Type and hit ENTER

Commonly used tags...

Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe Brighton Pride British Sea Power Cinecity Lewes Psychedelic Festival Locally Sourced Lost & Found Love Supreme Festival Mutations Festival Nick Cave Poets Vs MCs Politics Rag'n'Bone Man Record Store Day Save Our Venues Six Of The Best Source Virgins Streets Of Brighton Street Source Tattoos The Great Escape Tru Thoughts Unsung Heroes
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
Colour Out Of Space | Brighton Source
Colour Out Of Space | Brighton Source
Reviews

Colour Out Of Space Review

Nov 30, 2013
-
Posted by Stuart Huggett

When millions of pounds of arts funding got sucked up by last year’s Olympics celebrations, Colour Out Of Space – Brighton’s international festival for experimental music and art – was forced to sit 2012 out. A few fundraising gigs and a redistribution of arts cash later, it’s back for nine days of films, workshops and exhibitions, culminating in an extended weekend of performances at The Old Market and random events in the city’s churches, streets and Oxfam shops.

Friday at The Old Market gets underway with an opening burst of vocal mutterings, sax, drums and electronics from Tel Aviv’s Primate Arena, before Brighton duo Occult Hand’s ever-more refined mix of tape loops, laptop and pedal work. Refined, that is, until Isa Brooks’ cheapo keyboard expires in a cloudburst of static. Other day one highlights include Poulomi Desai’s treated, partially-gutted sitar pounding and the combination of Woven Skull and Core Of The Coalman, whose rising steam-head of rhythm-heavy thundering is accompanied by Brighton improv stalwarts Andy Pyne and Iain Paxon.

We’re not sure exactly what the highbrow trio of Glasgow-scene guitarist Richard Youngs, Astral Social Club’s Neil Campbell and 2012 Turner Prize nominee Luke Fowler are going to come up with this evening. Even if you sat us down with a million typing monkeys, “acid house influenced dance pop” wouldn’t have made our list of guesses. Lit in brilliant pink, with Youngs’ yearning vocals and some on-the-fly keyboard grooves from Campbell and Fowler, it’s the unexpected, melodic peak of the night. They’re a lot more fun than the tiring shock tactics of headlining duo Kenny Millions and To Live And Shave In LA’s Rat Bastard, although hurrah for the polite Old Market doorman who greets the latter every evening with a genteel, “And good evening, Mr Bastard.” Time for bed.

We miss some of Saturday’s daytime and early evening performances but are back in The Old Market in plenty of time for a stunning set of sustained electric-blues songs and drones from ex-Vibracathedral Orchestra guitarist Bridget Hayden. Overall tonight doesn’t reach the heights of extremity and entertainment as Friday, although the chance to see 1970s veterans DDAA from France and US duo Dinosaurs With Horns (featuring two members of the legendary Los Angeles Free Music Society) pursuing their lifelong interests in sound, voice and tape manipulation underlines the unique quality of the festival.

Sunday afternoon finds us in chilly St Andrew’s Church on Waterloo Street, where composer CM Von Hausswolff and artist Michael Esposito are presenting their shared interest in Electronic Voice Phenomena – recordings of voices from beyond the grave. We take the selection of sounds they’ve spent the week gathering in sites around Brighton with a fair pinch of salt, but there is something unnerving about letting yourself get drawn in to the distorted utterances (“I’ve been bad”, “I know your name”, “Get out!”) being played back. Fortunately they’re followed by a pair of Dada disciple Dutch poets, Hans Clavin and G.J. De Rook, who flood the church with good humour and daft performance.

Back in The Old Market, we’re showered in a blast of fierce free jazz from sax and drums pair Jooklo Duo. A barbershop comedy piece from Dora Doll and Usurper is pure Crackerjack, leading the way for a voice piece by Angela Sawyer that melts into warm stand-up stories and a headline finale from The Sons Of God that’s basically silent comedy slapstick, with the silence replaced by an all-out noise whirlwind, two Swedish gents wrestling around a table as if in a Beckett play scripted for Cannon And Ball. And you don’t see that very often on a Sunday night.

The Old Market, 8th–10th November 2013
Words by Stuart Huggett

Nov 30, 2013
Email
Stuart Huggett
Stuart Huggett grew up in Hastings, writing fanzines and blogs about the town’s underground music scene. He has been a regular contributor to SOURCE, NME, The Quietus and Bowlegs. His huge archive of magazines, flyers and vinyl is either an invaluable research tool or a bloody pain. He occasionally runs tinpot record label Dizzy Tiger, DJs sporadically and plays live even less.
← PREVIOUS POST
Format 34, Fri 6th - Sun 8th Dec
NEXT POST →
Nick Mulvey Review
Mailing List

Recent Posts
  • Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts Review
    Oct 21, 2025

    Expectations are high with a new Inspector Morse story on stage, sadly this is more a ghost of a Morse story, although die hard fans might enjoy it for the nostalgia.

  • The Lovely Eggs Interview
    Oct 15, 2025

    The Lovely Eggs tell us about their 20th anniversary, the new album and tour with Polite Bureax and some comedy legends supporting.

  • Ocean Film Festival Review 2025
    Oct 11, 2025

    A selection of beautifully shot short films covering diverse ocean lovers' passion for interacting with the sea.

  • Fractured Album Launch, Saturday 20th December
    Oct 10, 2025

    Fractured celebrate the release of their new album supported by Amelia And The Housewives.

  • 2:22 A Ghost Story Review
    Oct 7, 2025

    An evening of two couples having dinner together has never before been so gripping and enthralling, filled with tension, with the ultimate question: is their new house haunted or not?

  • Richard Hawley Review
    Oct 5, 2025

    As Coles Corner turns 20, Richard Hawley dazzled and delighted an up-for-it Worthing crowd with a 2 hour-plus set.

  • Brighton Psych Fest 2025 Review
    Sep 26, 2025

    The second Brighton Psych Fest was a beauty as we got down with Getdown Services as the evening sunlight glowed through the Concorde Stained Glass.

  • David Devant & His Spirit Wife, Friday 12th December
    Sep 23, 2025

    One of Brighton's greatest live bands returns for a pre-Xmas homecoming party.

Website developed in Brighton by Infobo
Copyright © Brighton Source 2009-2023
Colour Out Of Space Review - Brighton Source