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TRANSMISSION 1 ::

(06.02.05) The opening day at Mutek was pretty rich in A/V experiences. To kick things off, as usual, the people who put on Mutek had a welcoming reception complete with tons of free magazines (XLR8R, EI, Grooves, and the like), pamphlets, maps, promo material, hors d'hoerves, speeches and the usual bar fare. As you entered the festivities you were instantly greeted by the sounds of Geert-Jan Hobijn and Carsten Stabenow's Staalplaat Soundsystem. Their Yokomono installation spins and moves with toy trucks, vinyl and a series of unorthodox transmissions. It was a bit of something like an adult playroom live.

The way it was set up for viewing you had to look down into the space as if it were a wrestling ring. Quite red, and beautiful to behold. The sounds were a combo of improv and wiggly things. Montreal's own Motus 3F started the night with a vocal patterning, funky-dory post hip-hop-tronica moment. It was great watching the "singer" sound in and out of the mic. This duo had the room moving from the start - recommended to watch for. Then it was off to the Museum of Contemporary Art to see the first of a handful of live performances presented within the context of an artificial intelligence installation built by 12K/Mutek_Rec artist's skoltz_kogen called ASKAA. The installation is on display in the space as is, although when performers play live it interacts with the work on contact. Tonight was skoltz_kogen themselves debuting their environment - it was starkly black and white, quite organic within the base of something akin to CAD design. Their sound was quiet, crispy and clean, and followed by Richard Chartier, who I, unfortunately, only caught the very beginning which experienced a minor volume technical difficulty.

Another mad dash to the ExCentris complex to see the triple set including more visually arresting work by Montreal's nAnalog, the gurus behind much of the visual wizardry of Mutek's formative years past. Now out there on their own, the trio has developed a sound and vision that is immediate, multi-layered post-industrial, very dark. The imagery ran the gamut from crowds of faceless (possibly military) people wearing the same shirts in rows, communistic texts fading from the background and disintegration on many levels. It was a very complex layering of sounds brought together almost perfectly with the video work.

Up next were tINYLITTLEeLEMENTS, another duo who creates a charged visual environment of stark, bold falling black, white and redness. Their performance began looking as though it might be an experiment in some basic video software and turned into an alarming visual feast, truly a sprite in Mutek's cap --a find for sure. Their sound was post-minimal-techno with a barren rock flare though never caustic or cloying. They had a wonderful presence on stage, graphic artist Lia facing multimedia artist Sebastian Meissner (Autopoises, Random Inc.) with her back to the audience. Finally, the night was ready for Norway's Biosphere. Things started out with a quiet bold drone filling the room but built up slowly when accompanied by the video work of Egbert Mittelstädt. Though there was a malfunction early on that was disappointing, the show went on in less than a minute. The collaboration of Geir Jenssen's (Biosphere) evocatively icy and spatial soundscapes with the much more pop leanings of the video work created something serendipitously like a surreal cross between the United Colors of Benneton, Godfrey Reggio's films and a day in the mirrored subways of the world. Mittelstädt's video moves from left to right or right to left continuously as it bleeds and blends and bends people in half, multiplying them, stretching them like taffy. Beautiful effects, but I couldn't make the connection to the music instantly, and it took time. When I listen to Biosphere I think of the earth, of the surf, not neon lights and trains through Shanghai. Each element worked on its own, but blended together had a slight aftertaste.

Off then to Musée Juste pour Rire for Nocturne 1 featuring Canadian Polmo Polpo, and Austria's Radian and Kapital Band (both featuring percussionist Martin Brandlmayr). Polmo Polpo's sound was dense and murky, the video blended well with its dancing dolls, strip-teasers and parachuters, though it all ended up like something of a big gray mass. There were certainly some funky moments braided in here and there, but this was a wash of a performance, just a lil' dull. Up next was the trio, Radian (Thrill Jockey) who simply kicked the night into gear. The blend of smart post-electronic rock poise with a out jazz sensibility, combined with three just really good musicians made for a fun and dynamic performance. The lighting and stage set reminded me of something out of Joy Division's closet. It was near perfect, as the crowd certainly attested. The duo of Kapital Band were up next for the finale of the evening, but with something of a budding headache (no excuse, I know) my host and I decided to jump the popsicle stand after two short tracks. They had some serious volume and electronic wizard Nicholas Bussman was not about to let go, he was twisting the Korg in half. I am sure the party is still going...but must rest up for tomorrow, and all the other long night's ahead.

Watch for the ongoing live online performances of over the next few days: more info here...

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TRANSMISSION 2 ::

(06.02.05) Ah, to start the day after four or five hours of sleep. Hmmm, something of a semi state of being, a 'lil buzzed as in past years, yes. The day cracked with a bright sunshine and the heat overflowed in downtown Montreal. I have to say that things this year are a little different, and somewhat more laid back after last year's 5th anniversary. The press folks seemed more earthy, the performances, in general, are more far reaching and experimental, the audience is casual and I think just about everyone here smokes, ahem.

Today's events included a few panels as part of Mutek's Intersection. In many ways the panels are a bit of a facsimile of last years topics and even speakers. Yes, they have included some bright stars like John Aquaviva, Uwe Schmidt and Pheek among others, but the few panels I have attended thus far are something of a rehash of last year. Not the same goes for the great introduction of Le Placard this year which includes umpteen artists playing for about an hour, give or take, each. This is a silent environment where the players (not in the closet as the title would suggest) play live for an audience wearing headphones. One great thing about this is it allows some folks to carry on speaking as the exterior is virtually dulled by the Sennheiser headsets. Very intimate, direct and separate all at the same time. Something brilliant of an addition (thank you Eric Mattson).

Starting the ball rolling was Staalplaat Systems Yokomono project which, as reported before, have their lock-groove records being played by toy trucks with needles embedded on their underside, spinning on its chunky feel. I had the opportunity to talk with Geert-Jan about the work and he showed me one of the records up close and personal, beautiful translucent red and clear discs which layed upon the table still white the battery powered plastic toy did all the work. We discussed the ability for them to tour the installation in this format and in other larger formats and museum contexts. Mixers and transistors oh my! Quite an elaborate choreography indeed. In between sets I said hello to Russia's Alexei Borisov who will be playing tonight sometime way past midnight. Should be a spectacle for sure. Anyhow, he shared with me a new recording on zeromoon.com called Bogartiri which loosely translates to something like powerful leader or something like that. If it matches some of his previous work power is in a sense its middle name.

I am currently sitting in the Le Placard installation having listened to work by Chinese artist FM3 who had a great, peaceful and intriguing set. Currently playing is Montreal's own duo morceaux_de_machines who have a crunchy, low-fi sparsely industrial sound. The live'ness on headphones is just perfect for this intimate experience. And the space is filling up, no doubt for local legendary fave Martin Tetreault who will be playing alongside Gunter Muller. Quebec's Diane Labrosse is in the house resting to the decaying sounds of these emerging Montrealers. It's quite nice to see the generations all together in this setting. No particular division in this community.

Tetreault and Muller have started with something flapping, a bird, a plane --sensitive and eloquent, the volume is relaxed, responding to its immediate environment. The ambience is highly concentrated and just washes through my brain. Sensually sensory and meditative.

I had some refresher time to think again about last nights shows and want to reiterate that Biosphere could do for a more Jon Wozencroft video styling. The environment was a sit down theater, and the video was just ajar from what would have made the performance more of a spectacular overall audio-video sensory experience, instead the sights and sounds collided. Not to kick a dead horse, because the artists are quite alive and electric, but I think the crowd probably went away feeling somewhat visually assaulted by too much in one long sitting (that is associated to the three performances back-to-back-to-back).

The moral of the story is to spread out the super visual works somehow within the programming.

I'll be back.

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TRANSMISSION 2.1 ::

(06.02.05) When we last left off the duo of Tetreault and Muller were just getting started. I stayed through their set and just melted into my chair. It was just complex, minimal delicate micro-ambient bliss, no other way to describe it. Pure.

It was time to catch the Quebec artist's showcase upstairs, so I gathered my hutspah and through the black light (it's very dark through them there hallways) up in the elevator to the room with the sparkly jazz stage curtains and streaming natural light and huge skylight. Minibloc had to be the cutest duo in the festival. Two petite persons, one stage, and a sound that ran the gamut from crisp improvisation, to palpable live errors to punchy undercurrent funk. Their short set was dotted by a host of broken and made electronics and toys and they looked like they were having so much fun. Des cailloux et du carbone was next up with a flare for wide open circular sounds that were tonally hesitant and just changed the room's temperature about 20 degrees cooler. In mid-set I had to dash out to eat (yes, we must) but before I got in ye olde 'vator I spied Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom Heart/Senor Coconut, aka lots of things), looking quite dapper in a funky, tight fitting brown pinstriped polyester leisure suit and in the not so distant background were artists Monolake (Robert Henke) and Pheek. The crowd was colorful. On my way out Alexei Borisov introduced me to Franz Pomassl, all the way from Austria, which was an absolute pleasure. They were headed over to the Atom Heart (www.atomheart.ca) record shop (one of the best shops in Montreal specializing in electronic music) on Sherbrooke to see my photography exhibition! Speaking of criticism, I look forward to their diverse feedback (Gary James Joynes - aka Clinker ran into me today and acknowledged the work and reported that he has been added to the Le Placard show on Saturday in the 2:30PM time slot). Pomassl will be playing live this evening - so I am looking forward to that, and a surprise will include Borisov joining him live! Late night up ahead to be well spent.

Tonight includes the aforementioned artists as well as John Duncan and Robert Henke - should be totally off the controversial wall!

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TRANSMISSION 2.2 ::

(06.03.05) Tonight Robert Henke's Studies for Thunder roared its way through the room with the big skylight, and with the people taking pictures of said performance, he made lightning interactively. The sound was full and the electric nature was just that. Electric, eclectic, ecstatic. He left the room in a buzz for Argentina's Pablo Reche who spun what Henke started, keeping the room dark and low, loud and a long lasting purr. The effect was vibratory and centered, yet surrounded the space and made for something sensual through its brusque overture.

John Duncan's The Hissing started off in a full spin cycle, surrounded the room, once it was silenced, with a circular saw of whirring hiss, like a loud whisper duplicated and suspended way high. The performance actually had the volume and intensity that could induce a trance-like sleep while sitting up. I dropped into sudden coma while the static tones and drones filled the space, as the room was completely silenced. Last up was Franz Pomassl who pulled out every improvisational stop possible. His stage presence alone was a mad doctor at work. The feedback generated from his use of pulling and prodding master electrical cords and inputs by using his body, tongue and the stage siding was the work of an extremist performer. Add Alexei Borisov to the mix and you certainly had one master combo of noise, volume, feedback and ultimate power-soundtronics. Alexei added spoken effects and various detailed mixing that steered through our ears. Pomassl wreaked a very lovely, chaotic havoc with a confident stance, in all its choreography and mature hi-jinks.

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TRANSMISSION 3 ::

(06.03.05) Today started with Beyond Borders: Cultural Hybrids - a panel covering sampling (similar to the panel donnasummer and Matthew Herbert sat on last year). This year there was a cultural update with panelists from Chile (Uwe Schmidt, who just happens to be standing a few feet away from me as I type this in the Le Placard space), China (Christiaan Virant of fm3), Canada (Deadbeat, Scott Monteith) and Mexico. Moderator and freelance journalist Philip Sherburne got the talk started in an upbeat way by quoting from the book of Public Enemy, fashioning black American nationalism and the aggregate nature of Elvis as being akin to the directions that all music fusions seem to be taking in our era. Each panelist had something pretty relevant to say, and it was the first panel completely packed to the edges, no doubt due to the inclusion of Atom Heart himself who was really lucid and clear about the formation of his Senor Coconut project with its comical fusion of Kraftwerk with cha cha cha. It was good to hear a more international perspective on the use and re-use of sounds transformed and refashioned from one culture to another.

There is a solid crowd here where Quebecian's LeBlackNoise just finished their dark ambient, hooded set and the floor will be open soon to Tomas Philips. In the meantime, back at Musée Juste pour Rire, I caught most of the Experience 2, the second local artist showcase including Simon Guibord whose work used bowing on metals. The sound was dense, thick and abstract. Luci, a duo who record on Mutek-Rec presented a mix of crunchy noise, low-fi beats, and a jangle of corrupted sounds that crumbled up and unfolded again. Last was Dafluke who had everyone almost immediately on their feet with its recreation of only highlights from 80s pop soul samplification and a whole lotta sass. Look for his stuff at www.sushitech.com - it was quite refreshing to hear something melodic after much extreme experimentation, though I wouldn't expect myself to feel that ordinarily, it gave way to the diversity of electronic music on a more physically interactive way, by route of the dance-floor.

Across town Italian DSP recording artist Martux_M (www.martux.it) interacted with skoltz_kolgen at their ASKAA installation at the museum. From the start there was a collective concentrated minimalism that was as earthy as it was synchronized. His style went from the improvisation of crushing a water bottle to the dispensation of New Order'ish grooves reduced to simplistic snares to rubbery warm beats that developed slowly and teased your tendencies to almost want to dance, but kept the lid within the museum context.

Over at Le Placard I managed to catch Christoph Migone create a piece where he continuously walked in circles up stage stairs to a preprogrammed piece of music that was mysteriously wandering. He was joined by Geert-Jan of Staalplaat who circled the stairs with him for the set. The physical action was videotaped and a portion at the beginning was simultaneously screened on the stage screen, but soon it was changed to live computer text, maybe tech talk. The circular walking and the music didn't exactly match up, but it was interesting to zone in and out of the work while lying on mattes in the middle of the installation. And I am so glad that I did because next was Nancy Tobin whose work was cerebrally a mind rush, creating a long brisk drone of sound that washed over your body in a linear way. It fell and circled and basically had an inebriating depth that sent me into a solid trance. At the deck next was John Duncan who started by keeping the listeners awake with clever and risky sounds that tested eardrums for alertness. He used tones that had many wince, even remove headphones for a handful of seconds until he waded into the wonderful, hedonistic vortex he started that night prior. He sound is large, and the intimacy of experiencing the work live on headphones really gave you the feeling that he was playing for the select few (possibly 30 odd people). Though Le Placard will stream live online, and also be kept as a listenable archive, the in-the-moment presentation really did have a "connected" feel to the inner artistic workings of performance, a direct-connect.

For the first time Mutek tried something different; two simultaneous shows that appealed to a potentially different audience. Upstairs I caught Adam Young as Direwires. His set was melodic groove ambient (ala EM:T update). The environment was temperate and a great opening. Downstairs was the duo Vertex who were a bit more dissonant and calculating. Natural sounds mixed with satellites. They kept things pretty grounded though. Back upstairs to see Tim Hecker vs. Klimek (tinylittleelements). At first things were a bit repetitively intercultural, there were slight hints of Asian themes, but things were too slow and never kick started for me. The video (by Lia?) was deadpan solid color pixels that changed too subtlety, the overall effect just sounded a bit like an awkward combination of artists. I decided to spend the remainder of the evening downstairs where I caught Diane Labrosse collaborating with Gunter Muller. Their interaction was quite delicate and fit together like pieces of a puzzle. It was great to watch Labrosse move the music with her hand, bending the tonality as Muller just focused staidly. They looked like a set of sound librarians if you really think about it. A force to be reckoned with. Muller's solo set was brilliantly ever changing in its cryptic and crunchy format. Mostly intimate, the treated sound was rhythmically dreamy and thought provoking. Following was Marcus Schmickler who performed an invasive interrogation on the audience's ears. From the beginning, all all-out assault with pitch that could potentially render some tone deaf for life. I compare this to the flesh eating amphibious effect. After a long start, he brought the house down very quietly and started with a brief classical strings-type rendering that rooted the listeners once more and built up on that for a pure rush of pulsating noise that was the intense moment of the day. So, after a collectively chaotic start it was a smooth finish, as he built it up and tore it down with pride.

A few after thoughts about the previous evenings performances. The only word to rightfully describe John Duncan's The Hissing was vortex. It was the big black hole we were all falling through together. And Pablo Reche toyed with the inversion of a surround sound implosion. As if all were caving around you at full speed and with clarity.

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TRANSMISSION 4 ::

(06.04.05) Clinker (Gary James Joynes from Edmonton, AB), who replaced Thinkbox Collective, played Le Placard and simply smoothed the mood. His cooly spatial playing mixed smart style with an abundance of rolling ambience, most in the room just reclined for his exotic set. Vibrant, pastel rhythm. (Bernhard) Gal (now living in Berlin) who is on tour with cassette wizard and label guru Howard Stelzer (Intransitive Recordings) followed him with a complex sound that was only effected by the background noise, even with any noise cancellation brought through the headphones. His style stop-started a few times breaking tensions and barriers with a flow of field recordings from perhaps street fairs or other places where people were socializing (or was that actually Le Placard's background noise?). That was its vibe, its reinvention of the moment, almost sounded as though he was recycling the sound in the actual space of the performance. I am not sure if the crowd knew he ended his set, but I was listening, and he left questions to observe over time. He and Stelzer will play live again in Montreal on June 8th at Casa del Popolo: www.casadelpopolo.com

RANTS :: Smoking, it's really hot and not the best ventilation at some of the venues, so smoking seems like an inherently irritating habitual cultural thing here, though I hear a rumor that local laws will ban smoking in clubs come January 2006. If this is successful, there will be healthier Mutek's ahead. And the background noise. The bathrooms overflowed with water on the floor and papers everywhere like the punk clubs of the early 80s, less wreaking 420 than usual, though there were fragrant wafts here and there. At a few of the shows, where intimacy was key, you had a continuous drone of people chattering away, as mentioned with John Duncan's set earlier, and when Marcus Schmickler played, even though he shaved most of our eardrums from their sockets, when there was a scoop of diminutive tonalities in his playing it was quite off-putting to hear grand laughter and blur that wasn't coming from his mixer --to a lesser extent cancellations like that of Ricardo Villalobos - a seemingly modern day Grace Jones who has missed his plane to Montreal more than once, though, that was to the crowd's benefit later. For these slight irritations the show went on, and the festival in total was a big success, especially for those who like more avant garde approaches to electronics.

Reflection of last night's performance :: Now that Ontario's Direwires (Adam Young) keeps reflecting back, I realize that his set was quite impactful, and taken out of festival context I would say his work was one of the biggest finds here. Mellowly warm ambient with some restrained beat rhythms.

Of the Latin set, I only caught Danieto (Traum Recordings) of Chile who's poppy IDM dance sound was perfect for the hot day and bright light. The room, if full, would have become a club environment. So, in the heads of those there, it was just that. The crowd was wrapt and moving. This was not overwhelmed with bass or special effects, it was more of a hallucinatory blend of good vibes. I felt guilty for not staying for more but I was too enthralled by the Le Placard experience so it was downstairs to take in Tim Hecker. And he more than made up for the former evening by playing a host of layered inventions. It was brightly colored sweet and sour ear candy.

Ahhhhh, a chance to breathe and take a short nap before the big all night party show, actually, unlike last year's all night event (rave), they were only able to get proper permits taking the programming to 3AM, and as far as I am concerned, seems like plenty of music for the masses.

We entered with Monolake, who were back as a duo (Robert Henke and T++). Along with the enriched club visuals of nAnalog, the show was a definite solid party, dance playhouse. There was nothing unexpected, just good, clean, dance music and nothing too dark or improvised, it was pretty clean all the way through. Vancouver's Mathew Jonson (www.wagonrepair.ca) was the take home stand-out performer of the evening who used some rock elements and lots of great records, his set was post DJ, playing up the percussion as he used a few similar techniques that you may find in a good Ritchie Hawtin set. Austere, uplifting, just ran the gamut. Luciano (Perlon/Playhouse) was performing solo sans Villalobos, so it was the first of a few surprizes. He used crashing rhythms, winding beats, big bass and built to a huge pinnacle when the sound unexpectedly quit for about a dozen minutes. He looked quite shocked at the power surge, but they had some house music to fill the gap and he started up again, and though he made for a thumping good time, it lost its way, and he was so grateful that people threw applause and not tomatoes (it wasn’t his fault).

To the pleasure of the schedule change came Atom Heart playing live with one of the Bucci brothers. The work was a bit reminiscent of 80s acid with some industrial thrown in for good measure, but they kept it a whipped and light as possible, and the video programming that was seen earlier, by tINYLITTLEeLEMENTS, was switched to house lighting that included red tubes and blue floods. It had hints of his adopted South American rhythms, but over and above, harder, harsher. It was interesting and entertaining, though the feeling at the center of the dance floor was subtlety discharged. The evening was sweaty as most threw their bodies like caution to the wind.

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TRANSMISSION 5 :: Finale

(06.05.05) The day started as yet, another scorcher, yes, it's over 90 with lots of le humidite. I must say that it, in many ways, slowed the goings on. As such, I decided to take paces today and for my final festival experience, took in the ASKAA installation once more, to see the incomparable Joe Colley (formerly Crawl Unit). Multimedia Canadian artist Jamie Drouin was up first with an earthy sounding set that interacted with the visuals more so than the other performances, as he crackled and twisted micro-beats. The interlaced, large-scale paper screens with their dangling sound receptors and other wires were his canvas to explore. The overall sound was funky and intricate, warm, yet slightly aloof. When Joe Colley begun his set reflectively as he laid his glasses and his glass of white wine down on the table, like a trained concert pianist, he was reflective and calculating, if not a bit meditative. Like an alchemist, there was no laptop, though he incorporated the use of tiny glass vials, a sound receptor that he dragged along the serrated table top, a microphone, mixers, all the while never remaining quite stable. He filled the room with buzz and whirr, as his fuzzy transistor motors were connected he incorporated static and feedback with the pinch of his fingertips. Inside the jars he dangled a metal claw (?) and basically conducted electricity for a bit over 1/2 an hour. The sounds were built from complete improvisation, and watching him physically, added a perfomative aspect not seen by the others working within the context of the installation. Very intricate and curious.

Due to the heat and the direct sun I opted out of the days' Picnik Electronique and decided, instead, to let the party people in da haus do their thang while I explored a bit of Montreal. So, I basically walked through some smaller neighborhoods and shot some photography, ate some delicious treats (yes, Montreal has great food) and some blissful music shopping at Cheap Thrills, Beatnik and Atom Heart (I found a Akumu, Robert Musso and a Move D that I had never come across before!). Other reflections were a bountiful cycling festival that routed its way down La Fontaine, the industrial train yards and Alexei Borisov mentioning that he was leaving a dance event (there are countless of these in Europe) to switch the mood to another festival nearby, of death metal!

For the finale I was not feeling completely up to par with the weather and some strong allergies, so I decided to take in only Si-Cut.DB whose performance was stunning, and a great finish to a wonderfully received fest. Mr. Benford (Sprawl, Bip-Hop) and I met just prior to the show and it was great to chat with him and Eric Mattson about an interesting night out in France where Mutek had presented a showcase for Philippe Petit. I also had a good opportunity to socialize with Franz Pomassl, and we discussed the importance and integrity in being part of the media, and how it has the power to communicate the cerebral and sensory aspects of performance. I also noticed John Duncan and Joe Colley in conversation, would love to hear a collaboration by the two of them if ever. I spoke with David Day of Forced Exposure (www.forcedexposure.com), the best distribution for electronic and experimental music in the U.S. and we talked about a documentary he and his girlfriend are working on.

Si-Cut.DB's performance interwove basic dubbyness alongside a massaging set of pure vibrating beats that were low to the ground, yet higher than the 30 foot ceiling that towered above. It set a framework for the beginning of the end of my night. He basically played four or five lengthy tracks, most likely featured partly on his latest recording From Tears: Beach Archive (www.bip-hop.com) which I am looking forward to spinning sometime. The music, at its level, may have even helped improve my allergies. And, though there were four additional performers that would run through the evening, I ushered myself home for a good night's rest before my long journey home.

Big congratulations and two thumbs (and even some toes) to the entire Mutek organization, for once again outsmarting most like festivals with an amazing lineup, and many surprises - here's looking forward to next year!

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