Decibel / Seattle / September 28 - October 2, 2011

Seattle based Decibel Festival celebrated their 8th successful year with more attendees and showcases than ever before. I love Seattle and the music vibe that has been generated there; an unpretentiously lovely and welcoming music scene. Decibel is a highlight in my life every year, and this year proved to be no exception.

Arriving Wednesday, the festival launched with a little pre-cocktail party at the Will Call / Fred Wildlife Refuge on Captiol Hill. Being overly excited I consumed a little more than I should have and ended up following friends up to Neumos to see Shigeto at the Beat Prodigies showcase. Brooklyn based producer and Ghostly artist, Shigeto (aka Zach Saginaw) energetically delivered a sublime synth driven melodic infused bass set with live drums. His live drumming was out of this world and was an unexpected start for the festival.


Shigeto

After Shigeto, I spent the rest of the night at the Decibel Opening Party at Re-Bar. Seattle native Jon McMillion was pumping out the finest in melodic deep house and techno and had the dance floor shaking. I was sad I missed out on his entire set, as it ended far too soon and kept me wanting more. The quirky eccentric Atom™ (aka Uwe Schmidt) delivered his usual ego-centric performance, showcasing videos of himself while sporadically taking moments to stand completely still like a statue in his retro suit. I’m not a fan of Uwe Schmidt, but was surprised to hear a couple minimal grooving techno stompers that were unbelievable. I wish he would deliver this kind of consistency without all the gimmicks and charades, but then again I guess this is how he makes himself standout. Hyperdub’s UK dubstep junglist Zomby closed the showcase wearing Occupy's V for Vendetta protest mask.


Jon McMillion

Atom™

Ninja Tune legend Amon Tobin had the festival in a buzz with his large-scale video installation of “Isam.” Having already seen the impressive spectacle at Mutek, I headed to the Sweatbox Showcase to see techno power couple Camea and Tim Xavier at The Woods. Continuing the party Tim and Camea played the Clink afterhours at the Electric Tea Garden. Their second sets of the night appeared to be a bit more dynamic and full of spirit.


Camea

The first Optical Showcase was set in Nordstrom Recital Hall, a modern clean performance theatre in downtown Seattle. Opening the showcase were Brooklyn's Mountains (aka Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp) who delivered an astonishing modern Americana set with live guitar, electronic distortions and looping samples paired beautifully with mirrored morphing landscapes of clouds and sparkling water images. Simon Scott and Rafael Anton Irisarri incorporated found field recordings from the surrounding Seattle area and transformed them into lush grandeur ambient drones with hints of sentimental beauty for an absolutely stunning performance. Ghostly artist, Tycho (aka Scott Hansen) also known for his design work as ISO50 closed the showcase with tracks from his latest album, “Dive.” Projected behind him was his 70’s sun-drenched nostalgic imagery of hot air balloons and National Geographic-esque videos of men climbing icebergs. Tycho had audience members hollering after each number.


Mountains

Simon Scott with Rafael Anton Irisarri

Tycho

From there, the late night showcases were already getting started and with 6 events to choose from I wound up at Neumos for Blurring The Lines to see the hyped Traum producer Max Cooper. The beginning of his set was fantastic, brilliant deep dubby techno, but unfortunately he lacked consistency and meandered all over the place losing some of his audience. Currently based in New York, Martin Buttrich delivered infectious techno stompers with rich textures and deeply entangled basslines making his set an unbelievable highlight.


Max Cooper

Martin Buttrich

Next boot over to the Trust Showcase to see the young Detroit prodigy, Kyle Hall. Schooled by Mike Huckaby and friends with Omar-S, this rising producer performed some of the best soulful house combined with raw percussion and melting melodies triggering his audience into a dancing frenzy.


Kyle Hall

Saturday started off with an amazing brunch at the Kingfish Café, the food was so good we actually returned for one more meal before departing from Seattle. Highly recommended if you ever visit. From there it was the afternoon Islander Boat Cruise. The Future Funk Boat Party consisted of two floors and an outdoor deck. Dominating the party was basic_sounds netlabel producer Joel Pryde who executed a superb mix of party house tracks intertwined with deep driven techno that had all the early birds dancing before the boat even left the dock. His entire set was mixed using his own engineered multi-touch program traxPad. Parisian DJs and producers Château Flight (aka Gilbert Cohen & Nicolas Chaix) closed down the cruise with a unique blend of deep synth-driven house.


Joel Pryde

Chateau Flight

The night continued with quality entertainment, starting with Deniz Kurtel at the Deep Foundation showcase located at Neumos. After seeing her at Movement in Detroit on the Beatport stage during the day, I was expecting something similar, but she really caters her sets to each environment. At Movement, she kept it light incorporating Life & Death house tracks and at Neumos she delivered a more conducive fluid electro-techno journey.


Deniz Kurtel

Delivering music to the wee hours of the morning was the Innerflight and Shameless "Never Enough" afterparty featuring Detroit pioneer Mike Huckaby, Holger Zilske (aka Smash TV) and Cajmere (aka Green Velvet). I arrived while Holger Zilske was on decks. This Berlin based producer delivered a crafted modern techno and house set full of deep progressions, melody and minimal perfection. Cajmere stole the show and ended up becoming one of the main highlights of the festival with his soulful Detroit raw tribal jams that had the audience pumping all night. The energy was infectious and kept me dancing until 5am. It was hard to even call it a night at this point, but there was still one more day to make it through.


Holger Zilske

Cajmere

The final day of Decibel started with the sold out Slow Boat Islander Boat Cruise. The lovely Slowpøke trio (aka Shawn D, Jeremy B and Donte P) started us on our departure with a tag-team DJ set delivering an eclectic taste of quality smooth house numbers. Originally meeting these boys on the dancefloor at Mutek, they have become the crew I gravitate toward the most at any festival, as you are always guaranteed a good time in their presence. The forecast said rain, but luckily it held out for most of the journey and only added to the mayhem of Tiger & Woods, when it did start to pour. Everyone on the boat was on the upper level for their set and even had Decibel director Sean Horton shaking his stuff in the front. The room was packed and ecstatic; I couldn’t tell if people were wet from the rain or sweat. The mysterious disco-edits duo wore matching baseball caps shading their faces and performed most of their releases from “Through The Green,” making this one of the biggest highlights of the festival.


Slowpøke

Tiger & Woods

From there it was the final optical-style Bit Pop showcase at the amazing 1920’s dinner theatre, the Triple Door. The theatre is beautiful and historically preserved creating the perfect ambiance. Benoit Pioulard and The Sight Below (aka Rafael Anton Irisarri) opened the stage with their world debut as Orcas with Kelly Wyse on piano. Recently signed to Germany’s Morr Music label, Orcas’ delivered a stunning Slowdive-esqe delicate drone set with soothing guitar and minimal piano structures stealing the showcase. Brooklyn based artist Erika Spring delivered an easy listening accessible melodic pop set. Sub Pop recording artist and LA based producer Dntel (aka Jimmy Tamborello) closed the show with an experimental noise set with geometric shapes projected behind him. At one point he integrated hints of “Anywhere Anyone” into the mix.


Orcas

Erika Spring

DNTEL

Closing the festival, I headed to the Flammable Showcase at the legendary Re-Bar. Known for being the longest running house night on the West Coast, this Gay club had a nice mix of locals and festival attendees. Brian Lyons the resident and organizer behind the Sunday night institution opened the evening with a tasteful set of quality house music which inspired some of the best dancers to bust out their moves. Chicago based producer, Kate Simko delivered her unique brand of melodic house music with dark synth undertones keeping it deep and sultry. French trio, dOP closed the night with a raw tribal performance. The shirtless vocalist owned the stage and had everyone hypnotized by his rebellious demeanor. His sexual thrusts inspired two audience members to join him on stage. If you weren’t laughing you were dancing and the energy of the audience was at its peak.


Brian Lyons

Kate Simko

dOP

Overall, the festival was a great success with many standout performances and experiences. With so many showcases Decibel managed to design and cater a broad eclectic spectrum of electronic music for all enthusiasts. For me attending festivals is about celebrating with my international friends, making it not just about the music, but the magic of everything combined and sharing these amazing experiences with like-minded people in one of the best American cities. Decibel seamlessly delivered one of their best festivals to date. I wonder how they will top themselves next year.



For more photos, check out the Decibel Flickr Pool