Algiers have released collaborative audiovisual piece, “Can the Sub_Bass Speak?”, a new work from the band and production duo Randall Dunn and Ben Greenberg (Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Mandy Soundtrack, Sunn O))), Uniform).
The new piece pits charged language and free jazz collage by Algiers multi-instrumentalist Franklin James Fisher, saxophonics pioneer Skerik and drummer D’Vonne Lewis against a maelstrom of visuals by filmmaker Sam Campbell and typographer Farbod Kokabi.
The film recalls the ‘visual abstraction’ and political radicalism of Lis Rhodes and John Akomfrah, situating Fisher’s lyrical examination of structural racism within the disorienting resurgence of fascism across Europe and the United States.
Fisher says:
“Who has the cultural authority to designate origin and authenticity?
“Can the Sub_Bass Speak? “is a frustrated regurgitation; a
re-contextualization; a re-appropriation; a shield and a mirror that
projects back onto the world a lifetime of interpellating language
rooted in weaponized ignorance and supremacist privilege.
The improvised punctuation is provided by Skerik on the tenor
saxophone and D’Vonne Lewis on drums and percussion.
The underlying cacophony traces the evolution of African-American
music, experience and identity.
This is not for the mercenary architects: the Jacks and Queens of
simulated experience.
This is for anyone who has found themselves on the sharp end of
insidious, rhetorical prying: “Where are you from?” “What are you?”
This is for anyone who has had their identity assigned and determined
by the agents of patriarchy.
This is for the Subaltern.”
Watch below the collaborative audiovisual piece ““Can the Sub_Bass Speak?”.
Alongside, Algiers have announced UK & European headline tour dates for 2020. Kicking off in Brighton on February 3rd, the band headline London’s Village Underground on February 5th, before continuing to further stops in the UK and Europe. A full list of current and upcoming dates can be found below.
Aug 28 Montepulciano, Italy – Acquaviva
Aug 29 Bassano Del Grappa, Italy – Unknown venue
Sep 14 Dornbirn, Austria – Unknown
Sep 17 Berlin, Germany – Lido
Sep 18 Hamburg, Germany – Reeperbahn Festival
Sep 19 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
Sep 24 Krakow, Poland – Venue TBC
Sep 27 Thessaloníki, Greece – Street Mode Festival
Sep 28, Patras, Greece – Venue TBC
Sep 29 Ioánnina, Greece – Route 66
3 Feb Brighton, UK – The Haunt
5 Feb London, UK – Village Underground
6 Feb Manchester, UK – YES
7 Feb Glasgow, UK – Stereo
8 Feb Dublin, IRE – Whelans
10 Feb Leeds, UK – Brudenell
12 Feb Brussels, Belgium – Botanique Rotonde
14 Feb Cologne, Germany – Club Volta
15 Feb Schorndorf, Germany – Manufaktur
17 Feb Frankfurt, Germany – Zoom
18 Feb Dresden, Germany – Beatpol
20 Feb Warsaw, Poland – Hybrydy
21 Feb Prague, Czech Republic – Lucerna Music Bar
22 Feb Vienna, Austria – Flex
24 Feb Munich, Germany – Strom
26 Feb Rome, Italy – Monk
27 Feb Milan, Italy – Ohibò
29 Feb Barcelona, Spain – Razzmatazz 3
1 Mar Madrid, Spain – Café Berlin
3 Mar Bordeaux, France – Barby
4 Mar Nantes, France – Stereolux
5 Mar Paris, France – La Maroquinerie
“Can The Sub_Bass Speak?” is the centerpiece of a larger web installation thereisnoyear.com, which can be found HERE.