The music line-up for the 2010 edition of Manchester’s FutureEverything festival has been announced, and it looks effing spectacular.

FutureEverything is an award-winning festival of cutting edge “art, music and ideas”, taking place this year across various venues in Manchester over the period May 12-15.

Special mention goes to the event at Sound Control on Friday 14 May, which runs from 9pm-4am and is bring produced in association with FACT. Syrian street music god Omar Souleyman – who you will probably know from his amazing releases on Sublime Frequencies and that show-stealing appearance at last year’s Sonar festival – will bring his unique brand of heavy digitized rhythms and vocal gymnastics to the Rainy City that night, joined by Rhythm & Sound / Hardwax hero Mark Ernestus and MC Paul St Hilaire, Kevin Martin’s sensational dub collective King Midas Sound (live), and Demdike Stare, the witchy alter ego of Miles Whittaker (MLZ/Pendle Coven) and Sean Canty. Support comes from Finders Keepers boss Andy Votel and Boomkat’s Conor Thomas.

But there’s loads more. On Wednesday 12 May, Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda will present a performance of test pattern, his eardrum-shredding, synapse-frying audio-visual performance test pattern. It’s without doubt one of the most visceral sensory experiences legally available, and we strongly recommend you to check it out. As if you needed further convincing, Ikeda is joined on the bill by Mika Vainio. As co-founder of Pan Sonic and Sähkö Records, Vainio has created arguably the most radical and ravishing minimal techno of all time, drawing inspiration from dub, noise and power electronics to immersive sound-worlds that are by turns enchanting and utterly terrifying. Raster-Noton recently anthologized his gallery commissions in the book+CD Time Examined.  This event is produced in collaboration with the BBC, and will actually take place at BBC Studio 7 on Oxford Road. See you there?

On Thursday 13 May the Club Academy plays host to Konono No.1, the Congo’s legendary evolvers of Bazombo trance music and without doubt one of the most scintillating live acts on the planet. In an inspired bit of programming, they’ll be supported by Bass Clef, whose love of African music is well-documented and feeds into his utterly unique take on dubstep and grime sounds. Jon K brings up the rear.

You’ve got options on Saturday 15 May: you can head to Sound Control for London bass pressure and funky from L-Vis 1990 (Night Slugs), Roska, Oneman and Dusk & Blackdown, or down to the more intimate Soup Kitchen on Spear Street for a night in the company of Detroit house prodigy Kyle Hall, who has released records on Hyperdub and Omar-S’s FXHE, as well as his own Wild Oats imprint. Electro and techno heads will want to hit up the Deaf Institute for tough analogue jams from The Hacker, Ali Renault (live), Peter Mangalore and Musclehead, but perhaps the most intriguing prospect is the free Boomkat presents… event at The Salutation, which promises a smorgasbord of Boomkat DJs and (thus far) secret special guests.

There’s loads more going on – see below for the full schedule as it stands. More information and tickets here.


WEDNESDAY 12TH MAY
Ryoji Ikeda – test pattern [live set] 
Mika Vainio [live]
9 – 11pm 
£14 Advance 
BBC Studio 7, Oxford Road, M60 1SJ

THURSDAY 13TH MAY
Konono No.1 [live] 
Bass Clef [live] 
Jon K
7.30 – 11pm 
£14.50 Advance 
Club Academy, Oxford Road, M13 9PR

FRIDAY 14TH MAY
The Compass Series – Nord Rute featuring Plaid
Ross Adams 
Plaid 
Synnøve Persen
8 – 10pm 
£10 Advance 
Victoria Baths, Hathersage Road, M13 0FE

FRIDAY 14TH MAY
In association with FACT: Omar Souleyman [live] 
Mark Ernestus & Paul St. Hilaire 
King Midas Sound [live] 
Demdike Stare [live] 
Andy Votel 
Conor Thomas
11 – 4am 
£12.50 Advance 
Sound Control, New Wakefield Street, M1 5NP

FRIDAY 14TH MAY
Moldover [live] 
Atau & Adam [live]
7 – 10pm 
£6 Advance 
Contact Theatre, Oxford Road, M15 6JA

FRIDAY 14TH MAY
Grum 
Starsmith 
MAY68 [live] 
Made in China 
Oscar Wildstyle
10 – 3am 
£8 Advance 
The Deaf Institute, 135 Grosvenor Street, M1 7HE

SATURDAY 15TH MAY
L-Vis 1990 
Roska 
Oneman 
Dusk & Blackdown
11 – 4am 
£10 Advance 
Sound Control, New Wakefield Street, M1 5NP

SATURDAY 15TH MAY
Kyle Hall 
meandyou. DJ’s
10 – 4am 
£9 Advance 
The Soup Kitchen, 31 – 33 Spear Street, M1 1DF

SATURDAY 15TH MAY
The Hacker 
Ali Renault [live] 
Peter Mangalore 
Musclehead
10 – 3am 
£8 Advance 
The Deaf Institute, 135 Grosvenor Street, M1 7HE

SATURDAY 15TH MAY
Boomkat presents… 
With Special Guests
6 – 12am 
Free Entry 
The Salutation, 12 Higher Chatham Street, M15 6ED