This year's Decibel Festival may be the best ever. Now in its sixth edition, Decibelâthrough the outstanding curatorship of director Sean Hortonâcontinues to further its reputation as a world-class event on the level of Montreal's MUTEK.
If you've been paying attention, you'll notice an annual pattern with regard to this local digital-arts extravaganza. Every year, a financial crisis forces Decibel's fate to dangle dangerously over the precipice. Somehow, somewhere, the dB crew secures funds and proceeds to book a lineup consisting of dozens of phenomenal talents. It's an old story, but I for one never tire of hearing itâmainly because most of the characters change and the sounds they create deviate enough from year to year to avoid stagnation.
This annum presents another overwhelming bounty of electronic music, over 100 artists harvested locally, nationally, and globally. You'll see obscure names on the schedule, of course, but those acts often end up being the most revelatory. Be adventurous; odds are your risks will pay off. And rest up, for you're going to need as much energy as you can muster to hit all of Decibel's peaks. Guaranteed, no showcase will suck. However, as you're not perpetual-motion machines blessed with unlimited attention spans, you'll have to be selective. Below I outline the acts that should be your top priorities, but do try to catch as many sets as you can in this, Seattle's gift to cutting-edge multimedia creativity. (Go to www.dbfestival.com for all the details.)
THURS SEPT 24
Deepchord Presents: Echospace (Neumos, 10:30 pm) EchospaceâChicago's Steve Hitchell (Soultek) and Detroit's Rod Modell (Deepchord)âloyally carry Basic Channel's brilliant dub-techno torch into the 21st century with glacial grandeur. Nobody currently plows this rich vein of subliminal dance music with deeper understanding than Echospace. Their techno drips with Arctic Oceanic coolness.
Benga (Neumos, 12:30 am) One of British dubstep's most consistently inventive producers, Benga is responsibleâwith Cokiâfor the ubiquitous genre classic "Night," revealing his mastery of chilling atmospheres and gut-churning rhythms. Diary of an Afro Warrior is dubstep's Bitches Brew.
FRI SEPT 25
Frank Bretschneider (Seattle Art Museum, 9 pm) Bretschneider's productions are ultraminimal, precisely gridlike, and vacuum packed, yet somehow groovy and sexy as fuck. Nobody's made abstract, pointillist sound design seem so funky with so few elements. It's a miracle, really. Dude's the James Brown of clicks & cuts.
Rob Hood (Neumos, 9:30 pm) ExâÂUnderground Resistance member Hood (aka Monobox) ranks among minimal techno's most disciplined and creative technicians ever. His rock-ribbed, bare-bones tracks are nearly unmatched for their visceral power and rigorous contours. Don't miss one of techno's immortals in action.
Nerd Revolt (Electric Tea Garden, 1:30 am) In their brief time together, classically trained Seattle duo m.0 and the iLL.F.O. have ascended to near the top of this city's populous live-techno mountain. m.0 is a former laptop battle champ and renowned gear geek with an arsenal of plug-ins, hardware and software synths, Ableton Live, and other tools that both members use on the fly onstage. Nerd Revolt have translated their long hours of, uh, nerdishness into potent, libidinous techno of anthemic proportions. They're poised to be Seattle techno's next breakout artist.
Bruno Pronsato (Church of Bass, 3:30 am) Relocating to Berlin in 2006, former Seattleite Pronsato's become a global sensation, forging some of the world's most texturally interesting, structurally unpredictable, and strangely sensual experimental techno to date. His 2005 MUTEK performance remains one of the greatest techno sets I've seen, but years on the international circuit surely have honed Pronsato's live skills to even higher levels. Give this man a returning hero's welcome.
SAT SEPT 26
Dave Aju (Sole Repair, 11 pm) Making excellent quirky tech-house ain't easy, but Aju cracked the code with Open Wide, a skewed, freewheeling dance album concocted strictly from sounds created with his mouth. Oral auralism you can shake your ass toâthat's ingenuity. But Aju's much more than a one-gimmick pony. His work without piehole shenanigans also cuts a funny rug with off-kilter inventiveness and soul.
Martyn (Church of Bass, 4:30 am) One of the most exciting, unconventional dubstep producers in the game, the Dutch-born Martyn produces tracks equipped with alluring melodies and powered by agile, irregular beats. Drawing inspiration from Chicago house, Detroit techno, and UK drum 'n' bass, Martyn boasts a rich well of studio tricks from which to construct his dazzling productions. Check out his Great Lengths album for abundant proof.
SUN SEPT 27
Christina Vantzou (Seattle Asian Art Museum, 4:15 pm) Member of the Dead Texan with Stars of the Lid's Adam Wiltzie, Brussels-based visual artist/musician Vantzou dapples stately, pastel, ambient tone poems over figurative, animated images that glide, dissolve, and disintegrate in graceful slow motion. The aesthetic toggles between unconventional advertising and avant-garde nature documentary. A lovely, sighing pleasure.
Mountains (Triple Door, 7:45 pm) This Brooklyn duo achieve a shimmering, shiver-inducing stasis through guitars and computers, like an American-bred Fennesz. Subtle gradations of tone and texture generate a sonic moiré effect; plangent acoustic guitar plucks meet digital processing, catgut meets silicon chip, and everyone listening drifts into the ether, googly-eyed ever after.
