I got into Detroit yesterday for my annual pilgrimage to the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. For those of you that question the relevance of a Detroit-centric event to a Seattle audience, know that the DEMF is one of the largest electronic music festivals in all of North America, akin to a beat-centric South by SouthWest. Europe is a whole other beast with its festivals, but even compared to events like Sonar, DEMF holds its own, as a great opportunity to see legends (Jeff Mills, Moodymann) and rising talent (Booka Shade, Gui Boratto).

The official festivities start today, but as is always the case, it’s incredibly easy (and almost imperative) to hit the ground running. After a quick nap and food after landing, I hit up one of the festival pre-parties last night. Kooky Scientist was willing it in front of a Neumos-sized crowd, far more impressive than his last Seattle stop (although to be fair, that was as Fred Gianelli, not the Kooky Scientist). Tim Xavier did the same, proving that boom-click minimal techno can drive people wild if that’s what they’re up for. Imagine a club audience like Trinity’s getting down to the geekiest of beats and you’ll come close to last night’s reality. The music closed out with NYC’s Derek Plaslaiko moving things into faster, harder territory. A friend questioned whether it was going to be like this all weekend. Yes, it is. That’s why I come back every year.

More as the weekend progresses. For now, here’s a video for my theme song for the last few months as the DEMF has approached (doesn’t look like any Detroit I’ve managed to see).