Concerts
Led by Chestnutt, producer & member of Snapped Ankles (The Leaf Label) and graphic / sound artist & instrument builder Raimund Wong, Floating World Picture's live show is driven by improvisation and collective gestures within the framework of cassette tape-loop manipulations, live signal processing and analogue synthesis. Alongside a shifting cast the duo spin a sensuous, densely populated soundscape: grounding drones and flowing waterfall synths, a rainforest of hisses and a thrumming hive of life with distant metallic snaps that conjure up a day-to-day scene of ordinary people working. Fragments of found dialogue, melodies and environmental sounds navigate impressionistic passages, focussing the performance into a new form of searching and recontextualising.
As with many of our acts there is a strong visual meaning and presence in their music. The name comes from a Japanese artistic movement popular during the Edo period (1615 – 1868). Colourful woodblock prints, known as Ukiyo-e (‘pictures of the floating world’), depicted scenes from everyday Japan.The 'floating world' referred to the licensed brothel and theatre districts of Japan's major cities during the Edo period, inhabited by prostitutes and Kabuki actors (a traditional form of Japanese theatre). Despite their low status, actors and courtesans became the style icons of their day, and their fashions spread to the general population via inexpensive woodblock prints which were accessible to the general population.
the hybrid sessions
featuring noelle
TUESDAY 24th JUNE
Curated by drummer and artist Laurie Agnew, The Hybrid Sessions is a regular improvisation session at Manchester's Matt and Phreds, combining live instrumentation and electronic production. The Hybrid Sessions will be coming to the Peak District for the first time.
Inspired by modern electronic artists including as Floating Points, Maribou State, Thom Yorke and Jojo Mayer.
A hybrid drum kit, percussion and Ableton Push will be available as well as vocal mics, guitar and bass amp. The opportunity to create live music with an electronic aesthetic will be instantaneous.
The guest artist for the first session at the Watts Russell Arms is Noelle
the barnacles
+ ben tangle
SATURDAY 5th JULY
I AM Peter Beardsworth.
I AM a flute player
I AM a producer
I AM a multi-instrumentalist
I AM a member of The Barnacles, an organisation seeking to promote the promotion of all life through the medium of vibration, which IS everything. I am an astronaut of the cosmos and a cosmonaut of the astros. I will teach you, if you pay me. Shim Shala Shom
Ben Tangle is a psych-folk minstrel conjuring up rich, tangible soundscapes with guitar, flute, bodhrán, and shruti box. His immersive live shows blend storytelling, surrealism, and 60s-inspired mysticism, offering a strange and hopeful escape from the everyday.
karolina wegrzyn
SATURDAY 12th JULY
Karolina Wegrzyn & Banda share captivating performances of Eastern European sounds. Karolinahails from Sub-Carpathia in South-Eastern Poland, where she grew up surrounded by folklore, and learned the traditional songs and dances from her grandmother. Karolina uses the archaic Eastern European method of singing - the open-chest “white voice”, otherwise known as ‘scream singing’.
In 2011 Karolina received an award from the Polish Ministry of Culture and Heritage for her artistic achievements, and took a 3rd place at Traditional Musician’s Tournament in Szczecin’s Philharmonic in 2021. She has performed at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Moseley Folk Festival, Gobefest in Manchester and Musicport in Whitby.
PAST Concerts
Monday, 7th April with Rosie Brownhill
By Our Hands We Make Our Way, Nottingham
Thursday, 17th April with Resonant Bodies
Samuel Worth Chapel, Sheffield
Step into a world where folklore, magic, and music intertwine – Witching Hour is a spellbinding live performance that merges classical, contemporary, and folk music with storytelling.
In the mystical forests of Leanachan, Scotland, a woman accused of witchcraft escapes into the wild, encountering faeries, will-o’-the-wisps, and ancient magic.
Featuring a brand new commission by Samuel Kane alongside music by Donald Grant, Missy Mazzoli, Caroline Shaw, Barbara Strozzi, and Radiohead, tales from British folklore are brought to life by string quartet, lever harp, and singer/narrator, alongside striking visual projections by Will Burns and Miriam Bean.
+ rory green
Tuesday 8th April,
The Yard, Manchester
Internationally acclaimed Senegalese percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Dudù Kouate (Abel Selaocoe, Moor Mother, Art Ensemble of Chicago) joins forces with award-winning Manchester ensemble, NOMAD (Iona Kaye, Elena Orsi, Ailsa Burns, and Hoda Jahanpour). After first collaborating in France last September, the five musicians present their first UK performance, showcasing original music fresh from the recording studio. Their sound merges Celtic folk, jazz, and African influences - drawing from Dudù’s vast collection of over 200 instruments - with classical strings and voice. The result is a vibrant and dynamic celebration of culture, collaboration, and improvisation.
Thursday, 10th April
Feather Star, Nottingham
This performace will take place alongside an exhibition of abstract paintings by Karolina Ptaszkowski in the Haarlem Art Space
Karolina Ptaszkowska’s work weaves a literal and metaphorical tapestry of layers, offering fragmented bodies and organic forms that morph into architectural motifs, patterns, and radiant sources of light. These elements function as conduits for interconnectedness—between humans, machines, space, and time. Ptaszkowska’s practice constructs a body that not only embodies structural design but also serves as a support system for events, both micro and macro. Her pieces delve into the space where the visible and invisible converge—suggesting that reality is shaped by the dynamic exchange between tangible forces and unseen, spiritual energies.
Monday, 21st April
By Our Hands We Make
Our Way, Nottingham
Jesse Barrett is a percussionist and collaborator known for a highly expressive and inventive approach that draws on his background both as a jazz drummer and a student of tabla.
Channeling a deep and dedicated study under his Guru Sirishkumar Manji with experiences collaborating and composing, Jesse has arrived at a totally personal take on the meeting point between these diverse fields of lyrical percussion, carving a new path into worlds of tonal variety and the subtle permutations of Tabla, Jazz improvisation, ambient electronics and sampling.
The trio features bassist Owen Morgan and multi-instrumentalist Peter Beardsworth. They blend propulsive rhythmic compositions with atmospheric soundscapes and dynamic improvisations, drawing from a wide range of sounds, influences and modalities.
Born into a family of griots, the Kouatè—singers entrusted with preserving and passing down the traditions and stories of their people—Dudù Kouatè embraces the role assigned to him by tradition and breathes new life into it through a modern, multicultural lens. His concert is shaped by a symphony of instruments, a polyphony that creates magical and evocative atmospheres: from the Berber lute (xalam) to the kanjira, traditional African wind instruments, water gourds, and talking drums, which symbolically transport the listener to an unexplored and captivating dimension.
Driven by the need to explore culturally distant worlds—
African and European—Dudù takes the listeners by the
hand and, with his vision, guides them on a virtual journey through African sounds, reinterpreted with style and originality. The shifts in rhythm and harmonies elevate emotions to new heights. This perspective offers a vivid glimpse, almost a tangible experience, of Dakar's suburbs, natural landscapes, the savanna, the desert, villages, and stories of humanity.
From June through to September 2024 we hosted a series of summer concerts at the Watts Russell Arms in Hopedale, supported by the Arts Council. Ranging from the sweet sounds of the West African kora, to the mysterious and mesmerising voices of Ukraine… from traditional English and Irish folk music, to intimate and experimental multimedia experiences, the series pulled in acclaimed and up-and-coming musicians from far and wide. We'll be announcing a new programme for 2025 soon, but for now, check out some films of the highlights of 2024, produced by the Samsara Collective.
Click on the link above to check out some of the amazing music we've put on over the last couple of years...