Here in North Carolina’s Triangle-area (Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill) the post-summer-music-festival woes were eased by Raleigh’s 2nd annual Hopscotch Music Festival headlined by rock veterans The Flaming Lips—whose headlining show included the infamous crowd-surfing space bubble, balloons the size of exercise balls, and a shower of Post-It Note-sized confetti.
It had all of the pilings of a block-party rave even if the music wasn’t as fitting.
However, from September 29th – October 1st, the Southeastern Electronic Music Festival, otherwise known as Signal, rolls back into town three-weeks later, for its sixth year of an electronic music spree, this time expanding it’s traditional list of Chapel Hill and Carrboro venues to also include locations in Raleigh. This year’s lineup welcomes renowned electro-jockeys such as Jubilee, Tunnidge, and Atlanta’s eclectic, dance-fusion specialist, Distal. NC-based, dance-floor controllers such as DJ FM, OneDuran and Steve Feinberg also contribute their own home-grown groove sessions during this busy weekend.
Earlier this month Distal collaborated with FACT magazine for FACT mix 279. After the jump, acquaint yourself with Distal’s arsenal of footwork magic and pounding basslines.
In the October issue of SPIN magazine, subtitled “The Dance Issue”, Philip Sherburne writes in his article, “The New Rave Generation“, that “electronic music has become the soundtrack for officially sanctioned hedonism”. Of course, we all knew this years before David Guetta became a sought-after producer, Diplo bolted to stardom, Deadmau5 combusted into a dance-messiah, and Scrillex even imagined that he would popularize dub-step in the U.S. Events like Signal have continued to be the lifeblood of these phenomena. The festival’s young and uncommercialized acts offer euphoric, musical displays that touch those of us deep in the night trenches where the hedonism isn’t all that “sanctioned”. This means that you can embrace this hometown-hedonism festival however you choose and mainly enjoy the small, intimate crowds instead of fighting your way through huge faux-raves whose attendees’ only idea of dancing is mimicking a pogo-stick.
If you’re interested in learning how to make this music yourself or you just want to share what you may have already laid down in your bedroom studio, you may also attend Saturday’s Signal Sessions from 2-5 p.m. in the Kenan Music Building on UNC’s campus. Veteran electronic deejays, producers, and scholars from across the country will be leading interactive workshops to get your mind working before you get into club mode.
Next week we will be doing a ticket giveaway for Signal. The winner will receive two tickets to the Saturday, October 1st show at Local 506 featuring GALDYTRON AND DJ FM and the Permanent Vacation Dance Party show later that night at Cat’s Cradle featuring Raleigh’s young remix chief, Hidden Cat.
The Cat’s Cradle doors open at midnight, so the winner should be able to attend both shows. Stay tuned!
