donaufestival 08: April 24 - May 03
angst obsession beauty
Thu, 24|04|08
KILLL, APSE, JAY-JAY JOHANSON, ROBERTA LIMA, H.A.P.P.Y, BRUCE LABRUCE, TOXIC DREAMS, RAINER PROHASKA, PAUL POET & ENSEMBLE JEAN LOUIS COSTES
Fri, 25|04|08
SCOTT MATTHEW, THE HIDDEN CAMERAS, BUNNY RABBIT, GUSTAV, ANN LIV YOUNG, FMQUEER, EFEMER, BRUCE LABRUCE, TOXIC DREAMS, RAINER PROHASKA, PAUL POET & ENSEMBLE JEAN LOUIS COSTES
Sat, 26|08|08
CLARK, TIM HECKER, AMON TOBIN, RON ATHEY & DOMINIC JOHNSON, NICO VASCELARI & JOHN WIESE, BRUCE LABRUCE, TOXIC DREAMS, RAINER PROHASKA, PAUL POET & ENSEMBLE JEAN LOUIS COSTES
Wed, 30|04|08
LIARS, DIE GOLDENEN ZITRONEN, KENNETH ANGER, MANKIND, RON ATHEY & FUCKHEAD, RADIOHOLE, REACTOR, RAINER PROHASKA
Thu, 01|05|08
TORTOISE, XIU XIU, PLANNINGTOROCK, PHOSPHORESCENT, NAKED LUNCH & THOMAS WOSCHITZ, SCHNEE & URSULA RUCKER, RADIOHOLE, TOXIC DREAMS, RAINER PROHASKA, REACTOR
Fri, 02|05|08
THE GO! TEAM, HEALTH, AIDS WOLF, PLANNINGTOROCK, NAKED LUNCH & THOMAS WOSCHITZ, VEDETTE, RADIOHOLE, TOXIC DREAMS, RAINER PROHASKA, REACTOR
Sat, 03|05|08
FISCHERSPOONER DJ-SET, MAGIK MARKERS, THESE ARE POWERS, THE YEAR OF, H.A.P.P.Y, GOB SQUAD, TOXIC DREAMS, RAINER PROHASKA, REACTOR
performance music film art
The breaking of taboos as a moral act, a postulation by the French author, sociologist and philosopher Georges Bataille, can be found, in an extended form, in productions that use angst, obsession, excess and sacrifice rituals on one’s own body as a cathartic element, in order to disrupt incrusted structures that have formed around family, state, religion and society: the performance by the film director Bruce LaBruce, which is based on Pasolini’s “Teorema“, the religiously perfused body performances by Ron Athey (also with Fuckhead), the more subtle, but by no means sociopolitically less relevant performance by Roberta Lima or also the radical Mozart-adaptation by the film maker and performance artist Paul Poet in cooperation with the Opera Porno Social and Jean Louis Costes.
Against this background, a poetic attack is declared on the malestream, the social model-factory of a male-dominated society: Ann Liv Young’s brilliant dance ritual with Bunny Rabbit’s queer-electro-trash, the “Shortbus“ soundtrack star Scott Matthew, the lyrically rich pop hymns by The Hidden Cameras or also the ingenious sound artworks in a highly experimental pop song-outfit by Xiu Xiu. Xiu Xiu’s resistant excesses between extreme internalisation and orgiastic hysteria are part of a sound-poetics of angst that ranges from brute walls of sound to charming, acoustic beauty and euphorising danceability: here to be experienced are the shamans of ghost-rock Apse, the experimental metal-project Killl, Phosphorescent’s sound rituals in rapture, Vedette’s psychedelic soundscapes as well as These Are Powers’ driven ghost-punk, the reincarnation of Sonic Youth in the form of Magic Markers and Health’s obsessive sound walls.
Along the lines of a “poetics of angst“, the heroes of post-rock Tortoise, the über-crooner Jay Jay Johanson, the sound (de)constructivists between psychedelia, break-beat, field recordings and club, Amon Tobin, Tim Hecker and Clark as well as the punk-theatre pros Die Goldenen Zitronen and Schnee with Ursulua Rucker will also perform. Frigheningly beautiful is also Gustav’s new record with music for brass instruments or also the endorphin-explosives The Go! Team and Fischerspooner.
“Angst Obsession Beauty“ could not possible be more accurate a description of anyone’s work than Kenneth Anger’s, the icon of avantgarde-film, the founding father of video clips. Apart from the world premiere of his film “Ich Will! (I Want!)“ and a project with bands like the American noise-ritualists Liars and a musical surprise guest, a network of references unfolds around the work of this poet of imagery. The New York “post-punk-performance-group“ Radiohole will present their brilliant new work “Anger/Nation“ for the first time, multi-media sensory overload can be expected from Planningtorock’s latest performance and the grandmasters of euphoric melancholy Naked Lunch, together with the film maker Thomas Woschitz, will take us to a world of hopeless, obsessive love stories with their filmic-musical anti-musical. Musical, there we go again, that horrible word!
If the notion of the opera has already come up in connection with Poet and Costes and their Mozart-reference, and if Bruce LaBruce’s “CHEAP BLACKY“ is then also described as a “Kenneth-Anger-Musical“ , then there is only one thing left that perfects the poetics of angst: the world’s worst musical... the performers of H.A.P.P.Y will fail at this one, definitely!Info and details at: www.donaufestival.at
Programme and tickets online now!