I tried my best to lay in again today after another late night. I don't do it so well. Today's big task was to procure a sleeping bag for the sleep concert tonight (Wednesday). There is a large shopping mall not far from here that I thought might contain a sports store or similar. To get there I would need to walk through the Jewish quarter which had been on my to-do list also. I took a couple of pictures along the way.

For some reason, the house in the middle was the place for pigeons to hang out.

I've noticed a number of buildings with these types of designs on the facade.

My journey took me further by the river. The view on the other side was quite beautiful.

When unexpectedly I came across an upside down pig on the river! I assume it was an artwork but there was no signage.

When I got to the mall there was one shop that did sell sleeping bags. They are more designed for outside camping so I'm a little worried that I might boil, but at least it should be comfortable.

That took a lot of the day so when I got back I had another nap to try and get myself ready for another night of Unsound. Today there were some artist talks on in the late afternoon and I decided to go. While trying to find the room where the talks were I got talking to an older lady who is from Krakow but lives in Sydney now. She comes back every year. The first artist talk was by a photographer who has an installation as part of Unsound. The lady wasn't here for Unsound but was interested in the installation. Anyway, we got chatting about stuff but when her friend arrived I offered my seat and moved away. I'm kind of glad. She finished up being quite vocal and actually interrupted the artist with some odd questions. When actual question time arrived she almost criticised the artist for not satisfying her agenda. It was a bit awkward. Which is a pity because he and his work were fascinating. His name is Richard Mosse and the installation is a moving picture work on the ongoing violence in the Congo. It was really interesting to hear his techniques and the people (war lords) he managed to meet with. Ben Frost was involved also and put together the sound track. I'll visit the installation later in the week.

The second artist talk was from a musician Jenny Hval who was performing that evening. She was also very interesting for completely different reasons. It was quite intriguing hearing someone who appeared quite unassuming speak about her music when you have no idea yet what the music is like. I was really looking forward to her performance later on.

After a little dinner I headed to Manggha once again for yet another night of contrasts. First up was Jenny Hval (Norway). Musically she was more conventional than anything I've seen at Unsoud so far but that doesn't mean she was mainstream - far from it. Her music was a kind of pop/rock/punk mix and she sang. Her latest album title is "Innocence is Kinky" so I was a little disappointed I couldn't make out more of the lyrics - I suspect she'd have quite a bit to say. I think I'll check out more of her music online. Anyway, I really enjoyed her performance and the way she interacted with the audience. The crowd obviously loved her too.

Next was Innode (Austria?), two drummers and a guy "playing" electronic rhythms. Their music was entirely rhythmic and pretty much atonal. Quite a contrast from the previous artist. It was good though, I was able to really get into a couple of their pieces.

Last up was Fire! (Sweden) and their artist profile hadn't inspired me so I wasn't sure if I'd hang around. Their music was hard to describe but you could hear elements of psychedelia, jazz, punk, metal all in there working with and against each other. None of those are elements I'm particularly fond of but I'm discovering that the quality of the musicians, sound systems and venues is making a huge difference and I've found myself getting into music I wouldn't usually. So, I quite enjoyed these guys up until the very end when they got into a drawn out jazz improv that for me just became a bit self indulgent so I left.

So musically, each night has been quite different and I've enjoyed each for different reasons. It's just so wonderful to be able to get to evening and rock up at a venue to see what is in store for you, knowing that it's most likely unlike anything you've heard before.

When I left Manggha to walk back to the apartment there were still so many people out and about but a beautiful misty fog had fallen on the city. The castle looked magical as it's towers peered through. As Unsound is a no-photo event I didn't have my camera with me, but even if I'd had it I don't think I would have been able to capture that image faithfully.

Day 25: Sleeping bags, floating pigs, a crazy lady and psychedelic punk jazz