Bozar Electronic Arts Festival: high voltage!

Koen Van Dijck
© Agenda Magazine
20/09/2013
(Jon Hopkins)

The annual Bozar Electronic Arts Festival is slowly becoming a fixture for fans of analogue synths, digital beats, and pink noise. In addition to numerous installations, workshops, and performances, there is also a whole gang of artists ready to bombard you with zeroes and ones. AGENDA lists the highlights.

MODESELEKTOR
28/9, 23.00, Henry Le Boeuf Hall
On Saturday evening, Modeselektor (photo on the left) will replace the announced Moderat because band member Sascha Ring, best known on stage as Apparat, has been injured in an accident. The trio recently released the well-received II and were just about to start their tour. It is thus an unexpected disappointment to both themselves and their fans. The replacement makes sense, of course, because Modeselektor actually comprises two thirds of Moderat. So there is no need to despair. What’s more, if you’ve seen Modeselektor before, you’ll know that they guarantee a huge party, pure and simple. Everything their mower encounters is sucked in and churned up with bulldozer beats. And the last thing they do is colour within the lines. They blend hip hop and raga, transform angular electro into post-dubstep rhythms, convert tasteless dance classics into technological masterpieces, and drag big names like Busdriver, Antipop Consortium, and Thom Yorke into their whirlpool too. Live, they even throw in incredible visuals by Pfadfinderei. Mega!


JON HOPKINS
28/9, 22.00, Henry Le Boeuf Hall

With his most recent album Immunity, Jon Hopkins paves his way to the dance floor. Albeit one on which you see mostly dark shadows dancing. The rhythms increasingly form a rectilinear pattern that is simply very inviting to your leg muscles, but the beats continue to live their own tempestuous, unruly lives. You could scarcely describe the dark electronica as light-hearted summery pop, and the piano continues to occupy a dominant place. As a whole, it is an intriguing and sensual sound that is also rather alienating. If we had to position Hopkins somewhere in the field, we’d place him between Four Tet, Tobias Freund, and Fennesz. For Bozar, however, the classically trained pianist is stripping his music down and placing his favourite instrument front and centre, surrounded by a tapestry of electronica. The visuals will only serve to make the Henry Le Boeuf Hall look even more prestigious. The ideal opportunity to see this great producer – who has worked with Brian Eno and Coldplay in the past – as you have never seen him before.


BURNT FRIEDMAN & JAKI LIEBEZEIT
28/9, 1.00, Terarken
Burnt Friedman & Jaki Liebezeit have a beautiful history together. Liebezeit made his name especially as the drummer of the legendary krautrock band Can, but was also involved in many other, often experimental electronica projects. Among others, he has collaborated with Jah Wobble, Philip Jeck, and Pierre Bastin. Friedman, on the other hand, has worked with people like Uwe Schmidt (aka AtomTM, Señor Coconut) and David Sylvian, and in addition to electronica also loves jazz and dub. Must see!


JUAN ATKINS
27/9, 23.30, Henry Le Boeuf Hall
Juan Atkins is a member of the legendary Belleville Three, along with Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, who put techno on the map from their hometown of Detroit. Moritz von Oswald is another great name. He made dozens of timeless techno classics under names like Maurizio, Basic Channel, and Quadrant. The collaboration between these two pioneers resulted in the enrapturing Borderland on which they not only share their techno knowledge, but also take great little jaunts into dub and jazz. Old school stuff!


VATICAN SHADOW
27/9, 1.30, Henry Le Boeuf Hall


E.D.M. (electronic dance music) can’t sound much darker than Vatican Shadow’s compositions. He performs techno blended with dark ambient and industrial soundscapes. With titles like “Al Qaeda Possess Nuclear Capacity”, “Cairo Is a Haunted City”, and “Tonight Saddam Walks Amidst Ruins”, he clearly doesn’t hide his fascination for the conflicts in the Middle East. On 21 October, he will release the new “Remember Your Black Day”. After his set, you can also see Silent Servant – on the same label – perform live with the legendary techno producer Karl O’Connor, aka Regis.


TERROR DANJAH VS. CHAMPION
28/9, 2.00, Terarken

The AB’s Dub Be Good To Me series has spread its tentacles far and wide. You’ll also get to hear dub inspired music at Bozar Electronic Arts Festival. The clash of the titans will be unmissable. That is to say, grime veteran Terror Danjah versus UK funky specialist Champion. Their Sons of Anarchy EP for Kode9’s hip Hyperdub label, on which a lot of artists use dub as their raw material, speaks volumes. If you aren’t being jolted all over the place, you must have pretty firm feet. Hotter than hot!

Bozar Electronic Arts Festival • 26 > 28/9, pass: €32, Bozar, rue Ravensteinstraat 23, Brussel/Bruxelles, 02-507.82.00, www.bozar.be

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Read more about: Muziek, Events & Festivals

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