- Mutek's Spanish satellite event turned five this year by presenting a slightly smaller lineup than in years past. The outcome was a focused festival and arguably the best yet, with almost every show full of surprises.
Thursday night saw French duo 1024 Architecture perform "Crise," a show whose critique of capitalism felt especially poignant in crisis-ravaged Spain. It was an eye-popping piece of multimedia art (especially, one would think, for the numerous children in the audience), and its theatricality helped gloss over the cheesier aspects of the music. Nev.Era and Xarlene's AV show had some beautiful sequences, though it relied too much on the repetition of images, and Nev.Era's classic IDM sound sometimes felt simplistic.
Friday saw Nils Frahm take to the stage at the Tivoli Theatre for the standout performance of the weekend. A classic showman, Frahm brings a human touch that is sometimes lacking in electronic music—he had the audience laughing, at the point of tears and ultimately on their feet with a standing ovation. On paper, Andy Stott might have been the more logical opener, but his "knackered house" sound is closer to mid-tempo techno these days, and its grainy tension was the perfect bridge to Marcel Dettmann's closing set. Coming on later than planned, Dettmann had less than two hours to play, but he did a fine job, dispensing with intros and essentially aiming for a big climax by steadily building pressure, pace and volume.
Hyperdub's showcase on Saturday was incredibly diverse and nearly overwhelming at times. Laurel Halo's exceptional performance almost made it feel like there was a whole jazz group on stage playing against each other. There may not have been as many beats as some of the dancers would have liked, but Kode9 was on-hand to remedy that. Every ten-minute segment of his performance felt like a mini-set, building from footwork through classic dubstep to jungle before starting over again. Scratcha DVA was the perfect choice to close off the night and the festival, taking all the elements of Kode9's set but slowing down the madness and anchoring it to a steadier beat that was perfect for sailing into Sunday morning.