MUTEK Day 1: Amon Tobin for prime minister.
June 2
Showing mercifully nice weather - sunshine and 25 degree heat - things started off well here in Montreal:
At the opening edition of seated audio-visual series A/Visions, locals Purform played the opening set, harnessing the power of squiggles and digital shapes with pulsing beatless techy beats - MUTEK in a nutshell - for a soundtrack. Bristol's Emptyset, featuring Ginz, were up next, impressive with their deep, very "bass music" sound, with occasionally techno flourishes. The videos - a mix of film and video-looking textures - were fairly pedestrian but not terrible. Closer Mika Vainio played a mystifyingly visual-free set of increasingly harsh digital noise that, at its peak, redefined shrill and drove this reviewer out of the venue.
Nocturne 01 rounded out the evening with a fairly standard dub/dubstep show from Badawi before Gold Panda gave us a solid set of slow, mildly brash house. Not chin-stroker-ish at all, but fun.
The main event, though, was Amon Tobin, whose Habitat 67-influenced (a Montreal architectural landmark, seen below) backdrop, featuring him in a transparent cube, was the star of the show. With projections changing constantly and perfectly matching the music, it was just about the perfect way to hear his music. To say the crowd was appreciative is a massive understatement: he'd have played for days if they'd had their way.
Next up: Experience 02, 03, Nocturne 02 and more....
Posted by bassmusic
