Modeselektion @ Mutek - 6/2/11

Modeselektor brought their curated "Modeselektion" night to the Mutek festival in Montreal last night (6/2) with Siriusmo, FaltyDL, and Jacques Greene. As previously mentioned, they'll do the same tonight (6/3) at Webster Hall with Siriusmo, ANSTAM and KRSN. Admission is $5 with RSVP if you arrive before midnight. Check out a video from Modeselektor's set last night, with tonight's flyer, below.

Mutek kicked off on June 1st and runs through Sunday. Not many reports have come out of there yet (those who were at Modeselektor last night may not even be in bed yet), but Exclaim! has this report from the opening night set by headliner Amon Tobin:

Montreal's Metropolis was the venue for the world premiere of Amon Tobin's much-anticipated large-scale stage show. The curtain pulled back, revealing a strange structure consisting of stacked white cubes with one large block in the centre. Behind the frosted glass of the largest cube, you could just about make out the silhouetted form of Amon Tobin in his trademark baseball cap. The music started, in synch with huge projections mapped over the top of the stage set: plumes of smoke, crumbling rocks, the cosmos, flickering stars, futuristic cities. Nebulae formed and dissolved, reforming in time with the music, and at times, the projections made it appear as if the whole structure was shaking. A couple of songs into the set, the "frosted" glass, which turned out was also a projection, gave way to reveal Tobin at the controls of a kind of cubist spaceship. During "Lost & Found," the set was transformed with glowing embers that pulsed with every beat, giving way to Tron-like green grids. Having played only ISAM material, Tobin treated the crowd to an encore that lasted nearly as long as the main set, featuring a fluid set of reinterpretations of older tracks, such as "Four Ton Mantis," threaded together with heavy and dynamic new pieces. Despite perhaps being too long, it was an incredibly ambitious visual performance that went off without a hitch and proved to be one hell of a way to launch MUTEK 2011.

For a better picture, check out the videos from Amon's show below.

Sun Araw also played Mutek last night (6/2), and are now on their way to NYC for a bunch of shows including their own curated dance party tonight (6/3) Coco66. As previously mentioned, Sun Araw's Cameron Stallone will DJ Coco66 for the NYC debut of Sun Araw's WHERE'S YR CHILD party. Video and graphical flyer below. Sun Araw play their first live show in NYC Saturday (6/4) at 285 Kent with M Geddes Gengras, D'Eon, and Matthewdavid (who DJ'd Cameo last night). All dates, including Maxwell's and a new LA show, are listed below.

Sun Araw's forthcoming full length Ancient Romans comes out August 23 via Sun Ark/Drag City. The album, pictured above, will be available as a CD and double LP on white vinyl. Sun Araw is also releasing Night Gallery, a split with Eternal Tapestry, on July 19 via Thrill Jockey.

Updated dates, videos, flyers and stuff, below...

Continue reading "Mutek is underway, Amon Tobin put on a visual supershow, Modeselektor & Sun Araw & friends are now in NYC"

* Modeselektor photo by Emma Gutteridge

Modeselektor has a few upcoming DJ appearances scheduled, including a "Modeselektion" night in NYC one night after they do the same at Mutek in Montreal. As Mutek is listing it...

A night of bass in all its wide-ranging permutations! MODESELEKTOR bring their hotly anticipated Modeselektion night to the Metropolis. The "no holds barred" German duo will be DJing alongside their selected guests, including mysterious industrial-dubstep duo ANSTAM, New York garage revivalist FALTYDL, Montreal bass producer JACQUESGREENE, and high-end electro maven SIRIUSMO.

The June 3rd event at Webster Hall has almost the same lineup, but includes KRSN instead of JACQUESGREENE and FALTYDL. Both events will have Pfadfinderei Visuals. Unfortunately, the NYC show is also a Friday night "Girls & Boys" party at Webster Hall. Fortuntunately, that means it's only $5 with RSVP if you arrive before midnight.

Modeselektion, the night, is branded to match Modeselektion the mixtape series. Modeselektion Vol. 1 was released on November 5, via Monkeytown, and the tracklist (which you can see in full below), includes Siriusmo. Falty DL appears on Modeselektion Vol. 01 - Bonus Tracks & Versions which was released in December.

The NYC flyer, all Modeselektor dates, the CD tracklist, and some videos, below....

Continue reading "Modeselektor bringing Modeselektion to Mutek & NYC"

Sun Araw

"Seeing Sun Araw live feels as much like a dream as reality, and high energy never came easy. It felt a bit like drowning in codeine syrup, you struggle at first, and then eventually realize it feels better to be in the syrup than out of it.

Cameron really pulls out the tropical nature of SoCal in his music, and almost gives you the impression of sleepwalking through a luau. This is especially strange because he originally hails from Austin, TX, which is anything but tropical.

His music feels a bit like you're searching for some sort of hidden revelation amongst some ancient ruins on a desert island, among many other conjurations your mind will develop while being sunk into the vibes." [Sub-Radar]

LA's Sun Araw (aka Cameron Stallone) will kick of a FULL BAND tour of the East Coast on June 2nd at the Mutek Festival in Montreal, followed by a string of dates, a few in the NYC-area included. On June 3rd Stallone will DJ Coco66. The occasion is the NYC debut of Sun Araw's own LA-based party WHERES YR CHILD - "A dub/italo/dance party rooted in the traditions of cosmic LA." Sex Worker/Psychic Reality, and Todd Pendu are all also on that bill and tickets are on sale. The following day (6/4), the Sun Araw Band will play live for the first time in NYC (Sun Araw has only played solo in the past), in Brooklyn at 285 Kent with M Geddes Gengras, Matthewdavid, and D'Eon. Then after a quick trip down to Baltimore to play Ottobar, Hoboken club Maxwell's will host the band on 6/7 with M. Geddes Gengras and Deep Magic (tickets). All dates are listed below.

Sun Araw will be previewing material from a forthcoming LP entitled Ancient Romans, and the band currently has multiple releases up for sale at their webstore, including a pair of recent cassette releases Sadistic Candle and Hold The Phone. For those of you who are curious as to what Hold The Phone is like, here's a preview.

HOLD THE PHONE is mustard and ketchup on a deviled egg.
HOLD THE PHONE is your dad whistling at a 16-year-old girl.
HOLD THE PHONE is yin all dressed up in yang clothes.
HOLD THE PHONE is Woodstock yelling at Snoopy.
HOLD THE PHONE is Cameron Stallones and Barret Avner.
HOLD THE PHONE is two boys talkin'.

Are we clear? If not, head to their store and stream samples from the cassettes and other releases.

Matthewdavid, who will play the 6/4 285 Kent show, is also on board to support Gaslamp Killer at Knitting Factory on 5/28 (tickets). Matthewdavid recently released a collaborative cassette with Sun Araw, which is now sold out. They also played a show together at the Smell in LA last night (5/5). LA Record helped promote it by having the two artists compile a mixtape of YouTube videos.

Annual electro festival Mutek goes down in Montreal this year from June 1-5, and features multiple notables like Amon Tobin, Four Tet, ARP, Sun Araw and dozens of others. Tickets are currently on sale. The lineup is below. We haven't been since 2009 and miss it.

And you can prepare for the fun TONIGHT (5/6) in NYC! Public Assembly will host "The Bunker: Mutek BK Preview" with performances from Akufen, Stephen Beaupre, Vincent Lemieux, Kangding Ray, Safety Scissors, and Sutekh in two rooms starting at 10PM. Tickets are still available.

Dates, the Mutek 2011 lineup and more, below...

Continue reading "Mutek is coming & so is Sun Araw (dates, festival lineup, Matthewdavid & the Bunker tonight too)"

Montreal's 11th annual Mutek electronic music festival, put on by an arts non-profit of the same name, will be happening this year from June 2nd to 6th. The lineup covers the spectrum of digital sounds, from avant-garde noise acts like Tim Hecker and Nurse With Wound, to Matmos, Mouse on Mars and late-night DJ sessions. The full schedule of acts is here.

Passport tickets are available (those cover all five days) as are weekend passes - both packages are on early bird presale until April 20th.

If you're curious about the fest, check out BrooklynVegan's photo and review coverage of Mutek 2009 in four parts - one, two, three and four. Mutek also just kicked off a series of monthly podcasts, the first of which features Mexican DJ Mauricio Rebolledo

The fest's current full lineup and videos about Mutek are below...

Continue reading "Mutek 2010 - dates, lineup, tickets & more"

photos by Zach Dilgard, words by Edward Hagen

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

If you're just joining us, catch up on the first three days of the festival before starting with Sunday (May 31st, 2009), day four...

The final night of Mutek at Métropolis/Savoy featured a tag-team set of energetic, bouncy live techno by Mathew Jonson (Wagon Repair) & Dandy Jack (Ruta5) that had the main room jumping, particularly once they caught their groove partway through the set. Techno veteran Tobias (Logistic, Wagon Repair) took over and ably kept the floor moving with some mind-warping tracks in his North American premier only to hand the stage over an hour later to Carl Craig for his self-absorbed buzz-kill intro. After Craig's dark and droning opening and subsequent build-up, he eventually starting dropping Detroit techno bombs and other huge tracks. You couldn't tell by his expressionless face but the crowd was going nuts for most of his extremely fun set.

Upstairs in the Savoy, slightly easier to access than the previous night, Lusine (Ghostly International) delivered a slinky melodic minimal set followed by brilliant live tech-house by Pezzner (Om Records), a relative newcomer as a solo artist and a name to watch for in the future.

For Sunday's much anticipated Piknic featuring a 7-hour tag-team set by Ricardo Villalobos & Zip (Perlon) the weather unfortunately did not cooperate. The clouds moved in early that afternoon and pretty much stayed until near the end with drizzle and wind throughout the day. A good portion of people took off for their hotels and apartments, but the ones who stuck it out were rewarded with great track after great track. During large portions of the day, the crowd appeared to forget about the weather and just danced to the two legendary DJs. At one point during the worst of the shower a group of revelers came together under raised blankets to create a mobile dancing turtle tent. Seemingly as a reward for the crowd's perseverance, the sun did eventually break through for a few moments and the energy remained relatively high for the last couple hours. Another "beautiful" day in the park.

The closing event back at the SAT space featured Canadian DJs and musicians and was an appropriate way to close out the festival. Mateo & Pheek (Archipel) and Stephen Beaupré (Musique Risquée) opened the evening to a crowd lacking the momentum from earlier. But when Akufen (Musique Risquée) took the stage for a live set with his first new music in five years, the energy and audience visibly lifted. Akufen's fresh take on his micro-house sound was just what the audience was hoping for and needed. The Modern Deep Left Quartet (Wagon Repair) which is the Cobblestone Jazz trio plus The Mole followed and finished up the night. Some people absolutely loved their live improvisatory music, which was different than anything else experienced at the festival, but with four musicians playing off each other in such a rare show, their set didn't have the drive or cohesiveness to grip the entire semi-fatigued crowd. Still the enthusiasm of the performers playing together for the best audience they could ask for more than made up for it. The festival ended with quality music and people buzzing about their favorite performances of the impressive MUTEK_10.

More pictures from the final day and some more highlights from the whole week, below...

Continue reading "Mutek 2009 - in pics & review (part 4)"

photos by Zach Dilgard, words by Edward Hagen

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

If you're just joining us, catch up on the first two days of the festival before starting with Saturday, day three...

Saturday's Piknic Electronik (May 30th, 2009), the first of MUTEK's two daytime concerts at Jean Drapeau Park on St. Helen Island across from Montreal, was a gorgeous afternoon of music under the sun. The Mole (Wagon Repair) opened and closed the day with his deep disco-techno hybrid. Although well-known and highly-respected, he still managed to surprise and impress many folks and did his native Canada proud. Beat Pharmacist Brendon Moeller (Third Ear, Wave) and half-Orb Thomas Fehlmann (Kompakt, Plug Research) also played solid sets, but the beauty of the park and the novelty of an outdoor party for the first time for most peopel this season ruled overall.

Saturday night's Raster-Noton showcase at the SAT venue was a triumphant return for the label since performing at the first-ever MUTEK in 2000, and they brought out the big guns and sounds for the occasion. The evening began slowly with Cyclo, a collaboration between minimalist computer sound designers Ryoji Ikeda & Carsten Nicolai, and picked up intensity with ATOM™, an alias of Uwe Schmidt (aka Senor Coconut, etc.). Alva Noto and Byetone followed with powerful sets and single tracks synced to the three screens of visuals illuminating the dark room. Overall a raw and intense evening of electronic music, sounds and sights.

pictures from Day Three continued below...

Continue reading "Mutek 2009 - in pics & review (part 3) "

photos by Zach Dilgard, words by Edward Hagen

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

Starting back up where we left off, Friday (May 29th, 2009) at Métropolis/Savoy was the spottiest evening of the 2009 Mutek Festival. Unfortunately, it was just too difficult to bounce from room to room during Bounce Le Monde night. The live-leaning performers on the Métropolis main stage, including baile funky Original Hamster & Nego Maçambique (Curve), dub-pop trio Jahcoozi (A-Records) and especially the crowd-pleasing Tijuana-meets-electronica Nortec Collective, had their fans, but many festival-goers wanted proper 4/4 after yesterday's breakbeats, so the much smaller Savoy room was rammed. This caused a half-hour-plus line to the second floor entrance for much of the evening. Those lucky enough to have been in the Savoy by choice or accident for Ernesto Ferreyra (Cynosure, Cadenza) and Mike Shannon (Cynosure, Plus 8, Wagon Repair) were treated to two of the smoothest sets of the fest in a room packed full of grooving bodies.

Pictures from Mutek Day Two continued below...

Continue reading "Mutek 2009 - in pics & review (part 2)"

photos by Zach Dilgard, words by Edward Hagen

Moderat

The 10th edition of MUTEK wrapped up five packed days of "digital creativity and electronic music" Sunday night (5/31) in Montreal and its tin anniversary met the high expectations of most. Aside from some rainy and cool weather (particularly at Sunday's Piknic Electronik) and occasional in-club line hassles, the extra-long weekend was a remarkable success.

Although known primarily as a minimal and experimental techno festival, MUTEK's organizers have pushed the expected musical boundaries over the years. 2009 was no exception.

Thursday night's Bass Exponential sessions performances at Métropolis and the Savoy side room put some weight behind those words with dub-step and other deep and heavy performances by Appleblim (Skull Disco, Apple Pips), Deadbeat (Wagon Repair), Moderat [guys from Modeselektor + Apparat] (Bpitch Control) and Mala (DMZ). Thursday was ideal for this alternative-to-techno showcase as many festival-goers were just arriving or had yet to arrive.

Over the course of the five Nocturne sessions at Métropolis, the well-supplemented sound system took a beating but delivered across the entire venue, from the pockets of skull shaking bass on the main floor to the crystal clear sound in the balcony. The stage design with layered screens in the main room and the visuals in both rooms were exceptionally well-done, although it wasn't always clear who was behind the impressive lighting effects and projections even with the festival program in hand.

Pictures from Thursday (5/28) below...

Continue reading "Mutek 2009 - in pics & review (part 1) "

DOWNLOAD: Damian Lazarus - Dr. Whiskers Theme (MP3)

Pilooski @ Mutek in Montreal - May 28, 2009 (Thesorus)

No dancefloor destruction to report yet, but that will definitely be changing this weekend. There's so much good stuff headed our way, starting with...

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 2) "

Mutek banner in Montreal - May 27, 2009 (bneely)

Mutek, the electronic music festival celebrating its tenth year, is currently underway in Montreal. The five-day fest runs to Sunday, May 31st, and it's streaming online. Moderat, the Modeselektor & Apparat supergroup, performed at Mutek on Thursday, May 28th; the group plays NYC's Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, May 30th (the show was originally planned for Webster Hall). Tickets are still on sale.

Speaking of parties up North this summer... three other biggies are Ottawa Bluesfest (July 8th-19th), Vancouver Folk Music Festival (July 17-19th) and Calgary Folk Music Festival (July 23rd-26th). Each of those suitably transcend the "blues" and "folk" labels, hosting bands like The Dead Weather and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (in Ottawa), The Weakerthans and Rock Plaza Central (in Vancouver), and The Decemberists, Apostle of Hustle, Kid Koala and Akron/Family (in Calgary). Full lineup for the Calgary Fest (Ottawa in particular is much too massive to post) and ticket info below.

And don't forget about the previously reported Breeders-headlined Sled Island Fest in Calgary on June 24th-27th, Montreal's Osheaga, NXNE, and Toronto's Olympic Island Fest on July 11th, which will host Broken Social Scene and its Arts & Crafts cohorts.

Across the pond, UK's Glastonbury Festival, which runs from June 24th to 28th, has been sold out since February even though the full lineup wasn't announced until this week. Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Blur will be joined by The Specials, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Spinal Tap, Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Madness, Tom Jones, Animal Collective and many others.

And finally in the States, Monolith Festival, which runs from September 12th to 13th at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Colorado, has announced its intial lineup, Girl Talk, Passion Pit, and The Walkmen included. The whole thing is posted below.

The weekend before Monolith, Bumbershoot will take place in Seattle (September 5th-7th). That fest's lineup has been updated too. New additions include Vivian Girls, Akron/Family, and Elvis Perkins. All new additions, with previously announced acts, are below. Tickets are still on sale.

In Michigan, the Rothbury Festival over July 4th weekend will feature the only summer fest performance by The Dead, as well as sets by Bob Dylan, String Cheese Incident, Broken Social Scene and more. A few more jam-friendly acts were also just added to the bill. Full lineup below. Tickets are on sale.

Info on all the above fests, with ticket info, below...

Continue reading "Mutek underway, Monolith & Glastonbury lineups, Rothbury, Bumbershoot, Calgary Folk & other festival updates"

Voodoo Experience Festival is happening in New Orleans's City Park on October 30th, 31st and November 1st.

The 11th annual VOODOO EXPERIENCE will once again celebrate music, as well as New Orleans' bohemian culture, arts and cuisine. More than 160 bands will perform in three distinct performance areas--Le Ritual, Le Flambeau and Le Carnival--and eight stages each highlight a unique side of the personality of New Orleans. News re: this year's line-up will be revealed in the coming months.

Three-day weekend passes ($103) and VIP tix are on sale for fest. Its organizers have announced that ticket prices will be all inclusive aka no extra fees, despite being sold through Ticketmaster.

The rapidly approaching Bonnaroo (June 11-14) has added a David Byrne curated stage to its lineup...

We are very excited to announce that David Byrne has assembled a number of performers for the first artist-curated stage! On the evening of Friday, June 12 Byrne, who is performing the "Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno," will host his recent collaborators Santigold and the Dirty Projectors, singer/songwriter and founder of Righteous Babe Records Ani DiFranco, former Polyphonic Spree member and Beggar's Banquet recording artist St. Vincent and up-and-coming multi-instrumental all-female Norwegian alt/folk band Katzenjammer.

Also in the curating news -- My Bloody Valentine, who curated part of ATP's first festival in NY in 2008, is putting together the lineup for ATP UK's Nightmare Before Christmas 2009. It was mentioned previously that Sonic Youth will be there.

[Nightmare Before Christmas '09] event will take place at Butlins Holiday Resort in Minehead, England from December 4th - 6th, 2009. So far confirmed to join the legendary sonic sculptors are:

Sonic Youth
De La Soul
EPMD
Sun Ra Arkestra
The Horrors

And of course, My Bloody Valentine themselves.

Tickets for that are on sale now. If you don't have the cash upfront, there's an option to pay through the ATP "installment scheme," which, though it sounds sketchy, is actually a way to buy part of your ticket now and pay the remainder in July. The poster for the fest is above.

That's somewhat similar to the layaway plan announced by All Points West (Jul 31-Aug 2). Tickets are still on sale for APW. You can also get advance round-trip ferry tickets from Battery Park to the fest for $15. They go up "$20 the week of the show, and $25 if purchased at the ferry box office on the day of the show. Individual tickets must be purchased for each day."

My Bloody Valentine is among the artists playing All Points West this year.

Other quick festival news:

Coachella happened. My Bloody Valentine played. A guy got tased.

The lineup for Lollapalooza (August 7-9) was announced.

Mutek's lineup (May 27-31) was updated.

In NYC, the Tribeca Film Festival is happening now, through May 3rd.

The lineup for Pitchfork Fest (July 7-9) was updated. That's posted below...

Continue reading "Voodoo Fest tix, David Byrne's stage @ Bonnaroo, My Bloody Valentine's UK ATP, Pitchfork's lineup & other festival news"

Francis & the Lights @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Natasha Ryan)

Hopefully you had fun getting down on Friday. I am in a weird rut and did not go out! A lot of things I am really excited about are happening tonight/Saturday (4/11), but I won't be here. Have a good dance for me and let me know what I missed in the comments. Here's what's going on Saturday night along with some events happening next week:

Continue reading "the week in Dance w/ Showtrotta (part 2)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Moderat

Mutek, "the premier North American festival for forward-looking electronic music and digital creativity," will happen this year from May 27th to May 31st in Montreal. The announced line-up includes Moderat (the Modeselektor + Apparat collab visiting Webster Hall on May 30th) and many, many more (line-up below).

Before that, the Mutek show goes on the road, with a six-date tour stopping at Studio B in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 11th. Performers for that date will include:

Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts (Oslo, Musique Risquée, Circus Company, Mutek | Berlin) live
Claro Intellecto (Modern Love | Manchester) live
Andy Stott (Modern Love | Manchester) live
MLZ (Modern Love, Pendle Coven | Manchester) dj
Pangaea (Hessle Audio, Hot Flush | London) dj
Ezekiel Honig (Anticipate, Microcosm | Brooklyn) live

Poster, full Mutek lineup, and other information, below...

Continue reading "MUTEK - 2009 Montreal festival lineup & tour "

by Black Bubblegum

KTL Live in Ribadavia

As we mentioned before, SOMA (Stephen O'Malley) and Pita (Peter Rehberg) will be in town Wednesday with KTL to tear the Knitting Factory a new one. In case you had any doubts as to what this show will be like, check the video from their May 7th show in Vienna below.

Németh will open the KTL show... that's Stefan Németh of Lokai & Radian and it's his first trip out here in four years. He'll be breakin' off songs from his recently released solo debut Film, a reworking of music done for experimental video & short film. Németh also has a few other dates up his sleeve, including Monkeytown IN BROOKLYN TONIGHT (May 20), and Mutek in Montreal on the 29th. All dates below.

Also on board for the KTL show, IUD, a project featuring Gang Gang Dance's Lizzie Bougatsos. She sat down recently with VBS.tv for a little facetime.... here's the result.

Greg Anderson of sunn o))) has been busy as well, and i'm not just talking about ASCEND.....

Continue reading "KTL tomorrow, Németh tonight too ... sunn o))) & Mutek ..."

As previously mentioned, Mutek, the annual "electronic music and digital creativity festival", happens in Montral from May 28-June 1 this year.

As not yet mentioned, NYC is getting a little electronic festival of its own in September and appropriately enough, they're calling it MINITEK....

Continue reading "Minitek is coming to NYC, Mutek is next week in Montreal "

electronic music in Montreal....

Continue reading "MUTEK 2008 full line-up announcement"