MUTEK / Montréal, Canada / June 2-6, 2010
Over the past eleven years, MUTEK has become an internationally-recognized electronic music festival and this year exceeded all expectations, offering its first major outdoor concert with more programming and showcases than ever before. MUTEK not only topped prior years, but also made it impossible for one person to see everything the festival has to offer. With everything starting on time, MUTEK organizers out-did themselves, deserving a pat on the back for their seamless programming.
mutek banner
The festival started off with the A/Visions showcase, held at the beautiful Monument-National theatre. Montréal artists Bernier and Messier started off the showcase with their North American premiere of La Chambre des machines, where they assembled tension building organic compositions with custom built noise boxes.
bernier +messier
Matmos continued the show with their quirky renditions of mixing psychedelic rock with acid jungle sounds combined with bizarre noises made from squeak toys. Their sense of humour and innovative techniques are enthralling and never boring. [The User] closed the showcase with their piece The Symphony for dot matrix printers. A row of old computers attached to obsolete printers were set up on stage with Thomas McIntosh and Emmanuel Maden conducting the printer orchestra from below. Tiny cameras filmed the event and projected it above. This clever, well-constructed concept would benefit as an installation in an art gallery setting, while as a sit down performance it seemed to go on for a bit too long.
matmos
the user
The next event was at the Society of Arts and Technology (SAT) for Nocturne 1. Techno pop innovator, Matias Aguayo performed an enthusiastic celebratory set that had the crowd dancing to his South American rhythms, but unfortunately the delivery seemed a bit sloppy at times. DJ Robolledo succeeded in closing the evening with a much cleaner and solid set full of tasteful deep tech-house numbers that left the crowd smiling.
matias aguayo
rebodello
A/Visions 2 left a strong impression. Freida Abtan delivered an unfocused set full of gurgling noises mixed with repetitive female vocal chants. This paired with witchy painterly imagery of a woman digging in the earth came across as a clichéd performance. Next was the unforgettable Caretaker. His performance was pressing play on his laptop and watching his own visuals from the best seat in the house, while polishing off an entire bottle of whiskey. The audience painfully watched his fuzzy layered visuals for an hour. To me, it was a big “fuck you” to the audience, but he definitely left a memorable impression, as there was a buzz about his performance for the rest of the festival. At the end of his set he got up from his chair and sang a course heavy-throated version of Barbra Streisand’s The Way We Were. You either loved it or hated it. My feelings were definitely the latter. British industrial noise pioneers, Nurse With Wound saved the showcase with their shifting soundscapes and trance-inducing ambient rock improvisations.
the caretaker
nurse with wound
Nocturne 2 was held at the gorgeous Metropolis theatre, the largest venue of the festival. Jon Hopkins stole the show in the main room with his energetic rhythmic breaks and IDM arrangements. Mouse On Mars were attempting something different that night. I found their range of noise to be too aggressive and found relief in the Savoy Room off to the side of the theatre.
jon hopkins
The intimate Savoy Room was the place to be that night. Chris Hreno and surprise guest the Mole stole the night with their minimal tech-house progressions. Together they mastered the concept of taking a simple idea and gradually building it over time making everyone break a sweat on the dance floor. They were by far the highlight of the night and definitely one of the best at the festival.
chris hreno + the mole
Complot label manager Mossa polished the night off with his rhythmic house textures and live collaborations with label mate Dafluke and San Francisco based DJ Qzen, making the Savoy room one of the best dance parties of the festival.
mossa + friends (dafluke + dj qzen)
As part of MUTEK, but not mentioned in the schedule booklet, hardcore Susu Ripatti (Vladislav Delay, Luomo and Sistol) fans gathered at the Musée d’art contemporain to hear his Uusitalo project in the lower level gallery space. Susu Ripatti delivered a gorgeous organic abstract house set full of captivating bass transitions and whimsical melting atmospheric tones. Ripatti’s rhythms slowly reveal themselves and then steadily grow into concise 4/4 structures creating a breathtaking and unforgettable experience.
uusitalo
With so many showcases happening at the same time, it was impossible to see everything, yet I still managed to hear the classical minimal ambient workings of the Marsen Jules Trio accompanied by VJ Nicolai Konstantinovic at A/Visions 3. Martin Juhls constructed gorgeous symphonic repetition textures and performed live with his two talented twin brothers. Nicolai Konstantinovic’s visuals were simplistic, light and meditative, merging the two worlds into a delicate visceral euphoric experience.
marsen jules trio
Nocturne 3 was a bit of a marathon race if you wanted to attend both showcases. I tried to split my time between the two to get a sample of each showcase and then stuck to the one that spoke to me the most. The first showcase was held at the SAT and featured the finest dub and dubstep artists. Victoria-based producers, Overcast Sound, delivered a delicious dub-infused techno set full of introspective ethereal transitions and deep warm pulses similar to the sounds you would find on Echospace. Manchester’s Demdike Stare delivered an astonishing dub techno set that took you deep below the surface. King Midas Sound was too loud and maxed out the sound system. Unfortunately the fuzzy distortions overpowered the beauty of his music. Ikonika closed on decks, with an inventive dubstep set that incorporated Latin and techno flavours.
overcast sound
demdike stare
king midas sound
ikonika
The other showcase was held at Club Soda, only a few doors down from the SAT and featured innovative techno producers, Orphx, Actress, Cheap and Deep, Jacek Sienkiewicz and Shed. Unfortunately, I mostly missed this showcase and only really caught a glimpse of Actress and Shed. The few minutes I caught of Actress was unfortunately disappointing as he seemed to be experiencing sound problems which resulted in him taking awhile to get going again. Berlin based, Shed stole the night with his uniquely produced Detroit sounding techno that managed to entangle emotional melodies with shifting shuffling rhythms.
actress
shed
shed
Piknic Electronik’s are always held on the weekend of the festival at Parc Jean Drapeau under Alexander Calder's, Expo ‘67 statue "Man." Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t entirely cooperating. The beginning of Piknic 1 was rained out. Everyone scurried for shelter under the food and media tents and by the time Krill.Minima started the rain managed to subside. Krill.Minima (aka Martin Juhls) delivered a gorgeous ambient dub set that was euphorically timed with the emerging sun. Swedish tech-house duo, Minilogue owned the day as they effortlessly shifted from minimal techno to house with ease making for a superb seamless set. Chilling in the sun to Minilogue with Montréal as a backdrop made for yet another unforgettable MUTEK experience. Hamburg’s unpredictable DJ Koze delivered a deep jazzy house set that got everyone smiling despite the fact that the rain started 20 or so minutes into his set. After running around for shelter, I took that as my cue to head back to the city for Vladislav Delay.
krill.minima
minilogue
dj koze
The final A/Visions moved from the theatre experience to the SAT. Unfortunately, the change in space also meant listening to the sound of the bar in the background. Susu Ripatti performed as Vladislav Delay in the dark and delivered a sparse soundscape full of fragmented mutating organic tones and warm dub-like washes. I found his prior performance as Uusitalo to be stronger; his Vladislav Delay set didn’t progress anywhere, but then that can just be contributed to the difference in his two aliases. Electro-acoustic legend and prolific sound artist, Carl Michael Von Hausswolff played a trance-inducing heavy filtered noise set full of continuous rumbling bass.
Fans go “Coco for Coconuts,” but to be honest I’ve never understood it. At MUTEK in 2003, Senor Coconut had his Moroccan band perform new renditions of Kraftwerk songs. The idea of executing this is hilarious and amusing, but when it actually came to fruition it lost all its appeal, as the novelty just remains a novelty. However, everyone seems to disagree with me as his gimmicky ideas were a huge success at this years festival. Performing for free at Place des Festivals, MUTEK expands its programming by offering the city a taste of this eccentric innovator. His crowd pleasing electro Latino renditions of Daft Punk’s Around the World was a buzz for the remainder of the festival.
senor coconut + his orchestra
Saturday’s Nocturne is the latest going event at MUTEK. The all night showcase requires stamina, but each year those efforts are always rewarded. The night started off with the tasteful productions of Move D, who effortlessly delivered a deep dreamlike house journey. Move D is a master of his craft, as he explores different avenues of genres that subtly flourish with time. Guillaume Coutu Dumont and the Side Effects came on next. I found this to be a little too commercial for my taste and was pleasantly surprised by the discoveries found in the Communikey and Dispatch sponsored Savoy room. D Numbers, a three-piece post-rock electronic band performed an amazing set full of texturally layered hypnotic grooves. Brooklyn based, Smirk delivered a unique quirky set full of vocals, jazz and techno snippets. His dynamic range kept his listeners delighted and on their toes. New York duo, Konque (aka David Last and Sasha Kaline) performed in white space suits and delivered a funky energetic set full of 4/4 beats and wobbly deep baselines. Last but not least, I finished off the night in the main room dancing to the legendary Innervisions label owner and producer, DJ Dixon, who polished off this amazing showcase with a seamless deep soulful house set becoming one of the significant highlights of the festival.
move d
d numbers
smirk
konque
dixon
Sadly the weather wasn’t on our side on Sunday. MUTEK made the wise decision to move Electronic Piknic 2 to Metropolis. Recovering from the night before, I only managed to make it out for French house producer and DJ, Pépé Bradock. Despite the lack of sun, I found warmth and happiness among the other dancers, specifically the infectious fun loving Decibel Festival crew. Pépé Bradock delivered an adventurous set making the audience groove to disco, acid and French house creating another satisfying moment in MUTEK history.
pepe bradock
The last Nocturne and closing showcase of the festival delivered an eclectic celebratory mix of artists. The prolific talented Moritz Von Oswald Trio (aka Max Loderbauer, Moritz von Oswald and Susu Ripatti) memorized listeners with their mature deep dubby minimalism and cool organic jazz textures. Rising live-electronics trio, Brandt Brauer Frick surprised us with their infectious tight experimental jazz numbers, definitely becoming one of my new favourite artists discovered at the festival. Detroit techno legend Theo Parrish closed down the show and managed to get the crowd’s full attention after encountering some technical problems at the start. His set had everyone hollering after every track, giving the audience a soulful loving smile on their face and completing yet another prolific magical festival experience.
moritz von oswald trio
brant bauer frick
theo parrish
MUTEK 2010 proved to be an overwhelming successful year, delivering yet another eclectic taste of the finest electronic artists from around the globe. Despite where one’s personal taste might fall, the sampling of so many multi-faceted talented artists makes MUTEK uniquely distinct and an essential treasure. One non-techno loving friend came out with me on the last day of the festival and said if I was to die happy, it would be at MUTEK.
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