM and sweeping rhythmic intensity.