Saturday, July 16, 2011

Camp Bisco 10



This year's Camp was, like last year, an incredible live music experience to remember.  I recognized less bands going in, but I am glad that they like to change the line-up enough to create a completely different, yet equally awesome experience.  Since I confine this blog to music, I won't be reviewing anything about the festival aside from the amazing acts I got to see (in order of when I saw them):


Beats Antique - I only got to catch a small portion of this eclectic, tribal-influenced electronic band (and unfortunately missed their belly dancer).  However, Beats Antique has a great live presence, which to me seems to stem from a smooth synchronization of live drum set and DJing.  And the beats grooved really hard.  They were a great start!


Rusko - I was so looking forward to seeing Rusko again this year, but his set was cancelled due to touring conflicts and someone else was DJing his stuff so I took off.

SBTRKT - This was one of my favorite sets of the weekend.  SBTRKT had a rocky start, but after one or two songs, he had obviously found his groove and so did I.  The songs and his mixing style were wicked fresh and, to my surprise, more house to garage than dub.  I guess I was only familiar with his dub stuff, but the elements from both were there and they worked together really well.  The songs were deep and rich with refreshingly organic samples, especially in his beats.  SBTRKT was an act that I was very grateful to see put on a good, live DJ performance.  Mask and all.

The Disco Biscuits - I still have no idea what to make of the experience of seeing the Disco Biscuits live even though I have seen them twice now.  They're totally overwhelming to me after just three songs.  But they are incredibly good at making epic electronic/rock/jam music with an equally epic light show to match.

Skrillex - I did not have the highest expectations for Skrillex's live set, but I expected him to be at least better than most of the other, less popular, dubstep acts I have seen.  What a let down!  I did not expect Skrillex to be that lame live.  I absolutely love his recorded stuff, but Skrillex is not anywhere near as good live.  The reason why, I'd say, is he is pretty bad at mixing live.  His use of effects was predictable to the point that it was irritating and his timing and effect choices actually took away from the songs he was using.

Lotus - I stayed for this electro jam set very briefly because I had never heard Lotus before and decided to give it a try, but I couldn't get into it.  They were too light and jammy for me.

Break Science - finally had a chance to shine this year (at least compared to last year when Talib Kweli ruined their set).  They shared a set with a miffed RJD2, who seemed to be upset instead of excited that he was sharing the stage with the lesser-known band.  After a while, RJD2 did some of his songs by himself and then Break Science did the same.  I actually thought that Break Science was much better but I prefer their fusion of dubstep with live breakbeats to RJD2's personal style.  Plus, Break Science had a much more fun and exciting energy during their performance.  Sometimes that's going to count more than being a really good DJ.

Four Tet - was personally my favorite set at this year's Camp.  I had never seen him live before and ever since I learned he was on the line-up, I was hoping that perhaps his set would match to some extent, the genius of his recorded material.  I was blown away.  I had no idea that Four Tet actually would be just as incredible live as he is with his own song writing and producing.  Four Tet's mixing skills are by far the best I have witnessed live.  The actual set contained all of the genres he works with in his recorded material and beyond.  I couldn't believe the way he maneuvered his beats but I picked up on something that reminded me of Filastine's live set: both DJs would start at some point with a relatively slower beat (100-120 bpm) and push the tempo for awhile from song to song and make that insanely fast enough to layer a slower beat back on top.  I love this style of mixing.  Add on top of this some of the best on-the-spot effects manipulation around and you can be sure to have your mind blown.

Shpongle - I had heard nothing but amazing things about Shpongle's live performances and I had been looking forward to seeing them for a long time.  I am so glad that they lived up to their rep.  They are a super stylized group and have a very particular sound.  In fact, they reminded me of a lot of electronic groups of the 90s that I grew up listening to; everything from Enigma to Dido to Olive and all those old trip-hop bands, blending into the deep psychedelic atmosphere of their set.  I thought the instrumentation of the group was pretty strange, but somehow it created an immense sound.  Like most of the Main Stage acts, the had live instruments playing with electronic sampling (or DJing for the other acts).  Every detail worked and their energy was contagious.  But, even an hour and a half long set wasn't enough.  I would love to see a longer performance; I bet that's the real way to get the most out of seeing Shpongle live.

12th Planet - I had seen 12th Planet live in NYC this past winter and his set was awesome so I had some particular expectations from his performance at Camp.  Although his set wasn't as good as the last time, 12th Planet still rocked and had the whole tent dancing and going crazy, as he should.  I am impressed by his selection of songs and his mixing is great.  12th Planet knows how to fucking party.  He is one of my favorite dubstep DJs to see live.  If you get the chance, don't miss it!

Tobacco - I had some hopes about Tobacco but, their set was just ok.  The energy was pretty low and the songs weren't really doing anything for me.  Too bad!  I do like their remixes and original recorded stuff but I don't know what was up with their live set that night.

MSTRKRFT -  MSTRKRFT had a great set.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect, so I was pretty open and enjoyed taking it all in.  They were pumping out high energy electro like mad and are undoubtedly pros at DJing, making for an exhilarating performance.

Holy Ghost! - I can barely remember their set, but I remember that they were a lot of fun!  They have an incredible sound and great vibe.  They were one of my favorite bands to dance to!  I was surprised that they had a DJing set instead of a live band, but they were still solid.

Ghostland Observatory - was the surprise set of the weekend.  I had never heard of them before and didn't know what to expect.  As soon as I heard them from far away, I came over to check it out.  I don't normally like male singers, but their singer's voice is incredible and the effects they use on it are perfect.  Backing the vocals was the other half of the duo on drums and a sampler/synth.  Although the music was great, it was really this guy's voice that made it all incredible.  Ghostland Observatory is definitely a band I would love to see again.

Special Disco Version - I expected this collaboration of master DJs to be much better!  I came in expecting them to be DJing some songs I could really get into, but nothing really caught my interest.  But I did enjoy this disco set anyway.

Nadastrom - was great live.  His set was incredibly upbeat and he DJ'd some really cool, danceable stuff.  Nadastrom brought a lot of great elements to his mix including fidget, dancehall, and house and nailed pulling it off in his set.  He was the largest set in the Mad Decent Tropical Tent portion of Camp and was a ton of fun.

Death From Above 1979 - This was another band that I thought would be much better live.  It consisted of two members; one on bass and synth and the lead singer who also played the drums.  The songs sounded pretty similar and, again, they weren't to my taste and the energy could have been a bit higher.

Nero - Is still the best live dubstep act I have ever seen.  Like 12th Planet, I had also gone to see Nero live in NY this past winter, and it was by far the craziest electronic show I have been too.  At Camp, it was just as crazy.  The Grooveshark tent was packed to the point where people were still crowded around on the outside of the tent in all directions.  Everyone inside was loving his set and losing it at every drop.  Not too many new songs necessarily, but great ones anyway.  If you appreciate really high energy dubstep, perfect set lists, and incredible mixing skills, find out where Nero is playing next, and go!

Bassnectar - Who better to follow Nero than Bassnectar?  Although his production skills and recorded material are not up to par with Nero, Bassnectar is an artist to go see live, like 12th Planet.  Out of all the other dubstep artists I have seen live, Bassnectar is one who will take more risks in his original music and what he ends up doing with it while he's mixing.  His method is completely different from anyone else's and I think that his refreshing spin on dubstep is just what the genre needs and also happens to make for a crazy Main Stage spectacle.

Wolfgang Gartner - This was the last set I saw and I was so exhausted that I probably did not end up appreciating it as much as I could have.  Style and set wise, however, I had somewhat different expectations from Wolfgang Gartner.  But his set had incredible adrenaline-enduing energy, something that was just way over me by the last night!

No comments:

Post a Comment