MONTREAL'S MUTEK: MATMOS, MOUSE ON MARS AND MORE!

Posted by

In a city overflowing with festivals of all sorts, the fact that Montreal’s Mutek is now in its 11th year says something important about the electronic music and digital culture meet-up. That their overall attendance was up by 70% last year speaks to the same point. Let’s look at why that might be…

First off, a music fest only works if the music is consistently great. This year’s installment, running from June 2nd to June 6th, continues Mutek’s  mandate of bringing some of the world’s biggest and most innovative names to a city with a well-documented appreciation for electronic music and culture. Among the exciting names in the initial round of announcements are Matmos, Matias Aguayo, Mouse on Mars as well as tons of other artists whose names don’t start with the letter “M”. Once again this year, they’ve managed to balance local talent with international superstars, relaxed nights that you can just wander into with massive world premieres that you could plan an entire weekend around.

But Mutek thrives as much because of all the other things they do well, like the fest’s 4 sub-sections (for lack of a better word). A/Visions are the immersive performances which marry music and images and things that mad professor types dream up ( see the video above for a taste from last year). This year’s new addition is Ectoplasmes³, curated and produced by Eric Mattson, a late night improv-oriented electro-accoustic chaser to some of the A/Visions events. The other two are just plain fun- Nocturne , the beat-driven late night party series, and Piknic , now in its 7th year, the daytime outdoor events series on Parc Jean-Drapeau that has become one of Montreal’s most beloved and defining good time activities.

Their website is fantastic, though I suppose it would be pretty ridiculous, given what Mutek is about, if it wasn’t. There’s tons of info, bios, mp3s, videos and, since so many of you will be coming in from out of town, plenty of travel, hotel and ticket packages for you to peruse. Come back to this blog in the coming weeks, as I start getting a bit more specific with my excitement…

Top