Sampling Culture http://samplingculture.posterous.com Most recent posts at Sampling Culture posterous.com Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:06:00 -0700 Sights of Paris http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/09/05/sights-of-paris http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/09/05/sights-of-paris

In Paris public spaces have Old World charm. While wandering down narrow streets or wide boulevards I constantly stopped to look around me. Perhaps if I was more attentive to what surrounds me in Toronto then I'd take more photos and have fun playing 'photographer.' Here are some shots I got with my handy point & shoot - Just one step up from an old iphone camera.

 

 

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Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:24:00 -0700 Globetrotting on a budget http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/globetrottingonbudget http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/globetrottingonbudget

Globetrotting on a budget Chances are you might be heading out this summer, or you'd like to be – if only you could afford it. Time and money are always an issue preventing us from travelling, but if money is stopping you, consider saving up and incorporating some money-saving habits into your future travel plans. Sometimes it can be difficult to get everything organized before a trip, or you might want to plan one and not know where to start. Here are some helpful resources to get you started.

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Selecting your destination When considering cities to visit and looking for things to do, check out the local weekly free paper in its online version before you arrive. If it's in another language, you can always use a free (but approximate) website translation service (such as freetranslation.com) to read the articles and listings in English. If you want a guided tour, many cities have websites set up where local volunteers offer to guide specific tours for visitors. It's kind of like Craigslist. Tourists write a description of the kind of tour they'd like before they travel, and the guides pair themselves up with the tourists. For an example of this kind of service check out http://www.parisiendunjour.fr For cultural excursions, The New York Times has a fantastic resources for budget travellers – with everything from restaurant recommendations to museum happenings found at http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com. Look into individual gallery websites to find out which days and times museums offer free or reduced entrance fees. There are often also pay-what-you-can events or special first-time trial sessions at yoga or athletics classes. Best of all, there are huge benefits to be gained from walking in a new city. One can explore the city from ground level, mingle with locals and discover unexpected places off the familiar tourist map. It's also healthy and beats taking buses or taxis everywhere. If you're wondering about the safety in a region you want to visit, check out the Canadian government's travel advisory website (http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/menu-eng.asp), where they post warnings and notices about the conditions in the country you're intending to visit. Find out which areas are dangerous and should be avoided, learn about the visas and medical vaccinations you might need. Learn about precautions you should take and find out where the Canadian Embassy is, in case you get into trouble. Find out what kinds of identification you are required to carry in the host country.

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Getting there Budget airlines are a good option if you need to fly to your city of choice. Try getting a price on your city from different airlines and ticket sellers online. Don't settle until you find a price you're happy with. One sure way to fly cheap is to select your destination based on the cheapest flight price. Frequent routes from Toronto are often less expensive, but just as far away as national flights – For example, flights to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or London can be a bargain. The season also matters for flight prices, as does the time of the sale. Try to book early to get a good price, or go for last-minute deals on a site like redflagdeals.com. Within Europe, check out the prices at ryanair.com and easyjet.com. Or if you're planning to get to Montreal or New York for cheap, try megabus.com or neonbus.com. Often new buses have free wifi on board and sometimes power outlets. If you're taking a long trip, you can use your laptop and watch dvds or work the whole way there if you want. Packing is an important part of any travel - but especially for air travel. Ultimately packing light whether by car, train, or plane makes your travel simpler. Comfortable shoes and clothes go a long way for a budget-conscious traveller. You'll want to get around on public transit after-all and you'll want to carry as little as possible up and down stairs. Packing a good book is great for any long waits that you'll have to endure. If you end up hanging out at a public space (that's free too!) you will always be entertained with a paperback. If travelling by air, avoid a checked bag fee, and remember to pack only travel-sized toiletries and essentials in your carry-on bag. Where to stay Consider calling up a friend in the city you intend to visit. See whether you can sleep on a friend's couch or whether you can offer a contribution toward rent or groceries. Let them know you'll return the favour in your own home. Always bring a host gift and be a gracious guest. Be prepared to entertain yourself if your host is busy. If staying with a friend is not an option, then consult a websites like airbnb.com, homeaway.com or craigslist vacation rentals pages which allow you to book a room or an entire apartment that belongs to a local resident. The service is available in cities all over the world. The finds on these vacation rentals are often much cheaper than even the most basic hotels, plus you'll often get more space and a kitchen to use – which really saves you money. You can buy groceries and cook! Pretend you are a local and enjoy exploring the markets in the city. Communication abroad The internet is the cheapest way to communicate when you travel. If you're looking for a way to communicate with family and friends, skip the expensive roaming charges on your cell phone calls and use your own laptop with a free wifi connection at a library or cafe. If you don't have a laptop with you, simply run to the nearest internet cafe. Then download skype and call home from skype. Or, simply send emails and update your blog for friends and family. Next time you travel, consider making a budget, stick to it and have fun.

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Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:07:00 -0700 Kensington Market comes alive http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/kensington-market-comes-alive http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/kensington-market-comes-alive

Citizens filled the streets to the sounds of electronic belly-dancing music. A crowd huddled in a circle around a group of performers who wore belly-dancing costumes and jingled their bells in time to the music. People took photos and clapped after each dancer went into the middle of the circle. Walking down Augusta Avenue, the smell of hot corn tomales and empanadas, samosas and thai spring rolls emanated from each food stand and wafted into the nostrils of passers by. Local artists and vendors sold their jewelry and paintings to visitors and residents who make their homes in Kensington Market.

Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market are a time when cars are banished from the streets and people take over the streets to build community. The event in July was called Water! Streams of Consciousness. Over in the wading pool in the Bellevue Square park, children and their parents mingled on a picturesque summer day. The market is always full of sites and sounds – only Pedestrian Sundays are better because the market is enhanced by the presence of more people and a greater feeling of celebration that permeates the space. Imagine what our city streets could be like if they were allowed to flourish the way the Pedestrian Sundays festival has enabled Kensington Market to, each summer since 2004. Over the years, the idea of Pedestrian Sundays has spread to different neighbourhoods, in both Mirvish Village and Baldwin Village. Perhaps the idea is ripe enough to spread across the entire city. Pedestrian Sundays don't propose to permanently change the streets, instead, the website tells us: “they forever change the way you perceive them.” The idea behind Pedestrian Sundays is stated simply on pskensington.ca: “Remove the automobile and the streets become a cultural playground – an expression of our community’s diverse ethnicity, age and interests.” The festival is very DIY and encompasses the human touch that is missing in so many large over-produced festivals that draw people to the city in the summer. It's all about local community and building a sustainable future by going back to the roots of how cultures thrive through local ecologies. As the website explains this link to the global ecological movement: “A community takes back their common space and celebrates a day of cleaner air.” On this particular Sunday in July, many groups came out to build ties with the community, reach out to the public and sell their wares. The Toronto Vegetarian Association, Oxfam Canada, and Spacing magazine were all there. Even Blocks Recording Club, an indie label collective run by artists, set up a little table to sell music by acclaimed local artists such as Owen Pallett, Kids on TV and Katie Stelmanis. Meanwhile, many bands performed - at least one per corner along the route from College to Dundas on both Augusta Ave and Kensington Avenue. The band Escalate had set up outside of the Embassy bar on Augusta and drew quite a crowd. With their jazz-lounge sounds and confident style, the four piece band did an excellent job captivating a self-selected audience of younger hipsters and families alike. Theatrical performers were found along the route too. A puppeteer had set up a little theatre and drew a small crowd toward his interactive performances. Meanwhile, Clay & Paper Theatre had set up a large caravan loaded up with books for sale. Books were only a dollar each and the proceeds went toward funding their cycling oriented puppet squad and other theatre projects. It was like a scene from a bohemian movie, or a blast from the hippie era of the past. People looked at books and made their selection, while a cheerful lady with a hula-hoop twirled around and sang a song. On Nassau Street a group of dancers from the group who run Standupdance.com did modern improvisation on the street. They moved fluidly like water around one another and communicated freely with their bodies as people watched. They paid no attention, and as the postcard they gave me explained, they were there to 'dance like no one is watching.' Further along Nassau Street, a group of musicians played music as a group of ten people played musical chairs. When the music stopped everyone scrambled to find a seat. The music got faster and faster until there were only two women players left. Finally only one declared victory, and another round started. It's not too late to attend the next Pedestrian Sunday. There are several more slated to happen before the end of the season. On August 14th the market will remember the blackout in Toronto, when people enjoyed acoustic music, community meals and low consumption activities. August 28th will mark the market's celebration of Air! The Kensington Community Air Show. “In contrast to the Toronto International Air Show, we fly messages of peace, blow horns and hot air, eat chili, blow bubbles and dance in the street,” says the Pedestrian Sundays website (pskensington.ca). On September 25th, Pedestrian Sundays will celebrate earth and global harvest traditions, and on October 30th, Halloween celebrations will honour ancestors.

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Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:02:00 -0700 Montreal: The place to be for Mutek http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/mutek http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/mutek

Each year in early June throngs of electronic music fans descend upon Montreal for the Mutek festival - a unique program of experimental music and visual art installations. This year the festival delivered a high quality program that techno aficionados have come to expect. Many excellent genre-crossing acts performed and, despite relentless rain, attendees revelled in danceable music and learned about exciting new musical groups from North America and Europe.

Half-way into the week long festival, Mutek's Friday night showcase offered up two acts that remain relatively under the radar but are worthy of more attention. Christina Sealey and Richard Oddie make up the dark electro-pop duo Orphx. In their mid-thirties, they live in the Hamilton area and play in Toronto, Montreal and Europe whenever they get the chance. Sealey is a talented painter and Oddie is a university teacher, specializing in social science, geography and politics. The duo got to know each other well while producing many of their 20-plus record catalogue from which they perform songs at their live gigs. The Orphx show at Mutek included material from the group's latest EPs (Blacklight and Division) that came out on the hard techno label Sonic Groove of New York. Oddie said that their intention at Mutek was “to give people a sense of our different styles and influences.” Their set revealed their flare for combining of techno and house, electro and dub. I interviewed Oddie about their creative process. “We make music with a lot of tension. It's music with darker feelings. We explore [those feelings] and work through them,” says Oddie. Their music is dark and industrial and on one of their records Orphx explored places they liked in their city. “We used sounds from the city [of Hamilton]. I suppose [the city] does shape our music a lot,” says Oddie. “[Hamilton] is a city that has struggled with poverty and the decline of the steel industry,” he explains. “There are feelings that come with that – [both] negative [ones] with social problems and positive [ones] as people try to... recreate themselves,” says Oddie. Oddie figures that their music may be paralleled by living in the post-industrial environment, but he reflectively adds, “Perhaps we mirror [our environment] self-consciously.” “We like Detroit techno – [which was borne out of] similar conditions. [It's] futuristic but relatively dark music. They [Detroit techno artists] were shaped by what was going on in their city.” With song titles like Burning Flags and Simulacrum one wonders what inspires Orphx thematically. “A lot of it is in response to things I'm reading, or things I hear about in the news,” says Oddie. “Other times [a song title] is in reference to something I am reading, or a psychological concept,” Oddie says. He is most excited about artists making music on the fringes of techno. “They have a concept, and psychological and emotional weight to their music. It's not just party music. There's something else going on and for me that is going back to the origins of techno. The [early] material from Detroit had a lot of emotional weight and depth to it. I like the idea of taking techno seriously,” explains Oddie. Orphx started out making music in the early 1990's and they were heavily influenced by Japanese ‘noise’ and industrial music. Since then they've connected with a small but global audience of music fans, record labels and galleries who enjoy their sound. “More recently we've been doing techno music more overtly... and foregrounding that structure and we seem to be reaching a new audience which is exciting,” says Oddie. “It's hard to get shows [in Hamilton] unless you put a lot of effort in. In Toronto there is a techno scene – and we'd like to play some of those gigs,” says Oddie. For now, Mutek was a real treat for them. “Mutek is one of the rare exciting places to play,” says Oddie. Following Orphx, Actress was next on the Mutek bill performing an Ableton Live set that included sound effects and samples. Darren Cunningham (a.k.a. Actress) says he writes all of his tracks visually – “I want to create a visual experience in the sound and generate a mood so I can immerse people in the texture of the sound.” When I interviewed Cunningham at Mutek about the origins of his creative process, he told me he was once a footballer for West Bromwich Albion in London, but had to stop playing at the age of 19 because of an injury. When he lost his dream to be a footballer, he says he was heartbroken. “It was a devastating time.” However he says, “The upside of that is that I've always had music – Even when I was playing football I was dabbling in music.” “What you're hearing in my music is losing a dream that I worked hard to achieve,” explains Actress. “I put all of that into my music. My music is now an expression of that,” he says. Actress finds some similarities between his former career and his new one. “To be a sports person and musician you have to be a hundred per cent devoted to your art. The skills I put into my tracks are similar to the level of devotion I would put into playing football in the past,” he says. Today he is a music producer and the owner of the Brixton based record label Werk Discs. Asked why he chose the name Actress, he explains, “An actress performs a role... and creates a persona for that part. So I re-contextualize that idea within my music.” Judging by his stage presence at his Mutek performance, which was very low-key and authentic, acting may be something that Cunningham jokes about, but never entertains seriously. Most Mutek attendees would probably be inclined to agree with Actress when he said after his show, “It's a great program they have in Montreal...Mutek was brilliant and well-organized.” If you've never attended Mutek festival, you're advised to book it into your calendar early for next year. See you on the dance floor!

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Wed, 04 Aug 2010 08:50:00 -0700 Plastikman Live transforms Detroit http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/04/plastikman-live-transforms-detroit http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/04/plastikman-live-transforms-detroit

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For one weekend at the end of May Detroit is transformed into the place to be for all techno music fans and globe-trotting industry workers who come from as far as Europe to party, celebrate the global techno subculture and make business connections. This year marked the 10th anniversary of Movement Festival, Detroit's annual electronic music festival and to celebrate, they hosted a special live headliner - a Canadian – the techno icon Plastikman, a.k.a. Windsor born Richie Hawtin.

The Plastikman Live show was highly-anticipated. It was received by an enthusiastic crowd in Heart Plaza with thousands of people dancing. Countless tweets went out over the course of the three-day event, with lots of praise for the Plastikman Live show. “The Plastikman show is unlike anything I've ever witnessed,” tweeted Montreal hip-hop DJ, A-trak, who also performed at the festival. During the Movement Festival, Toronto film maker Peter Mettler - renowned for his films such as Petropolis (2010) and Gambling, Gods and LSD (2000) - filmed the momentous Plastikman Live show. (No word yet on where the film will appear.)

The Plastikman Live show is an audio-visual showcase that integrates visual representations of elements of the songs. Although audio-visual technicians ensure the system is up and running during the show, Plastikman's cues on stage trigger variations in the visuals. He has full control of the audio visual system as he performs. Spread over several large LED panels, the show features unique visuals for each of Plastikman's popular tracks and the crowd watches as the visuals are synched perfectly with the music – changing dynamically with each song. Hawtin and the M-nus record label team – a crew of about 15 people - are currently almost half way through their 15-date Plastikman Live tour to music festivals and large venues in North America and Europe. M-nus is working with Derivative, a Toronto company that specializes in live visual architecture.

Derivative has worked with many popular artists and corporate clients, including the band Rush for their 2004 tour, the architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron for the Prada store in Tokyo and film giant Disney in Los Angeles. In the months that led up to the first Plastikman Live show in Mannheim on March 27, 2010, M-nus art director and video director Ali Demirel worked with the Derivative team and used their Touch Designer software. They tested the show and did many rehearsals to work out the kinks. “However, it's a work in progress that we still work on to perfect the show,” explains Demirel.

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(Ali Demirel photo courtesy of Minus.)

Detroit has a special significance for Hawtin, since he grew up across the river in Windsor. Detroit was the birthplace of a burgeoning techno sound and it was where he found his largest audience in the early years of his DJ career. Plastikman Live has evolved considerably since the show's first incarnations. Back in 2004, Plastikman Live did a show during the Mutek electronic and digital arts festival in Montreal. Although that show received mixed reviews, since then things have become easier because of hardware and software developments. “The visual software TouchDesigner that we use for the show is much more flexible and stable. Now we can perform with a laptop whereas [in 2004] we had to build a huge custom computer,” explains Demirel.

Demirel adds that developments in LED technology have made it possible to create an interesting visual stage design. Plus, the communication possibilities between the visual and music software, such as Ableton Live with Max4Live, make it possible for the visuals to be fully integrated into Richie Hawtin's audio set. Demirel and Hawtin have been working together for nearly 6 years.

Demirel says that he and Hawtin already had similar tastes in visuals before they met, but together developed their artistic style further over time. “We also learned a lot about technically realizing more advanced shows and performing for different types of environments and setups,” explains Demirel.

To gain a better understanding of how live visuals have evolved over time, following the history and evolution of the Plastikman Live show is a good start. “My first design didn't have any integration with [Richie's] setup,” says Demirel. “I was feeling his musical direction and performing everything manually. I didn't even use any live visual software... But through the years I discovered what I needed for synchronizing our performance and I [incorporated] some new tools,” says Demirel.By now, “with Derivative's TouchDesigner, everything is designed so perfectly in sync to Richie Hawtin's performance,” explains Demirel, “I don't even touch a button!”

Over time, Demirel has also learned a few surprising things about the techno icon, Plastikman. “I would have called myself one of the most perfectionistic people until I experienced working with [Richie Hawtin]!” says Demirel. “He never gets tired and never rests, and he adds more elements and details to the project even when you think it [is] enough!” But, he adds, “He [Hawtin] is open to collaborating with each person [each from different fields] involved in the project and [he is] capable of giving creative feedback and directions to all of them.”

In the Plastikman Live show the artistic creation is more important than the personalities. The live show is constructed in a way that obscures Plastikman behind the visual screen, rather than showcasing him in the normal pop music icon fashion. Demirel says, “This show is not about a star personality... We don't want the audience to come there to see the person who makes the music, but rather we want them to experience his audio-visual artistic creation.”

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Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:05:05 -0700 City Scenes: Los Angeles, San Francisco http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/06/14/photos-of-la-and-san-fran http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/06/14/photos-of-la-and-san-fran Here are a few photos of city scenes taken in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I found some typical July weather and lots of palms. Midtown LA
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Car culture galore... One can spend a lot of time driving around this state.
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Skaters near the waterfront in San Fran
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Lovely old car across from Dolores Park in SF
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Los Angeles neighbourhood
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The City of Angels from the Griffith Observatory
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Originally uploaded by Amanda C-U

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Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:34:09 -0700 Mutek_10 Festival http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/06/02/videos-from-mutek http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/06/02/videos-from-mutek
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Mutek’s tenth edition line-up was a reflection of where dance music continues to push the boundaries and maintain its solid foundation. Annually, according to the festival, over 54 per cent of Mutek attendees travel from places outside of Quebec - Chicago, Edmonton, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver and Europe - for an experience that Time Out New York has called “North America’s leading electronic-music event.” Thus, it should come as no surprise then, that Mutek recently won Quebec’s Tourism Grand Prize for 'Festivals and Touristic Events'. I was one of many avid techno tourists who attended Mutek’s 10th edition. Saturday afternoon, after a six-hour drive into Montreal from Toronto, the Strawberry Fields Forever piknic electronique on Île Ste-Hélène was an energizing respite. Partiers reveled under the remnants of Expo 67 in Montreal - the impressively large and expressive sculpture entitled 'Man' by the great modern sculptor, Alexander Calder. Generous in its appeal, the music of Saturday afternoon was full of dub, deeper house, funky disco rhythms and techy hooks. Starting things off was the Canadian premiere of Berlin's Thomas Fehlmann, an early collaborator with the Orb. His set was groovy and gentle on afternoon ears. He made djing to the crowd look easy, and with so many years in the business (his first work was completed for early UK house labels in the 1980's) he definitely knows how to get a party started.
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The sun shone moderately on those who danced. Up next was the Manchesterite, Trus'Me, whose signature deep house sounds pleased those in attendance and left no one wondering why he is, today, an internationally renowned talent. Finally, former Montrealer and British Colombia born favourite, The Mole was back in town from Berlin, and he closed out the piknic to a fully pumped crowd. As the sun came down, the Mutek crowd looked ready for the evening festivities ahead.
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Saturday evening came quickly and Metropolis was the place to be. Upon arrival, Canadian Public Transit Recordings label head, Moonstarr, had a small but growing crowd engaged. He performed with Tony Ezzy, and DJ'd a hip-hop infused set. The beats were deep and the synths, keys and vocals by Ezzy blended well together. Their stage presence was fantastic and the energy between the performers was amicable. In conversation with Moonstarr prior to his Mutek performance he explained that he would play tracks from his new single called 'Farfisa 45', which is named after the organ that Ezzy plays. Moonstarr's latest full length, Instrumentals Forever, was also showcased in his set. While he's better known for hip hop and breaks with jazz and funk samples, his set fit in perfectly with the line-up that the festival curators built that night. [wpvideo HA7KHRok] Up next, the French trio, dOP, played a great set with very playful lyrics and beats in a collaborative stage show. However, as nearly a full bottle of vodka disappeared from the stage, as it was drunk, the frontman’s verses became sparser and the set lost a bit of its earlier finesse. But after dOP’s very successful I’m Just a Man EP in 2008, the audience looked eager to experience the live incarnation of the recognizable group. The funniest point in their set was when they invited four ladies onto the stage to dance. Although not particularly musical, it was entertaining never-the-less.
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After dOP, Mathew Jonson and Dandy Jack came along. Their collaboration has apparently been an item for months behind the scenes, and they unleashed a fairly pounding and experimental techno set on the crowd. It was interesting to speculate how the two artists, both into musical fusion – techno and jazz, and techno and latin – came together. Maybe it was their love for experimentation or the fact that both artists are living in a home away from home, Berlin, and perhaps sharing the expatriate experience. Jonson is from Victoria, Canada, and Dandy Jack is from Santiago de Chile. In any case, their music was enchanting and exciting – with an energy that is unparalleled by other live techno acts. [wpvideo nIRK6YYH] Next, tobias. from Berlin, performed in an exclusive North American premiere. His set was surprisingly refreshing, not because one could underestimate the aptitude of an artist who put out his first single in 1989 and who collaborated with Ricardo Villalobos (as Odd Machine), but more because after such a hard experimental techno set, tobias. brought the atmosphere back down from its cerebral tones. His set was elegantly constructed and made a nice arch toward a great finale performance by Detroit techno icon, Carl Craig. Craig’s set was danceable and superb, taking festival-goers well into the early morning hours. Perhaps, nothing better can be said about Mutek's production than the visuals. They were done to perfection, beautifully crafted with amazing hues on the artists and the crowd in front of them. From almost any vantage point in the multi-level concert venue, the visual spectacle could not be downplayed. Wrapping up a 24 hour stint in Montreal for Mutek’s tenth year of international experimental sound and digital creativity, we found ourselves back at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Ste-Hélène. A short subway ride away, the island oasis with its view of Montreal, was a pleasure, even in the cooler rainy weather that day. For the final piknic, Zip and Ricardo Villalobos played a marathon set. Starting out with dubby low-key minimal vibes, the energy only grew as more people arrived in the later afternoon to listen to the kind of quality electronic music so rarely found in any abundance in North America. The atmosphere was bohemian and hip without being over-done, making this event a real treat for those in attendance.
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The 10th anniversary year of Mutek once again showcased the range of international and domestic talent that can only be expected from a festival that has techno tourists roaming the continent for it. -- To see the article on Urb Magazine's website visit: http://www.urb.com

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Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:44:50 -0700 My DEMF Review http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/06/01/my-demf-review-for-beatportal http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/06/01/my-demf-review-for-beatportal
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I’m not witnessing stadium rock or stadium love, like pop band Metric’s new song depicts in their newest album. No - Instead I’m witnessing stadium techno. It’s Saturday night, May 24th 2009 in Detroit, and Carl Cox is playing some pounding techno anthems to a crowd of fans with their hands in the air, fists pumping, feet moving and heads bouncing. It’s infectious and the crowd from the stage looks like a human mosaic, moving in synch, separately chaotic yet bodily as one. Dancing to Jeff Mills ‘The Bells’, and other now-classic tracks, was what electronic music fans were up to this past weekend at the annual Movement festival. This year’s Movement marked the 9th year of the Memorial Day Weekend festival that started in 2000. Since 2006, after undergoing several incarnations, a local Detroit promotions company called Paxahau has produced the first-class event. To read the full article visit: beatportal

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Wed, 27 May 2009 23:31:33 -0700 Videos from Movement, DEMF 2009 http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/05/27/demf http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/05/27/demf You might want to turn your speakers down! The sound is really distorted in these videos, sorry. The need for some earplugs (which I had) and a proper recording device is evident. However, if you're interested to know what the Detroit Electronic Music festival was like, this is an alright sampling of a few sets I caught. Steve Bug [wpvideo frEJBJ53] [wpvideo wDMut0cR] [wpvideo oQYsvnyP] [wpvideo Lq706uSn] [wpvideo 8cH2Jx7f] [wpvideo yYG55dFs]

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Wed, 13 May 2009 04:38:09 -0700 Planning a trip to Detroit http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/05/12/planning-a-trip-to-detroit http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/05/12/planning-a-trip-to-detroit I'm looking forward to seeing Detroit again, for all its deserted downtrodden streets and buildings just steps from the techno festival that transforms it for one weekend each year. It's not just that I crave techno music... I enjoy the discordant contrast between the vibrant international musical scene and the nearly abandoned city that hosts it each year. It's not without some thought that I wander looking for a restaurant each year during quiet moments of the festival. This city and the people here gave so much to the techno scene, as many of the originators came from here. But this city also seems like a ghost of its illustrious past, and it reminds me of the failings of large unsustainable economies and previous recessions that have taken their toll on the human and ecological life that are struggling to survive.
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This year's Detroit Electronic Music Festival (May 23, 24, 25) seems almost as good as previous years with over 70 DJs and producers ranging from hard techno (Marco Carola) to electro (Anthony Rother) to newer acts like The Glitch Mob and one of Detroit's classic techno DJs, Derrick May.
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On April 29th, 2009 Detroit Mayor, Kenneth V. Cockrel, Jr. and Paxahau event promotions group announced a new international partnership between Movement Detroit and the Movement Torino group who are throwing their own Movement festivals in Italy. So the brand is going global. As for Detroit ticket sales, the official Movement press release tells me that they are more than double the number they were at this time last year. And, according to organizer, Jason Huvaere: “We are pleased that despite the tough economic times facing our country, people see the value in spending their Memorial Day Weekend in Detroit...” Very optimistic when you consider all of the lay-offs that have happened in and around Michigan. But, I guess it's not all that surprising considering that many people who come to the festival from places like Toronto, New York, Chicago, and other parts of the US, and even Europe. If you've ever doubted that techno music culture is still a phenomenon today - there's evidence that it is still popular. Last year nearly 80,000 people passed through the turnstiles at Hart Plaza, according to Movement's official press release. I remember the excitement and the mix of people that came out. My blog post on the festival last year can be found here: Amanda's beatportal.com blog [photos taken by nyex.org]

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