Sonic Cineplex

It's only one sleep away, but The Arches' Sonic Cineplex is still one of my highlights for the Glasgow Film Festival. Following in the tradition of last year's trip to The Glue Factory with 85a, it is an example of how curation can be as creativity as cinematography, and brings together some of my favourite films (Baraka, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari) and favourite musicians (Remember Remember, Daniel Padden).

It's easy to see film as a passive medium - the blockbuster is so well established as the dominant genre that cinema itself has become some sort of easy watching alternative to thought. By reworking the soundtrack - and JD Twitch has his work cut out improving on Baraka's mixture of music from around the world - the familiar becomes new and even a masterpiece like Caligari is no longer a mere classic, but a fresh experience.

I could go into raptures about how The Arches is redefining cinema, but I am going to get excited about the line up, instead. Jeff Mills may be headlining (he is grooving along to Fritz Lang's 1929 sci-fi classic The Woman In The Moon during a three hour set, which ought to leave plenty of time for dancing as well as watching), but it's Dieter Moebius, who gets Metropolis  to rearrange, who has my attention.

Moebius has been called "the Godfather of Krautrock." He was part of Kluster, one of the earliest outfits to utilise repetitious funk in a mechanical, intense rock soundscape. The dystopian future of Metropolis is the perfect match for his electronic soundtracks: whereas Mills is known for the dancing, Moebius is as much about the thinking.

Elsewhere, old favourites Cry Parrot will be throwing down a special DJ set of tunes inspired by film - hopefully this won't include too much of the Footloose soundtrack, even if it is being revived for the stage. And Remember Remember  and Raime are presenting AV shows.

It's a way to escape the problems of electronic music in a live format. It reinvigorates film. Watch out for the grubby man in the corner with his laptop: I intend to live blog this one from start to finish...





JEFF MILLS
A live cinemix (3 hour set - UK premiere)

DIETER MOEBIUS
A live score to the 2010 cut of Fritz Lang's Metropolis

RAIME
A live, specially commissioned AV show accompanying their album Quarter Turns Over A Living Line

JD TWITCH
A live cinemix to the film Baraka

REMEMBER REMEMBER
A live AV set featuring original new work

JOE HOWE
A live AV set featuring original new work

ADAM STAFFORD
A live score to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

NEOTANTRIK ft. ANDY VOTEL & SEAN CANTY
A screening of Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession followed by a live AV show

DANIEL PADDEN
Live AV show featuring extracts from animation legend Harry Smith

GOLDEN TEACHER
Live interactive AV show

CHRIS GEDDES (Belle & Sebastian)
DJ set featuring/inspired by film soundtracks



OFFICIAL AFTERPARTY |

Subculture with Harri and Domenic is the Official Cineplex Afterparty - get in for just £5 with your Cineplex ticket stub.