After initially releasing a largely blacked-out press release, the organizers at Krakow’s Unsound Festival were probably feeling pretty cool. “Our secrets are safe under this black ink we bought at the dollar store,” they probably thought. Well, as my dad always used to say when he’d accidentally reveal where he had hidden my favorite playthings, you can “blame the Polish photographer,” because with just a smidgen of intrepid Photoshop work and an appeal to his Polish heritage, a photographer based in Poland was able to reveal the hidden text and had posted it to Facebook. If only my dad hadn’t, in a final act of passive-aggressive hiding, hidden himself away 10 years ago today, I’m sure he would be happy to see himself proven right. And if I were a Polish photographer myself, maybe I’d discover where he’s been all these years. (If you’re reading this, please come home, Father.)
Despite its still-secret lineup, full passes to the festival (which runs from October 11 - 18) have already completely sold out, and it did so within the span of 10 minutes. If your internet was down during that tiny span of time and you missed out, I suspect you know who to blame (hint: he’s likely got family in Łódź and callouses on his right index finger). If my wallet was stuffed with Zloty, my camera purchased in Warsaw, and my dad still around to nag me with questions, he might ask me, “Well, then, Taylor, what exactly did the press release reveal if not the festival’s lineup?” Then I’d copy-paste this description from Unsound:
The key redacted paragraphs that were uncovered explain that only a certain percentage of acts at Unsound 2015 will be “surprises”, placed throughout the program and contrasting against announced acts. The aim is to play with perceptions: preshow perception, performance perception and postshow perception. Do we listen differently, when we do not know and/or cannot see who is performing? How do our expectations affect the value we place on music?
The non-secret segment of the lineup will be announced in August, when tickets for individual events at the festival go on sale.
• Unsound: http://www.unsound.pl
