During the last week in September, Seattle will be hosting some of the finest DJs, electronic music, and multimedia artists in the world. Some will put on workshops, some will shed their live bands for DJ sets, and others will bring all their gear and new ideas. There will be collaborations, technology demonstrations, and music on boats. While not contained to any one genre, you can expect there to be laptops, Ableton controllers, vintage synthesizers, and maybe the odd actual vinyl record or two—if only at the merch table.
Dear sweet Jesus, Decibel Festival is one giant rabbit hole.
The 2014 Decibel Festival runs Wednesday, September 24 through Sunday, September 28 and will be held a series of venues in Seattle. The Decibel Conference, an art and technology expo, will be held at the EMP Museum at the Seattle Center, featuring audio/visual workshops, panel discussions, artist talks, and a synth petting zoo.
With so many DJs and producers present, there will be plenty of musical DNA shared as artists remix each other, provide guest vocals on each other’s tracks, or just include their friends/mentors/protégés in their DJ sets. Some of this scene is who you know. You’ll have representatives from pirate/guerrila radio like Kode9 (Rinse FM) and Anna Lunoe (FBI Radio) and legitimate world radio like Pete Tong (BBC1). There will be label showcases from Ninja Tune and Hyperdub. There’s more to see, do, and write about than any one person could possibly handle, but here’s a handful of artists to experience:
Prefuse 73
Atlanta, GA
Wednesday, September 24
Neumos; midnight-1:15 AM
Speechless. I’m at a loss to name another DJ who has navigated instrumental hip-hop and independent music the way Prefuse 73 has. Maybe DJ Shadow, but that’s a different ball of wax. (Mowax.) Dude has done remixes for: TV on the Radio, Pelican, BLK JKS. Dude has collaborated with School of Seven Bells, The Books, El-P, Ghostface Killah, and the Aukso Orchestra of Poland.
FaltyDL
New York City
Thursday, September 25
The Crocodile; 10:45 PM-midnight
Drew Cyrus Lustman, 26-year-old one-time sushi chef, has an interesting set of influences. He was classically trained in piano and upright bass, more influenced by Squarepusher but is slowly developing his own language. His new album, In the Wild, is at times atmospheric, other times danceable, alternately crass and sublime.
Baths
Los Angeles
Thursday, September 25
The Showbox; 10:40 PM-11:55 PM
Will Wiesenfeld has been hard at work since his sophomore album, Obsidian. He’s been touring with the Mercury Prize-nominated Young Fathers and released the Ocean Death EP in 2014, which was partly recorded in a hotel room in Spain but mostly completed at a friend’s home in L.A. He’s released more ambient music as Geotic and is constantly looking for ways to grow, to evolve. While some may think of him as gloomy, almost gothic, Will has a wicked sense of humor. (See: Butts)
Tokimonsta
Los Angeles
Thursday, September 25
The Showbox; midnight-1:30 AM
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about her before deciding to go to Decibel. When I asked friends who to see, three names kept coming up: Pete Tong, Prefuse 73, and Tokimonsta. When I found out that she had worked with Kool Keith, my curiosity was peaked. The video for “Go With It” is a short sci-fi film. She’s been releasing tracks from her new album, Desiderium, over the last month and the two newest, “Steal My Attention” and “Drive,” show an increasing maturity to her work.
Oneohtrix Point Never + Nate Boyce
Massachusetts
Thursday, September 25
EMP – Sky Church; 12:10 AM-1:10 AM
Daniel Lopain is a bit of an enigma. As part of Ford & Lopatin, he makes more accessible pop. As co-founder of the Software Label, he works with artists like Airbird (Daniel Ford), Autre Ne Veut, Pete Swanson. As 0PN, he makes asks more of the listener. He is currently on tour with Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails (who he has remixed). He has collaborated with Tim Hecker. He has built soundscapes at the Museum of Modern art. You will be challenged. You will probably move your body. You may not get what you expect. That is good.
Gui Boratto
Sao Paulo
Friday, September 26
EMP – Level 3; 11:45 PM-1:30 AM
Simian Mobile Disco
London
Friday, September 26
EMP – Sky Church; 11:45 PM-1:30 AM
James Ford and Jas Shaw formed SMD in 2005, after their DJ side project from the band Simian took on its own life. They’ve worked and performed with Klaxons and Chemical Brothers. Their brand new album, Whorl, is out on ANTI- To make Whorl, they went to Pioneertown, California (near Joshua Tree National Park) with one synthesizer and one sequencer each. They performed a live show at Pappy & Harriet’s for an audience of 900 and took the raw audio back into the studio to polish it into an album. Expect to hear at least some of those sounds recreated, reinvented, reimagined.
Lindstrøm
Oslo, Norway
Saturday, September 27
The Showbox; 11:15 PM-12:15 AM
Hans-Peter Lindstrøm grew up in Stavanger, Norway. He now lives in Oslo. Oh, and he makes ridiculously good music on his own, when he’s not collaborating with Norway’s finest like Todd Terje (It’s Album Time). If you’ve never heard Lindstrøm & Christabelle, I’m going to have to ask you to stop and go listen to either “Lovesick” or “Looking for What.” Go on. I’ll wait. If that hasn’t convinced you, maybe his remixes of Doves, LCD Soundsystem, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Caribou, or Röyksopp & Robyn’s latest collaboration, “Do It Again.” If that’s not enough, then you’re just going to have to trust me. Go. Hear. Lindstrøm.
Com Truise
New York City
Saturday, September 27
The Showbox; 12:15 AM-1:30 AM
Seriously, how does he do it? How does Seth Haley successfully pull off music that could have been written in a weird alternate ’80s universe yet sounds completely modern at the same time. His debut album, Galactic Melt, looked backward (VHS Sex, Cathode Girls) and forward (Future World, Flightwave). This year, he released the Wave 1 EP, which was even more of a time warp. Subsonic uses wicked keyboards and smeared textures (but not blurred lines). Declination features Joel Ford (Airbird, Ford & Lopatin, Tiger City) and somehow gets even more melodic.
Kode9
London
Saturday, September 27
The Crocodile; midnight-1:15 AM
Founder of Hyperdub records. Pirate radio for Rinse FM in London. Signed and released Burial’s albums. Godfather of Dubstep. Continues to push boundaries. Saying less is more. Let his music speak for itself.
!!! DJs
Sacramento/New York City
Saturday, September 27
Q Nightclub; midnight-2 AM
!! is a dance punk band from Sacramento including Nic Offer, Mario Andreoni, Dan Gorman, Allan Wilson, Paul Quattrone, and Rafael Cohen. Some would say they’re unpronounceable, unsearchable (but that’s gotten better), and difficult to classify, but !!! (most commonly pronounced Chk Chk Chk) have been road-testing new material at DJ sets and clubs across the world this year. According to the band, “This is what we’ve been listening to a lot lately, so who knows, maybe the new record will even sound a bit like this.”
Pete Tong
London
Sunday, September 28
Q Nightclub; 12:30 AM-2:00 AM
I’m generally more of a John Peel kind of guy; Pete Tong’s reach on BBC1 is undeniable. He has hosted “Essential Selection” and “Essential Mix” on BBC1 since 1993 and has been a tastemaker with “Essential New Tune” of the week, premiering new music often on white label pressings. His DJ residency in Ibiza has established him among the top and most sought-after DJs in the world. Tensnake, his frequent collaborator, will have a DJ set leading into Pete’s, so if you want to close out the festival right, the All Gone Pete Tong Showcase may be the capstone event.