It’s interesting that Montreal’s Mutek festival first took place one week after the first Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000. And for a dozen years, these two sister events have dominated the North American electronic music calendar, with loyal techno tourists traveling from one to the next in an annual pilgrimage down the 401 (the Route 66 of Canada). We already called out our faves from Detroit last week—so consider this part two of an epic techno saga. Next stop? Across the ocean to Sonar.
Arp (#Win)
The first track on Arp’s latest album, The Soft Wave, is called “Pastoral Symphony,” and it’s a fitting descriptor for the warm synth-driven, near psychedelic music he creates. When married with the film-strip footage used as visuals in the otherwise dark room, the entire venue took on a womb-like quality. The synths massaged the room with bass (especially those right in front of the speakers) and lulled everyone into a very comfortable place, forcing an abrupt return to reality when the all-too-brief set drew to a close.
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