Decibel
Monday, October 5, 2009
Decibel Resident Advisor Reviews Decibel
Posted by Dave Segal on Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Respected electronic-music webzine Resident Advisor offers a retrospective of this year's Decibel Festival, which lived up to the hype (mine included).
I'm already looking forward to 2010's edition.
(A snippet from one of my favorite sets at 2009 DB.)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Show Review / Decibel Decibel: Highlights From Days 3 & 4
Posted by Dave Segal on Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 11:25 AM
To supplement Eric's post on his Decibel highlights, here are some of mine from days 3 and 4, written in serious post-fest hangover mode.
Sat. Sept. 26 Sole Repair
Spacetime Continuum (aka Jonah Sharpe): When I arrived, he was in the midst of some slate-gray Arctic ambience that was incongruous with the sunny 70º weather. Gradually, he let in some gently undulant rhythms, and things got narcotic and subaquatic, like Basic Channel on Quaaludes. Things became very beautiful near the end with a muted, melancholy guitar motif spangling above the frigid, stolid tower of dub rhythm. Overall, Sharpe crafted timeless, classic chill-in music.
Sat. Sept. 26 Neumos
Nosaj Thing achieved a brilliant balance between elegant melodies and rugged, glitchy rhythms (and weirdness and accessibility) with his hiphop of the near future (I predict he’s really going to blow up in 2010). His set had incredible dynamics, changing up every 45 seconds or so, but not in a jarring or annoying way.
Megasoid (aka Sixtoo, left-field hiphop producer renowned for his recordings on Ninja Tune, Vertical Form, and anticon.) peddled some chunky, gritty business, somewhere between ruffneck dancehall and glitch-hop. It was alpha-male bass music done with great finesse.
Daedelus—only caught about five minutes of his performance, but it seemed more manic and visceral than the previous times I’ve caught him. His sideburns and threads are still amazing, by the way.
Big regret: missed Mary Anne Hobbs. Many folks I spoke to raved about her brutal dubstep selections, although one notable local DJ said she was awful. He was in the distinct minority, though.
(More reviews after the cut.)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Show Review / Last Night / Decibel Decibel 2009 Highlights
Posted by Eric Grandy on Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 3:17 PM
There was more music on offer than ever at this year’s installment of Decibel Festival, Seattle’s internationally renowned annual electronic music massive, and it was just impossible to see it all. I missed a shit-ton of dubstep, including Benga, Boxcutter, and Caspa; the Seattle debut of German deep techno powerhouse the Wighnomy Brothers; and a raved-about afterhours sets from Martyn and Move-D. So it goes. Here are the highlights of what I managed to catch:
At the opening gala at the Seattle Art Museum on Thursday night, Tycho played a sweet set, blissfully ambient but subtly upbeat, performed alternately as one dude hunched behind a heavily-wired laptop and as a trio joined by a guy on guitar and another on Moog synthesizer. Pretty guitar plucking samples swam around head-bobbing beats buoyed by big synth swooshes that reached almost Fred Falke-ian levels of elation.
Truckasauras sounded great at Chop Suey on Saturday, playing some new material for Decibel that showcased a less swung hiphop and more melodic and motirik side of the Truck, marked by forward-pushing 4/4 beats and filter-tweaked arpeggios. Truckasauras' Adam Swan tells me those arpeggios were inspired by heavy listening to Animal Collective's excellent Merriweather Post Pavillion, especially "My Girls." He also reasons that as Foscil's been playing less lately, the Truck fellas have perhaps been funneling more of their songwriting chops into Truck's tracks than before. Whatever it is, it's working.
I’d seen Daedelus before, but never on a sound system with so much insane, gut-busting bass as was at Neumos for the aptly-named Bass Lovers Unite! showcase on Saturday night. The seismic low-end really revealed some startling new depths to dude’s delightfully spazzy sample-mashing sound. The best bits: the seasonally-inappropriate but still anthemic “Fair Weather Friends” (“when the weather gets warm…”), the epic M83 build-up into a soul horn break, Beirut’s “Elephant Gun” pitched up to make Zach Condon’s iconic baritone moan an almost unrecognizably high-spirited chorus, all chopped and spewed over aerobic double-time beats. As always, it was a pleasure watching Daedelus tapping the light-up grid of his Monome, every trigger hit with the most theatrical, wrist-flicking flourish imaginable.
Speaking of spastic, omnivorously sampling sets and hyped-up jazz hands, Gaslamp Killer in Volunteer Park on Sunday was no slouch himself. His fast-paced and unpredictable DJ set spanned from spacey ‘70s jazz funk to dubstep to hiphop to krautrock to Jimi Hendrix to ESG’s perennially sampled “UFO” and all over the place in between, with plenty of charmingly hammy patter on the mic throughout ("I'm gonna take it back to that dirt," he barked at one point. "I psyched you out, motherfuckers...I might take it back to that psychedelic, that depends on you!")
As was the case last year, Decibel went out with a big bang for their closing night on Sunday. Jerry Abstract “killed it” twice—first with relentless, bass-heavy percussive hammering; then by accidentally knocking his laptop clear off its stand, unplugging it and causing a few long minutes of dead air. Tim Exile purveyed his off brand of goofily menacing improvisational beatboxing and live vocal looping (imagine Max Tundra crossed with Jamie Lidell on some harsh acid). The regrettably-named Reagenz (electronic music festivals really do turn up a disproportionately large amount of silly names), played an elegant, understated set of deep-pulsing techno propelled by live drum machinery and analog synths.
The big blow-out, though, came from German techno duo Alter Ego, whose every track deployed monster synth riffs and thick, thumping beats. Standouts included a sped-up, synth-giggling “Jolly Joker”; the pecking, rubbernecking tone bends of “Chicken Shag”; the relentless propulsive rhythm and fried filter squelches of “Beat the Bush”; the enveloping chords of “Gary”; and last but not least, the still unfuckwithable and aptly-titled 2004 anthem “Rocker,” which the duo played with a little extra woodblock (the new “more cowbell”?). As expected, their set tore the place down, a perfectly exhilarating and exhausting end to another outstanding Decibel weekend.
Last Night / Decibel / Video Mountains @ Triple Door
Posted by Trent Moorman on Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Mountains’ set at Triple Door was immaculate. It was part of the Decibel's Americtronica Showcase with music put to visuals. Ears and pupils thusly aligned. Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp of Mountains didn’t play their instruments as much as they cultivated and arrived at sound. Surfaces were scratched and filtered through lengthy delays, turns made with ailerons. Bells and acoustic guitars inverted. Mountains’ set and songs were an elongation. A crafting of planes. (Visuals for Mountains by Sawako.)
Last Night / Decibel / Video Alter Ego @ Decibel
Posted by Dave Segal on Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 12:23 PM
Here's a tiny fraction of German duo Alter Ego's Decibel-closing set, which was climaximalist techno at its most bombastic. Feel and hear the power. Damn!
More verbiage on the festival later.
ht: @EricaToelle via Twitter
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Decibel Gaslamp Killer @ Volunteer Park
Posted by Dave Segal on Sun, Sep 27, 2009 at 2:35 PM
Don't miss this excellent technician, selector, and showboater on the decks at Volunteer Park at 4:30 pm today. Gaslamp Killer's sets are always unbelievably dynamic, diverse, and unpredictable, with bonus funny patter on the mic.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Last Night / Decibel Decibel, Day 2: Bretschneider FTW
Posted by Dave Segal on Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Forgive the brief, scatterbrained nature of this post. I unexpectedly spent most of the night accumulating a year's worth of material for The Stranger’s next regrets issue—plus, Spacetime Continuum’s live set beckons at Sole Repair.
At SAM, Raster-Noton OG (Original Glitchster) Frank Bretschneider unfurled an audio/visual performance that was black & white scientific psychedelia at its most rigorous. Sound and images worked in ruptured harmony, as FB generated a geometric jitterbug out of white specks (they could be salt, coke, constellations, TV snow, dandruff) on a black backdrop. They dispersed, coagulated, spiraled in disciplined yet unpredictable patterns as FB let loose the termites in the motherboard. Intense hospital-equipment buzzes and thrums abutted against granulated jackhammer emissions; funky Morse code pitter-patter merged into malfunctioning fax machine grind. High and low frequencies engaged in a wickedly precise dance, with FB orchestrating abrupt shifts, jagged segues, shocking transitions, and dramatic silences and dropouts. All of which convinced me that Bretschneider materialized on Earth from a future advanced civilization to dispense his beneficent art on us unworthy mortals. Wild applause followed his set. As one friend put it afterward, “Frank won Decibel.” Word.
Over at Neumos, Rob Hood looked stoic, didn’t dance nor bob his head, but simply laid down tekno in its purest, stripped-down, melody-free, (mostly) vocal-free, rhythmic state—a fairly relentless, uptempo pummel that gradually built in intensity. His music really is a litmus test on whether you like no-frills tekno. Having him play so early (9:30 pm) seemed like a tactical error, as Hood’s fever-pitch tracks are definitely more peak-time fodder, but I’m just glad I got to see this former Underground Resistance master at all, as he rarely makes it out to the Northwest.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Decibel Decibel Tonight: Alex Under Cancelled, Frank Bretschneider Added
Posted by Eric Grandy on Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 6:31 PM
Last night, DJ/Rupture missed his flight and thusly his scheduled Decibel Festival appearance. Tonight, Alex Under has canceled (he was unable to enter the country apparently due to some paperwork issues); replacing him at Neumos this evening will be Frank Bretschneider.
Last Night / Decibel Decibel, Night 1: Vibrational Positives
Posted by Dave Segal on Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Kid Hops was spinning some of the trad dub for which his Positive Vibrations show is famous as I entered Neumos for the Db in Dub Pt. 1 showcase. Approaching the bar, I felt some seriously fearsome vibrations, most of ’em positive (who knew trousers and bones could fibrillate like that?). “The bass has all of these bottles rattling,” the bartender told me. “The lights [above the bar] have been shorting out, too.” Ah, Sean Horton’s promise in this article was no idle boast: “Rest assured, there’ll be massive amounts of bass at these venues.” Duly noted and appreciated.
Hops played an extended set due to DJ /rupture missing his flight (such a bummer). Then came Echospace, two chunky Michigan-based Caucasians who laid down some grave Basic Channel-like dub techno, but funkier than those pioneers ever were. The kickdrums were lethal, like the hammers of the gods hitting coffin nails, but the bass at times distorted. Having just had a convo with Decibel sound guru Vance Galloway about the 21” Macauley subwoofers ($70k retail for those babies), it seemed weird that all the acts wouldn’t be dialed in for this showcase. But apparently they were saving the full monty for headliner Benga. Hmm. When you have artists the caliber of Echospace and Mad Professor below the headliner, you might as well blow things out to the max all night. Just my outsider's opinion, but I think it’s one shared by others.
Anyway, Echospace proved themselves the true heirs to Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus with a crushingly great set. Aquatic/astral atmospheres whorled above a FAT bottom end, a stolid, two-ton Teutonic 4/4 that bulbously shimmied and often made me think this was the best shit ever. The looks on other punters’ faces suggested a consensus building among us.
Tonight / Decibel Decibel: Source of Intense Pleasure—and Much Angst
Posted by Dave Segal on Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Tonight Decibel Fest presents two harrowing conflicts for your correspondent. Frank Bretschneider plays SAM at 9; Robert Hood is slated to devastate Neumos at 9:30. My two favorite artists of the fest, going almost big-brained head to big-brained head. Sigh. I will catch as much as Bretschneider’s sure to be mind-blowing A/V performance as I can and then break the speed limit up the hill to absorb as much of Hood’s radical minimal techno as is inhumanly possible. While embroiled in this drama, I will miss all of dubstep mavericks Boxcutter, N-Type, and Caspa's slots at Motor. (They're all young and will return to Seattle soon enough, I rationalize.) Quadruple sigh. Also, #firstworldproblems. Boo hoo.
The other painful clash occurs in afterhours. Dubstep innovator Pinch goes on at 3:15 am at Little Red Studio; experimental-techno hell-raiser Bruno Pronsato goes on at 3:30 am at Church of Bass. On top of that, local techno heroes Nerd Revolt (soon to be relocating to San Francisco) are slated to level Electric Tea Garden at Innerflight’s afterhours shindig. Wah!
Decibel torments us with these sorts of awesomeness gluts all four days/nights of the event. I guess it’s a good problem to have. But it makes me realize that science needs to step up its cloning game, stat.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Shit Talk / Decibel / Teh Internets When Will the Stranger Finally Acknowledge Dubstep?!?1!
Posted by Eric Grandy on Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 2:32 PM
From the comments on this week's Decibel Festival-previewing Data Breaker:
You suck. Your article sucks. Why do I have to be informed that N-Type, the biggest dub step dj in the world, is playing the festival by locals but it's mentioned no where in your recommendations to see him? This years Decibel Festival is focused primarily on Dubstep. Dubstep is the "soup de' jour" in Seattle and I don't think your article reflected that relevant fact at all. You're totally out of touch and your writing about OUR scene is garbage. I hope you get canned soon. You need to move on. Take a moment to reflect on what I've said. It's the truth.
Posted by RA KHAN on September 23, 2009 at 2:22 PM · Report
You didn't even mention CASPA! Can somebody wake up and realize that this guy does not keep in touch with this scene?!
Posted by RA KHAN on September 23, 2009 at 2:26 PM · Report
From this week's Decibel Festival-previewing lead, (ahem) Dubstepping into the Spotlight, also written by Dave Segal:
A striking change to this year's bill is the preponderance of dubstep and other bass-centric producers and DJs. Although Decibel director Sean Horton contends that Decibel has been high on low-end-Âintensive electronic music since its 2004 inception, it appears that this year marks an increase in attention paid to musicians and DJs prowling around the sound spectrum's lowest realms.
[...]
Decibel 2009 is undeniably stacked with more dubstep artists (Benga, Martyn, Mala, N-Type, Boxcutter, Caspa, Pinch, etc.) and dub-inflected techno producers (Echospace, Voodeux, the Sight Below, etc.) than were previous years' lineups. In addition, outright dub specialist Mad Professor, dub-informed pan-globalist DJ /rupture, and dub/dancehall vocalist DJ Collage will perform (the latter with Monkeytek). To that end, Decibel is hosting two "dB in duB" showcases and a "dB in duB Afterhours: Dub Mutants." And in a real coup, Horton is bringing in BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs, who's become perhaps the world's foremost tastemaker and disseminator of dubstep and its myriad mutations. She'll be anchoring the "Bass Lovers Unite" showcase with Megasoid, Daedelus, Nosaj Thing, and others.
Can somebody wake up, indeed.
Decibel / Sound Check Mountains: Hyper-Temporal
Posted by Trent Moorman on Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 1:52 PM
Mountains: "Sewn Two"
Koen Holtkamp spoke for a second:
What is your set up when Mountains play live? Instruments, gear, effects, programs you run?
Holtkamp: The setup fluctuates a little bit. For example we've recently stopped using laptops, so at the moment we're focusing more on analog electronics for the processing side of things. We both play acoustic guitars and various small acoustic instruments like melodica, harmonica, shruti box, and objects, which are then sampled, layered and processed through various filters - low pass, ring mod, phaser, pitch shifters, multi resonance filter, and delay. We also use synths occasionally to fill out the overall sound, but most of what we're doing originates from the acoustic guitar.
How do you approach your live shows?
We really enjoy playing live and I think it’s the most important part of the process for us. Usually we compose a piece to be performed live and then perform that for a tour or certain group of shows. As the tour goes on we’ll try different approaches or directions within the overall piece until we reach a place where it seems right. Then after we've played it a number of times we will record a definitive version and then move on to the next thing. So what we perform live is more of a work in progress rather than something from an album we have already finished.
How do you get Mountains’ sound?
This is hard to define but something we’ve spent a long time on. I think our sound, which to me is a big part of our music, comes from the combination of acoustic and electronic elements. There’s a certain warmth that’s a natural characteristic of many acoustic instruments we are drawn to, while the electronic elements allow us to manipulate and expand the temporal possibilities of these instruments. We also tend to focus on detail and a very gradual sense of timing, which has a big impact on what we do.
Is there a process to the arrangement of your compositions? How do the songs come together?
How we work somewhat depends upon the situation. Sewn was done over a short period of time in relative seclusion from the outside world. We went to the country for a couple weeks to make a record with some loose structures we had performed live and a lot of instruments. Choral was done a few nights a week over a period of months while we both had full time jobs and plenty of other outside stimuli to focus on. Pretty much everything we’ve done starts with some aspect of improvisation. We'll explore some different tunings and the composition starts to take form when we settle on one. From there, we'll improvise and rework the parts that clicked until it becomes a composition. We use performance as part of the compositional process. The more we perform something, the more 'composed' it becomes, and then eventually we record it and start performing something new.
What kind of acoustic guitars do you all use? Do you have a favorite? How do you mic them when you record?
I tend to play bigger guitars because I like the full sound whereas Brendon uses smaller guitars. We both use a variety of instruments through, guitars and otherwise. Brendon has an isolation booth so sometimes we use that to record. Most of the time we’re using pick-ups where the guitars aren't really mic'ed.
What do you all use to record your nature sounds? How do you go about recording them?
We’ve used various recorders over the years. Recently, we've both been using digital recorders. For me, making field recordings is mainly about exploration, going for a walk and trying to find interesting sounds. Most of the field recordings I’ve done have been with binaural in ear microphones. I like using binaural mics because they focus on listening and capture sound as an ear would hear. With binaurals, there’s a hyperdimensional sense of space created by the way in which they capture motion.
Any funny sound collecting stories? Have you ever fallen in the stream you’re recording?
Nothing too dramatic. Mosquitoes in upstate NY. The police under the Queensboro Bridge. Children singing on a fake beach in Amsterdam.
Do you know beforehand which sounds will go with certain songs? Do you think, "Ooh, this song needs the sound of a stream?”
No. Not at all. We collect sounds that we like and figure out later what they will go with compositionally.
Do you have a favorite piece of gear?
I'm quite attached to a lot of my setup, as it's something I've put a lot of time into, but I would have to say my acoustic guitar. Because I use it more than any other piece of gear and it's an actual resonating body vs a bunch of knobs that I can use to manipulate sound.
Who and what are your influences?
We're both huge music fans so this could go on for a while. I think we take elements of a lot of the music we love, whether it be Popol Vuh, Charlemagne Palestine, early music, Indian classical music, Steve Roden, the Incredible String Band, Microstoria, Cluster, Psych, Country. It all sneaks in there.
Mountains play Friday, Sept. 25th in Anacortes, WA at the Department of Safety, and Sunday, Sept. 27th, 7:30 PM, at the Triple Door as part of the Decibel Ameritronica Showcase. Both shows are all ages.
Decibel Deep Dub Space
Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 12:13 PM
Tonight, DeepChord at Decibel:
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Housekeeping / Decibel Decibel: Decisions, Decisions
Posted by Dave Segal on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM
In this week's Data Breaker and in this feature about its dub-centric emphasis, I discuss what I think will be some of the essential acts to see at Decibel Festival. Unfortunately, I lacked the space to do complete justice to this four-day electronic-music/digital-arts event; to do so, I would need about half of the paper.
Fortunately, though, Decibel's website is extremely informative, so you can sample each artist's music or video work, read his/her bio, and formulate your schedule accordingly. I encourage you to roam around the site and thoroughly explore, especially the unfamiliar names. They're often the ones who will blow your mind. Trust me: If you're at all interested in electronic music and cutting-edge video, you will experience several epiphanies at Decibel.
(See you tomorrow night at Db in Dub Pt. 1.)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tonight / Decibel / Teh Internets Cosby Show Nights' Decibel Netcast
Posted by Dave Segal on Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 1:47 PM
Seattle DJ/producer/label boss Ill Cosby plans to play a special Decibel-centric set on his Cosby Show Nights netcast on glitch.fm at 6 pm Pacific time today. He elaborates below.
For anyone in need of it, this will be a good crash course on the festival's artists with a slant towards the dubstep and broken hip-hop acts. I'll be playing tunes by Benga, Caspa, Boxcutter, Take, Mike Slott, Ana Sia, and many more. As a HUGE bonus, Muti Music artists Heyoka and Mimosa have given me two exclusive minimixes. The two will be appearing at the Muti Music Showcase Sunday night at Sole Repair, which looks to be one of the hottest tickets at the festival.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Radio / Decibel KEXP's Audioasis Spotlights Decibel, Northwest Electronic Artists
Posted by Dave Segal on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 4:07 PM
KEXP DJ Alex Ruder hosts an all-electronic Audioasis Sat. Sept. 19 (90.3FM/www.kexp.org) in order to preview this year's Decibel Festival. Below is a breakdown of the guests and a selection of the artists whose music will get aired (not necessarily all of those listed and not necessarily in this order).
6:00pm - Lusine: Live at KEXP
7:00pm - Interview with Sean Horton
(Sean will be spinning some tracks by non-local artists playing at this year's festival, specifically/most likely: Nosaj Thing, Daedelus, Tim Exile, Alter Ego)
8:00pm - Pezzner: Live at KEXP
Ill Cosby
The Naturebot
White Rainbow
Splinters
Foscil & Specs One
PotatoFinger
Scientific American
Sleepy Eyes of Death
Truckasauras
The Sight Below
Andrew Luck vs. Dosadi
Caro
214
m.0
Lou-Lou
Relcad
Bethurum
Jonathan Negley
Vincent Parker
KJ Sawka
YACHT
Let's Go Outside
Justin Byrnes
Monday, September 14, 2009
Decibel DJ /rupture Added to Decibel Fest
Posted by Dave Segal on Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Just when you thought Decibel couldn't get any deeper, the bold, boundaryless selector DJ /rupture signs on for a slot on Thurs. Sept. 24 at Neumos as part of the dB in Dub Pt. 1 showcase, which features Mad Professor, Benga, Echospace, and Kid Hops.
Press release after the cut.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Decibel Give Caspa a Ghost of a Chance
Posted by Dave Segal on Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 12:14 PM
UK dubstep producer Caspa is slated to play Decibel Fri. Sept. 25. Fabric Records/Sub Soldiers just announced the release of his new album, Everybody's Talking, Nobody's Listening (out Nov. 24). Caspa—who's remixed Depeche Mode, Kid Sister, Deadmau5, and Miike Snow—could be one of dubstep's breakout artists in the U.S. His penchant for memorable melodies, vibrant textures, and exciting dynamics makes his tracks stand out from the genre's cluttered pack.
Press release after the cut.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Decibel / Upcoming / Teh Internets Decibel Festival's 2009 Website is Live
Posted by Eric Grandy on Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Details on the internationally renowned electronic music festival, taking place in Seattle September 24th-27th, as well as some right snazzy design can all be found at http://www.dbfestival.com/. (Stoked!)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Decibel Dub and Dusty
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 2:47 PM
My dub dreams have turned into a dub reality, DeepChord will appear at Decibel. After Burial's two albums, DeepChord's DeepChord Presents Echospace stands as the third best thing to happen in music in this decade. Third is Boxcutter's Oneric (Boxcutter will also perform at Decibel). Indeed dub is the theme of this year's festival (Benga, Dubtek, Mad Professor). What is dub? the greatest thing to happen to music.
The YouTube presentation of DeepChord's incredible track "Sunset" has this image:
That is not the right image for the track. This is the right image...
The image is by wili.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Decibel Decibel Adds More Artists, Solidifies Showcases
Posted by Dave Segal on Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Decibel festival continues to add names to its lineup and firm up its program schedule (check after the cut for the day-by-day/venue-by-venue lineups and other information).
We're very happy to see L.A. DJ/producer Gaslamp Killer and Mike Slott booked. Decibel happens Sept. 24-27 at various Seattle venues.
———————————————————————————————
:::: 2009 DECIBEL FESTIVAL LINE UP ::::
———————————————————————————————-
Caspa (UK) : Alter Ego (DE) : Mad Professor (UK) : The Wighnomy Brothers (DE) : Daedelus (US) : Benga (UK) : Robert Hood (US) : Mala (UK) : Mary Anne Hobbs (UK) : Reagenz (DE / US) : N-Type (UK) : Brodinski (FR) : Move D (DE) : Alex Under (ES) : Boxcutter (UK) : Frank Bretschneider (DE) : Martyn (US) : Tim Exile (UK) : Mountains (US) : Spacetime Continuum (US) : Gaslamp Killer (US) : Voodeux (US) : Megasoid (CA) : Pinch (UK) : Sub Swara (US) : Deepchord presents: Echospace (US) : Holger Zilske aka Smash TV (DE) : Benoit Pioulard (US) : CLP (DE) : [a]pendics.shuffle (US) : Ana Sia (US) : Bruno Pronsato (DE / US) : KiloWatts (US) : Tadeo (ES) : Christina Vantzou of Dead Texan (BE) : Nosaj Thing (US) : Mikael Stavöstrand (SE) : an-ten-nae (US) : Dilo (AR) : Mike Slott (UK) : Hookerz & Blow (US) : Cascabel Gentz (US / AR) : Sawako (JP) : Spektre (UK) : Christopher Willits (US) : Take (US) : DJG (US) : Dave Aju (US) : KJ Sawka (US) : EPROM (US) : Goldmund (US) : Mozaic (US) : MC Rod Azlan (UK) : MC Juakali (US) : Moldy (US) : Lusine (US) : Derek Plaslaiko (US) : Kim Cascone (US) : Kotchy (US) : Tanner Ross (US) : William Fowler Collins (US) : Pezzner (US) : Truckasauras (US) : Steve Nalepa (US) : Dov (US) : The Sight Below (US) : Insideout (DE) : Michael Manahan (US) : Jerry Abstract (US) : Heyoka (US) : Qzen (US) : Mimosa (US) : Danny Corn (US) : novaTRON (US) : SunTzu Sound (US) : Let's Go Outside (US) : Monkeytek (US) : Nordic Soul (US) : lissom (US) : Recess (US) : 214 (US) : Codebase (US) : Scott Sunn (US) : Struggle (US) : DJ Collage (US) : Ctrl_Alt_Dlt (US) : D'Jeronimo (US) : dubtek (US) : Kadeejah Streets (US) : WD4D (US) : pantycontrol (US) : J Roby (US) : The Perfect Cyn (US) : Levi Clark (US) : Milkplant (US) : Pipedream (US) : Adlib (US) : Introcut (US) : Menami (US) : MC Anton Bomb (US) : Same DNA (US) + more tba
Friday, July 24, 2009
Decibel Decibel Fest Adds More Artists to Lineup
Posted by Dave Segal on Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Decibel just keeps getting more interesting. Recently added to the lineup: Robert Hood, Frank Bretschneider, Caspa, Deepchord presents Echospace, Holger Zilske (aka Smash TV), Christopher Willits, Kim Cascone, Dave Aju, Spektre, [a]pendics.shufffle, Benoit Pioulard, and others.
Robert Hood and Frank Bretschneider? Two of my favorite producers of all time at one fest? My head just 'sploded. Electronic-music fans are in for a serious treat.
Caspa (UK) : Alter Ego (DE) : Mad Professor (UK) : The Wighnomy Brothers (DE) : Daedelus (US) : Benga (UK) : Robert Hood (US) : Mala (US) : Mary Anne Hobbs (UK) : Reagenz (UK / US) : N-Type (UK) : Brodinski (FR) : Move D (DE) : Alex Under (ES) : Boxcutter (UK) : Frank Bretschneider (DE) : Martyn (US) : Tim Exile (UK) : Mountains (US) : Deepchord presents: Echospace (US) : Spacetime Continuum (US) : Voodeux (US) : Megasoid (CA) : Holger Zilske aka Smash TV (DE) : Benoit Pioulard (US) : Pinch (UK) : Sub Swara (US) : [a]pendics.shuffle (US) : Ana Sia (US) : Bruno Pronsato (DE / US) : KiloWatts (US) : Tadeo (ES) : Christina Vantzou of Dead Texan (BE) : Nosaj Thing (US) : Mikael Stavöstrand (SE) : An-ten-nae (US) : Dilo (AR) : Mike Slott (US) : Hookerz & Blow (US) : Cascabel Gentz (US / AR) : Sawako (JP / US) : Spektre (US) : Dave Aju (US) : EPROM (US) : DJG (US) : Goldmund (US) : Christopher Willits (US) : Mozaic (US) : MC Rod Azlan (UK) : MC Juakali (US) : Lusine (US) : Kim Cascone (US) : Kotchy (US) : Tanner Ross (US) : William Fowler Collins (US) : Pezzner (US) : Dov (US) : Michael Manahan (US) : Jerry Abstract (US) : Heyoka (US) : Qzen (US) : Mimosa (US) : Danny Corn (US) : SunTzu Sound (US) : Monkeytek (US) : Nordic Soul (US) : Recess (US) : Struggle (US) : Ctrl_Alt_Dlt (US) : D'Jeronimo (US) : dubtek (US) : Kadeejah Streets (US) : Panty Control (US) : The Perfect Cyn (US) : Milkplant (US) : Pipedream (US) + more tba
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Decibel / Interview The Weatherall Report
Posted by Dave Segal on Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Resident Advisor's Todd L. Burns has an excellent in-depth interview with producer/DJ/remixer extraordinaire Andrew Weatherall (Sabres of Paradise, Two Lone Swordsmen). Here's a choice quote:
You know, without rhythm & blues and boogie woogie, there would be no ska. Without ska, there would be no reggae, no dub and no studio-as-instrument. Without that, there would be no disco remixes, and no techno music. The collision of country and R&B is the ignition point of where we are today. And you can go all the way up to techno with it. I mean, it's a very tenuous link, but I've made it and I'm sticking to it. [laughs]
Weatherall is slated to play Decibel Festival this year. I caught him DJing at MUTEK in 2004, and his selections were brilliantly unpredictable and eclectic. Stoked to hear what Weatherall will do in 2009.
ht: Grindle
Friday, July 17, 2009
Decibel / Upcoming Decibel at the Olympic Sculpture Park
Posted by Eric Grandy on Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 12:08 PM
This missive came in yesterday form Decibel Festival head honcho Sean Horton announcing the fest's collaboration with Seattle Art Museum's SAM REMIX program to present an impressive evening of live electronic music at the Olympic Sculpture Park, featuring polyglot beat mangler Filastine, Portland's Rena Jones, and Seattle's Lusine, whose new A Certain Distance is out September 8th on Ghostly International, and DJ Collage:
On Friday, August 7th at the Olympic Sculpture Park, Decibel will put together a stage that will feature four internationally renowned artists: Filastine (Barcelona), Rena Jones (Portland) and local heroes Lusine & DJ Collage. Each will be performing live electronic music that bridges the gap between technology and culture. The stage will feature interactive projections and digital art by some of Seattle’s most respected digital video artist, including The Sight Below, who just returned back to his Emerald City home from a successful seven-week European tour.This REMIX event marks the beginning of a creative partnership between Decibel Festival and the Seattle Art Museum, which will continue during the festival’s 6th edition the weekend of September 24 — 27th.
Tickets: SAM members $5, nonmembers $10, students $8. Purchase tickets at the Ticketing Desk at any of SAM's three sites or over the phone with a credit card by calling the SAM Box Office at 206.654.3121. This event is open to guests age 18 and over only.
Event begins at 8pm and goes until midnight Olympic Sculpture Park: 2901 Western Ave, Seattle WA
Monday, July 13, 2009
Decibel Discount Passes Available for Decibel Fest
Posted by Dave Segal on Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Decibel (Sept. 24-27), Seattle's world-class electronic-music/visual-arts festival, is selling discounted passes through July 25. Go here for details and to order.
This year's lineup so far includes Benga, Martyn, Alter Ego, Boxcutter, Mary Anne Hobbs, Bruno Pronsato, Mad Professor, and many more. The full program is expected to be announced in early August. Stay tuned.
Most Commented on Line Out
-
Ode to Cathode: The Best TV Theme Songs Ever by Dave Segal
-
Everyday Music to Move... One Block East by Dave Segal
-
Mike McGinn and Mad Rad @ the War Room by Kristen Blush
-
Mr. Green, on Aurora, with the Afro by Trent Moorman
-
Dirty Projectors @ Neumos by Dave Segal
-
Big Business @ El Corazon by Kelly O
-
Pierced Arrows Sign to Vice Records by Eric Grandy
-
The Bad Things: How to Play a Saw by Trent Moorman
-
OK, Hotel by Eric Grandy
-
Robbie Baron by Dean Fawkes
RSS
Facebook
Twitter