Movement 2011

  • Published
    Jun 14, 2011
  • Words
    Resident Advisor
  • Share
  • While you might have been able to hear the goings on in Detroit at Hart Plaza around Memorial Day this year, it hardly substitutes for actually experiencing Detroit—at the festival proper and elsewhere. Our intrepid reporters once again went into the eye of the techno storm for a weekend. This is their story of how it all went down.
    Friday
    Smart Bar & TV Lounge's Movement Opening Party Photo credit: Hillary Fox It was nearly 2 AM when I exited my road-weary vehicle and strode into TV Lounge. Above the din of the front room's crowded bar, something moved me towards the outside patio. Like a beat-moth to classic-track flame, I was powerless to avoid the electro-bounce rhythms of Chicken Lips' classic "He Not In," as Smart Bar's resident globe-trotting Chicago ex-pat Sassmouth rocked the crowd with her oft-partner in crime Punisher, who deftly smoothed things out tagging in with DJ Phono's "Gone." These leading ladies of techno mined the sonic depths, delivering a fitting baptism for the weekend to unfold. Meanwhile, inside the larger mod-styled red room, Justin Long offered a pounding set, delivered in his usual human metronome bounce before Akufen got all squiggy with it. But the real treat was upstairs, past the bathroom and storeroom where a near-hidden set of stairs emptied into the decrepit upstairs room, were Luke Hess and Brian Kage rocked the busted-up ceiling tile and cracked floor charm of the dirtiest room in the D. Shutting down at 4 AM in preparation for the later nights to follow, Smart Bar and TV Lounge's opening party left me primed for the weekend to come. Duke Shin
    Saturday
    Movement 2011 Day 1: VitaminWater stage Photo credit: Cheyenne Bosco The first day opened with word that one of the most anticipated bookings had cancelled with DJ Harvey replaced by Paul Woolford. Festival revelers eager for a deeper bounce, however, got their wish as Metro Area's Morgan Geist (the bald one) and Darshan Jesrani (the not bald one) took to the enormous stage dropping Carl Craig's remix of Theo Parrish's "Falling Up" to great delight, and following up with unexpected doses of acid and bass. Next, the sartorially savvy members of live funk/house trio Tortured Soul transitioned seamlessly into their set, with John-Christian Urich leaning in to drop crooning vocals over the metered rhythm of his drumming, and bassist J-Kriv funking along with keyboardist Ethan White helping to get the crowd to bop along in spontaneous groove circles on the main floor, despite the healthy precipitation that grew heavier during their set. I sought shelter as the soggy dancers indifferent to the weather grooved on through Kerri Chandler. By nightfall, though, the skies finally relented, and the once-great Felix Da Housecat banged and electro-trashed his way through a peak-time set heavy with strobes and synth stabs. Haters could contend that Felix's banger of a set sounded more like the death-rattle of his post 2002 transgressions (was he ever better than his Excursions mix?) but there was no denying the kinetic energy sprayed out sonically to the hands-in-the-air crowd who were up for it and 'avin it. Duke Shin Movement 2011 Day 1: Movement Torino stage Photo credit: Amin KO Beydoun The first of the weekend's rain showers hit Detroit Saturday afternoon, driving many of the attendees to leave the other stages and seek the shelter of Movement Torino's underground setting. Cio D'or greeted the congested mass with an icy grin as it flowed into her subterranean mousetrap. Her subtle techno took on a whole new dimension over the stage's huge soundsystem, and she raised a fist in victory with her final bass drop. Kero took over and changed the mood considerably with his kinetic glitchy breaks, but unfortunately the surroundings did him no favors. The acoustics of the space made a mess of the low end and the height of the stage meant that most of the people watching couldn't see him triggering his live parts via the breathtaking Monome 512. The end of the night was a display of brain power, as Richard Devine and Monolake each pushed the envelope of experimental music—fashioning sound using techniques that soared over the heads of everyone in the room (literally and figuratively). Mark Strauss Circo Loco Detroit 2011 Photo credit: Christopher Soltis Isn't it almost like returning to the scene of a crime when you're back at it in the same locale, two nights in a row? Whatever. This is a whole new shit show (not to be confused with The Shit Show) involving some of your favorite debauched tech-leaning deck technicians. Jamie Jones set up shop in the red room, inciting shoulder rolls and smiles with his tech-funk fusion of syrupy sweet sounds and thick, groovily effective but never-rushed rhythms. Cassy rocked out next, pitching up tempo and urgency, as back upstairs in the nefarious hidden room, Stacey Pullen played to an initially small but enthusiastic crowd that filtered in heavier as party-goers found the secretive stairwell past the storage racks by the bathroom. Insulated by a row of lounge chairs to keep the shaky floor from skipping records around the DJ table, Pullen cued tracks as he bounced along, hand over phone-in-ear, his natural ease working the mixer and coaxing the crowd. Norm Talley would take over next after what seemed like hours, and light began to peek through the blocked windows. Truthfully, sunup had already come, and the terrace had opened up again outside, sound booming into the still-cool and sunny Detroit morning. Duke Shin CLR What could be a more perfect afterhours option for the techno enthusiast than the lineup at the CLR party? Following a solid opening set by DROID Behavior's Drumcell, Speedy J and Chris Liebing brought their killer brand of pummeling techno as Collabs to the gothic-style ballroom at Elysium. This room was all about fist-pumping partiers dancing to chugging 4/4 beats, massive bass drops and Chris Liebing's ubiquitous gigantic grin. In the basement, meanwhile, Radio Slave and Marcel Dettmann played an unexpected tag set for the duration of the night, with each DJ contributing one record at a time. This set was so indescribably right for the location; I couldn't tear myself away for the majority of the night to revisit the techno beat-down upstairs. Early on, Edwards's deep heady house and garage-centric tracks seemed perfectly balanced by Dettmann's darker techno. As both DJs slowly warmed up the floor, they continued to add in a few more classics like DBX's "Bleep" and "Losing Control" and Kraftwerk's "Numbers," generating the kind of ebb and flow rarely heard within the context of an extended back-to-back set. The pair barely spoke to each other the entire night, letting their records do the talking. Elly Rifkin
    Sunday
    Movement 2011 Day 2: Red Bull stage Photo credit: Christopher Soltis The early sets of the Red Bull stage have over the years been some of the best. The stylish heady sounds tend to make sense at that time of the day—the moment when everyone is warming back up into things and the mind has to be engaged before the body follows. Com Truise and Space Dimension Controller fit the bill perfectly on Sunday, causing a nod from everyone in the area. Soul Clap took over from there, starting with a tasteful tribute to the late Gil Scott-Heron, and then grabbing hold of the laidback vibe and transforming it into a house party. The highlight of the stage though has to go to Beardyman, who one-upped every single artist in terms of pure musicianship. His set comprised of processed vocals recorded live and layered together to build full tracks on-the-fly. This gave him the freedom to channel N.W.A., James Blake, and the Count from Sesame Street—and have it actually make sense. By the time he finished, even Gaslamp Killer's crazy high energy performance seemed a little less impressive than it should have. Mark Strauss Movement 2011 Day 2: Beatport stage Photo credit: Amin KO Beydoun In some previous festival incarnations, the Beatport stage towering over the grassy riverbank could always be counted on for a club-heavy slew of house, tech-house, techno—heavy 4/4 churning beats that, despite the high talent level, threatened to drub out crowds by nightfall. This year the Beatport stage welcomed the likes of Dr. Atmo and Pulshar to bring more subdued vibes to the early slots, with Pulshar's fellow, more upbeat Desolat labelmates to follow, in Livio & Roby and tINI. But like the shifty winds above, Martin Buttrich took to the stage in an unpredictable manner. The weekend's previous dampness had turned the usual grassy areas to muck, further packing the dry areas on the dance floor in front of the stage. Starting with tracky, tech filler to soulful, melancholic churners, the crowd, already up for it, reacted to the growing thickness in bass. As the winds increased and whispers of weather warnings circulated, a cacophony of sirens blasted through buildups, with Buttrich coaxing form from the formlessness, maintaining a growling, subtle menace of low-end goodness, even when dicing up high hats and playing with harmonic beauty like on "Hunter." Despite never reaching a full boil in tempo or intensity, Buttrich heated up the Beatport masses, inciting a kinetic, syncopated bounce that rolled strongly through every smiling face. Guti took to the stage next, announcing his arrival bathed in blue light shining through the fog machine in the now-dark night, a sultry Castilian guitar replacing the post-apocalyptic tech-menace as Loco Dice waited in the wings to close out. Duke Shin /deteksupport/ With my feet aching from dancing to Marcel Dettmann's rib-rattling DJ set at the Movement Torino stage, I collapsed for an unplanned nap at my hotel during the early hours of /deteksupport/. On this night, The Works featured a three-room lineup of Clink and Minus artists, reSOLUTE residents and friends, and Detroit locals. Upon late arrival at 4 AM, the outdoor space at was already shut down, but both indoor rooms had ample space to dance and surprisingly clear sound. The steamy main room was grooving to the headlining live/DJ set courtesy of Butane and Heartthrob. Butane was playing records over Heartthrob's live PA, and the consensus is that the duo should have played separately or spent more time practicing the performance. As Maetrik finished one of the best DJ sets I had ever heard him play, Perlon legend Sammy Dee took over the front room for a disappointingly short set of atypically gritty and funky electro-tinged tech house (flawlessly mixed, of course). Next up was Bulgarian acid house wizard KiNK. Armed with Ableton Live and his Akai-APC40, he performed with endearing charisma and exuberance, delivering a set driven by on-the-fly percussion programming and squelchy analog-styled synths. This raucous '90s-inspired jack-a-thon was the highlight of the party and was worth the high price of admission. Elly Rifkin
    Monday
    Need I Say More? 6 The annual Need I Say More? party at the Old Miami is always a sure bet for a blissful daytime respite from the grueling pace of the Movement festival. Presented each year by Visionquest members Ryan Crosson, Lee Curtiss, Seth Troxler and Shaun Reeves, the open-air gathering is, for many, a destination in and of itself. The perennial decision you need to make is whether you go straight to the venue following whatever pervious afterparty you just attended or whether you nap and risk missing the 7 - 10AM acts. I opted for a nap and 10:30 AM arrival, but succumbed to the intense heat around 1 PM, returning to my hotel room for some more R&R. Having attended every edition of Need I Say More, I regret making the freshman mistakes of arriving late and leaving early. I missed a reportedly impressive tag set from Craig Richards, Cassy and Ryan Elliott, and only heard bits of sets from A Tale of Us and Benoit & Sergio. Let me impart a lesson to you all: never leave the Old Miami early unless you're sure of the exact lineup. The sets you miss are likely the ones worthy of skipping some of the festival, depriving yourself of much needed sleep, and suffering from painful sunburn. Elly Rifkin Movement 2011 Day 3: Beatport stage Photo credit: Christopher Soltis The heat on Monday slowed everything and everyone down. The people coming in the gates did the zombie walk across Hart Plaza and those who made it over to the Beatport tent were treated to a fantastic warm up set from the perennial Motown native Clark Warner. He flexed his music knowledge muscles with a tasteful transition from ambient to deeper techno, successfully wooing the overheated and overtired crowd to get back into the swing of things. Once Art Department came on in the early evening Hart Plaza was back to its active self and was treated to a chuggy playful techno set by the duo. For some reason they ran ten minutes into Justin Martin's set which earned them some sideways glances and a twitter scolding from Claude Von Stroke. It was all good, though, as Martin played an absolutely scorching 90 minute set of the trademark Dirtybird sound, the highlight being a beautiful remix of Sade's "Love Is Found." All was forgiven, it seemed. And it was soon all over, a fitting end to yet another crazy weekend in Detroit. Mark Strauss
RA