Two stages dominate my Detroit electronic music palette for the first day of Movement, Saturday, May 29th 2010. The Vitamin Water Main Stage is a safe bet throughout the entire day and a great place to start; especially since Matthew Hawtin (12-2), brother of Richie Hawtin, has the only set starting right at noon. It should be an interesting 2 hour set for an artist mostly known for his minimalistic visual art and texturous ambient sets. The Movement Torino Stage is also well stacked and has some great talent and sounds.

Mark Ernestus

The Rhythm & Sound (2-5) set directly following Matthew Hawtin should range from chilled out reggae grooves to deeper house and techno: Von Oswald and Ernestus’ Rhythm & Sound recordings are much more dub-influenced and less techno-orientated than the duo’s previous, and more legendary, dub-techno recordings as Basic Channel and Von Oswald’s solo work as Maurizio. Ah, great way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon in Detroit.

Picking up the Scion (5-6:30) live set after that is a perfect transition. This duo, René Löwe from Potsdam and Peter Kuschnereit from Berlin, started this experimental platform nearly 15 years ago though without much released material. After solo projects Scion live performances have been reintroduced and promise to bring serious dub techno.

Next I could catch Woody Mcbride (6:30-8) or make the short trek over to the Movement Torino stage and catch the tail end of long time Detroit resident Kenneth Thomas‘ (5-6:30) set. Only on the assumption that his set will go more progressive to techno and not trancy. Remember Kenny it’s the D.

Martyn

More than likely I’ll travel riverside to the Red Bull Academy Stage to catch Martyn (6-7:30) and get my dubstep fill for the weekend. DZ (4:30-6) , the previous set at this stage, pulls some good dubstep but I just don’t care for MCs over Drum & Bass and Dubstep sets these days. I may also stick around for the Exclusion (7:30-9) set, depending on where the crew is at. Typically half are the die hard drum & bass fans all closely nestled together, bumping shoulders and staking claim to their spot a top the spiraling concrete stoop adjacent the (one) stage dedicated to their chosen genre. The other half can move freely, stretching our legs and scenery while bouncing from stage to stage, experiencing the lush sounds from Detroit techno, deep house, minimal and just plain bangin techno.

Following Kenneth on the Torino stage is Kirk Degiorgio (7:30-9) who has some solid techno releases on Planet E and ART. My inclinations point towards a groovy tech house set.

Next is Marco Carola (9-11), one of the world’s premier techno DJs. With a vast array of production credits and a whole host of labels under his belt (Design, 1000, Zenit, Question, Do.Mi.No) Marco Carola has emerged in the last decade to be one of Italy’s most influential exponents of techno and electronic music.

Theo Parrish

I may get a sudden rush of Detroit soul and check out Theo Parrish (9-11) at the Made in Detroit Stage. Though it’s the underground stage, known for its horribly echoing sets with bass kicks ominously tapping your shoulder throughout this concrete cave. Plagued by incredibly high humidity created from a dense haze of human moisture that starts to pick up just as the night falls. Though Made in Detroit has worked with Paxahau to redesign the stage and improve sound quality for 2010. Well overdue.

The highlight of the evening takes us back to where we started at the Vitamin Water Main Stage. The return of Plastikman live (11-12). This set promises to bring back much of what made the infamous early Detroit Plastikman parties great with an integration of new technology, audio, visual and crowd participation via the Plastikman SYNC app.

Vitamin Water Main Stage: Big names and a nice mix of genres and performers. Lives sets and one not to miss: the return of Plastikman live in Detroit, we’ve been waiting a long time for this…

Beatport: Three years ago I could hardly leave this stage, then dominated by Minus label artists and zeitgeist minimal. Last year Ellen Allien poised her set as my favorite for the weekend. This year (for Saturday at least) it’s the techno-pop stage. Instead of pool side in Ibiza it’s riverside in Detroit.

Made in Detroit: Deep, House, Minimal and Detroit. Theo Parrish to close it out. Should be nice.

Red Bull Music Academy: As last year, Drum & Bass and MCs dominate this riverside stage. This year also sees the introduction of Dubstep to Movement.

Movement Torino: A solid groovy day here, seems like a hand picked sets from the Innovator Derrick May. Starts off progressive, moves into Tech House and Techno.

There is an iPhone or iPod app available for free on iTunes for Movement 2010, Detroit’s Electronic Music Festival. It’s actually a great idea and an excellent resource for festival goers. You can check out the entire festival lineup, the entire lineup by stage or the lineup for each day by stage. From the lineup pages you can check out artists bios and visit links to websites, videos on YouTube and music on Beatport and iTunes.

The most useful feature on the Movement app is the ability to add artist’s sets to your own schedule: a better alternative than carrying around an outdated, tree-killing, printed schedule or aimlessly scratching your head while wandering to your next destination. There’s a map of the Movement festival grounds and a list of ‘official’ (aka ‘not interested’) afterparties. Also included is a cool friend finder that allows you to move an “I AM HERE” arrow around pictures of the festival stages and maps to help your friends find you. Sounds corny? Maybe. Have I spent more festival time trying to find people than hearing music? Some years. Will I use it? Come on.

To pass the time in between bass pounding sets the app includes a music note icon in the upper left hand corner which allows you to stream Paxahau radio anywhere.

Fucking technology… and thankfully the wallpaper for the app is not that creepy, emo Plastikman live promo pic of Richie. He looks like the gay younger brother from Wedding Crashers. You know, the one that likes to paint…

Visit iTunes to download the Movement 2010 App.

Finally the schedule for Movement 2010, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival is out. Click on the images for larger view.

Movement 2010 Schedule Cover

Movement 2010 Schedule Saturday

Movement 2010 Schedule Sunday

Movement 2010 Schedule Monday

View/Download the entire Movement 2010, Detroit Electronic Music Festival schedule in PDF form.

Movement Electronic Music Festival 2010

The initial Movement (aka DEMF) 2010 lineup has been announced and it looks impressive. As it should, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival will be celebrating a decade in existence this Memorial Day weekend, May 29th-31st, 2010. Headlining the festival will be classic Detroit pioneer’s such as Kevin Saunderson‘s Inner City, the return of Richie Hawtin‘s Pastikman (not seen in Detroit since 1994) and Juan Atkins‘ Model 500.

Rightfully so the festival is staying true to the rich techno heritage of Detroit with homegrown artists like Robert Hood, Kenny Larkin, Theo Parrish, Rick Wilhite, DJ Rolando and Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir.

2010 will also see plenty of international electronic stars as well: A-Trak, Chris Liebing, Claude VonStroke, DJ Sneak, Joel Mull, Martyn, Simian Mobile Disco, Kid Sister, Rex Sepulveda and more.

I’m glad to see the return of many more “live” acts; something we’ve seen in the past at the festival, but I think has been missing the last few years. The full list is below… and still more to come.

A-Trak
Acid Didj
Agoria
Anthony “Shake” Shakir
Cassy
Chris Liebing
Claude VonStroke
Dan Bain
Derrick Carter
DJ Dick
DJ Godfather
DJ Hype
DJ Koze
DJ Pierre
DJ Sneak
Francesco Tristano – Live
Hudson Mohawke
Ida Engberg
Inner City
ItaloBoyz
Jamie Jones
Jennifer Xerri
Joel Mull
John Acquaviva
John Johr
Josh Wink
K-HAND
Kenny Larkin – Live
Kid Sister – Live
Kraak & Smaak
Kyle Hall
Larry Heard
Luke Hess – Live
Magda
Mark Ernestus (Rhythm & Sound)
Martin Buttrich – Live
Martinez Bros
Martyn
Matthew Hawtin
Michael Mayer
Minx
Model 500
Mr. Scruff
Onur Ozer
Paco Osuna
Phat Kat & Guilty Simpson w/ Will Sessions [Live]
Pretty Lights – Live
Punisher
Radio Slave
Recloose
Rex Sepulveda
Richie Hawtin presents Plastikman Live
Rick Wilhite
Rob Hood – Live
Rolando
Ryan Crosson
Scion – Live
Secrets – Live
Simian Mobile Disco
Stacey Pullen
Starski&Clutch
Theo Parrish
Woody Mcbride

The new live electronic performance from Richie Hawtin, Plastikman Live, will be appearing at this years Movement 2010 (Detroit Electronic Music Fest, aka DEMF). The performance in Detroit will be one of a handful of dates that will form the first Plastikman Live world tour. The tour, which plans to take Hawtin’s already technologically advanced performances to the next level with the combination of visual art and interaction, debuts at the Timewarp festival on March 27th, 2010. Hawtin plans to put his experience with experimentation to use by taking what he has learned from past audio-visual-interactive shows (Plastikman @ Mutek ’04, Timewarp ’05-07, Contakt ’08) and combining them into a condensed one hour performance. The tour sets will be a reinterpretation of all Plastikman material from Sheetone to Closer in an attempt to recapture the essence of  the infamous early Plastikman parties in Detroit. An excellent addition to the 10 year anniversary of Movement, Detroit’s Electronic Music Festival.