Noise of Art’s Woodbridge Art and Music Event returns this weekend. Event takes a look at what’s in store, including a new strand inspired by the town’s very own Brian Eno.
Spread across multiple venues including Elmhurst Park, The Riverside, The Red Lion, The Table, The Tea Hut, The Anchor and The Community Hall; expect music from innovative acts across a range of styles.
Now in its third year, previous artists have included Orbital, Danny Rampling, Polar Bear, Coldcut, TY, The Woodentops, Justin Robertson, Red Snapper, Diesel, The Reflex and many more.
The festival will include a day of free music in Elmhurst Park for the first time on August 27, followed by the usual events around the town in the evening. A second day of events will kick off at the Tea Hut on August 28.
New is the Woodbridge Ambient Music Event, a programming strand inspired by music pioneer Eno.
While no longer resident in Suffolk, he grew up and lived in Woodbridge for many years. First rising to prominence as the creative genius behind the electronic sounds in Roxy music, Eno went on to work with David Bowie and co-wrote much of his Berlin period; introducing electronic music to Bowie’s previously guitar-based sound.
Eno is also credited with creating ambient music after he fell ill and was listening to the effects of sounds while lying in a hospital bed. His influence on the development of electronic music continued throughout the 1980s, not least through his collaborations with Talking Heads frontman David Byrne.
One of this year’s headlining DJs, Diesel, also collaborated with Byrne on the UK chart topping track Lazy.
Dedicated to ambient and electronic music the new strand will be headlined by ambient Balearic legend Phil Mison, aka Reverso 68 and Cantoma; and electronic UK house music star, Diesel of Xpress 2 / Ballistic Brothers fame.
A former Cafe Del Mar, Ibiza, resident Mison is one of the best known DJs on the ambient and Balearic circuit. His latest LP, released under his Cantoma moniker, has become the backdrop to the summer’s Balearic sundown sets and received widespread critical praise.
Bringing one of his legendary DJ sets to Woodbridge, he will be playing the closing slot in Elmhurst Park on August 27. It will be followed by a back to back DJ set by Diesel and Noise of Art’s Ben Osborne in one of the festival’s night-time venues.
The ambient music event is being curated by DJ Osborne, founder of the Woodbridge Art and Music Event, and Jan Pulsford who is the creator of Ambient Music World and former keyboardist with Cyndi Lauper and the Thompson Twins.
Pulsford will be broadcasting live on her online radio show. Ipswich Community Radio will also be broadcasting live from the festival to the Ipswich area on 105.7FM.
The Woodbridge Art and Music Event has also teamed-up with Friends of Woodbridge Primary School for new live music fundraiser Band Stand in Elmhurst Park on August 27. It will showcase up and coming regional talent, with money going towards school music equipment.
Osborne says: “This offers us a unique opportunity to raise funds that will directly benefit the next generation of musical talent in the Woodbridge area.”
Two members of the cult indie pop band Salad, who split 18 years ago, are playing too alongside newly emerging London band Ten Fé.
Salad, the late 1990s indie band fronted by MTV presenter Marijne Van der Vlugt, debuted with Drink Me, a top 20 LP in 1996. Touring internationally they had several follow up singles but called it a day in 1998 when their second LP failed to match the success of their first.
Their status as a cult indie band lived on and Van Der Vlugt has continued to be a pin-up for indie kids. The singer will be joined by guitarist Paul Kennedy to play songs from the band’s catalogue. Although they haven’t decided on a name for the duo act, they are performing as Salad Undressed; a reference to the acoustic nature of their set.
Ten Fé have been causing a stir with their anthemic indie-psychedelic pop. Their first three singles attracted BBC Radio 1 and 6 airplay, with a lot of support from Huw Stephens and Lauren Laverne. They’ve been described as “Irresistible” by NME and their single Elodie reached number two in the Hype Machine. It also hit two million plays on Spotify in two months. Their debut album is scheduled for releaser later this year.
The band’s Leo said: “We’ve been recording in a farm a few miles outside Bury. Love the place - the landscape, massive skies, flat-lands - it’s a very creative place. It’s great to playing there now and be part of it.”
Among the overseas acts are Faroe Isle band Orka. Famous for creating their own, often bizarre, instruments who stop off in Woodbridge after a year of global touring supporting their critically praised LP Vao. Seminal 1960s electronic band White Noise are also famous for creating their own instruments. They will debut a new visual show at this year’s festival.
Among the local bands playing are electronic improvisation band Deben Collective, electro sea folk band Aatrwork, drum ‘n’ bass DJ Cartel, Italian house DJ and London Social resident David Agrella, soul duo nonsuchdjs, Woodbridge singer-songwriter Peter Hepworth and celebrated jazz singer Kelly Pritchard and guitarist Kevin Walford.
The event line-up also includes The Woodentops, Ben Osborne, Blue Kubricks, Robert Castellani, Caswell and local hip hop DJ Jimmy Green, who was chosen to support Grand Master Flash.
Festival curator Osborne returns to play his residency at The Riverside for one of the celebrated Club Nights on August 28.
“It’s great to be back doing a third year of the Woodbridge festival in venues such as The Riverside and Table, not to mention the stunning Elmhurst Park, which will be free for the first time this year,” Osborne adds.
“Diesel and I will be doing a back to back session on Saturday night. We’ve played DJ tag together many times over the years, but this will be the first time we’ve done this outside a London club. We’ve also got PhIil Mison spinning a sunset DJ set at the end of the day in the park. And we’ve got the usual mixture of top live bands and DJs playing everything from folk to hip hop, house and drum ‘n’ bass.”
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