Basilica Soundscapes has announced its initial 2019 lineup. Artists Chelsea Hodson, Cloud Rat, Dilly Dally, Bad Waitress, Big Brave, The Body, Greg Fox, Ione, Jerusalem In My Heart, Jessica Moss, Lingua Ignota, Low, M Lamar, Waxahatchee and Zsela are set to perform at this year’s Basilica Soundscape festival which is September 13-15, 2019.
Held in Hudson, New York, at an old 19th century factory, the building is just one historic part of the night. Dubbed the “antifestival,” Basilica Soundscape provides a mix of music, art, and literature. Brandon Stosuy of The Creative Independent and former Stereogum staffer, as well as Basilica Hudson co-founders Melissa Auf der Maur and Tony Stone host the distinctive festival. The New Yorker refers to it as “The absence of long lines, corporate sponsorships, and flower crowns have made Basilica Soundscape a banner weekend for adventurous listeners, and the program, as usual, is stunning”. Author readings, visual artists, conceptual sound performances, installations, artisans, and unique collaborations are a few things you’ll come across in attendance.
No ordinary musicians, they break stereotypes and cease the notion that genres are all encompassing. Big Brave, natives of Montreal, can be described as experimental metal. Their second album, 2015 Au De La, was recorded in the same studio as fellow Basilica Soundscape performer Jerusalem In My Heart. Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, of Jerusalem In My Heart, is a Montreal based musician and producer who co owns the studio Hotel2Tango. Jerusalem In My Heart incorporates both audio and visual into the live performance project with filmmaker Charles-Andre Coderre.
The Body, is also known as an experimental metal group. To date, they have released six studio albums among a number of other records. They have done many collaborative albums with artists like Braveyoung, Thou, and most recent, Uniform.
The four artists that make up Dilly Dally; Katy Monks, Liz Ball, Jimmy Tony, and Benjamin Reinhartz, released an album, titled Heaven, last year in early fall. Dilly Dally’s lack of subtlety will be a welcomed addition to Basilica Soundscapes event. Along with Waxahatchee, which songs have been described as, “equally gripping, austere, and brutally honest”, will elicit even more distinction.
Another headliner to come, Low, is an Indie rock band, known for impressive live performances. Delicate and hypnotic, their music is “low” in volume, preferring to grab the audiences attention through the absence of sound. Double Negative, their most recent album from last year, experiments in discordant electronics.
Last year the three day long festival took place in an eighteenth century train wheel foundry in Hudson, New York. Other artists to have played: John Maus, Deafheaven, Stephen O’Malley, Wolves In The Throne Room, Amber Tamblyn, Lightning Bolt, Julia Holter, Hilton Als, Tim Hecker, Bell Witch, and Thor Harris.
Tickets available for purchase on Basilica Hudson website.
UPDATE (7/16): The festival has just announced additional performers including: the late Jóhann Jóhannsson‘s Virdulegu Forsetar performed by members of the Bard Conservatory Orchestra, plus Circuit des Yeux, Ela Minus, Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan’s SQÜRL, JD Samson and Roddy Bottum’s new group, Crickets, and poet-performer Andrea Abi-Karam
Photo Credit: Kayn Oyer