Glimpse into what lies ahead and peek into yesteryear with SUB LIMINAL: A CTM 2020 Future Prequel. A slew of boundary-defying artists arrive at Traumabarundkino for a night of uncompromising, outrageous sounds.

Opening the night is Born in Flamez, known for subverting gender and genre with a panoply of influences somewhere in the nether regions between deconstructed pop, lo-fi, grime, and classical music. BiF has released music via Infinite Machine, Monkeytown, and UnReal, and has collaborated with the likes of WWWings, Ziúr, and Modeselektor. In 2018, they shared Impossible Love, an EP which questions the restrictions and tactics of queer love in the current political climate. Most recently, they supported BbyMutha on her European tour.

Baltimore legend Abdu Ali is an avant-garde electronic music artist, writer, and curator, whose work is an idiosyncratic blend of punk, jazz, Baltimore club music, and rap. Unapologetically black and queer, Abdu Ali’s work is bold, raw, and most importantly life-affirming. Their output, all notable for their singular combination of seemingly disparate influences, includes singles such as “DaWon,” a track that pairs fervent gabber kicks with passionate, punk lyrics; as well as “black self-care mixtape” Mongo, which weaves together R&B, baile funk, and messages of healing.

Also performing live is polyglot performer, vocalist, DJ, rapper, and producer Angel-Ho, who first started making waves as one of NON’s co-founders. With releases such as Ascension (Halcyon Veil) and Red Devil (NON) under her belt, she shared her “debut proper,” Death Becomes Her, in 2019 via Hyperdub. The record sees Angel-Ho fully inhabit varied roles, from performer and producer to lyricist and collaborator. Melding pop conventions and frameworks to a point that teeters on chaos and dissonance, she reveals a dramatic sound world that is psychedelic, grand, and commanding.

Following a standout performance at CTM 2019, Gabber Modus Operandi descend upon Berlin once again. Born out of shared obsessions for all things high-octane, fast-paced, and outrageous, Gabber Modus Operandi explode gabber, footwork, grindcore, and noise with a number of traditional Indonesian sounds such as jathilan, dangdut koplo, and funkot. Their vibrant, saturated productions can be heard on their debut album, PUXXXIMAXXX, as well as their sophomore solo release, HOXXXYA, which emerged via SVBKVLT on 16 August 2019.

AYA (fka LOFT) and xin will close the evening with a raucous b2b. With a style seemingly forged by the chaotic cultural mish-mash of the internet, Manchester-based AYA is equally at home mashing up the dance, crying onstage, and shouting at unwitting audience members. Most recently she released and departt from mono games via the revered Tri Angle Records. She joins xin for a venture through bass, breaks, and bootlegs. The Subtext-signee is set to release their debut LP, MELTS INTO LOVE, this September, solely via independent platforms. The record mines fragments of neurofunk, hardcore, and dubstep to warp, mangle, and strangle them into something anew.