Saturday 2 April 2016, 8pm
Consumer Electronics is the punk / electro / noise duo of ageing renegade Philip Best (ex-Whitehouse) and his American wife, the artist Sarah Froelich. The band's recent releases "Estuary English" (2014), "Repetition Reinforcement" (Diagonal 12", 2015) and new album "Dollhouse Songs" (Harbinger Sound) have cemented CE's reputation as prime movers in the field of avant-garde electronics, twisted beats and apocalyptic performance poetry. Stunningly produced by noise guru Russell Haswell (who will be joining them for this OTO show), the CE duo are now embarking on a year-long odyssey of live performances the world over.
“This is no easy ride, but if you follow Consumer Electronics as they strip bare the caustic facade of modern living, you will find power and, yes, beauty in the dark recesses they reveal.” – The Quietus
“A glorious collision of punk, electro and techno noise ... 'Dollhouse Songs' is the chaotic soundtrack to a country that feels equally as spinning and weird in 2016.” – Louder Than War
Russell Haswell is a restlessly forward-thinking, multi-disciplinary artist, performer and curator. With a background steeped in computer music, black metal, noise, techno and solo improvisation, his practice is renowned for broaching the extremities of visual and sonic arts. He’s performed in noted live and HDJ [hard disc jockey] actions with Aphex Twin, Gescom, Pan Sonic and Masami Akita (Merzbow), among others, and worked with Florian Hecker on Iannis Xenakis’ UPIC system in their Haswell & Hecker duo, whoseBlackest Ever Black LP is widely considered a milestone of modern electronic music composition—and zweikommasieben Magazin has been a fan ever since.
http://haswellstudio.com/
https://twitter.com/russellhaswell
London duo Circuit Breaker is the long running project of brothers Edward and Peter Simpson. Their music draws on minimal-synth ,post-punk and dark-wave, mixing heavy and angular guitar work with glitchy and textural electronics.
The band have released two albums on legendary noise label Harbinger Sound, as well as two earlier EPs on Tombed Visions. They have toured all over the U.K and Europe with acts including Sleaford Mods and Consumer Electronics, as well as having recently supported artists such as Martin Rev, Ice Age and Uniform. A recorded collaboration with Russell Haswell is forthcoming.
“Driven along by the guitar and querulous alienated outsider vocals of Peter Simpson and perilously assisted and/or interfered with by all manner of analogue ramalama, these uncontrollable gremlins in Circuit Breaker’s machine – those elements that most musicians would seek to extinguish – are the very elements that make this band” - Julian Cope
