- Salone del Mobile.Milano is a huge furniture expo that happens every spring on the outskirts of Milan. Running at the same time is Elita Milano, also known as the Design Week Festival, a six-day electronic music event happening at various venues across the city. The Milanesi tend to dread this period because of the crazy traffic and the influx of visitors on the hunt for free food and drinks. It is, however, one of the rare moments in which Milan looks and feels like one of the great European cities, abuzz with life and energy.
Elita encompasses 30 events, 15 locations and more than 50 artists overall. On the opening night, I made my way to the courtyard of a beautiful old palace in the city centre, where Laurel Halo was laying down solid techno. The music was good, but the free entrance led to overcrowding on the dance floor. Lots of people took to wandering around the palace in search of free drinks or cotton candy (yes, that was also provided).
Elita really hit its stride on the Thursday. After Wild Beasts plied their synth-heavy fare at Franco Parenti, I moved to Magazzini Generali for Todd Terje's much-anticipated live set. Wearing a Cluster T-shirt, Terje interspersed edits of classics (like The Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing") with cuts from It's Album Time. Julio Bashmore followed with a selection of upfront house tracks, alternating between new bits from Tom Trago and older favourites from the likes of DJ Sneak. When the club started to empty around 3 AM, Bashmore switched moods, churning out R&B and funk until the lights came on. He ended with Midnight Star's "Midas Touch," but was forced to play one more by the young, smiling crowd, closing once and for all with Luther Vandross's "Never Too Much." I have to admit, I never thought Bashmore would be such a highlight, but his set was one of best of the week.
Friday saw Madlib and Hudson Mohawke head up the programme at Franco Parenti. While Madlib's set was fragmented and far from technically perfect, his selections were bold, dark and classy, including a number of his own productions, such as "Slim's Return," Quasimoto's "Broad Factor" and Erykah Badu's "The Healer." Hudson Mohawke stuck to the script, playing exactly as you'd expect him to. Cuts from Chase & Status, Rustie, TNGHT and Danny Brown all made their mark, but it was his rendition of Kanye West's "Blood On The Leaves," preceded by Nina Simone's "Strange Fruit" (which the song samples) that really hit home, making for a peculiar and breathtaking moment.
From there, a portion of the crowd headed to Tunnel to catch the final hours of Andrew Weatherall's back-to-back set with Ewan Pearson. The pair played brilliantly, exploring many different styles, but unfortunately the place was so packed that dancing wasn't an option. Still, when 5 AM came the crowd looked anything but ready to leave.
Saturday was Elita's biggest day. At Franco Parenti, it was all about Four Tet and his heady yet highly physical sound. His set was equal parts tense and flowing, awash with tribal samples and bits from his most recent album, Beautiful Rewind. Daphni followed with a set of melodic house and techno, blending cuts from Villalobos, Four Tet, Aphex Twin and artist du jour William Onyeabor. The mixing might have been a little flawed, but looking at the crowd, it was clearly one of the festival's best-received performances.
Crew Love (AKA Soul Clap and Wolf + Lamb) provided the day's wind-down set, serving feel-good house and disco for hours on end—records from Daphni, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder all worked their charm. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the week was Loredana Bertè's Italo classic "In Alto Mare." As the whole room bellowed out the lyrics, it was a sight to behold. This rounded out a thoroughly remarkable week of music from Elita. Leaving aside the odd hiccup, the organisers set an example of how a large, sprawling festival can also feel intimate and friendly.
Photo credits: Guido Borso