Mini-Mutek NYC - May 7 at the Tonic

Events like this one are precisely why I'm thrilled the Tonic survived its winter eviction scare. On Saturday May 7, they'll be hosting Mini-Mutek NYC, a one-night version of Montreal's excellent Mutek Festival. It can't match Miami's Winter Music Conference for the big names (almost nothing can), but for electronic music that's a bit further off the mainstream (but often still quite accessible) Mutek is as good as it gets. This year's festival will be from June 1-5 in Montreal, with Sense Club (Ricardo Villalobos and Luciano), Monolake, Pan/Tone, Melchior Productions, and many others (over 100 in total) scheduled to appear. I have trouble recognizing many of the names, but I imagine Philip Sherburne's site will do a good job educating me in the coming months.

I won't be heading up to Montreal though. I'm tempted to do so at some point, but it can't be this year - but that's fine by me with Mini-Mutek NYC to look forward to. We get live performances from Akufen, Deadbeat, Vincent Lemieux, Crackhaus, and six others. I'm most psyched to hear Akufen live; he's one of my favorite microhouse producers, his singles and My Way LP being essential examples of the genre. ("Deck the House" (MP3) is the best point of entry to his sample-heavy style.) I really want to hear Akufen's new album, released under his own name (Marc Leclair) and called Musique Pour 3 Femmes Enceintes - Boomkat loves it.

I'm also excited to see Deadbeat and Crackhaus live at Mini-Mutek. Deadbeat's minimal, digital dub works quite well on record, and I enjoy the slightly dancier stuff (e.g. "40oz Funk" (MP3)) he does as half of Crackhaus. I'm sure all of these sets will go in some interesting directions live - it should be a great night. Tickets to Mini-Mutek NYC are $10 in advance ($15 day of) and available at Ticketweb now.