BASILICA SOUNDSCAPE 2018 RECAP
“The absence of long lines, corporate sponsorships, and flower crowns have made [Basilica SoundScape] a banner weekend for adventurous listeners, and the program, as usual, is stunning.” New Yorker
Thank you to everyone that joined us for Basilica SoundScape 2018. You helped us create something truly magical in our old factory on the banks of the Hudson river. Thank you for exploring with us, for honoring music + art with us, for sharing with us.
As we begin collecting our thoughts and ideas for Basilica SoundScape 2019, we are grateful to the adventurous artists that stepped off the beaten path, to the intrepid campers, to the devotees of sound and art who came from far and wide to share in our communal vision of preserving independent and innovative voices to blaze trails into our futures!
The dream has come and gone from the factory, but the sounds, sights and experiences still linger, embedded within until next year. The ritual starts with the building itself: iconic, welcoming and indestructable, our host to expand the senses and transcend beyond. Our industrial church was captured like a dream in the New Yorker by illustrator Stephanie Scholz (see above).
“Soundscape is certainly unlike most festivals, emphasizing strong live sound, broad genre representation, and a legitimately diverse lineup; there just aren’t many other settings where an unusual post-punk/electronic band like Boy Harsher can capture a sizable audience at a headlining time. By asking audiences to pay close attention to heady, drawn-out, sometimes abrasive performances, Soundscape challenges the notion that festivals exist more for partying or networking than serious artistic experiences.” Brooklyn Vegan
From the ambitious visual art take-over of Basilica’s Main Hall by Catskill-based artist Laleh Khorramian, to the US premiere of Stephen O Malley’s Un Vide Dans Le Ciel, SoundScape also marked the first-time collaboration between Basilica Hudson and Bard College-based The Orchestra Now. Drones merged with glassy ambient guitar in Nick Zinner x The Haxan Cloak’s late-night wrap up, composed specifically for Basilica SoundScape. Contemporary dance duo FlucT harnessed the power of the body, hitting the concrete floor with vision and power, before turning over to the underworldly noise of Prurient. Lightning Bolt’s visceral drumstick to skin power created the weekend’s moshpit, while intimate North Hall performances by Boy Harsher, Usnea, Hanif Abdurraqib and the unveiling of Wax Idols’ Hether Fortune’s new solo project wove the weekend together. Much more followed, closed out with healing and ceremonial Sunday morning conversations, brunch, WGXC record fair and Triptych – an event hinged on QPOC and Hudson’s own powerful voices.
“One of the region’s most substantial, current and challenging music and art festivals. Once again, the promoters reveal themselves as fearless, ambitious and undaunted by logistics and coordination. Consider, for example, one of the centerpieces of this year’s weekend: an orchestral piece composed by Stephen O’Malley of the ambient sludge-rock band Sunn O))) performed by Bard College’s 76-piece The Orchestra Now on Friday night.” Almanac Weekly
Basilica SoundScape would not be possible without the generous support and like-minded spirit of our partners and collaborators.
IMAGE CREDITS: Basilica Hudson illustration by Stephanie Scholz for The New Yorker; Laleh Khorramian art installation by Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; Stephen O’Malley‘s Un Vide Dans Le Ciel by Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; FlucT by Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; Nick Zinner x The Haxan Cloak by Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; Lightning Bolt by Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; Boy Harsher by Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; Prurientby Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; Spellling by Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; Usnea by Samantha Marble for The Creative Independent; Triptych performers Shanekia McIntosh, Joey De Jesus, Martine Gutierrez, B Taylor and Zeelie Brown by Tomm Roeschlein