All Tomorrow's Parties
Together with Primavera Sound Festival and the Pitchfork
Festival probably the most interesting festival happening yearly. Most of the
bands IÕm fan of have once or more than once performed on this festival.
The festival has a unique approach when it comes to the
programming of their line-up. They ask a well-known band suiting within the DIY
indie-rock ethics of the festival to make a list of desired bands for
performing at an edition. Each year a different band or artist is the curator. In
the past Shellac, Sonic
Youth, Vincent Gallo, Matt Groening, Slint, Portishead have been curators. By
using this way of working they avoid conflict of commercial interest by
choosing catchy selling out artists. The result is an amazing list of cutting
edge artists gathered together on one festival. Some bands youÕve never seen
reunite, some other forgotten bands are all of the sudden able to represent
their work again for an audience attrackted by counter culture music. Situations
that otherwise would be impossible.
Here some information about the festival in support of their
great work.
Description of ATP from their own info page
All Tomorrow's Parties is an organisation based in London
that has been promoting festivals and concerts throughout the world for around
ten years. It was founded by Barry Hogan in 1999 in preparation for the first
All Tomorrow's Parties festival, the line-up of which was curated by Mogwai and
took place in the unusual setting of Pontins Holiday Camp, Camber Sands.
Since then the festival has appeared every year, and
continues to set itself apart from festivals like Reading or Glastonbury by
staying intimate, non-corporate and fan-friendly. Another vital difference is
that the line-ups are chosen by significant bands or artists, resulting in
unpredictable and exciting events which combine performances by legendary and
influential acts with appearances by the latest crop of experimental artists
from any (and every) musical genre. The All Tomorrow's Parties festival has
become more successful with every passing year, moving in 2006 to a larger
holiday camp. It has taken place in the UK, USA and Australia, and has been
curated by the following artists:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Mike Patton & Melvins, My
Bloody Valentine, Explosions In The Sky, Pitchfork Media, Portishead, Dirty
Three, Sonic Youth,
The Shins, Sleater Kinney, Dinosaur Jr., Devendra Banhart, Mudhoney, Yeah Yeah
Yeahs, The Mars Volta, Vincent Gallo, Slint, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Stephen
Malkmus, Mogwai, Tortoise, Shellac, Autechre, Modest Mouse, and Simpsons'
creator Matt Groening.
All Tomorrow's Parties also sets itself apart from other
festivals by embracing seemingly disparate artistic genres. Most festival
events feature art exhibitions and cinema programmes (in New York ATP
collaborated with Criterion to present a programme highlighted by an appearance
from Paul Schrader), and others have featured spoken word performances and
stand up comedy.
In 2007 the curators allowed festival goers to pick the
line-up by organising a voting process for all ticketholders in the months
running up to the event, and this is being repeated in May 2009. The festival
now takes place three times a year in the UK (twice in May and once in December
for the 'Nightmare Before Christmas'). In recent years ATP's involvement in
festivals has spread further; including curating a yearly stage at Barcelona's
acclaimed Primavera Sound Festival, and also curating a stage at Pitchfork
Magazine's Music Festival in Chicago in 2007 and 2008.
In 2008 ATP organised their first east coast U.S. festival
at Kutshers Country Club, Monticello, New York. It was called 'an unforgettable
end to the summer festival season' by Spin magazine, and Pitchfork stated that
it was: 'the most enjoyable festival experience of our reporter's life.' ATP plans
to return to Kutshers in September 2009 with guest curators The Flaming Lips,
and tickets are now on sale.
At the start of 2009 the first ATP Australia festival took
place in Mt. Buller, Sydney and Brisbane, all curated by Nick Cave & The
Bad Seeds to huge acclaim in all locations.
Significant past performances at ATP festivals include the
reformations of The Magic Band, Television and Slint amongst others. All
Tomorrow's Parties were also proud to present the return of My Bloody Valentine
with a series of worldwide live performances throughout 2008, the London
concerts of which were named Time Out's Gig Of The Year.
2009 will see the release of a feature length documentary
named All Tomorrow's Parties; a DIY concert film featuring performances from an
eclectic mix of some of the most influential or groundbreaking artists that
have appeared at ATP including Battles, Sonic Youth, Belle And Sebastian,
Grinderman, Iggy and the Stooges,
Portishead, Mogwai, Slint, Grizzly Bear, the Yeah Yeah
Yeahs, the Gossip, Daniel Johnston, and The Boredoms. The film is a semi-found
bricolage made from Super8, camcorder and mobile phone footage much of it
contributed by over two hundred filmmakers, fans and musicians over the
festival's recent history, with key contributions from Jonathan Caouette
(Tarnation) and Vincent
Moon (The Take Away Shows, Arcade Fire). It premiered at SxSW in March 2009 and was
singled out by the events' curator as being of particular artistic merit.
Concerts and Don't Look Back
ATP does not merely curate festivals; the company is also
involved in organising other special events (such as a yearly Halloween show named
Release The Bats), and promoting gigs throughout the year mostly in London and
other UK cities, but also in Europe, Australia and the USA. Another major
project is Don't Look Back, which since 2005 has seen ATP working to curate
seasons in which artists perform famous or acclaimed albums in a live setting
in album order. Past seasons have included legendary performances from The
Stooges ('Funhouse'), Belle & Sebastian ('If You're Feeling Sinister'),
Gang Of Four ('Entertainment'), Ennio Morricone (classic film soundtracks),
Slint ('Spiderland') and Sonic Youth, whose series of performances of the
classic 'Daydream Nation' earned the title of Time Out magazine's Gig Of The
Year 2007.
ATP Recordings
In 2001 the organisation spawned ATP/Recordings, a record
label originally created to bring out compilation albums related to its
festivals. However the label eventually moved on from just doing compilations
for the festival to sign and release singles and albums from artists including
Threnody Ensemble, Bardo Pond, The Magic Band, Deerhoof, White Out, Death
Vessel, The Drones, Fursaxa, The Scientists, Apse, Fuck Buttons, Alexander
Tucker and most recently Sleepy Sun.
At the end of 2007 ATP/R announced plans to release a new
series of double 7" singles called Custom Made, which would feature bands
choosing four songs; one something old, one something new, one something
borrowed (a cover version) and one something blue (artists were free to
interpret this as they feel). The first two artists to release singles in this
series are Australia's The Drones and Britain's Alexander Tucker.
Other ATP/R projects during 2008 included the release of
Street Horrrsing from Fuck Buttons, which received an 8.6 rating from
Pitchfork, a re-release of the album Spirit by Connecticut's Apse, a third
full-length release from Alexander Tucker named Portal, a UK release of
Deerhoof's Offend Maggie, and a new album from The Drones: Havilah.
In 2009 ATP/R have released Havilah worldwide and have
started working with San Francisco's Sleepy Sun on their debut album.
Clownshoes & Dolbee
Another endeavour from ATP is Clownshoes, a toy company
producing limited edition vinyl figures. The first series from Clownshoes is
the Dolbee. Measuring 5", the Dolbee figure is moulded as a cassette tape and
boxed in an old school boom box.
At each ATP festival, Clownshoes will release a Dolbee to
coincide with the event. So far designs have been produced by artists including
Michael Motorcycle, Mad*L, Kathie Olivas, Tara McPherson, Pete Fowler, Kii
Arens and Sket One.
External links
All TomorrowÕs
Parties on MySpace
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