Shipwreck: Pessimist (Bristol), E-Saggila, Gremlinz, Xicada (live), Spread & Skatta

Carnival of Shipwreck is UKAI Projects’ celebration of being in the water. Carnival is reversal. Carnival is release.

Our Friday theme is: Storm. We are super stoked to be bringing Pessimist from Bristol for his Toronto and Canada debut! This lineup couldn't be any better as we've gathered true local legends all in one place: E-Saggila, Gremlinz, Xicada, and Spread & Skatta!

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Pessimist, real name Kristian Jabs has been releasing music since 2010. Previously one third of the Bristol trio Ruffhouse, his constant development over the years has gained him a respected reputation throughout the electronic music industry. With firm roots in Drum & Bass & Jungle, Pessimist has not only made an impact within the Drum & Bass scene but also the wider electronic music community. With his critically acclaimed debut self titled album released on Blackest Ever Black turning many heads and garnering a clear non-conformist vision, Pessimist has carved out a stand-alone status and has influenced a whole new generation of experimental Drum & Bass producers and DJ’s. Whilst running his own imprint Pessimist Productions and co-founding UVB-76 music, Pessimist has also released on labels such as Blackest Ever Black, Osiris Music, Ilian Tape & legendary Drum & Bass labels such as Cylon Recordings & Renegade Hardware. You can expect a hybrid of Drum & Bass / Jungle, Techno, Ambient Interludes and back-to- the-90’s TripHop all within his DJ sets, a true translation of his productions and influences.

Upon discovering the sounds of Jungle in the mid 90's, Toronto native Gremlinz became obsessed with Drum & Bass and the culture behind it, fully immersing himself into collecting, DJing and learning to produce the music that had taken over his life. A few years of honing his craft later and Gremlinz secured his debut release in 2004 as part of the MDZ04 LP on Metalheadz. A formidable introduction and a statement of intent for this uncompromising maverick artist, made all the more surreal by the fact that Headz was his favorite label and the most influential to the development of his taste and sounds from day one.

Following his first outing, Gremlinz has gone on to drop a constant stream of tracks on a who's who of top labels, and with each release, the accolades have poured in. Tracks on Renegade Hardware, 31 Records, Cylon, Architecture, Rupture, AMAR and Paradox Music highlight his multi-faceted style, allowing him to drop both break beat-heavy B- Boy affairs and more nuanced dubby half step tunes seemingly at will. His singular approach has been well-received on both sides of the pond, resulting in a global demand for his upfront DJ sets as well as landing him a spot on Loxy & Ink's HORSEMEN collective, aligning him with a superb stable of producers and a never ending supply of fresh music. 2015 saw Gremlinz set up the much heralded UVB-76 imprint with fellow contemporaries Ruffhouse, which has since grown to include 3 equally well received offshoot labels, Droogs (also co-run by Overlook), 4 6 2 5, and The Stone Tapes (Curated by Overlook & Vega Ruffhouse). Each having a devoted, worldwide fan base eager for the next slice of genre pushing innovation. In 2018 Gremlinz career came full circle with a renewed focus in the studio alongside longtime friend and now close collaborator Jesta resulting in a return to Metalheadz in the form of a Gremlinz & Jesta EP on METHXX, a 12” on Metalheadz Platinum, and of course their recently released debut album ‘The Lee Garden Historical Preservation Society’.

From her base in Toronto, E-Saggila covertly binds industrial music's harshest pole of rhythmic intensity with club-wise shock tactics to create a dark and emotive soundtrack to snap us out of our digital daze. Locked into the idea that music's most extreme and abstract forms have everything to do with the development of dance music culture, E-Saggila carries the DIY ethos that underpins it all right into techno's contemporary core. Part destruction, part reconstruction, it's a sense that's increasingly swarming techno's mainline. A keen feel for elegiac ambient compositions glues much of her work together, and it offers much needed respite from the intensity that's otherwise closely stacked up. The eloquent and melancholic moments typically descend into grim cul-de-sacs, only to corner us there with strong doses of gabber's brutal horsepower. Often topping the low end with a frenzy of breakbeat workouts, E-Saggila is lethal in her hectic bursts. Her discography includes a collection of tapes from her own label, as well as releases on Opal Tapes, Hospital Productions, and Northern Electronics. Off the back of this, E-Saggila has showcased her live work across the globe. Going forward with upcoming works, her ascent is becoming sharper and evermore crucial.

Xicada summons dark, pulsating beats amidst eerie, creeping textures and hovering vocals that crawl through the decaying landscapes she conjures. Her music serves as a chilling soundtrack to a cyber goth future existing in a dimensional rift. Xicada’s creative practice is influenced by philosophy, mythology, and dreams. Music becomes a vessel through which Xicada creates characters, settings, and modalities that invite reflection. The human voice, often in whispered tones, creates an abstracted rhythm, like topographical features on an alien landscape, rising and falling on the horizon, made hazy by the distance and atmosphere. Within this listening/imagined atmosphere, at once inviting and unsettling, Xicada plays with mythmaking, most often through Gaia-ian Sophia-like characters who are portrayed as messengers in her work. Her latest album, Born From The Ashes, released on Borscht Records, showcases her unique sound with influences of dub, industrial, deconstructed club, and features a collaboration with experimental artist Fire-Toolz. With previous releases on Halocline Trance, Foxy Digitalis, and Aural Tethers, Xicada continues to push boundaries and explore the depths of electronic music, drawing listeners into her hauntingly immersive world.

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Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset worried, early in the 20th century, that the modern world's capacity to create culture in response to changing conditions had significantly eroded.

Life is shipwreck, he offered, and culture is the swimming stroke that keeps us from drowning.

However, over time, we become burdened by "parasitic and lymphatic matter" that threatens to pull us under and completely undermines our ability to adapt to changes that come. We develop techniques, institutions, and ways of thinking that we are hesitant to let go of because learning to swim again is scary and uncertain. We look out for rescue with no guarantee that it will ever come.