Photo credit: Hiroaki Umeda

The Nocturne series features three programs of four shows presented at MTELUS from Friday, August 27 to Sunday, August 29. These 12 performances, most of which are world premieres, showcase the talents of about twenty artists. Reimagined as an electronic cabaret, Nocturne continues to focus on more rhythmic forms and will bring festivalgoers together in an immersive and convivial atmosphere.

The three evenings are on sale today for $36.50, taxes and service fees included — of which $1.50 is an ecofee that supports Planetair’s reforestation project in Québec and helps offset MUTEK’s carbon footprint.

A passion offer that allows you to enjoy the three Nocturne series programs, either alone or with someone, is also available at $78 per person (taxes and fees included — of which $3 is an ecofee), which constitutes a saving of $31.50.

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Take a look! Here are some performances to guide you in the programming:

Nocturne 1

Phèdre ^CA

Phèdre is an electronic duo from Tkaronto/Toronto featuring Daniel Lee and April Aliermo. Originating in experimental pop realms, their richly textured compositions have grown into instrumental sets of high-bpm rhythmic soundscapes, performed live using sequencers and synthesizers. The ever-changing bass-heavy sets pay tribute to club, breakbeat, jungle and techno while maintaining Phèdre’s own unique sense of musical beat exploration.

Pumbling ^CA/QC
World Premiere

For this year’s MUTEK, Montréal-based musicians Jason Voltaire and Stephen Ramsay debut their new live electronic act, Plumbing. After discovering a mutual love of thicc music and well-delivered shocks to a specific order of primates, they convened in Ramsay’s studio in a low-key fashion for the better part of two years, improvising filthy tracks on analog synths and drum machines into the small hours of the night. Characterized by blinding energy and chaos, Plumbing’s MUTEK set will be their world premiere.

Photo credit: Jason Voltaire par Bruno Destombes

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Nocturne 2

Ciel ^CN/CA — First Light
World Premiere

This year at MUTEK, Toronto based DJ, producer and promoter, Ciel (Cindy Li) unveils her debut live set. Composed of new productions along with some of her favourite past compositions, Ciel’s live performance will feature the same refined melodic sensibility and hard-hitting rhythms found in her DJ sets. Expect a wide range of genres, from ambient to jungle, with a few surprises thrown in.

Alex Mc Mahon ^CA/QC — Humeurs Modulantes
World Premiere

For many of us, music acted as a sort of cathartic outlet to drive out pandemic-related anxiety and depression. For Alex Mc Mahon, who has primarily been working in studio since his children were born, confinement presented a golden opportunity to delve into the spontaneous side of musical creation. The fruit of it all became Humeurs modulantes, entirely produced from the infinite possibilities and happy accidents provided by modular synthesizers.

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Nocturne 3

JOYFULTALK ^CA— A Separation of Being

A Separation of Being — not division or rupture, but buoyant freedom through conduction of circulatory energies — is a three-part live suite interlocking arcs of polyrhythmic groove and contemporary minimalism, gathering warmth from the strings and peculiarities of JOYFULTALK’s bespoke instrumentation and analog clockworks. The performance will be visually enriched by The Planetary Music System, Jay Crocker’s own methodology for visual composition — a 5’x10’ mural featuring geometric multi-directional cycles of brightly-coloured, finely-detailed sound notation.

All is Well ^CA/QC — A Break in Time
World Premiere

For his first live show, All is Well (aka Fred Everything) will perform his new album - A Break In Time, an ambient album written during the lockdown as a sort of calming therapy/meditation exercise. The project quickly took form with a unique sonic identity and message inspired by this feeling isolation that we all felt during this last year. This album is about fragility/naivety. Contemplation of our vulnerability but also of our resilience and the feeling of alone/together.

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