Well, I went to the DEMF/Movement festival today - it's the only day
I'll be going and I thought today seemed like both the best lineup and
the best fit for my schedule. Here's how my day went.
1:15PM - Arrived in downtown Detroit, park in the underground lot where
I always park for the festival. It's $10 this year - seems like it
wasn't that pricy before. Ah well.
1:20PM - Secure tickets. $26 for a one-day pass. Ouch! Again, more
expensive than years past, but oh well.
1:30PM - Park myself directly in front of the stage in the Beatport tent
and watch as Pole begins. His first two tracks pretty much melted my
face. The bass was staggering, it sounded like the Pole of days past.
After that, he veered into what sounded like his newer material, based
on the bit I've heard. It was decent - nothing I'd seek out, but
enjoyable. He played one track that sounded like Pole's take on
west-coast rap instrumentals, with this sort of Moog-sounding synth
part. That description might steer you a little off, but it's close, I
guess. He finished up with some noisier dub pieces, and it was quite
good. A great start to the day's music.
2:30PM - Watch as Sassmouth begins her set in the Beatport stage, and
head out after 10 minutes or so. What I heard was fine, but I wanted to
check out Higher Intelligence Agency, who was playing on the Pyramid
Stage. I meet up with Jeff Kleine, and we head over together.
2:40PM - Oh my. The sound system at the Pyramid Stage is absolutely
stunning. The high-frequency drivers literally looked like none I've
ever seen before, and the sound is just unreal. Super crisp, clear,
plenty loud, and the bass just envelopes you. Each side (left/right) has
a front stack, two side stacks, and a rear stack. Standing in the middle
is really the sweet spot - the bass hits, you get an awesome sense of
the stereo imaging, and it really can't be beat. The music is a great
compliment to the system - deep bass and kick drums, clean, clear synth
parts, and even some nice field recording noises at times. Bobby Bird
(HIA) looks like he's having the time of his life during his set, too.
Jeff and I both really enjoy this set.
4:00PM - HIA finally wraps up, and Rhythm & Sound starts. This is one
I've been anticipating, and there on the stage are two grizzled-looking
Berliners, Mark Ernestus and Moritz Van Oswald, with a box of dub 7"s
and a pair of turntables. A mic and Powerbook lay on the table next to
them, awaiting the line-up of 3 toasters who will eventually accompany
the pair in their selections. As the set progresses, it becomes clear
that they're in no hurry (they have 6 HOURS on this stage, after all)
and a steady stream of slow, grooving versions and vocal tracks get played.
4:30PM - Some food is in order, so I skip over to the Ren Cen for an
ATM, then back to the festival for a corn dog. Mmmmm, corn dog!
4:30PM - Back to Rhythm & Sound. The toasters are in full effect, though
at times they're detracting from the experience - a bit too much banter
about "rhythm & sound, the sound system, feel this experience, etc". I
like the DJ role in all this, but I'm here to hear the selectors, too.
5:10PM - Over to the Beatport stage for Losoul. I saw him setting up
while Pole finished, and he's got an interesting rig - Sequential
Circuits Studio 440 (an ancient sampler that takes floppy disks and has
analog filters), a Novation Remote 25 controller, and a laptop. I own a
couple of Losoul records that I like, which have some zip and funk to
them, but this set turned out to be fairly sterile. Lots of kick drum,
synth noise, rinse, repeat. Ho hum.
5:30PM - Back to Rhythm & Sound. The vocalists seem better integrated
now. Some nice songs. Nothing from the Burial Mix catalog (what I would
give to hear "Ruff Way" or "Never Tell You"!), but a good dub vibe. Fred
Heutte is here now, too, and we all vibe off R&S.
6:00PM - Over to the Real Detroit tent to hear Anthony "Shake" Shakir.
Shake had kind of a rough set - his multiple sclerosis seems to have
made a lot of the necessary energy and fine movements difficult, but
there were glimpses of his stunning past DJ sets in this set, bits like
finding the groove in doubles of Rob Hood's "internal empire" and
working it, or dropping "Shades of Jae" at just the right time. It was
great to see him really having fun, though there was also obvious
frustration at times, too (partly due to what I think was an unfamiliar
mixer, or possibly something wrong with it).
I've said it in the past, and I'll say it again - I just love Shake, and
I really enjoyed seeing him play. Shake, if you read this - you made my
day playing your Frictional records today. You've been a huge
inspiration to me musically. Keep it up!
7:00PM - As I walk back to the car, the rain starts to come down with
slightly more force. It's held off all day, but is finally starting to
rain, and I watch the lights, and the people, and hear the thud of kick
drums gradually fade. It's time to go home.
You can see pictures of all this at my Flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chromedecay/sets/72157600270169761/
peace,
bvl
--
bill van loo & j. schnable - raindays - now released!
http://www.chromedecay.org/releases/cd004/
http://www.chromedecay.org || http://www.billvanloo.com
