Additional Information
Let’s not beat around the bush, let’s get down to business, that is to say, getting the inside scoop from Vincent Lemieux, who shared the task of programming the 26th MUTEK with Marie-Laure Saidani and Alain Mongeau. Valentina Magaletti, Kevin Saunderson, Sam Shackleton, Nicola Cruz, and others at Topdown Dialectic are among the must-sees! We won’t be listing the entire event scheduled for Tuesday, August 19th to Sunday, August 24th, but the list here can easily fuel you for a week of music and digital creativity. Read carefully!
PAN M 360: How many MUTEKs is this for you?
Vincent Lemieux: My twenty-fifth! Actually, the first year, I was selling tickets there. I met Alain (Mongeau) then, and I started working on programming the second year.
PAN M 360: Is there a programming angle this year?
Vincent Lemieux: After our 25th anniversary, we’re simply trying to do our job well. Touch wood because our statistics tell us we’ll have as many visitors as last year. So, we’re trying to maintain the same momentum as last year.
PAN M 360: And it continues! So let’s not get bogged down in speculation! Let’s try to identify the absolute must-sees from this lineup. We’re listening!
Vincent Lemieux: Among the featured artists this year, Valentina Magaletti will be performing three times. She’s doing the opening set, and she’s also part of the Holy Tongue project with producer Al Wootton (formerly known as Deadboy), the band, and Japanese bassist and producer Zongamin (Susumu Mukai). Valentina Magaletti works a lot, she’s in great demand, and has lots of projects. She lives in London and released the album Estradas with Nidia, a Portuguese artist. And she’s doing a show on Wednesday with Upsammy, a Dutch artist, at Nocturne 2. We tried to make the most of her suggestions because we’ve been wanting to have her at MUTEK for a few years now.
Nicola Cruz is an artist we regularly invite. He also gives three performances including a first Tuesday outside on the Esplanade in Experience 1, he plays this Tuesday, gives a solo performance on Saturday in Metropolis 2 and later finds himself in a duo with the Korean artist Machina, this Sunday at the SAT in Nocturne 5. They have just started working together, they are at their first sets.
We are very excited to have Kevin Saunderson’s e-Dancer project performing live next Friday at Metropolis 1. He will be DJing on his behalf on Thursday at the Esplanade Tranquillité for Expérience 3. He will also be performing with his son, Dantiez Saunderson, for the e-Dancer project, which he has been presenting internationally for years. We contacted his agent, offered what we could, and the agent accepted because he felt the context was ideal for this specific show. We are extremely happy about it. Montreal artist Gayance (Aïsha Vertus), who currently lives in Portugal, will perform her first set with a full band at MUTEK Montréal this Friday at the SAT during Nocturne 3. We’ve been talking about it with her for a while, and she’s now ready to perform it for the first time with seven musicians.
Among the must-sees, British artist Sam Shackleton is giving two performances this year. He first performs with Polish clarinetist and producer Waclaw Zimpel (who also plays with James Holden), and Indian singer Siddartha Belmannu, as part of the A/Visions 2 series, ideal in the context of the very good listening environment at the Théâtre Maisonneuve. And Shackleton will give his solo set Sunday evening at the SAT, as part of Nocturne 5.
The A/Visions 2 lineup on Saturday features Montrealer Myriam Boucher to enhance the visual dimension of this specific performance. Myriam Boucher will have the same mandate to accompany Yu Su at the SAT on Wednesday, as part of Nocturne 1, and will take the stage in Nocturne 3, also on Thursday at the SAT.
For the closing night (Nocturne 5 at the SAT), there’s also American Topdown Dialectic, whom I’ve been waiting for for a long time. The album, released in 2018, is quite special; all the tracks are five minutes long. I’m really curious to hear it; the artist doesn’t give any interviews and doesn’t reveal his real identity; he offers several fascinating projects.
The Canadian duo Tush (Kamilah Apong and Jamie Kidd), who will be joined by a female vocalist, makes quite melodic house music; it’s very beautiful, and even Matthew Herbert remixed one of their tracks. Among the unknown projects submitted to MUTEK, we selected it.
Throughout the submissions, we spotted Cleo Leigh, who is from Nova Scotia and enrolled in the Incubator, MUTEK’s mentoring program, initiated by our fellow programmer Marie-Laure Saidani.
From Vancouver, we selected E + EO, Ensemble, Ephemeral Objects, and IHA, an audiovisual duo.
For Experience 6, on Sunday at the Esplanade, we invited our dear Montreal friend Salima Bouaraour (Shadya) and her colleague Samuel Ricciuti (Dog Bless You), who form the duo Safia Nihil and manage the Kito.Kat label.
There’s also NikNak, an Afro-British artist invited to Nocturne 4, who intrigues me enormously. Alain saw her at a festival. She’s a turntablist, and therefore a scratch artist. But she’s not hip-hop; she’s more techno. She’ll be at the SAT on Saturday, as part of Nocturne 4.
I could go on much longer, but I’ll stop with ROLROLROL. It’s the “naive computer jazz” project of Dutch producer Jameszoo, who has recorded on the Brainfeeder label. It’s a mix of house music with some great keyboards. A real favourite!
