I arrived to Metropolis for Nocturne 4 to the pleasant beats of Stephen Beaupré, whose former collaborator in Deadbeat was playing at the SAT at the same time, incidentally. His set quickly ended and I made my way to the intimate Savoy room to check out Babe Rainbow, whose vaguely acid-house tunes had everyone dancing. Somehow his tracks are very fresh and I get the feeling I’ll be hearing about this guy a lot in the near future.
I hurried back down to catch Rocketnumbernine. They delivered a live set of rock’n’roll-tinged electro that became increasingly intense, making way for Four Tet’s Kieren Hebden himself. What a delight to see him join the duo! The collective sound evolved into a dark and experimental one, which felt repetitive at times in a cyclical way, finely-meshed, consistent and flowing organically.
Four Tet’s solo set was powerful, and combined the creepiness of a David Lynch film with the urgency of moving out of the way of a speeding train. Waiting all these years to see him live was worth it, and witnessing the eclectic and obscure sounds live was better than I’d hoped. He smiled satisfactorily as he got off stage. Everyone around me agreed, as did a friend I ran into the next day – just like most of the big MUTEK acts this year, it was so, so awesome.
The following act, Elektro Guzzi, blew me away. I know I’ve been saying this a lot but holy cow, they were so incredible!! The light show accompanying the three-piece’s raw live set was practically blinding and punctuated their songs perfectly. This act was a surprise for me as I wasn’t expecting a group I’d never heard of to be as good, if not better (dare I say it?), than one of the most important acts on the bill. I was planning on leaving after Four Tet but Guzzi helped me stay an extra 45 minutes, shaking it like a crazy person, due to the sheer loudness. They just command respect and awe, how could I leave?
Unfortunately, though, I didn’t have the energy to stay for James Holden, since I’d had an earful and my body has been aching from all the dancing with strangers and new friends. The night was consistently amazing, each act having perfected their sound and knowing exactly what they were doing, which can also be said about the MUTEK organizers. Props to them for putting on yet another incredible festival! I can’t wait for next year.
By Nairi K.
