• News

• All

Dec 05, 2019 By Dom Gourlay Web Exclusive

Find It At: {article-find} {name} {/article-find}

Under the Radar is pleased to announce they’re one of the media partners for Spacefest! Now in its ninth year, the 2019 edition features some of the biggest names from the world of psychedelia, shoegaze and experimental music alongside a handful of up and coming acts from Poland’s burgeoning musical underground.

As with the past two editions, this year’s event will take place at Klub B90 which is situated in the heart of Gdansk’s docklands. Spread across two stages on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th December, Spacefest! 2019 features a total of 15 live acts and DJs while the second evening will also host a Q&A panel session with some of this year’s artists including Stephen Lawrie from The Telescopes.

Here’s a short teaser video the organisers put together recently.

In the meantime, here’s 10 acts we’re particularly excited about seeing.

CHICOS DE NAZCA

(Friday 13th)

This Chilean collective have been around for the best part of a decade, having initially put out their debut ‘Far Out And Close’ back in 2010. Nowadays based in Berlin, their sixth and most recent collection ‘Step Back To Get Up’ came out earlier this year, further enhancing the band’s reputation as one of the most forward thinking outfits on the psych rock circuit.

HEADS

(Saturday 14^th)

Combining elements of noise rock, slow core and post punk, this Berlin based trio have earned themselves a reputation as one of the most uncompromising bands to emerge from the city in recent years. Second album ‘Collider’ came out last year on This Charming Man Records, and with a third log player already in the pipeline, this could be the perfect place to roadtest material for the trio’s next venture.

KSAS

(Friday 13^th)

The brainchild of Polish musical legend and former Spacefest! curator Karol Schwarz. KSAS (Karol Schwarz All Stars) has taken many guises since first coming to fruition two decades ago. Changing members with spontaneous regularity to keep things fresh, their most recent album ‘Hi D(e)ad!’ came out on Polish imprint Nasiono Records last month and represents one of the finest bodies of work Schwartz has put his name to.

KWIATY

(Friday 13^th)

Anyone that’s been to this festival before will tell you Spacefest! isn’t just about the big names or headliners. It’s an annual voyage of discovery, particularly when it comes to bands from the local region who rarely get the opportunity to play outside of Gdansk. One such band is Kwiaty, who elegantly manage to fuse shoegaze, metal, noise rock and post punk into one big captivating melting pot of joy.

PURE PHASE ENSEMBLE 9

(Saturday 14th)

As with previous Spacefests, this year’s Pure Phase Ensemble is curated and led by one of the most renowned musicians from the shoegaze era and beyond. Adam Franklin, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter with Swervedriver, has put together a cast of eleven musicians from Poland. Many of whom won’t have met prior to this week’s rehearsals, where the set will be composed and performed over the course of five days leading up to the festival. Following in the footsteps of people like Mark Gardiner, Anton Newcombe, Laetitia Sadier and Will Carruthers to name but four. The Pure Phase Ensemble performance is traditionally seen as the centrepiece for Spacefest! and this year’s set promises to be another memorable highlight.

STRAYTONES

(Saturday 14^th)

Hailing from Kiev in the Ukraine, this three-piece have been creating experimental garage rock since first getting together some eight years ago. Although still relatively unknown outside of their homeland, this year’s ‘Beware, Dark Lord! Hear Comes Bell-Man’ EP garnered attention worldwide culminating in them being invited to play their first festival outside of the Ukraine.

THE BLIND SUNS

(Saturday 14^th)

Every year, Spacefest! hosts a competition for local acts to win a place on the festival’s bill. This year’s winners were The Blind Suns, and their pedigree suggests they could be one of the main talking points at Spacefest! 2019. Having worked with Crocodiles’ Charles Rowell on last year’s ‘Offshore’ LP, their heady mix of surf rock, indie pop and shoegaze should provide the perfect soundtrack for a Saturday evening.

THE COSMIC DEAD

(Friday 13^th)

The old adage “once seen and never forgotten” can be applied to The Cosmic Dead and their live show. Loud, extravagant, awe inspiring and mindblowing are just some of the adjectives that get thrown their way on a regular basis, and not without good reason. With comparisons ranging from Black Sabbath and Hawkwind through to Sleep, Godflesh and Loop, this Glaswegian quartet are not to be missed.

THE TELESCOPES

(Saturday 14th)

With such an illustrious back catalogue of work dating back to 1988, The Telescopes need no introduction. Formed a year earlier in Burton-In-Trent with vocalist and songwriter Stephen Lawrie the only constant throughout. They’ve consistently pushed the boundaries while confounding expectations with every subsequent release. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of critically acclaimed debut album ‘Taste’ while The Telescopes’ eleventh long player ‘Exploding Head Syndrome’ came out in the early part of 2019. Still as uncompromising and captivating as ever, their second appearance at Spacefest! (having played here once before in 2015) is already being earmarked as a pivotal event in the festival’s history.

TITANIC SEA MOON

(Saturday 14^th)

The second of this year’s Spacefest! competition winners are a beguiling entity in itself. Although only relatively new having initially formed last year, all three members have strong connections to the Polish underground music scene having played in numerous bands before. However, this experimental collision of krautrock and textured ambience occasionally coated in shards of brutal noise should set hearts pounding and pulses racing.

The full schedule can be found here

http://spacefest.pl/?lang=en