Skaņu Mežs festival for adventurous music will host its 22nd edition on 4-5 October at concert hall Hanzas Perons in Riga. Festival programme includes such artists as iconic electronic music duo Autechre, Abstract hip-hop duo Armand Hammer (Billy Woods & ELUCID) and influential experimental music guitarist Fred Frith. Tickets here.
Autechre will headline the opening night on October 4. Autechre are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 and consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both natives of Rochdale, Greater Manchester. The Autechre live experience is a classically pitch-dark mind-warping audio affair, held entirely in the dark. Their music has exhibited a gradual shift in aesthetic throughout their career, from their earlier work with clear roots in techno, electro and hip hop to later albums that are often considered more experimental in nature, featuring complex patterns of rhythm and subdued melodies.
Armand Hammer (Billy Woods & ELUCID) will be the headlining guests of the festival’s second concert evening on October 5. Armand Hammer, the groundbreaking NYC rap duo of ELUCID and Billy Woods, have released its eighth studio album "We Buy Diabetic Test Strips".
Fred Frith will play a solo set on the festival’s first concert evening on October 4. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Fred’s pioneering first record "Guitar Solos", but performing at Skaņu Mežs is his first ever visit to Latvia. Fred composes extensively for film and dance, and taught improvisation for years at Mills College in Oakland, California and the Musik Akademie in Basel, Switzerland.
Seeing as all forms of modern music have an experimental dimension, there is always a wide variety of musical genres represented at the Skaņu Mežs festival – from electro-acoustic music, free improvisation, contemporary composition and noise to interesting shifts in dance music, hip-hop and rock or metal. For more info visit festival's website.
