What's On — Capsule events

Modified Toy Orchestra pr... with special guest Micronormous
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Wed 8 Sep 8:00pm Town Hall

After international performances to critical and audience acclaim, MTO return to their hometown for this UK premiere of their new album _Plastic Planet_, performed using *only* modified toys. With its subtle ecological concerns, cinematic soundscapes and joyous electronic pop music, this will be a truly a unique and uplifting experience. Modified Toy Orchestra rescue electronic toys from car boot sales and convert them into new, strange and wonderfully sophisticated musical instruments. Taking them apart, they find new connections within each toy and explore the latent potential and surplus value inherent in these liberated circuits. Guided by this hidden world, they seek to make a form of music devoid of personal narrative or autobiography, instead asking bigger questions about our relationship with the next new gadget or our desire for the constant upgrade. Five years in the making, _Plastic Planet_ continues MTO's philosophy of performing live electronic music without the use of laptops, sythesisers or samplers. No conventional instruments of any kind are used at all - a philosophy which began with their debut album, _Toygopop_. On _Plastic Planet_ they develop further concerns: themes of utopian bliss on _Funfair for the Common Man_; the rise of the information age on _Qwerty_, the collapse of empire on _Great Kings Fall_ and the consequences of ecological vandalism on _Earth One_. Regular conductors Brian Duffy ('_a national treasure_’ - mute), Dreams of Tall Buildings Darren Joyce, Pram’s Laurence Hunt and AV artist Chris Plant are joined by new members Graeme Rose and Sean Tighe in this epic UK premiere performance.