Montreal: Mutek 2013 Preview

The 14th edition of Montreal’s Mutek festival is about to kick off.  Look for a review of the festival next week.  If you happen to be in Montreal, I’d recommend you try to catch the following:

Dromos – Running throughout the festival each night at 7pm in the SATosphere, Maotik and Fraction’s immersive multimedia show inspired by French philosopher Paul Virillio’s theory of speed will occupy all 360 degrees of the SAT’s dome.

Wednesday 29 May

Matthew Herbert‘s One Pig.  Yes,  Matthew Herbert made a record comprised of sound recordings of the entire life cycle of a pig, from birth to plate.  This should be interesting.

The Field will also be performing on Wednesday at the SAT.

Though not strictly Mutek related, Forbidden Planet 11 will feature guest DJ Bill Kouligas, of Berlin’s Pan Records.  Lee Gamble is playing Mutek, and he released some records on Pan, so… just go.

Thursday 30 May

Nils Frahm seems a little out of place at Mutek, but 1) Don’t question the opportunity to see Frahm live, and 2)  Frahm makes use of microphone techniques as much as he does his classical piano training, so in truth he is deserving of a showcase dedicated to electronic arts.

Lee Gamble, Andy Stott, Deadbeat, and others will be at the SAT on Thursday, and is the show I’m most anticipating.

Friday 31 May

Emptyset, Robert Hood, John Hopkins, and Ryoichi Kurakawa will bring four very different styles to the Metropolis on Friday.  When talking to musicians about their big discoveries of 2012, almost everyone mentioned Emptyset, so come and see if they deserve the praise.

Hobo Cubes (who recently made us this mix as DJ Hush Hush) and others will be holding it down showcasing their DIY appraoch for a free show at Monument-National.

Saturday 1 June

Although I’m looking forward to Matthew Herbert’s reflection of modern warfare The End of Silence, as well as Laurel Halo and others at Metropolis,   if I had to pick on event it’d be m=minimal’s tribute to Ernstalbrecht Stiebler at the PHI Center on Saturday at 4pm.  Berlin record label m=minimal (who issued some great Conrad Schnitzler records a couple years ago) credits Stiebler (born in Berlin in 1934) with being the first German composer to explore minimal techniques in his works in reaction to the serialism dominant at the time.

Sunday 2 June

Pantha du Prince & the Bell Laboratory will mark the first Mutek event at Montreal’s Maison symphonique.   Micro-house, bells, symphony halls.  I don’t know, but I’m excited.

Pantha du Prince & the Bell Laboratory – Trailer 2 from Sandra Trostel on Vimeo.

And of course it wouldn’t be Mutek without an homage to the cities of Detroit and Berlin, founding twins of the republic of techno.  This year they certainly deliver with Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald’s new project Borderlands.  On paper paring Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald (one half of the legendary Basic Channel, Rhythm & Sound, Maurizio, etc)  seems logical, but I’ll reserve my final judgment for Sunday morning.

Full reviews and thoughts will be posted here next week.  Hope to see some of you around town.

See the entire schedule here