The Bad

While the number of bad things about the 2006 edition of Mutek were modes, a few do bear mentioning. Pity poor Simon Pyke, for example, whose Freeform set was handcuffed by a choice of venue: his buoyant Afro-dance material was better suited for the club where its seductive pull could have come into play, rather than in the seated Ex-Centris setting.

Many artists posed ambitious solutions to the “laptop problem” that has dogged past Muteks-the painfully dull sight of an onstage performer isolated behind a laptop-by adding an onscreen complement. Unfortunately, this scenario introduces a different set of problems. Notwithstanding the fact that an engrossing display can camouflage musical mediocrity, a performance now becomes even more pre-programmed than before, with spontaneity even further removed from the equation. Many such presentations favor a rapid-fire montage of abstract imagery (the endless permutations of geometric shapes and patterns that is already a hoary cliché) that quickly grows tedious; video laptoppers might consider screening a Werner Herzog film or two to be reminded of the power of a single sustained image.

Muddy sound quality plagued a number of sets. Tracks from Eliot Lipp’s Tacoma Mockingbird predictably dominated his appearance, but the mix almost buried synths that blaze so brightly on disc, and similar problems afflicted concerts at Mutek’s new home, Fonderie Darling. Near stage front, sound quality was decent enough, but elsewhere it verged on monolithic sludge. Consequently, the relentless boom-boom began to sound generic, the sound gradually melding into one long uninterrupted and indistinguishable mass.

It’s inevitable for an event of such magnitude (over 70 artists in 40-odd performances) to settle into a formula but Mutek’s programming (experimental and dance splits, panels, and workshops) has become too predictable—that doesn’t mean stagnant necessarily, but the element of surprise has gone missing. Having said that, any organization that arranges for workshop attendees to learn about mastering from Stefan Betke and to be introduced to Ableton Live deserves whatever applause comes its way.

However, the 2006 model did appear to refashion itself as more of a dance than experimental music festival, an imbalance somewhat corrected by the closing night’s ~scape showcase. Even so, the 2003 turntable set that included Philip Jeck and Marina Rosenfeld seemed par for the Mutek course at the time, but such a set would seem anomalous in 2006. Has the supposedly experimentally disposed electronic genre settled into a dance rut, with Mutek’s programming merely a reflection of that change? Or has Mutek strayed from its originating vision in order to more easily satisfy a larger audience? The obligatory Ex-Centris nights start to seem like token nods to experimentalism, because otherwise the festival increasingly resembles a conventional electronic music festival. Or is it simply the case that, this year, there was nothing as unusual as Robert Henke’s “Studies For Thunder”?

The Ugly

There’s really only one thing to speak of here (though the time-wasting set from provocateur 1-Speed Bike comes close), but the absolute horror of the thing more than compensates for its singular status. Detroit Grand Pubahs, an execrable singer-guitar-laptop outfit that followed Lawrence and Mossa on Saturday night’s Metropolis bill. Why Mutek would stain its reputation by including an act so astonishingly bad is mystifying. Witnessing the vocalist barking offensive Neanderthal drivel and the guitarist’s raunchy soloing was almost unendurable. The acts that followed, electro-primitive noise duo Noze and Thomas Brinkmann, sounded all the better for coming after such a travesty.

The Conclusion

Whatever the caveats, it’s Mutek’s community spirit that ultimately makes it a bona fide experience instead of a mere concert series. Listeners and artists mingle freely, a casual spirit reigns, and crowd totals are never so large that claustrophobia sets in. People dance, talk, and drift in and out, while the music relentlessly rolls on with only the briefest of interruptions between sets, the music—an endless, hours-long stream that sometimes becomes a mere backdrop to the social interaction. The city’s warm spirit contributes to the vibe-that a “one nation under a groove” mentality fleetingly brought to fruition. Beyond that, any festival that can convene the talents of Pierre Bastien, Modeselektor, Jelinek, and Dandy Jack earns it accolades.

Ron Schepper