Published
Thu, Sep 7, 2006, 06:30
- Is summer over already? The freakish heat might have passed, but there's still some likely candidates to plan your weekends around. Here's our top ten picks for September...
Whoa, is summer over already? In the northern hemisphere, the freakish heat might have passed, but there’s there still some likely festival candidates to plan your weekends around. Unsurprisingly, there are fewer fields and beaches and more clubs and venues this month, but at least you won’t get sand in your drink, and you can be civilised and catch a taxi home instead of sleeping on the dirt.
This month’s top ten is dominated by the small cities. The big parties are mostly over, but residents of Seattle, Florence, Lille and The Hague are in luck with smaller, more niche festivals happening all month. Our picks are a varied bunch, too, with dance acts mixed up with other genres at most of the best offerings. And the nominees are…
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10. NEXTECH FESTIVAL
Florence, Italy
September 21-23
Nextech is a new festival for trainspotters of all persuasions: it takes place in a 19th century railway station in Florence, Italy. The lineup includes Mouse on Mars, The Drama Society, The Liars, Ellen Allien & Apparat, Mirko from Lazy Fat People, Marc Houle, Pascal Feos as well as a swag of local talent, but if the three days of sounds gets to be all too much, well, remember you've got one of Europe’s most beautiful cities on your doorstep. Nice.
[Event Details: Nextech Festival]
9. SAN FRANCISCO LOVEFEST
San Francisco, USA
September 23
The San Francisco version of the Love Parade returns for a third year albeit with a name change. This year, most of the float DJs are locals so if you're hoping to catch an international as the parade winds its way down Market Street, your best bet is the '1 Love, Many Beats' float with Rennie Pilgrem, Lee Burridge, Lee Coombs, Hyper and Jondi & Spesh. Following the parade, the party continues into the night at clubs in and around San Francisco including the official afterparty with Paul Oakenfold, Junkie XL, Bad Boy Bill, DJ Rap, Above & Beyond and more. Want to get a headstart on the action? Local breaks and progressive house parties also begin on the Wednesday before the parade as part of LoveWeek.
[RA article: Meet me at the LoveFest] [Event Details: San Francisco LoveFest]
8. MOTOMIX
Sao Paulo, Brazil
September 16
Winter's over (does Brazil even have a winter?) and this month there's a fine-looking event called Motomix Festival at the Espaco das Americas, an event centre on the massive end of the scale in Sao Paulo. If you can get past the overt corporate sponsorship of a certain mobile phone giant, it seems that Sao Paolo is embracing European sounds with live performances from The MFA, Swayzak, Isolee, Modeselektor , Schneider TM as well as local studio whiz Gui Boratto. DJ sets come courtesy of Adam Freeland and Andrew Weatherall.
[Event Details: Motomix]
7. TODAYSART FESTIVAL
The Hague, The Netherlands
September 22-23
TodaysArt is the antithesis to the big name festivals usually associated with The Netherlands. Acts with names like The Servants of the Apocalyptic Goat Rave should be a big hint that Tiesto isn't going to pop up unexpectedly at this one. Instead expect contemporary dance, theatre, music, visual art/multimedia, film video and photography at this festival which is more a meeting of creative minds and an aural and visual feast for the senses. Best of the seventy or so music acts include Detroit legends Underground Resistance and Galaxy 2 Galaxy, Legowelt, Thomas Brinkmann, Akufen and Daniel Meteo.
[Event Details: TodaysArt Festival]
6. POPKOMM FESTIVAL
Berlin, Germany
September 20-22
Less a dance music festival than a great excuse to be in Berlin, the yearly Popkomm Fest is a three-day celebration of music from jazz to reggae held at various venues across the city. Now in its third year in the capital, the trade show side equation encompasses symposiums, exhibitions and schmoozing, but for those just wanting to dance, dance, dance there’s some great nights happening at the clubs including label showcases from M_nus, Get Physical, Bpitch Control, Sonar Kollektiv, Shitkatapult and Clone Records, mostly happening at the riverside club Watergate.
5. DECIBEL FESTIVAL
Seattle, USA
September 14-17
The Decibel Festival is the highlight of Seattle’s dance music calendar. Held over four days at various venues around the city, Decibel focuses on the moodier end of techno with club nights this year featuring Alex Smoke, Andreas Tilliander, Appendics.Shuffle, Apparat, Bola, Claude VonStroke, Green Velvet, Murcof, Speedy and Thomas Fehlmann. Okay, Green Velvet is not moody in the slightest but you get the idea. And if you make it out of bed in the afternoons, there are also conferences and workshops where you can debate the issues, listen to the experts and learn how to use all that software you’ve stolen.
[Event Details: Decibel Festival]
4. PITCH FESTIVAL
Mallorca, Spain
September 9
Mallorca's Pitch Festival briefly steals some of the attention from neighbouring Ibiza with an intimate one-day festival of house and techno. The festival has three stages including one hosted by Cologne's Kompakt Records, though sadly its head honcho Michael Mayer is absent from the line-up. Letting the workers do the work for him? Superpitcher, DJ Koze, Tobias Thomas, Ferenc, Reinhard Voight and Matias Aguayo & Roccness all play the Kompakt stage with laptoppers The MFA, techno veterans Carl Cox and Dave Clarke and house heads Erick Morillo, DJ Heather and Kevin Yost beefing up the other stages. Want to continue partying afterwards? Hop on the ferry to Ibiza and arrive just in time for We love... Sundays at Space. Sounds like a plan...
[Event Details: Pitch Festival]
3. LABYRINTH
Gunma, Japan
September 16
The Labyrinth is a doof with a difference: There’s no beefy security guys, no queue for the toilets and the soundsystem is of the Funktion One variety. Better yet is the lineup: this year Mathew Jonson, Minilogue, Ryan Elliott, DJ Three, Pier Bucci, Donnacha Costello and Kasey Taylor will make the trip up to Gunma (three hours from Tokyo) to wallow in the splendid Japanese countryside location. Ticket sales are limited to 1300 so get in quick.
[RA article: Hot line-up at Labyrinth] [Event Details: Labyrinth]
2. N.A.M.E FESTIVAL
Lille, France
September 21-23
N.A.M.E is an art and music festival happening over three weekends in Lille, Maubeuge and Dunkerque in the Northeast of France. Pick of the weekends is the first in Lille which has producers from a swag of the best record labels of the moment playing at cultural hub Tri Postal on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Expect to see RA's two most popular podcasters Troy Pierce and Dominik Eulberg Perlon's Zip, BPitch Control's Ellen Allien & Apparat and Sascha Funke, Crosstown Rebel's Damian Lazarus, Andre Kraml and 3 Channels and Kompakt's Superpitcher and Jonas Bering. Add to that electrohouse boffins Thomas Schumacher, Marc Romboy and DK7 and Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos, Herbert and Konrad Black and be prepared to be nursing a sore head on the drive back to Paris on Sunday.
[Event Details: N.A.M.E Festival]
1. BESTIVAL
Isle of Wight, England
September 8-10
If the sight of 10,000 Englishmen & women dressed as milkmaids and bumblebees doesn't put you off, get thee to the Isle of Wight for this weekend of eclectic shenanigans with hundreds of artists booked including the electronic likes of The Pet Shop Boys, Carl Cox, Ricardo Villalobos, Jimpster, Sasha, Brian Eno, Erol Alkan, Justice and Krafty Kuts. Complete with moustache competitions, campervans and walkabouts, Bestival takes our top prize for being a rare marriage of the best in music and quintessential English silliness (train strikes included.)
[RA article: Bestival saves the best till last][Event Details: Bestival]
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Honourable mentions: San Franciscans looking for an alternative to the LoveFest this month can catch the Summer Music Conference while the US eastern seaboard offers Ultra New York and the Virgin Festival. On the other side of the globe, Australians can check out the breaks-dominated Parklife Festival which is touring the main cities.