Counterflows: Festive Soiree

For the festive soiree, Counterflows invites some of its close musical family for a night of festive-themed fun, throwing up and revelling in all the joy, beauty, horror and ridiculousness of the holiday season.

Usurper will present 'The 3 Year Old Hamster', a new piece written especially for this event. Usurper are the the Edinburgh of duo of Malcy Duff and Ali Robertson, a mischievous outfit whose off-radar activities have manifested over 15 years in tragi-comic one-off performances, on the spot collaborations, countless CD-rs, zines and underground miscellanea. Traversing the worlds of British improvisation, post-fluxus performance art, absurdist comic book fiction and Scottish Luddite humour, they create a world that exists “through” music, where the mundane is illuminated and notions of “talent” and “expertise” are de-mystified.

Aine O'Dwyer will present a new piece entitled 'Tracker Action Mimes' in collaboration with The Glad Scratch Choir - a community choir emanating from Glasgow-based artistic hub The Glad Cafe. Áine O'Dwyer, (b. Co.Limerick, Ireland) lives and works between Ireland and the UK. She creates live and recorded events which embrace the broader aesthetics of sound and its relationship to environment, time, audience and structure. The notion of a holding space as-extension-of-instrument is a cornerstone of her artistic investigation and the crux of her live performances. Her most recent live works include Civil Twilight (Rhubaba Gallery, Edinburgh 2017),  Down at Beasty Rock (CCA, Glasgow 2017), Poems for Daedalus (Daedalus street, Athens 2018) and Pianowalk (Novas Frequências, Rio de Janeiro 2018). Notable releases include Music for Church Cleaners, Beast diaries, Locusts, Gegeinschein, Gallarais and Poems for play which was released on her publishing imprint Cloch.

Bill Wells is one of the unsung heroes of Scottish underground music, making music that touches the worlds of pop, jazz, classical music and experimental music, but with a tender singularity at its core. His rich and diverse career has led to countless releases, as well as collaborations with the likes of Jad Fair, Aidan Moffat, Mahar Shalal Hash Baz, Deerhoof, Yo La Tengo, Annea Lockwood, Jim O'Rourke and Stefan Schneider. For this performance he will present his 'Winter Dreams' work, collaborating live with Audrey Bizouerne and Danielle Price.

Festive DJs (to be announced) will keep the night in full swing...

Presented by The Queen’s Hall and supported by Creative Scotland