En Masse 2026: Rai Tateishi & Koshiro Hino, Nkisi, Mississippi Records

11:00 - 11:45
Rai Tateishi & Koshiro Hino (listening session)
For this year’s signature En Masse Saturday morning listening session, we’re delighted to welcome two legendary Japanese instrumentalists, Rai Tateishi and Koshiro Hino, for a rare performance of elemental, improvised music.

Tateishi draws on the traditional Japanese shinobue (bamboo flute), combining its centuries-old techniques with unusual and experimental approaches. Living in a depopulated village surrounded by nature, he has developed a distinctive practice that explores the instrument’s capacity for raw, organic and otherworldly sound.

Tateishi will be live processed by sound artist and fellow goat (JP) band member Koshiro Hino. Using subtle ring modulation and delay, Hino will reshape and transform Tateishi’s flute in real time, creating a fluid dialogue between acoustic and electronic sound.
Expect a deeply immersive morning of improvised music, folk traditions, extended instrumental techniques and subtly shifting textures.

12:00 - 13:00
Nkisi presents The Anomaly Index (visual & sonic lecture)
Join London-based artist, composer and musician Nkisi for a lecture exploring the strange territory between noise, music and the unknown.

The Anomaly Index is Nkisi’s ongoing artistic research project into sound that resists explanation, capture and classification. Working across composition, archival research, performance and installation, she draws on paranormal archives, unexplained sonic phenomena and historical and cultural anxieties around the unknown. From mysterious sounds captured on early wax cylinders to anomalous acoustic phenomena in desert environments, the project asks what other forms of knowledge might emerge when we stop trying to explain what we hear.

In this lecture, Nkisi will introduce the evolving methodology behind The Anomaly Index, sharing examples from her research and inviting participants to explore their own approaches to listening, sound and the unexplained.

14:00 - 16:00
Mississippi Records presents "A People's History of Music (during times of authoritarianism)" (visual & sonic lecture)
How does music survive under authoritarianism? And how do people keep making, sharing and listening when powerful interests try to control what can be heard? Part lecture, part slideshow, part film and part listening session, Mississippi Records founder Eric Isaacson will take to The Cube stage to present his research on musical forms of resistance around the world. 

Moving across Ethiopia, Germany, North Korea, Cambodia, Brazil, Kenya, the USA and beyond, Eric weaves together archival film, images, sound clips and personal stories to uncover the strange, soulful and sometimes unexpectedly funny ways music has evaded censorship, propaganda and repression.

Known for his singular, often comical style and his instinct for uncovering the idiosyncrasies and hidden stories of under-acknowledged music, Eric has spent more than two decades championing DIY music from around the world. As founder of Mississippi Records and several other small independent labels, he has released hundreds of records and mixtapes spanning punk, gospel, blues, folk, African guitar music, soul and spiritual jazz. His presentations bring this deep archive to life, tracing the underground networks, samizdat distribution and unlikely musical connections that allow culture to survive against the odds.

This event is part of En Masse’s 2026 Community and Arts Programme. This free-to-attend programme aims to enhance access to creative opportunities in Bristol, empower a diverse range of individuals to pursue creative careers, and nurture Bristol’s independent arts ecosystem by making it more connected and resilient. We actively encourage applications from those whose backgrounds have historically been underrepresented in the culture sector.

Venue access info:
We regret that there is no wheelchair access at The Cube.
For more accessibility information, please email [email protected]

This event is supported by Arts Council England.