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SOPHIE and Jlin, 33EMYBW, Laraaji and more contribute to Unsound Festival's 'Intermission' book and album

This is Unsound’s first ever album release and documents the 2020 edition of the festival

Unsound Festival this week announced the release of ‘Intermission’, a book and album sharing the same name. They are intended as a time capsule of the festival and 2020 itself as a pivotal time period for dance music and the world.

The album includes selected tracks from the 2020 online edition of the festival, including from Jlin and SOPHIE, Laraaji, 33EMYBW, Tim Hecker with Polish vocalists Agata Harz and Katarzyna Smoluk-Moczdłowska, Ben Frost and Moor Mother.

The album also features several field recordings from throughout the pandemic, including DeForrest Brown, Jr. and James Hoff’s recordings from New York’s Black Lives Matter protests and Oscar-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir and Sam Slater’s apartment in Berlin during lockdown.

Read this next: Krakow’s Unsound Festival is an incredibly vivid exercise in staying present

The ‘Intermission’ book is an interdisciplinary work featuring 25 works of critical essays, personal reflections and poetry exploring subjects that have made up the fabric of 2020: the pandemic, lockdown, ecology, mental health, conspiracy theories, racism, LGBTQ+ rights, sound, tourism, the precarious state of the music industry, nostalgia, and identity.

The ‘Intermission’ album is dedicated to SOPHIE, who died very suddenly at the end of January. She had performed at several editions of the festival in both Krakow and New York.

Listen to 33EMYBW’s track ‘The Room’ and check out a full list of album contributors and authors involved in the project. Preorder the ‘Intermission’ album and book here.

Album tracklist

Christ Watson - ‘Unlocked’ Bastarda - ‘Aperte’ Slater Gudnadottir Grisey - ‘Happy Healthy Safe’ Weavings - ‘Section 1’ (with Aho Ssan, Angel Bat Dawid, Dirar Kalash, Ellen Fullman, Księżyc, Laraaji, Nicolás Jaar, Paweł Szamburski, Resina, Rolando Hernandez & Wukir Suryadi) Zosia Hołubowska & Julia Giertz - ‘Community of Grieving, Part 1’ Ben Frost - ‘Fire Front Near Humaita’ Lutto Lento - ‘Good Morning Go Tears’ Jlin x SOPHIE - ‘JSLOIPNHIE’ 33EMYBW - ‘The Room’ Varg2™ & VTSS - ‘VARGTSS2 (Miss Understanding)’ Slikback - ‘ZETSUBO’ DeForrest Brown, Jr. & James Hoff - ‘Project for Revolution in New York’ Tim Hecker, Agata Harz & Katarzyna Smoluk-Moczdłowskak - ‘Demeter & Johannes’ Song of Pandemia’ Jana Winderen - ‘re_Surge’

Authors

Agata Pyzik

Andrew Brooks

Andy Battaglia

Armen Avanessian & ≋h≋o≋m≋a≋r≋

Ayesha Hameed

Dave Tompkins

Ewa Majewska

Gamall Awad

Harmony Holliday

J.T. Roane

Jace Clayton

Jay Springett

Jennifer Lucy Allan

Kristen Gallerneaux

Luke Turner

Mat Schulz

Moor Mother

Olga Drenda

Philip Sherburne

S.J. Norman

Sean Dockray, James Parker & Joel Stern

Stephanie Philips

Steve Goodman (aka Kode9)

Sylwia Chutnik

Ting Ding & DeForrest Brown, Jr.

Jemima Skala is Mixmag’s Weekend Editor. Follow her on Twitter

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