On September 6th, Sprechen, a record label from the North West of England, passionate, obsessed even with illuminating the spaces between the cosmic dots before joining them together via their transpennine expressway to yr skull will host The Utopia Strong, a three-piece modular, electronic, psych, cosmic hybrid with Steve Davis (6 times world snooker champion), Kavus Torabi (frontman in Gong) & Michael J York (The Witching Tale).
Playing alongside Konformer, the group are set to headline The Yard in Cheetham Hill as part of the Sprechen Presents live gig series.
Tickets here.
Born on the evening of 2nd January 2018 after an experimental and revelatory improvised session together, The Utopia Strong was birthed when Kavus Torabi, Michael York and Steve Davis alchemically fused Modular Synthesisers with conventional instruments to create a weird and joyous celebration of all that is good about left-field psychedelic music. No wonder the late sage Andrew Weatherall proclaimed them “gnostic sonics in a nutshell”.
With Big shades of NEU! on a darker tip with elements of Khurangbin and A Certain Ratio getting thrown in the mix, also on the lineup is Konformer from Germany who are making their debut in the UK. Their album was released on Jason Boardman’s (Aficionado) new label Before I Die, becoming a hot seller at Piccadilly Records.
Emerging from the rhythm section of the Nuremberg post-punk band Genetiks in the mid-2000s; without haste and in complete privacy, Konformer developed their own sound over the years, which is essentially based on bass loops evolving into modified strophic forms. After countless improvisation sessions, the last piece Konformer was created in 2016, followed by further pieces originally recorded in March 2022 at Frank Mollena’s Lonestar Studios in Nuremberg. Jason Boardman released these a year later on his label Before I Die as BiD005. Despite their long existence, Konformer only made their live debut on 29 April 2023 at Z-Bau in Nuremberg. This was followed by further concerts and work on a second album.
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