TR/ST (CAN) / Test Dept (UK) / Shackleton presents Tunes Of Negation (UK) / Kyoka (JP)

20:00 Test Dept
21:45 Shackleton presents Tunes Of Negation
23:15 TR/ST
00:45 Kyoka
after: COS (DJ Set)

The electronic pop project TR/ST (pronounced: Trust) by Canadian Robert Alfons is coming to Dampfzentrale for an exclusive Swiss concert. Founded in 2010 together with Maya Postepski of the electronic group Austra (she still writes the songs together with Alfons, but is no longer part of the live formation), TR/ST occupies an outsider position in an international scene that revives the spirit of early 1980s synth pop. One can confidently claim that TR/ST is the finest example of the fact that the legacy of electronic pop music from back in the day should neither be copied blindly nor mechanically but should be transformed into something new and free of any retromania. TR/ST gives you the feeling of having one foot in 1982 and one firmly in the present. By the end of this year, two new albums will have been released: «The Destroyer (Part 1)» in April and «The Destroyer (Part 2)» in early November. A critic of the National Post wrote: «They’re the perfect ending to a wild night in the city, taking you on a relentless trip through a set list dripping with sexual tension before winding down to the last pulses of the synthesizer».

Test Dept (pronounced: Test Department) is one of the early legends of industrial music. Founded in 1981, they began to use scrap metal as percussion instruments, blowing up musical conventions and shaking them to their foundations almost simultaneously with Einstürzende Neubauten, with whom they were always compared. In contrast to Neubauten, Test Dept were very active in the political scene. This culminated in the 1985 album «Shoulder To Shoulder», which they recorded together with the South Wales Striking Miners Choir.

In the early 1990s, Test Dept slowly split apart and got bogged down in some uninspiring techno experiments until the group officially disbanded in 1997. By 2014, some of the members had started to give concerts again as Test Dept:Redux, two years later the band’s founders Paul Jamrozy and Graham Cunnington re-formed Test Dept and recorded a new album called «Disturbance». This first work in 28 years was true to the spirit of the band’s early days and released by One Little Indian (a label that includes Björk) at the beginning of 2019 and shows they haven’t lost any of their passion and willingness to stand up for their political beliefs. You now have a chance to experience one of the most important industrial bands alongside Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire and SPK live in Bern.

British musician Sam Shackleton played in punk bands at a young age and found his way into electronic music with the first wave of grime and dubstep. Under the name Shackleton, he played a very special role in British bass music, created a sound that distinguished him from everyone else, and from a certain point on began to integrate singing into his music. This resulted, among other things, in an album with the countertenor Ernesto Tomasini and another with the German-British singer Anika, who could be heard at Saint Ghetto in 2011 and 2014. It’s difficult to describe Shackleton’s recent music – he called it percussive trance music in an interview. An obvious trademark is the non-Western polyrhythmics. Although his works are considered electronic music, his albums include live vibraphone, marimba and accordion. Shackleton has now put together a three-piece live band, called Tunes Of Negation, and is coming to Switzerland for a first show.

Kyoka is the perfect musician to bring this multi-layered festival evening to a close. Her experimental techno captivates audiences with rolling beats and chopped vocal loops, the rhythms are rarely straightforward yet still groove without forcing you onto the dancefloor. «Glitch-heavy electronic music. An experimental fusion of broken techno and pop sensibilities.»