MUTEK 9th edition

Day 1 my first experience at MUTEK 9th Edition was the AVISIONS 1 program. performing were morgan packard & joshue ott, of new york, the opening act for the festival. two software developers infusing their creative digital technical abilities into their audio-visual set that mesmerized all in the theatre du nouveau monde. the program included packard & ott, nicolas bernier from canada and and a collaboration of murcof and xx+xy (visuals) both from mexico.

the entire program was very powerful with a strong ambiental tone ripping through the dark theatre. murcof for me did it on the first night. fernando corona, aka murcof played somewhat different from what i was used to from him. back in his nortec collective days, his sound was much more upbeat. in speaking with audience members as well as record manager ejival from static discos in tijuana, i was reminded that when the minimalist idealism and aesthetic hit, it hit particularly hard in mexico, literally taking over much of what was the techno scene. a large number of artists now listen to their souls and pay tribute to it, this is where the minimalist electronica happens.

day1 - avisions 1 - murcof
play murcof video clip

Day 2 after a great first night, i woke to DIGI_SECTION 1, panel 2, the subject: the ecology of festivals: beyond selling tickets. i thought this was a very inspiring panel discussion led by creative director of MUTEK alain mongeau. the panel consisted of producers from around the globe and artistic creators with a vision of a global network defining and documenting the importance of the platforms of such festivals as MUTEK. from dis-patch in belgrade, club transmediale in berlin, 86/33 LINK in beijing to MUTEK MX in mexico city, the panel laid out the beginnings of their respective organizations, the evolution of the subculture focusing on trans: the change of times along with the evolution through the media. very inspiring!

play digi_section 1 panel clip, jan rohlf of club transmediale, berlin

day 2 - nocturne 2 - artificiel

then came EXPERIENCE 1, AVISIONS 2 and NOCTURNE 2. the highlight for me i must say was artificiel. they really did it for me. this might be perhaps because i am an experimental artists at heart. the setup was simple, down on the floor amongst the audience, two men, including martin tetreault of canada, had a very raw but complex setup. using makeshift turntables and sophisticated video circuits, they pair played was were supposed to be vinyl records but instead were disks planes with different textures on them. when the needles on the turntables touched the different surfaces on the disks, a wrenching melody of abstract noise took over the societe des arts technologiques (sat). every single body in the space squinted their eyes, both because of the sound and the visuals. a true experimental experience performed before us, at our feet. immersed in it. christian vogel, sleeparchive and roberto meyer followed to finish out the evening performing a more moderate and somewhat civilized set.

DAY 3 the interviews begin. through dimitri nasrallah, international press relations coordinator, i was able to set up a few interviews with some of the performers. from the program EXPERIENCE 2, i interviewed chic miniature, guillaume contu of montreal, canada & ernesto ferreyra of cordoba, argentina. it was a nice interview. the guys opened up some and really talked about the important issues in respect to the backdrop that MUTEK was providing. later i was to join them during their performance which turned out to be a very energetic upbeat set. as soon as they took the inputs on the stage, chic miniature unfolded what was to be an important contribution to the festival.

day 3 - experience 2 - chicminiature
play chic miniature clip

as the night progressed, great performances were packed into the AVISIONS 3 program where i had the chance to meet and interview icelands ben frost. frost, another very strong point of day 3, letting out the horrors or our wildest dreams in the form of a very quiet and stretched out state of ambient sounds. disintegration of the heart was the objective when frost took the stage.

day3 - avisions 3 - ben frost
play ben frost clip

NOCTURNE 3, my lord! this was to turn into a night unlike any other. from milimetrik, kid koala, megasoid, metrika of mexico and half hawaii I would have to say the modeselektor vs. pfadfinderei was the pinnacle moment of MUTEK 9th edition 2008 for me forever!!!!!

day3 - nocturne 3 - metrika

modeselektor vs. pfadfinderei was energy in its purest form. it was the evolution of time before us. this performance will forever remain memorable to all present. the lights, the people, the energy, the space, and of course the music. after the 3rd or 4th encore i thought the night would never end. if you have never been to a modelektor performance you have not lived. if you have not seen them at a MUTEK show, you have not been born yet! this is where life begins and everything else becomes a dream. hands down, the most aggressive and assertive of the performers. the bass blasted along with relentless groove completed MUTEK before it was over.

day 3 - nocturne 3 - modeselektor vs. pfandfinderei
play modeselektor clip

DAY 4 because of weather, PICNIC 1 had to be moved to the sat. there, komodo, flying lotus, kode 9 & space ape along with martyn threw down some nice dance beats keeping everybody in tune with the festival.

day 4 - picnic 1 - komodo

later i was to interview another one of the strong performances of MUTEK. noah pred from toronto launched what was to be another memorable evening saturated with MUTEK juice at the NOCTURNE 4 program. pred prides himself as a techno electro pioneer. in his interview pred reveals to me that artists like him concern themselves with keeping their sound and audience on the edge. pred is the co-founder of thoughtless records. A label seeking to maintain the underground techno groove alive and in the front seat.

the night beat forth, including radio slave, dj olive, deadbeat, mossa to name a few. for me one of the strongest elements on day 4 was the field of sweden. the phenomenon that is axel willner; a true techno minimalist, the field maintained, with his tension loaded sounds, the audience under the surface, drowning them at the metropolis. prior to the field i sincerely thought MUTEK had given everything it had. the fields reminded me that the digital medium is something that can lead us in a clearer manner than most of us are capable sometimes (within a proper and controlled setting of course).

DAY 5 sunday was a rough day for me: 4 days of late nights, dancing, yelling, interviewing, meeting and just exploding. i took a late train to parc jean-drapeau for the MUTEK PIKNIC 2 program. there i met up with some friends i made over the course of MUTEK. onur ozer, ernesto ferreyra, mathias kaden, ozer + kaden and the dynamic french duo noze were on the bill for the closing of this wonderful festival.

day 5 - picnic 2

play noze clip

i first experienced noze at MUTEK MX a few years earlier. they are one of those acts where you forget about who or what is on your mind; about yourself if you will. these guys truly are devoted to engage the audience. with the careless french attitude, they share a drink with the audience and dance with the ambient that they create along with everybody present. we danced the night under the rain. no one seemed to be bothered and noze pressed the daylight into the horizon.

overall MUTEK nourished me. i left montreal a better human being. a better artists. i look forward to MUTEK 10th edition where i know all the cards will be on the table. see you next year!

here is a little mini-doc i produced of MUTEK 9th edition. enjoy!

04.29.2009. - 00:51

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