danksoul recordings

Montreal Mutek 2007

from the mind of sidetrack on 29 June 2007

Hear ye! Hear ye! let all the land know that we are being graced with a very special guest poster today. Please welcome her majesty Claire².

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Well Well Well..

Repetition and randomness seems to be the order of the day when it comes to cutting edge minimal music. These themes appear not only in the names of the artists (MyMy, OkOkOk, Secret Mommy, Someone Else), but also within the music itself in the form of random sampled words, stutter effects, “one-word” themed tracks, and a refreshing move away from traditional song structure.

Techno wouldn’t really be “techno” if it wasn’t constantly evolving, and the organizers of the Mutek festival have clearly made it a priority to embrace the new directions that musicians and artists are taking. Collaboration, experimentalism, a melding of audio and visual elements, and a marriage of analogue and digital, electronic and instrumental: this is the future of electronic music. As we move toward the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the lines between genres are becoming more and more blurred—and it?s a beautiful thing. The result is music that has a fresh kind of sound; the crisp clean sounds of digital with the humanistic imperfections of live instrumentation and analogue synthesizers. Not only is this music dance-able; it’s got soul.

That being said, I will now digress into a few more specifics of what were, for me, the most magical and mind blowing moments of Mutek 2007.

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COBBLESTONE JAZZ & The Mole

I have always loved Mathew Jonson. I first experienced his music at Mutek 2005 when I walked into Metropolis and heard crystal-clear melodic sounds bouncing off the walls. I danced my ass off and emerged dripping with sweat, hungry for more. Since that fateful night, I have bought several records by Mathew Jonson, Cobblestone Jazz, and Midnight Operator (Mathew + Nathan Jonson). So I was very excited to see Cobblestone Jazz. Even more excited that the Mole was playing before and with them. That guy’s warm funky disco grooves are just so rad.

When it comes to Cobblestone Jazz, its difficult to classify their sound as it is an amalgamation of so many different yet complimentary elements. I think of their music as techno + jazz because it’s got that undeniable jazzy funk that makes you wanna shake your ass like nobody’s business. And the flow is totally improvised, devoid of formal structure but somehow still incredibly cohesive. But then the kick drum drops and suddenly it’s all very techno. Slamming. Funky. Techno.

Here is a video clip to show you what I?m talkin about:

Throughout their set Cobblestone would strip things down to one simple element only to build it up again to a whirling frenzy of beats and bass and filters and echoes. The highs were shimmering and twinkly; the lows were heavy and fat as hell. Every sound was perfectly shaped and structured. The melodies were pure funk. The performance was magical. I can’t wait to hear the album!

MY MY

My My first caught my attention with their debut release on Playhouse, a 12? called “Klatta” that I picked up and grew to adore because of its warm minimal housey sounds. Since then, My My has released an album and quite a few singles, most notably “Swiss on Rye” which is a popular favorite among myself and my DJ friends. There are many artists who release a strong debut 12? and go on to release track after track of boring monotonous drudgery, but My My are definitely the exception to the rule. Every release and remix they do is pure quality. So I was particularly enthusiastic about hearing them play at the Piknic.

I arrived just on time to catch the beginning of their set. Right before they began, the clouds parted and a little ray of sunshine emerged and cast a golden glow on the crowd. They began quietly with a warm soothing melody which evolved gracefully into an enchanting performance that was smooth and calm and deep and moody. I felt very connected to the music; listening and dancing to it sparked my imagination and my memory in many ways I did not expect. I found myself lost in a mixture of physical and emotional bliss as my feet easily moved around and my mind recalled pleasant moments from my childhood. For the hour that the duo played I felt like a child, liberated and free. I imagined myself playing on a beach, and then saw myself sitting by a warm fire under a blanket of stars. When their set was over I was sad. I wanted more. Their music was truly something else.

SOMEONE ELSE

Sean O’Neil aka Someone Else is a true techno artist: a sweaty, good ol’ fashioned hard-rocking techno lover. “Fresh Air,” arguably his biggest track to date, has been a staple of my record box since I first acquired it a little more than a year ago. I have played it at numerous DJ gigs across the country, put it on my latest promo mix “Sexy Chocolate Bass,” and still get more than a little excited whenever I hear it unexpectedly on a loud system. I also play the hell out of the Quenum remix of “Tiger Bitch.”

I have always been a fan of minimalistic sounds that are dark, slammin? and just a little bit funky, and Someone Else’s music offers all of these elements. His tracks kill dancefloors every time. His live performance was no different. Even though he did not start his set until 3:45 am and was playing in the back room of Metropolis, which had a capacity of less than 200, he damn well rocked the place proper. His distinctive gritty snare sounds were prevalent throughout his entire set, as were slamming kick drums, random vocal snippits and long airy hits of reverb.

Most producers when they play live rock out for about an hour, but this guy was going strong until 6am and with the inertia he had, I am sure he could have easily gone on for at least another hour without missing a beat. I was tired as all can be but this guy’s music kept me going until the bitter end, bleary eyed and worn out, feet moving to the music. I couldn’t help myself. He played track after track of super funky hard beats; Fresh Air, Bedroom Eyes, and a plethora of other tracks I didn’t recognize but loved all the same.

HEARTTHROB

Jesse Siminski was given the name Heartthrob by Magda many years ago as a pet name to describe his charming good looks and athletic physique. Inspired by Prince and Richie Hawtin, his music combines melody and soul with a distinctly “techno” sound in a way that manages to be both incredibly bizarre and totally unique. Originally hailing from the Midwestern United States, Heartthrob moved to Europe in 2005 to pursue his techno dreams and has emerged as one of the shining lights of the nouveau techno generation of producers.

Mr. Siminski must have some kind of crazy magical power to be able to create music that is very techno, very weird, and very funky all at the same time. It is very rare that an artist can meld these three elements successfully. But Heartthrob manages to balance the three in a seemingly effortless fashion. His sounds are all clean and well-produced, and his knowledge of synthesis and sound design runs deep. The lead sounds in this young man’s tracks are clearly created from scratch and on a loud system like the one at the Picnik on Sunday they sounded totally out-of-this world. In a time when almost any given artist can be easily compared to another, Heartthrob has created a sound that is all is own.

Check out the vibe at the Piknik as he works his magic:

He dropped all of his best tracks and blended them together seamlessly. When he played Golum and Baby Kate the place went absolutely berserk. It was like UFO’s were touching down from outer space and making everyone go completely mental. My only regret is that he didn?t play for longer! I attribute this to the fact that his catalogue of releases is still relatively small, but I hope that in the future there is much more to come because I thoroughly enjoyed every beat that this young genius laid down.

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There were many other cool and magical moments for me at Mutek this year. Pheek delighted me with his funky sounds and comical charm during his panel discussion about Ableton on Friday evening and his set late Saturday night. Sutekh created some fantastically intense dirty tekky breakbeats that tore the Picnik to shreds on Sunday afternoon, and ended his set with an unpredictable twist: an uber experimental foray into circus sounds and sonic mayhem.

This guy is seriously f*cked up. Listen to this shit and watch his face while he warps people’s minds:

Mathew Dear performed a slightly mangled rendition of my new favorite track of his, “Deserter” with his band on Friday night.

And Magda played some of the best damn music I have ever heard on Thursday night at Parking; although this was not an official Mutek event, it was the prelude to my Mutek and it was incredibly emotional for me.

I fall in love with Montreal every time I visit, and this time was no different. The food, the fashion, the artistry, the magic is always there. Having all of my friends together too from across the country too was a super duper extra special treat. I can’t wait to do it all over again next year. Love and kisses!

~Claire²