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A-Bound Festival at Islington Mill: Unorthodox Easter celebrations

Anastasia Connor

Fat Out Till You Pass Out are doing splendid things at Islington Mill – and A-Bound Festival over the Easter weekend looks to be no exception.

A-Bound is a new collaborative project masterminded by Fat Out Till You Pass Out, a local experimental promoter resident in Salford’s creative hub Islington Mill. The opening (free, sold out) show – a joint venture with Manchester’s Now Wave – serves up Dutch Uncles’ special brew of math-rock infused uplifting pop with the darker bluesy starter of Bernard & Edith.  The second installment of the programme is a partnership with Bristol’s Cacophanus Sarcophagus, whose showcase includes drum-centric improvisational collective WERK and curator/interpreter of ethnic minority music from South East Asia Kink Gong.

A-Bound is a new collaborative project masterminded by local promoter Fat Out

Good Friday and Saturday herald the arrival of Glasgow’s legendary DJ duo JD Twitch and Jonnie Wilkes (aka Optimo Music) who spring into Easter with a 28-hour bounce of events joining forces with Islington Mill Pot Luck Film Night (IMPLFN), purveyors of early analogue games Tech Noir, vegan kitchen Mother May I and London/Manchester genre-melting party makers High Hoops.

Tracing its history back to an artist-lead initiative started in 1995, Supernormal is the antithesis of large headliner-driven commercial events associated with the festival business. Their Easter Sunday service brings together multi-instrumentalist superheroine Serafina Steer’s latest project Bas Jan,  two-man everything machine Gum Takes Tooth, experimental noise provocateurs Consumer Electronics and custodians of degenerate rhymths and bastardised electronics Circuit Breaker. More workshops and film screenings are yet to be announced.  Aimed at encouraging visitors to evaluate their role in the proceedings, Helmut Lemke’s sound/art commission will run alongside the music events.

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