Five Must-see Events At Supersense 2017

Contemporary performing arts festival Supersense will bring a mind-blowingly good line-up to Arts Centre Melbourne for three days in August, and here are five reasons why it’s a must-attend event.

Blonde Redhead

Sat 19 Aug

Blonde Redhead might be what was spat out of a NASA supercomputer if you programmed it to generate the ultimate hipster art school post-rock band. They indulge in noise. They do soundtracks. They combine traditional and esoteric instrumentation. And they are killer live. If you only ever hear Blonde Redhead’s seminal Misery Is A Butterfly once, hear it with strings art Supersense.

Spiritualized

Sun 20 Aug

It’s the unpredictability of ‘90s shoegaze heroes Spiritualized that makes them such a captivating live experience. The English space rock outfit will sift through their back catalogue accompanied by the Australian Art Orchestra and Consort Of Melbourne. The epic live band will bring a new level of intimacy to the powerful songs and perhaps explain the man behind the project, Jason Pierce aka J Spaceman, a little better.

JG Thirlwell

Sat 19 Aug

It’s been a while since JG Thirlwell has called Melbourne home, but his influence on the Australian music scene and now global legacy is massive. The Melbourne-born, New York-based musician and composer has released more than 30 LPs under a slew of different names and also worked with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Nick Cave, as well as composing music for Adult Swim hit Archer and more.

His glorious return to Aus will bring new show Cholera Nocebo, which has been described as “an immersive, multi-channel composition performed on both electronic and acoustic instruments in tandem with a projected film that hurtles its viewer into the void.”

The Ecstatic Music Of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda

Sat 19 Aug

One of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, pianist, composer and spiritual leader Alice Coltrane had an eclectic musical journey after the passing of her husband, John Coltrane, in 1963.

The Sai Anantam Singers carry on that legacy by touring her music – including songs released by David Byrne's Luaka Bop label this year - around the world with a stop at Supersense.

Exo-Tech

Fri 18 Aug

Supersense curator and renowned Melbourne musician Sophia Brous has had a wealth of success in the US with New York large ensemble collective Exo-Tech and it will finally make its Australian debut at this year’s festival.

Led by Brous, Kimbra and cast of New York luminaries, Exo-Tech will deliver a hypnotic live show in-the-round that will explore “hyper colour intersections between group improvisation and spontaneous pop song composition.”

Find tickets and more information here.