Chicago gets a taste of the Montreal-based digital art and electronic music festival that showcases innovation in music and creativity on April 21-23 with Avant_Mutek: Chicago.

Founded in 2000, Mutek is an international festival organization dedicated to the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts. Its main event is an annual five-day event in Montreal, Canada that takes place in late May and early June. Many of electronic music’s most established figures have performed, as well as numerous new artists who have gone on to build sustainable careers. Along with performances, the festival also features workshops relating to gear and software showcases, and panel discussions concerning the issues that face electronic music and music production.

Read more and see the full lineup.

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What really makes a music scene? You know–those certain reasons that make you put on a jacket and promptly head for the El or call a cab just to get there in time. That’s what Chicago Innovative Electronic Music (CIEM) and subVariant are asking via their Crowdsourced 1.0 event: What is it about electronic music that people want to see live?

It really is a heady question. But, CIEM & subVariant‘s preliminary answer seems to be: "That which is "crowdsourced."

To the unfamiliar, "crowdsourced" means that the content that is the most popular "rises to the top" via votes–as in, the crowd chooses what’s the most relevant. On Digg.com (a popular news and entertainment aggregator) the front page is filled with only the content that has been voted up through "diggs." Threadless is also a good example: only the designs that are voted hottest actually make it to production.

On April 10, CIEM will test their theory in the electronic music world. Electronic music fans and supporters were asked to vote on a number of the submissions from Chicago artists to determine the lineup for the night. After approximately 600 online-votes later, the results were in, and the top four will perform in order of the number of votes recieved.

It’s democracy in electronic music. Like, seriously, democracy. Not that "republic" stuff that’s been thrown around. These artists have been chosen by the people, for the people. 

Crowdsourced 1.0:

dreamlogicc 9:15pm [mix]
Protman 8:30pm [mix]
Roth Mobot 7:45pm [mix]
Polyfuse 7:00pm [mix]

The Empty Bottle 
7pm – 10pm
$3
1035 North Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622

Here were the contenders:

Rebound Kawa DJmix by Kawa

Alphabasic Arctic Tour 2011 Portland Whiskey Bar Live by Protman

Vista damage mixdown by [esc]ape

Audition For Randy by Justin McGrath

Live on RTS.FM by dreamlogic

Latest tracks by RothMobot

The Consequences by Liz Revision

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Check out this free performance of Moldover at Risque this Saturday!

Known to 400,000 YouTube viewers as “The Godfather of Controllerism”, MOLDOVER has become the inspiration for a new generation of musicians interested in moving “beyond the decks.” Feb 18th, Chicago’s Ableton user group will feature Moldover for a special edition user group session.

Famous for building, hacking, and playing controllers with virtuosic skill, Moldover’s dynamic performances with his custom instruments are bringing new life into electronic music. Fusing hard rock with electronica, glitch edits, and frantic drum beats, Moldover’s signature style defies categorization. And with appearances on national television, coverage in major music publications, and countless live shows around the world, Moldover is in constant demand by people interested in this next evolution of music.

Moldover 9pm – 10pm ([SF] IDM / Glitch / Rock / Funk / OMG
Controllerism Pioneer | Octamasher Inventor | Youtube Nerdstar)
Liz Revision 8pm – 9pm ([CHI] IDM / Glitch / Techno / LOL
subVariant Recordings | Quantazelle | Fractalspin | CIEM)
Risqué. 3419 N. Clark (Sheffield & Clark, Wrigleyville, Chicago).
Hosted by Jona Neace
21+. Free.

$2 Stroh’s Cans

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Were you one of those kids who had a next door neighbor who had that sweet corvette PowerWheel and were too woefully poor to have one yourself? We were those kids, and we decided to do something about it….20 years later.

We decided to modify and race PowerWheels, We do it for the glory, for the daring dreamy dream of that tasty elixir known as childhood that we’ll never have again cause we have day jobs and don’t weigh 70 pounds anymore. (Fatty)

We also want to play Mario Kart in real life without all those pesky pixels.

The PowerWheel Racing Series (PPPWRS) presents to the world an event for the ages.

On August 15th 6 teams will gather to win the prized PowerWheel Cup an award so prestigious I just decided to make it up five minutes ago to sound impressive.

Four Events will take place:

1. Off Road Race
2. Mario Kart Round
3. PowerWheel Polo
4. The Endurance Demolition Derby

FREE ADMISSION
11:30am Gates Open

DJs: Liz Revision,
Bands:

Sacremento Park (next to it)
3506 N Sacrement
Chicago, IL

This Event brought to you by: Pumping Station: One (Chicago’s Only Hackerspace), Best Express Messenger Service, and Chief O’Neils Pub

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» Obtain advance entry clearance for $15/couple or $10/single. $20/couple or $15/single at the door.

» Prior to GEEK PROM (but not too prior) enhance your physical appearance with
a. hygiene
b. cosmetic adjustment
c. optimized exolayer assembly

» On Saturday June 13th, Utilize a transport medium (non-virtual) to resolve this address:

Co-Prosperity Sphere
3219 S Morgan St.
Chicago, IL

» Entry clearance will be granted at the door for donations of $20/couple or $15/single, starting at 9 pm Central; unbonded pairs also welcome.

» Open Format:
a. Dancing to Music (live bands and DJ’s [incl. LIZ REVISION, geek-chic fem-bot])
b. Contests (outfits and exhibits (see contest rules))
c. Imbibe (liquids)
d. Witness / Interact (art, games)
e. Improvise (variable)
f. Communicate (oral/aural)

» This happening will be adjourned at 2 am, and requires remaining participants to anti-swarm.

The GEEK PROM is a fundraiser for Pumping Station: One, a non-for-profit hackerspace in Chicago. The proceeds for this event go towards machine tools and supplies, so that PSOne may host classes, workshops, and other events for the community-at-large, and provide an environment where makers, modders, and hackers of hardware/software projects can unleash their creative madness.

Contest Rules

There are two contests, a Exolayer Pairing contest, and a Science Fair contest, each with a distinct set of rules:

–Exolayer Pairing Contest
To enter, get photographed and enter your information at the photography stand. Vote via approval voting at any point up to midnight using an available terminal or your own web-enabled device. Each entry must consist of two humans, and each pair can only enter once. However, a single human can pair with any number of other humans for additional entries, so long as each combination is unique. Voters are asked to vote based on criteria provided in the voting form. Any outfit is allowable, but you should also be able to dance in it.

–Science Fair Contest
This contest requires that you contact the organizers ahead of time so we can take a look at your display. Your exhibit should be interactive, fun, and self-explanatory (we don’t require you to stand by it all night, unless you want to). If it’s artwork, there should be something geeky/nerdy/science-y about its topic, creation, or significance. Bring your exhibit to the Co-Prosperity Sphere on Thursday June 11th between 6 and 10 pm for early set-up. Anything interactive should be demoed successfully.

YO NERDS: I (Liz Revision) will be DJing a special collection of nerdy-yet danceable tracks from 9-11pm. I just tossed a bunch of files on a drive that I thought would be nerd-friendly and also hawt and sweaty, so we’ll see how that goes. :-D. I can’t seem to find a high quality MP3 of the “Tri-Lams” rap in Revenge of the Nerds, however. Should any of you have such file, please send it to me and I will try to techno-ify it with Traktor’s awesome 4-deck geekery.

I am also bringing some 1337 Zelle Jewelry of the Fancy modifier for the “science fair” thinger, so if you want to see the leet stuff IRL now’s your chance.

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If you’re in Chicago and decided to sit out on Saturday’s events due to the snow / ice storm, come out to Subterranean listen to music by local electronic musicians and check out live visuals on the walls. Featuring Quantazelle (Liz Revision), Coyote DG, Drmlgcc, Garo, Lokua. Live Video by: Glen Stephani, The Machinist, Mason Dixon.

Oh, and it’s FREE!

Subterranean. 2011 North Ave., Chicago IL 60647.
21+ event. http://momentsound.com/

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Here’s an interesting art / performance project byMaywa Denki. Based on the simple remotely-triggered servo action of “knockers” (not in the sleezy sense)–which are direct percussive controllers that can be used to pound on various things including boxes, pipes, and guitar strings. In the above video, these knocker modules are employed to make a switch-based drum-machine-like instrument that you assign a sequence of remote knockers to, and then control the playback speed manually with a crank. It has the surreal effect of being a very nerdy guitar, with the thrashing accomplished via said crank.

Seeing as performative elements are key in this particular project, the “Wings” project shown about a bit past half way is more showy than useful, with the musician sporting spreading mechanical “wings” with knocker modules that hit hollow wooden balls that can be played via controllers on the fingers.

The video is particularly amusing in its Devo-esque tongue-in-cheek humor during the actual demonstrations, as well as the inclusion of vintage educational filmstrip dings to demarcate a new instrument being showcased. While having a direct, realtime controller of percussive sounds created remotely may be interesting for its novelty / humor value, so much more can be done in the field of musical interfaces that this sort of thing just begs to be improved upon. However, the vision and sheer performative nature of these instruments is inspiring to all who focus on creating innovative interfaces for music creation.

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The Sound Ball is a soccer ball that makes different sorts of sounds based on whether it’s thrown, kicked or spun. Check out this video of widely different audiences interacting with it. There’s a particularly amusing clip of a kid with soccer skills bouncing it around and catching it with his knees.

The SoundBall is a foam ball with a motion sensor inside, which communicates wirelessly with a computer, so that sounds and music can be created through dance and/or play. The project was developed in pursuit of Aleksei’s interest in new interfaces that interpret physical motion sonically, giving dancers and other performers the opportunity to interact musically in real time with traditional instrumentalists.

CNet speculated that it’s an Arduino or Parallax board inside the ball and sending data via bluetooth to Cycling ’74 Max/MSP running on a computer somewhere.

It’s a concept piece by Aleksei stevens, a Brooklyn, NY-based composer, lapto jockey, and professor of digital audio and performance. Check out his Mypace page where you can here his music: Aleskei Stevens’ Myspace page. [via]

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I-GO AUDIO EMISSIONS CD RELEASE PARTY

Thursday, May 31st
@ the Metro, 3730 N Clark
7pm

BUY TICKETS NOW AT www.metrochicago.com/shows or the Metro Box Office (3730 N Clark)! VIP tickets include food, a chance to win a DAHON bike.

Did you ever get into an I-GO car and realize that you forgot your CD/iPod adapter? Soon you’ll be able to listen some of Chicago’s best local bands inside your favorite I-GO car on our first ever CD compilation. It gets better. Join us at Metro on Thursday, May 31^st for our CD Release Party featuring up-and-coming local bands like the Detholz!, Palliard, Quantazelle and Madison Buchanan!

Local musicians submitted their very best tracks for fans to vote on. Voters voted for their favorite songs between April 4th and April 30th. The top songs will be included on the CD featuring Andrew Bird, Koko Taylor, Mucca Pazza, Devil in a Woodpile and other amazing Chicago acts. Stay tuned for updates and chances to win great prizes like VIP tickets to the party and copies of the CD. Go to www.igocars.org in the coming weeks for more about our CD Release Party.

CD Release Party
Support I-GO in launching our first ever I-GO Audio Emissions compilation by attending our CD Release Party! The party will be at the Metro (3730 N Clark) doors 6pm/ show 7pm 21+ on Thursday, May 31st. Tickets on sale now on the Metro website www.metrochicago.com $10 advance/$15 door/$20 VIP. VIP tickets includes food from 10 local and “green” restaurants plus a chance to win a Dahon bike! All tickets include a complimentary CD, a year-long subscription to TimeOut Magazine, and the opportunity to hear up-and-coming local acts.The party will be held on Thursday, May 31st doors 6pm/show 7pm at the Metro (3730 N Clark) and will introduce you to up-and-coming local artists:

• Detholz! (pronounced “Death Holes”) with members from Baby Teeth and Bobby Conn will headline with new wave inspired music
• Palliard uses guitar, pedal steel, upright bass, Wurlizer electric piano, drums, and three-part harmonies to create a “good caffeine fueled whiskey drunk”
• Madison Buchanan, the newest R&B sensation
• WINNER: Animate Objects
• WINNER: Imelda de la Cruz

… and djs sets entertaining us between set changes from…

• Liz Revision (aka Quantazelle) combines complex percussive programming, sonic innovation, and engaging sound design

and

• DJ Flawlezs spins hip hop and rap
• Hosted by Miss Mia from Chic-a-go-go!

Audio Emissions, Not Auto Emissions
Because I-GO cars have replaced 2,000 private cars and helped our members drive less, there is less pollution and greenhouse gas emitted in Chicago. We have eliminated 7,823 metric tons of CO2 since 2004, the equivalent of not driving 22 million miles!To continue our dedication to sustainable living, I-GO will make this event completely carbon neutral. We are working to mitigate the environmental impact of our concert by reducing carbon emissions at the event and acquiring carbon offsets. Carbon offsets raise awareness of climate change and neutralize the carbon footprint not addressed through planned emissions reductions, emissions-free electricity, or other conservation mechanisms. Holding a Neutral Event is another step towards taking responsibility for climate change and making a difference.

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Use the code “Friend of Jenny” when you order your tickets for a $10 discount on Thursday or Sunday shows. Sweet!

Here’s some reviews:

At Collaboration, ‘Jenny Chow’ a must-see

Watch Jenny Chow come to life:

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