Polymorphism
07
Fri“Time to stop dicking about and write some proper fearless rave music.”
- Untold
If we weren't averse to the “post-dubstep” designation, it could be applied to Untold and 2562. In keeping with the spirit of CTM Festival’s Polymorphism series, these two artists go post-genre; no patterns, no predecessors. Polymorphism #11 presents the venomous, buzzing low-end and skewed, broken beats of Untold and 2562, plus the 303 acid and aboriginal machine dreams of Bintus and Zhao’s polyrhythmic dancefloor anthropology.
Untold aka Jack Dunning’s releases over the past five years marked a departure from traditional dubstep and shift towards weird, 130 bpm mutations of bass music laced with techno. The UK-based producer has issued 12”s on his own Hemlock as well as the kindred Hessle Audio and Hotflush labels, plus a series of straighter techno via Clone Basement Series and R&S Records. For his appearance at Berghain, Untold presents his debut full-length Black Light Spiral, due out at the end of February, accompanied by a debut live A/V show with Stockholm-based collective Current Current. Untold also plays a DJ set later in the night.
→ Stream Black Light Spiral via Pitchfork ahead of its release.
Likewise premiering a new live AV show is Dave Huismans aka 2562. The Dutch producer roves through sound samples and field recordings in his outback dubstep, released via Clone, 50Weapons, and his own freestyle techno platform by the same name as his alternate alias, A Made Up Sound. 2562 performs alongside renowned visual artist Heleen Blanken, whose surrealist, atmospheric film works have set the scene at Trouw Amsterdam, Ben Klock's Klockwork nights, and in collaborations with artists such as Jeff Mills.
On opening and closing duties are Bintus, the acid and electro revivalism project of Milo Smee, playing live, and DJ Zhao’s re-edits and mash-ups of acoustic and electronic, traditional and hyper-modern sound. Meanwhile, in Panorama Bar, Perlon mounts its monthly residency with Zip, Sammy Dee, and guests.
Untold
As Untold, Jack Dunning variously explores fierce techno, shuddering bass, and the darkened spaces in-between. Following his 2012 three-part Change In A Dynamic Environment series on his own Hemlock imprint, in 2013 the producer also made his debut on 50Weapons with the Targa/Glare single and launched a new techno imprint, Pennyroyal, for “DJ tools, cheap party tricks and relentless noise”.
2562
Over the course of three landmark albums Dave Huismans has laid out a singular and highly influential vision of broken rhythms, off-time percussion, crazed sampling, and field recording, reinventing techno, disco, and bass music. After a string of influential albums and 12"s on labels like Tectonic and 3024, he started his own imprint, When In Doubt, which has released his disco-deconstructionist Fever LP and travel diary Air Jordan.
Bintus
Bintus is Milo Smee's acid and electro revivalism project (Resident Advisor). His first two EPs, Point Counter Point and Corrosion Control, were both released on his own Power Vacuum label in 2012, followed by 2013’s Live* & Locked LP. He was also a recent guest on Ben UFO’s Rinse.fm show, and along with his brother is a founding member of doom-disco band Chrome Hoof.
DJ Zhao
Born and Raised in Beijing, China, and active as DJ and sound curator in the US since 2000, Zhao brings together cross-continental dance music with a focus on Africa. An amateur ethnomusicologist, DJ Zhao demonstrates the underlying unity of all sound cultures. Zhao performs solo and as part of Ngoma Soundsystem with percussionist Marcel and with artists such as Konono No. 1 (Congo), Shangaan Electro (SA), Rhythm and Sound (DE), Cooly G (UK), Appietus (Ghana), Shackleton (UK), and Pan Sonic (Finland).
Heleen Blanken
Visual artist Heleen Blanken works in the fields of installation, music, and independently shot film. She has VJed in several popular Dutch venues and festivals like Melkweg, Paradiso, Groninger Museum, NDSM werf, and Awakenings, currently has two resident nights at Trouw Amsterdam, and is a regular performer at Lowlands Festival. Blending dark industrial and organic, natural world atmospherics, her work has been commissioned by record labels, bands, and esteemed artists.
Current Current
Originating in the demo scene, Current Current members come from backgrounds in visual arts, application programming, and high-end game development. They have designed A/V shows for club events and festivals from Norberg Festival to Space Ibiza, as well as for artists like Skudge and Conforce.
Polymorphism
An unprecedented range of sound has today been made available through digitization and the development of new technologies. Our acoustic environments are saturated by diverse influences and constantly in flux. With Polymorphism, CTM introduces artists who, rather than limiting or refining the scope of their sound to subscribe to existing genres, categories, or expectations, embrace the challenge of hybridity. Disregarding conventions of quality, taste, and target audience, these artists draw inspiration from open archives and the malleability of modern technology, recontextualizing and recombining to discover new and mutant expressive forms. The resulting styles may be at once chaotic and wholly coherent, amorphous and hazy or packed with strong contrasts, yet are never anything less than resolutely eclectic and subjective. With Polymorphism – a cross breed of club night, concert, and experimental laboratory – CTM presents artists who explore the artistic possibilities of a contemporary moment in which everything counts as a viable source and no rules apply.
