Italian-American producer Matasism, debuts on BPitch with his four-track EP Can You Feel My Soul. Matasism launched his own label MaÌtaÌsism in 2017, releasing exclusively via the platform until very recently. The title track of the EP is a high energy, hypnotic driving track with a trance like twist.
After a year of raving from your living room, people are eager to hit the dancefloor and festival grounds. All signs point to yes for a safe return of music festivals and events in 2021. Curious as to how the return of music festivals and events will welcome its attendees in a post-pandemic era? Will vaccination cards and/or masks be required? Will there be on-site rapid testing? How will social distancing be enforced? Do you expect more and better from event organizers in this new era? Get ready to once again (patiently) wait your turn for the water bottle filling station and wrangle the lovely feeling of conflicting set times. Here’s what some boutique festivals and events recently delivered.
For a young, well-curated record label reaching your 10th release is a milestone to be proud of.
Lanthan.audio, the imprint founded and guided by German producer and DJ Christian Gerlach, has boasted an illustrious roster of artists so far, some of which have been tapped into to celebrate the label’s 10th release.
Exclusively for this anniversary, the label has rearranged its focus to present itself newly, as the architecture of mother nature. Lanthan.Extracts features music from Jeff Derringer, Mike Parker, Milton Bradley, Edit Select, Brendon Moeller, Deepbass, Motionen and of course Christian Gerlach himself, with a release date set to beginning of October 2017.
Itâs likely that some North American techno fans look back at Movement Detroitâs 2016 lineup with a mixture of sadness and anger. Last year was the 10th Anniversary of Movement Electronic Music Festival under Paxahau, and while the lineup was definitely large in size and featured a lot of high-profile names., it lacked depth as far as techno was concerned.
Detroit techno continued to be represented en masse, and rightly so, but the iconic techno lineups that used to be hosted at the Underground Stage were slashed drastically. Usually taking place across the space of the festivalâs entire three days, these lineups famously featured some of the most cutting-edge techno acts of the worldwide scene, names the likes of Luke Slater, Lucy, Speedy J, DVS1Â and more. In 2016 however, two entire full days of the Underground Stage lineup were devoid of techno, dedicated instead to an Acid Stage and (gasp!) an OWSLA Stage. The one day dedicated to techno also seemed to lack the same kind of depth and quality of years past.
With the entirety of Europe undergoing a period a electronic music festival expansion, Amsterdam remains at the forefront of the movement with literally hundreds of events of all sizes and scope occurring throughout the year. The Dutch capital’s passion for electronic music of all genres isn’t new, as its production of international-level DJs is a proof of.
Undoubtedly Amsterdam Dance Event, which takes place every October with now close to a half a million visitors and over 2,000 acts performing artists, remains the biggest and most-known of all electronic music festivals hosted in the city. Others, such as Awakenings, Dekmantel and DGTL have also been going on for years with a great international reputation to boot, reason for which we named them in our list of Top 13 European Techno Festivals.
Photo Credit: Skyler Greene Photography
Admittedly, it had been a while since my last festival escapade. Myself and others were eagerly anticipating One Tribe, but after it’s unfortunate cancellation we looked to other options to end the 2015 festival season. After hearing relatively positive sentiments about CRSSD Festival in the spring we decided to rally the troops and made our way down to San Diego for the weekend.
Upon entering Waterfront Park on Saturday October 10th, we heard a light hearted mix of LIPPS INC â Funkytown being dropped by none other than the rising talent, Justin Jay, and it was a clear sign of great times to be had. Playing to a lively San Diego crowd, Justin Jay dropped everything from massive 909 based techno, hip hop, some recent releases, and featured special vocal and live guitar appearances from his friends, Josh Taylor and Benny Bridges, respectively.
While this was a fun set to start our weekend, there was a general consensus among us regarding the sound, or lack thereof, on the City Steps Stage. Much to our disappointment, the sound never reached the optimal level for dance music, and it is believed that some of the sound became distorted after bass heavy sets earlier in the afternoon. With this in mind, it was about time for a margarita and to carry on with a proper set from Detroit Swindle. It was everything to expect from the duo, and the sunset transition into Bob Mosesâ live set was one of class. Bob Moses swiftly mixed in hits such as Far From the Tree and All I Want, and was an enjoyable moment for the most part, but distorted sound and muddy bass limited the possibilities for the full sonic journey.
Despite a relatively lackluster set from Bob Moses, the next two sets we witnessed remained the best of the weekend, bar none. As the sun just began to fade away under the Pacific Ocean, Bonobo put on a master class for festival DJ sets dropping an eclectic range of tracks such as Nuits Sonores, Knowing Weâll Be Here (KINK Remix), Piano Weapon by Doorly, Thirstin by Jack J (so random, yet so perfect), as well as his own tracks Flashlight and Cirrus. Iâd be comfortable giving Bonobo the accolade for set of the festival, but then Jamie XX happened.
Heading over to The Palms Stage, Jamie XX graced the stage amidst a cloud of smoke and proceeded to drop heavy breaks tracks to set the mood, while proceeding to mind tantalizing acid terrace thumpers with some of the most wicked clave grooves weâve ever heard. Iâd also like to take this moment to give a special shout out to the guardian angels of the dancefloor, who would sporadically come raging through the crowd with their fans cooling off the weary ravers. On behalf of the groovers, I thank you, fan wielding savior.
With a giant disco ball as the backdrop to the stage, it was expected that weâd hear some great disco tracks. It was a spotty transition into the disco segment of his set, but the vibe was infectious and weâre not gonna hound the lad for one so so mix. He proceeded to end his set on music predominately from his recent album, In Colour, dropping tracks such as Obvs, Gosh, and Girl. A satisfying way to end Day 1 at CRSSD.
Looking back on Day 1, everything seemed to go smooth. Entrance was quick and painless, the vibe remained intact all day (something we were worried about considering the vast variety of talent on the lineup), and the music was world class. It was also especially satisfying to have some breathing room on the dance floor, and being able to navigate through the crowd with ease. As far as the venue, not much changed set-up wise for the Fall installment of CRSSD either. Some of the stages were rearranged in different directions, and City Steps added a canopy this time around, but overall nothing major to affect the event in a positive or negative way.
Eager to get back to the groove, we trotted over to catch Claptone only to be disappointed by commercial vocals over decent beats. Luckily, the masked DJ picked up the pace and groove leading into DJ Tennis who, as expected, brought some seriously trippy techno to the table. Tracks such as Trentmollerâs Take Me Into Your Skin stand out, but it was hard not to crack a huge smile as the bass plucks of Bob Marleyâs Could You Be Loved echoed through the open air atmosphere of Waterfront Park. With a clear blue and pink sky overhead and ships in the harbor, it was one of the better moments of the festival.
The rest of the night favored the techno vikings as Mano Le Tough, Ben Klock, and Maya Jane Coles ripped into forceful techno grooves that undoubtedly slapped a few people in the face. In a feeble attempt to end our night on a peaceful note with Nicolas Jaar, the groove at the City Steps stage was inescapable. Myself and a few friends enjoyed thirty minutes or so of Jaar before agreeing to end with Maya Jane Coles. There were no bad options to end Day 2 at CRSSD. If you wanted a more eclectic music experience then Nicolas Jaar was your man. If you wanted to test out some of your weirder and energetic dance moves then Maya was the option for you. We went with the latter, and donât necessarily regret it.
With CRSSD ending at 10:00 PM we were naturally eager to keep our night going. Thanks to San Diego influencers Dadon and Jimbo James, it was off to a very intimate after party with DJ Tennis and Mano le Tough â a highlight of the weekend., and thatâs about all weâre going to say about that one.
Overall, CRSSD met expectations. With a great group of friends, old and new, the event seemed to build off their previous edition. For those in search of a fun and festive experience in Southern California, CRSSD should definitely be in consideration for next year.
Written by: John Verlinich
What better way to celebrate the summer solstice than a 3-day 3-night festival? None. And no, weâre not talking about EDC.
From June 19th to the 22nd, 5,000 people migrated to the Northwest corner of the United States to enjoy the 4th annual What The Festival. Taking place at the beautiful Wolf Run Ranch in Dufur, Oregon festival attendees were able to roam 250 acres of the grounds with a wide variety of music and activities. With fantastic musical programming and unique âmicro-experience offeringsâ What The Festival couldnât have provided a better atmosphere for the summer solstice weekend. Read more
Richie Hawtin‘s CNTRL tour brought a new kind of event to college students across the country, hitting 8 campuses in 10 days (quite an impressive feat considering the distance between cities). However, this was not your typical “college tour” –  CNTRL featured lectures and equipment demos from the man himself, several other artists, and some of the industry’s leading tech companies (followed, of course, by  amazing afterparties). We were lucky enough to make it to the both the UCLA event and the afterparty this past Saturday, and here’s our comprehensive breakdown of the weekends events.
Co-hosted by UCLA’s EDMC (as well as its extremely helpful and dedicated staff) and Music Industry Program, the UCLA CNTRL event was held in the Jan Popper Theater at the Herb Alpert School Of Music. The room was packed without an empty seat. It was truly amazing to see students lined up all the way around the building for a techno-related event, eager to further explore the intellectual side of techno with some of the genres brightest minds. Across the hall from the theater was the tech marketplace, where some of the top companies in the music tech industry brought an arsenal of gear and software for anybody to use, and naturally we took advantage of this.
Photo Courtesy Of – Nolan Isozaki/UCLA EDMC
Native Instruments came with a number of controllers, most notably the D2 and the S8, along with several laptops running Traktor software. Richie Hawtin has been a long-time public supporter of the Berlin-based company, and over the years Native Instruments has grown from a software company to a dominant force in all sectors of the electronic music technology market, including DAW software, plugins, hardware, DJ gear, controllers, and much more. Point Blank, one of the world’s leading schools for electronic music production made a special appearance at both the tech marketplace and the lecture, participating in Hawtin’s discussions of technique, experimentation, learning, and training. Joined by Victor Calderone, Chris Liebing, Ean Golden, and singer Grimes, Hawtin gave an insightful lecture accompanied by a demonstration of several elements of his live performance setup in a masterclass hosted by Point Blank. All of the other artists got to weigh in as well; after the lecture, they opened the room for questions, and people lined up to say hello afterward.
CNTRL/Point Blank Masterclass w/ Richie Hawtin
The lecture opened with a discussion of live performance in dance music and injecting human feel into otherwise mechanical grooves. Using a TR-8, Ableton Push, and Traktor with a variety of Native Instruments controllers, Richie Hawtin demonstrated a number of live performance techniques he has developed over the years. He stressed the importance of breaking the monotony of 8 and 16 bar loops over and over again, adding that the best way to get lost in the groove is when it is ambiguous which bar is the beginning of the phrase; Richie does this by using obscure loop lengths, bringing new elements in at unexpected moments, and making endless variations on relatively simple material. His workflow, he explained, does not involve digitally syncing Ableton and Traktor, which he avoids for two reasons: first and foremost, differing latencies between the computer programs can cause the musical elements to get out of time with each other. This can be avoided by “beatmatching” the programs by “nudging.” Additionally, not syncing allows him to be free from the monotony that syncing requires; tempos can be adjusted in one program while the other remains independent.
“The time you spend in the studio is never wasted time, even those days when you’re uninspired.” – Richie Hawtin, CNTRL LA
While the lecture demonstration featured software and hardware, Richie also discussed the role of playing records in a live set, noting that DJ and Live sets don’t have to be mutually exclusive. He adds that the DJ is responsible for creating what he calls the “third record”; this metaphorical record is created when a DJ assembles a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. This can be done by blending records, layering instruments/drum machines, sampling, looping, tweaking FX, and more; he adds that historically, EQ has played an enormous part in the creation of this third record. Often, DJs will crank the highs all the way up for a few bars, creating a sharp, crispy slap, or kill the bass to create a type of low-end vacuum. When the knobs are tweaked, the crowd experiences new musical elements that are not present in the original record.
After the demonstration of live techniques, Richie talked about playing around and figuring out how the gear works since they didn’t have manuals for the used gear they bought back in the day and had no idea how to use it – they had to blaze their own trails with the technology, and that forced them to spend massive amounts of time experimenting with the gear.
Photo Courtesy Of – Nolan Isozaki/UCLA EDMC
Finally, the floor was opened for questions, and virtually every hand was in the air. One student asked about the place of experimentation, and Richie explained that he is driven by what feels right inside of him, and will continue to do so, experimenting when he feels so inclined. However, he emphasized that while experimentation and innovation are important, they should only be done in an authentic manner that doesn’t betray one’s artistic essence and alienate. This led to an intriguing dialog between Richie and friends about authenticity in music; the consensus was that all that matters is making music that feels right to you. As Victor Calderone pointed out, it’s easier and faster to make music that comes from inside your heart.
Another student asked about promoting oneself as an artist and how to find a label; Richie dismissed the notion that you need a label to get started with your career, noting that the most important thing was enthusiasm and support from your friends. As he told us, if one person in the room produced a track and every person in the room shared it on their social media, that would get the ball rolling. Long-hailed as the king of minimal techno, Hawtin comes from a DIY underground culture, and he explained that a lot of whathe did marketing-wise was just trial and error, just it was when he was learning how to use the equipment he has come to master.
Photo Courtesy Of – Nolan Isozaki/UCLA EDMC
The tech marketplace opened at 2:00, 2 hours before the lecture, and remained open during and after the lecture. I began at the Roland booth, where they had set up a number of AIRA instruments, including the TR-8, TB-3, VT-3, MX-1, and System-1. With 5 machines and 5 pairs of headphones, it was evident that a proper jam session was in order – I rounded up a few students and we just started playing around. Next was Subpac, a unique “Tactile Bass System” designed to provide low end enhancement in instances when a subwoofer is unavailable or unpractical, and can either be fastened to a chair or worn on the back. In addition to being well-suited for studio use, this product is an amazing option for DJs as it makes beatmatching a breeze.
Photo Courtesy Of – Nolan Isozaki/UCLA EDMC
Pioneer, a company that needs no introduction, was there in full force to promote their CJDs, controllers, speakers, and new rekordbox update. The booth was packed all day, as dozens of DJs went B2B with friends and strangers alike, and their staff were very helpful, teaching a number of younger students how to use the gear. One of the most iconic brands in the DJ industry, the Pioneer booth was the first stop for many attendees at the tech fair. The last booth we were able to check out was Splice, a free service for artists and producers designed to facilitate musical collaboration; essentially, you sync project files, presets, and samples to a cloud, and they can be shared via the website for collaboration with producers around the world. Projects can be shared as open, public, private, or secret collaborations, and major artists such as Richie Hawtin, Daft Punk, and Skrillex have used the service. Supported DAWs include Ableton, FL Studio, Logic, and Garageband, although they are currently taking requests for new software to include.
Photo Courtesy Of – LA Times
After the CNTRL event at UCLA was over, we made our way to the afterparty, hosted by Insomniac Events. It had already been a long day of excitement, but we knew things would be getting even more exciting. The Hollywood Palladium was perfect for the event, large enough to comfortably accommodate the crowd and without a bad view in the house. The show, with performances by Lee K, Ean Golden, Victor Calderone, Richie Hawtin, and Chris Liebing was seven hours of techno heaven. Lee K got things started nicely weaving between smooth house cuts, with a highlight being the tropical flows of Supernova’s edit of the classic Beat Me Back.  Ean Golden kept the crowd warmed up on some nice vibey grooves and started picking up the pace with the well known Radio Slave anthem, Don’t Stop No Sleep. For a warm up set the Radio Slave track seemed a bit out of place, but Ean was quick to re-calibrate the vibe setting it up appropriately before Victor threw down some chunky tech-house fire.
Victor Calderone getting the crowd ready for Richie.
As Victor stepped away from the booth, Richie tapped in with some minimal bliss, hypnotizing us in a sea of rolling basslines and glitchy percussion. No real point in attempting to ID any tracks as it was a master-class in beats and technology. Arguably the best part of Richie Hawtin’s set was the final twenty minutes where he slowed the pace down and crafted cerebral minimal textures to a welcoming crowd. To end, Chris Liebing kicked the energy up to a whole new level, delivering a barrage of heavy thumpers all the way to 4AM closing time. Unfortunately it appeared as if tiredness kicked in as the crowd was not as energetic as they could have been during the massive techno display that Liebing put on. That being said, any fan of CLR and techno would have had a great time during his set…perhaps it was just a little much for some of the fresh crowd.
Photo Courtesy Of – Mappingjuices.com
Looking back on the event and the tour in general, it is safe to say that CNTRL was an enormous success; the UCLA event saw a a tremendous student turnout, although it drew a great deal of fans of all ages. Families, children, students, and adults came together, united by a love of music and technology, and we can only hope that the future will hold more events like this one. Although much of mainstream society doesn’t know it, Techno is and has always been an intellectual phenomenon, and it’s great to see these kinds of innovative presentations embraced by the academic community.
