The band promises to play tracks from its LP ('Party Store') dedicated to music by Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Carl Craig, Mike Banks and Kevin Saunderson, but we also wouldn't mind hearing the group's cover of 'Lost Love,' a track by compatriot Detroit dance punk duo Adult.
Also inspired: the return of Flying Lotus, who has killed every Detroit crowd he's faced (he does the same all over the world), Sweden's Little Dragon, original techno-hippie-rave project Space Time Continuum and ultimate old school hardware loving Detroit electro titans Aux 88. Also don't miss Monolake, the Berlin-based project headed by Robert Henke, who is in part responsible for the development of Ableton Live software. Now there's a nerd we can get behind.
More good pickings: Second wave Chicago house champ Glenn Underground, Detroit house tastemaker Michael Geiger, two princes of Motor City house, Delano Smith and Terrence Parker, and the princess of the local scene, DJ Minx. That's a lotta house. We like it. For fresh foreign flavors in a similar vibe, stick around for Space Dimension Controller from the Netherlands. He just a kid, and has shared files with one of our own kids, Kyle Hall, to whom he's been sort of compared.
More, more, more? OK. How about Richie Hawtin and team Minus, including Gaiser, Ambivalent, Marc Houle, Heartthrob, JPLS and bro Matthew Hawtin. Did we miss anybody? No, but the return of former Minus MVP Clark Warner, now based in Denver, is a guaranteed tasty treat for discerning ears.
Paul Kalkbrenner, the subject of a recent acclaimed German film about a Berlin techno star, will be making his festival debut; and Venetian Snares, Richard Devine and Croatian electro wiz N-Ter should all bend (or break) a few circuits in expected raucous live appearances.
Badass dance commander of extreme versatility, Detroit's Brian Gillespie, returns to the festival, as does Matt Abbott's Secrets, UR's Mark Flash and nospectacle (which, for purposes of full disclosure, includes your bleary-eyed blogger and columnist as a member). The group, which played the fest in 2008, will be joined by friend and collaborator Markus Guentner (Kompakt, Ware, Sending Orbs), who played a solo DJ set at the 2006 festival. He's fab, one of the greatest of all pop ambient producers of the 00s. And he's fluent in techno and house on top of it all. Come one, come all. We'll look for you from the redesigned Underground Stage. Till then, get some sleep. You'll need it.
