- Last year, when I first made my way to Tauron Nowa Muzyka, the festival's organisers ran into a fairly hefty obstacle just before the event: their site had been deemed unsafe by the local authorities, and they were forced to relocate. You'd never have noticed—everything ran as smoothly as I've seen at any festival—but I vowed to return when Tauron Nowa Muzyka were allowed back home. After all, a festival in amongst the disused mines of Katowice is a pretty hard thing to pass on.
It's a little odd that Tauron Nowa Muzyka, now in its ninth year, has yet to achieve the same sort of international acclaim as events like Unsound. They've stuck to an adventurous booking policy that caters to many tastes, and the sound is consistently some of the best I've heard at any festival. Friday night alone saw the absurdly fast Nozinja, the grimy beats of Kelela (backed up by Total Freedom), Mouse On Mars playing an explosive live set and a disco-heavy DJ set from Theo Parrish.
The second day of the event was all about one thing for me personally: a Hyperdub takeover on the Showcase stage. Laurel Halo's live set was fantastic. Cooly G threw out a great selection of funky, bass-heavy house that got people moving. But then came the rain, which was particularly unfortunate for the Showcase stage, Tauron Nowa Muzyka's only open-air area. The crowd dwindled, but the faithful were treated to one hell of a show. It was great to see the whole Hyoerdub crew together. At least three members were in the booth at any point. Kode9 stuck almost exclusively to juke and footwork selections, heavy on Rashad tracks. Scratcha DVA was the drunk and overexcited MC, running out into the crowd with a bottle of vodka and pouring it down random people's throats.
Those put off by the rain weren't without options, though. On the main stage, Kelis was playing through Food with her absurdly tight live band, while Gui Boratto and Dixon held it down on the RBMA stage. The curveball of the weekend were Pink Freud, a Polish free-jazz band covering Autechre tracks to a packed tent. The enthusiasm of the crowd during this one was a testament to how passionate Tauron's fans are about their music.
Bookending these two days were much smaller events that more or less define Tauron's character. Thursday saw Sohn playing his gloomy electronic soul to a beautiful crowded old church in town. On Sunday we were treated to a lengthy live show from Nils Frahm in a decrepit porcelain factory. It's hard to stand out in today's overcrowded festival circuit, but with its great sound and exciting bookings (not to mention cheap tickets and booze), Tauron Nowa Muzyka truly is up there with the best of them.
Photo credits: Radoslaw Kazmierczak