Review: Aka Hige - Opening (Self-released)

This is one of those projects that doesn’t hinge solely on recorded music – there are various creative outlets produced alongside the release – art and design prints, short stories by Bad Language and #FlashTag writers, illustrations and a launch night AV spectacle at an unused office space in Piccadilly Place.

The music itself flickers in the shadows, sometimes offering little more than a sub-bass heartbeat and the occasional twitch, and at other times shuffling along with relatively upbeat synth-led glee. Its mood swings are minimal, but its overall personality is certainly stabilised by the launch night setting. Within those bounds – walls covered with plastic lining, yet to be unwrapped – the music bounced menacingly, yet the fantastical always glimmered as vibrant colours hazily illuminated the darkness, shining a light on this journey across various realms of pensive electronica.

Words: Ian Pennington.

Chorlton Arts Festival and Flash Tag call for submissions

The organisers of Chorlton Arts Festival are preparing for its twelfth year in 2012, with the town-spanning multi-arts celebration scheduled for 17th to 27th May.

Tickets are available for the larger events via the Chorlton Arts Festival website. Standouts so far include The Handsome Family, Chew Lips and a solo show by Cinematic Orchestra’s Stuart McCallum, while Swimming will perform the first ‘binaural’ headphone event to appear in Chorlton, at Wilbraham St. Ninian’s United Reformed Church. For that, a live performance by Nottingham band Swimming will be broadcast to a separate room from which binaural artist Dallas Simpson will remix the sounds before they reach the headphones of audience members.

On the literary side of the festival a group of Manchester based writers, editors and bloggers named FlashTag will judge a short story competition, which will culminate in a literary event as part of the festival on 23 May. The deadline for submissions is 27 April and guidelines for entry can be found on the FlashTag website.

The FlashTag group are also involved with the organisation of National Flash Fiction Day, which will take place on 16 May and will accept entries until 10 April.

Words: Ian Pennington
Images: Courtesy of Chorlton Arts Festival

An edited version of this article first appeared on Manchester Mule.