MUTEK

EN: Although their names are familiar, and Amato and Charbonneau have worked together off and on since their earliest days of music-making, Synth Works Vol.1 is actually your first occasion to hear these two together specifically as a duo. This project continues on a path initially forged by early electronic artists like Harmonia, Neu! and Laurie Spiegel, among many others. Synth Works Vol.1 is a...

Vancouver studio hound and analog synth aficionado, @esb-trax's most recent 'earth and heaven' EP on Wex records, as well as an appearance on Montreal's 00AM compilation, showcases classic influences of vintage house, Detroit techno, and dub. Perfect for ears that enjoy unique textures and harmonic interplay with a solid dose of snappy percussion. This recording is an edited down version of 2 diff...

EN: @francejobin is a sound/installation / artist, composer, and curator residing in Montreal, whose audio art, qualified as “sound-sculpture", reveals a minimalist approach to complex sound environments where analog and digital intersect. Her installations incorporate both musical and visual elements inspired by the architecture of physical spaces. Her work can be “experienced” internationally in...

EN: Pioneering a unique blend of ambient and downtempo electronic storytelling, @khotin’s formidable catalogue oscillates between propulsive and reflective—always pinned to plot points in his wistful compositional style, in which repeated listens reveal deeper layers of emotional complexity. Presented as part of STREAM ON, a project by MUTEK, with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. FR...

EN: Using an experimental and purely improvised approach to samplers and synths, @koreatownacid’s expansive and cerebral rhythms sit at the juncture of dubby house, free-jazzy techno and funky ambient territories. Hypnotic compositions are dextrously assembled as skittering, slowly billowing technicolour synth jolts. Building on the momentum of childhood piano lessons and teenage stints as a keybo...

EN: @mirajmusic is a dub techno and acid house duo located in Denendeh (Yellowknife, NT) formed by Harrison Roberts (DJ Flora) & Sami Blanco (Temple Volant/Sunaïra). Using a hybrid of DJ mixers and live analog, digital and polyphonic FM hardware-based synthesizers and mixers to create atmospheric tranced-out dreamscapes & polyrhythmic house, ambient, downtempo and techno music. The music is inspi...

EN: @obuxum is a Toronto based, Somali-Canadian producer and beatmaker, whose lush and characteristic sound celebrates storytelling. She has made her presence known with notable festival performances at Wavelength Festival (Toronto), Kazoo! Fest (Guelph, Ontario), Electric Eclectics (Big Head Valley, Ontario) and Venus Fest (Toronto). In 2018, NOW Magazine listed her as one of Toronto’s “electroni...

EN: Drawing on a number of influences in ambient, dub techno, and electroacoustic music, Montreal-based artist @persuasionsounds has produced and performed under various styles and pseudonyms over the years, from spacious textural techno as Persuasion (and with softcoresoft as Demora), to experimental freeform work as D.Hansen (and as part of the improvisation trio Fousek/Hansen/Tellier-Craig). Ha...

EN: An experiment at all levels, @puncti pushes performance and improvisation to its expressive limits. A physical and sonic shapeshifter, the punctï project's style varies by collaborator yet consistently hinges on a post-punk reckoning, merging a minimalist musical atmosphere with meditative distortion and noise, striking vocals, hypnotic melody and situationist’s wink. Spearheaded by artist and...

EN: American born, Toronto based @pgrooves(Vanese Smith) has released numerous sonically adventurous projects on labels such as What Rules, Deepblak and Tectonic to name a few. Creating genre-bending soulful and bass laden electronic music she has performed internationally at theaters and festivals as well as hosted workshops on creative sound sources and unique music production techniques. She is...

EN: As a composer and performer of electroacoustic music, @sarahdavachi's work is concerned with the close intricacies of intimate aural space, utilizing extended durations and simple harmonic structures that emphasize subtle variations in texture, overtone complexity, psychoacoustic phenomena, and temperament and intonation. The instrumentation she employs is varied, including electric organ, pip...

EN: Dancehall culture and sound system tropes are celebrated, distilled, smoked out and reawakened by this murky, shapeshifting project from Richmond (BC) by way of the Philippines. Using conventional dub as a figurative square one for its introspective, avant-garde explorations, SKRS (the preferred diminutive) creates its own, beguiling brand of truncated, reverb gorged dub. Formed in the early a...

EN: @segueambient is the name used by Jordan Sauer, an electronic music producer from Vancouver, BC. He creates ambient and dub-techno music with layers of field recordings, acoustic and electronic sounds, creating sonic soundscapes that conjure images of nature and emotions of peace and introspection. He has released numerous solo albums and collaborations with artists from around the world, incl...

EN: @solitary-dancer's ambitiously detailed sound design shows no fear of dropping from beatless ambience into bombastic breakbeats or flattening the mind with crystalline melodies on repeat, rinsed and ramped up in an emotional wash of low-end techno. The two members of Solitary Dancer crossed paths in Montréal and Toronto but only met in the studio in 2016, launching their first album on British...

EN: Through his innovative approach to production, @stevebeau conjures up unexpected pairings of lurching, syncopated beats, lush melodies and wistful vocals, that offer equal parts animated narratives and agitated funk—full of rich micro-samples and superimposed layers of synths. Cutting his teeth as a teenage promoter for electronic music events in Ottawa, this respected figure in the world of C...

EN: With eclectic and psychedelic beats pureed in a satisfyingly smooth tech-house processor, it’s easy to get lost in the magic of ‘El Molito.’ From British Columbia all the way to Neukölln, Berlin, @moleofsoul's catalog of fired-up, oddball disco cuts have been ambushing unsuspecting audiences for the past two decades. Rather than completely shift groove gears with every new release, this prolif...

EN: Tapping into an expansive repertoire of New Age, library music, meditative jazz and loopy house, @yu_su’s emotion-packed compositional punches are best described as organically groovy jazz-bient expeditions between coasts. A proficient instrumentalist who conjures up moments of natural and synthetic beauty, her delicate, dub-inflected signature balances a variety of luminous and wistful downte...

EN: In memory of our dear friend Marc Bartissol. Marc was not only a radiant part of the local music scene, he was also a member of the MUTEK team, working for number of years translating texts and artist biographies so integral to the festivalʼs voice and identity. A talented musician and performer, he was also an empathic confidante to those closest to him and a funny, kind and delicate soul in...

EN: @nguyendominhquan’s expertise designing and operating modular synthesizers delivers a musical palette that jumps between uplifting experimental soundscapes, minimal techno, and deep house. A prominent figure in the development of Vietnam’s experimental electronic music scene, the spontaneous revisions to his live, ever-evolving improvised performances provide an endlessly varied alternative to...

Nelly-Eve Rajotte Play 2 August 23, 2019 Rückenfigur - North American premiere Mastered by @pheek (audioservices.studio) Who Montréal based A/V artist Nelly-Eve Rajotte Style Dynamic visual projections of extreme "end spaces" accompanied by modular synthesizer and crashing layers of reverb Appears as part of Amplify D.A.I. Amplify D.A.I is led by the British Council, MUTEK and Somerset House Studi...

Dust-e-1 @duste1 Expérience 3 August 23, 2019 Mastered by @pheek (audioservices.studio) Who UK-born, Montréal-based producer Alex Sheaf, member of ANF, Perishing Thirst and The Hutchin Crew Style Blistering distillations of early 90’s jungle, reflective breaks, and end-of-night vigorous house workouts Labels @collect-call-records, @lobster-theremin, @dustworldrec

CMD @c-m-d Nocturne 4 August 23, 2019 Mastered by @pheek (audioservices.studio) Who Montréal-based DJ and producer Corina MacDonald, also known as Cyan Style Immersive dub techno and acid house; iterative music-making practices where feathery synths meet experimental thumps Labels @perfectlocationrecords, @furtrade, @jacktonerecords, @low-noise-productions Appears as part of Amplify D.A.I. Amplify...

Priori @priori-ties Nocturne 6 August 25, 2019 Mastered by @pheek (audioservices.studio) Who Montréal-based producer and DJ Francis Latreille (formerly Francis Oak), half of ANF alongside @duste1, part of Housemates alongside literal former housemate Adam Feingold, Jump Source with Project Pablo and Jumanjí with @ramzihouti Style Acid-corroded house; tweaky trance loops, and spaced-out escalating...

Miguel Dahbar and Alexis Cabrera, both Argentina-born and Berlin-based, form @wolke7live. From the German capital, they give shape to a sound that sails between percussive and Afro-Latin electronica. Inspired by the rhythmic journeys to the Andes and Central America, the duo began to merge that essence with electronic instruments, Afro-Latin percussion, guitars and more soundscapes. Conditioned by...

Adam Basanta @adam-basanta Play 1 : Presented by @resident-advisor "Intricate Connections Formed Without Touch" August 22, 2019 Mastered by @pheek (audioservices.studio) Who Montréal-based artist, composer and musician Adam Basanta Style Spatial ambient compositions; controlled feedback; art-hacked technologies; hybridized experimental-popular art forms Labels @kasugarecords, @kohlenstoff-live , F...