Music Highlights at Brighton Festival 2008

Take a bite out of Brighton Festival 2008 …
www.brightonfestival.org / 01273 709709

Manic Organic
The Necks, Robert Lippok, Matt Stokes Sacred Selections, performed and transcribed by Paul Ayres and William Whitehead.
15 May 2008 at 8pm (doors 7.15pm) Concert Hall £10, £15

A brilliant improv trio, a genius electronica composer and a Becks Futures winning filmmaker have been brought together for a ground-breaking encounter with Brighton Dome Concert Hall’s hand built 1936 pipe organ in Manic Organic, Thu 15 May.

Three incredible Australian musicians, who sometimes manage to sound like ten, The Necks eat genres for breakfast and play with a burning desire to push the envelope of modern music into previously uncharted realms. This gig is another quantum leap for this critically lauded band as they incorporate the huge sound of the Concert Hall’s organ into their bionic keyboard/bass/drums format. The Guardian described The Necks as "not so much a trio as a revolutionary consortium redefining music for the new century...a post-jazz, post-rock, post-everything sonic experience that has few parallels or rivals.”, The Times praised their “extraordinary empathy and discipline". You have never seen the likes of this before!

Also getting intimate with the pipe-organ will be Robert Lippok, a Berlin based electronica composer whose music displays a lightness of touch and an ethereal grace that not many can match. Founder member of seminal post-rockers To Rococo Rot, Robert has been charming the tech nerds over the last few years with delicious solo material and enchanting collaborations with Barbara Morgenstern and Komëit. Expect melodic explorations of greatness!

To add to this rich mix we have some high octane happy hardcore anthems, played by a renowned concert organist, as dreamt up by filmmaker Matt Stokes, plus you have the chance to vote for a Brighton indie-pop anthem to be transcribed for concert organ and played on the night! Click here.

www.brightonfestival.org / 01273 709709

Medeski, Martin, Wood
with special guest Airto Moreira
24 May 2008 at 8pm (doors 7.15pm) Concert Hall £15, £18.50 (£10 restricted view)

Continuing the 'manic organic' theme, this world exclusive presents NYC's indefatigable jazz organ trio MMW, performing here alongside Brazilian percussion legend Airto Moreira, in their first ever UK visit outside London.

MMW (organist John Medeski; drummer Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood) emerged on New York's burgeoning jazz roster in the early 90s. Embracing a non-stop back-of-the bus style tour, they soon gained a cult following, peddling their irresistible avant-rock-jazz-hop to an ecstatic congregation, before becoming a major name on the iconic jazz label Blue Note.

Airto Moreira is a percussion master with collaborative credentials to make your eyes water: Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Flora Purim, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report... the list is endless. From Bitches Brew and Apocalypse Now to remixes by Giles Peterson, Airto has stamped his mark on four decades of sublime music-making.

With signature Hammond-led jazz grooves plus a one-off Medeski special performed on Brighton Dome's concert organ, its blastoff time for the outer reaches of the MMW cosmos.

www.brightonfestival.org / 01273 709709

Fat Cat Nights with The Great Escape
Fri 16 May: Vashti Bunyan, Vetiver, Hauschka, Tom Brosseau
Sat 17th May: Nina Nastasia, The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, Silje Nes
16 May 2008 to 17 May 2008 at 8pm (doors 7.30pm) Theatre Royal Brighton £15, £6 gallery

Brighton-based label Fat Cat returns for two specially produced Festival concerts in association with The Great Escape.

Heading up Friday night's line-up is British chanteuse Vashti Bunyan, celebrating the recent re-release of her early pop material including her 1965 debut single penned by Jagger and Richards. North Dakota's golden-voiced folk-roots troubadour Tom Brosseau; the lush acoustic textures of Andy Cabic's uber-cool Vetiver and German composer Haushka, whose disruptive 'piano interventions' bring to mind the rhythmic sounds of Steve Reich and John Cage.

Saturday night sees New York's cult singer-songwriter Nina Nastasia (pictured) headlining another dream roster with her spectral Americana and smouldering vocal intensity. Also featuring the skewed anthemic rock of Glasgow's accordiontoting The Twilight Sad; and the multilayered organic hooks of Norwegian multi-instrumentalist/singer Silje Nes, plus Glasgow's exuberant post-punk Indie rock trio Frightened Rabbit.

www.brightonfestival.org / 01273 709709