OFF Festival takes place annually in August in Three Lake Valley, Katowice – a green oasis in the heart of industrial Silesia.
The festival’s grown in prominence year on year, with this year’s event promising one of the strongest line-ups to date. Having gained and a well-deserved reputation in Poland and abroad, it’s not without reason that it has been said and written that OFF is the best alternative festival in this part of Europe.
So, what’s the line-up like?
Neutral Milk Hotel: One of the most important scenes in American indie rock was the collective known as Elephant 6. And the most important record born of the imaginations of those musicians was In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. Jeff Mangum’s trebling voice sings stories that explore such themes as the tragic fate of Anne Frank – do not miss them.
Glenn Branca: In New York mythology, Glenn Branca is the god of noise and the patron saint of crippling distortion. He’s also one of the leading figures of the no wave scene. He’s also quite a big deal where Sonic Youth are concerned. Just Google it.
Holden (live): He’s been gone for so long that everyone has pretty much stopped waiting for him to come back. But return he did, and he put everyone else back in their place. The Inheritors, his first album in seven years, has garnered excellent reviews and was hailed the best album of 2013 by the electronic music website Resident Advisor.
Oranssi Pazuzu: There’s a theory that states that all the best rock bands have a color in their names. You know: Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple – and it’s time to add Oranssi Pazuzu to the list (the first word means ‘orange’ while Pazuzu is the name of a terrible demon in Babylonian mythology).
Fuck Buttons: Andrew Hung and Benjamin Power started off by borrowing from Aphex Twin and Mogwai, and within a few years, their music was featured at the greatest mass event of the year. This was no music festival: it was the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, where viewers across the globe heard the massive track titled ‘Olympians’.
Perfume Genius: Perfume Genius’ subjects are victims of violence, emotionally broken, future suicides nurturing their trauma. The music that accompanies these difficult stories is charmingly sparse and unsettlingly friendly. Lyrical piano phrases, delicate drum taps, subtle harmonies, and that voice: candid, fragile, and overflowing with emotion.
For more info, and to buy your tickets, click here.
