Kevin Drumm at Islington Mill

Both Faktion and Gesmaptkunstwerk have become widely known in Greater Manchester for bringing a series of firsts and exclusive performances to the city. Next Thursday is no different as the promoters pair up to host sonic auteur Kevin Drumm’s first ever performance in Salford, at Islington Mill. Originally focusing his practice on table-top guitar experiments, Drumm’s prolific recorded output in the last 15 years has shown a dazzling variety in tone and delivery, becoming one of the most consistently challenging artists working within electronics today. Gaining international renown with 2002’s seminal Sheer Hellish Miasma, Drumm’s brain-churning magnum opus of pitch black distortion and frenzied feedback still to this day remains one of the heaviest records put to wax. But there are more than a dozen instances in Drumm’s oeuvre which have easily resisted the critics need to categorise this artist as merely a ‘noise musician’. Recent works such as the long-form Imperial Distortion and ode to Arvo Part, Tannenbaum, have shown Drumm work astutely with heavenly ambience and low key composition – with his latest record, Phantom Jerk, continuing in a similar vein, experimenting exclusively with analogue synthesisers. It is this resistance of easy pigeonholing that makes the prospect of a Kevin Drumm show so unmissable; there’s no telling whether he aims to punish with blistering sonics or lull with beautiful acoustics – the anticipation as to which, if not both, should certainly be relished. Main support comes from Scared Tapes head honcho Yes Blythe, who will be debuting Sonic Transmissions – a custom-made installation/performance piece using FM radios, cassette recordings, EFX and a multi-channel concrete speaker set-up. Analogue synth expert Sam Weaver and electro-acoustic composer Danny Saul round out a well programmed bill, melding the acoustic and synthetic that recently gained great appreciation at their first pairing for Fat Out Fest.  There will be limited capacity at this seated show, so wise to book now than miss one of the shows of the year.

Thu 24 Jul, Islington Mill, 1 James St, Salford, M3 5HW, Tel: 0161 278 6404, 7pm, £10 – book by PayPal to info@annexagency.co.uk, http://www.islingtonmill.com/events.php