- The first edition of Terraforma was epic: a sustainable festival dedicated to techno and avant-garde music located in the woods. This year should have put the event on the global map, but sadly some terrible weather let the festival down.
The weekend was opened on Friday evening by percussionist Hamid Drake. Charles Cohen followed, and his performance was an example of Terraforma at its best. Moments before the start of his set, he went for a short walk in the woods. When he returned, he readied himself alongside his Buchla Music Easel. Starting with beatless, spacey sounds, he soon moved through to more rhythmic and dancey passages and then onto abstract and deeper tones. He opened and closed his show with musings on the meaning of sound, telling the audience that American composer Pauline Oliveros once told him "when you know you've been heard, it's very healing, and so thank you for healing me tonight." Cohen hung around for the next few days, and was seen relaxing on the grass on Saturday afternoon, soaking up the festival.
After his set, the mood changed, and the rest of the night was much more dance floor-centric. Bochum Welt and his 90s Rephlex sound had the crowd dancing straight away, and even Convextion, the night's next act, was seen going crazy in front of the stage. When his turn came, he played dreamy and fast techno. The night was closed by the Italian Marco Shuttle, whose set was the heaviest of the night. It rained a little, but people stayed on the floor or took cover under trees and danced there.
On Saturday, Valerio Tricoli performed his atmospheric and windy music, which sounded fascinating against the surrounding nature. Rabih Beaini presented a long afternoon of psychedelic and enthralling Arabic fare, followed by Indonesian duo Senyawa, who are one of the most interesting and crazy acts around today. Rully Shabara screams and explores the full range of his voice while his partner, Wukir Suryadi, plays his self-made instruments, inspired by the traditional music of Indonesia but played as if it was doom metal. At one point, Shabara jumped down from the stage and performed in amongst the audience.
Surrounded by a sampler, a theremin and a drum machine, To Rococo Rot's Robert Lippok looked like someone who really enjoys his craft, and his set was easily one of the weekend's highlights. For someone who's had such a long career, he still sounds incredibly fresh. The night was left to Donato Dozzy and Nuel's project Aquaplano, and the pair turned out a four-hour DJ set on vinyl. They started slower and moved harder after an hour, proving why they are so highly revered in European techno circles.
Though it only rained sporadically on Saturday, the weather discouraged some people from attending, preventing the festival from doing the kinds of numbers everyone was expecting after last year's success. That said, the crowd that did make it was great, varied and international, which gave the festival a nice feel. In many ways, like last year the real protagonist was less the music than the location and the incredible atmosphere.
Sadly, though, the dreaded rain came for real on Sunday, as a storm tore through the site—the stage had to be closed and the camping area cleared. Everything was moved to the colonnade near the entrance of the villa, which made for a much more intimate experience, with people dancing amongst dismantled tents. Dub was the order of the day, presented first by Mark Ernestus and then by Itinerant Dub. The finale was left to the 291 out ensemble, who played a powerful live set of jazz-rock. Next year, I hope to return and find the same woods, the same atmosphere and the same high-quality musical programming, but just with more benevolent weather.
Photo credit: Michelle Von Savino