written by Susanne Morris
First off, let me just lay out the disclaimer that I am not a writer, nor am I a music expert. I am not going to bombard you with a bunch of hyphenated music genres and obscure artists and expect you all to know what the fuck I’m talking about. I’m just your average hipster who attended a music festival in my hometown and had my mind blown approximately 8,000 times during a three-day time span.
If you haven’t heard of Robert Moog (pronounced with a long “o”, it rhymes with the word “rogue”), or just “Bob” as people here in Asheville, North Carolina like to call him, then you need to know that he was one of the most innovative pioneers in the electronic music industry – and that the festival was created to honor his legacy. Moog synthesizers were first used by artists like the eccentric genius Sun Ra, who was a friend of Moog. Sun Ra was convinced that he was an angel from outer space, and his musical creations reflected this sentiment. Other notable artists who have used Moog technology are Devo, Michael Jackson, Radiohead, and The Beatles. So yeah, Bob is kind of a big deal.
DAY 1
Moby
I have to admit that I was skeptical about seeing Moby because I’m only familiar with his turn-of-the-millenium work from albums “Play” and “18″. Nowadays, it’s easier to associate him with veganism and baldness than music. However, just as I was secretly hoping, he subjected the audience to some older material, including “Porcelain,” “Southside,” and “Bodyrock.” It was very cool indeed, but still left me wondering about any of his recent work.
Download: Moby - That’s When I Reach For My Revolver
Flying Lotus
When I discovered that Steven Ellison, a.k.a. Flying Lotus, is the great nephew of jazz guru John Coltrane, I face-palmed and derped–it totally made sense. Flying Lotus is a musical genius; he integrates enough heavy bass to get through to the bassheads, without dumbing-down his sound. His work is edgy, intellectually stimulating, and will easily carry listeners through an otherworldly spiritual journey. Of course his remix of Odd Future‘s “Yonkers” destroyed the audience; everyone in the Asheville Music Hall went ballistic and then promptly melted. Musically, his performance was my favorite out of all the artists I saw at Moogfest.
Download: Flying Lotus - Mmmhmm (feat. Thundercat)
Anika
You may have never heard of Anika, an ex-political journalist and music promoter from the UK who naturally stumbled into the international punk scene after teaming up with a couple of the guys from Portishead. Her sound revitalizes early 80s punk–sounds not there for those looking for a musical escape, but there to prove a point. Her set began well-after midnight at The Orange Peel, Asheville’s nationally acclaimed, hole-in-the-wall live music venue.
Download: Anika - Yang Yang
DAY 2
Crystal Castles
My personal favorite performance of the festivals second day has to be Crystal Castles, all because of the lead singer–the charismatic, vicious, demonic beauty named Alice Glass. She sang while guzzling a fifth of Jack and simultaneously crowd surfing, spitting Jack Daniel’s out all over the crowd. When some splattered on my arm I felt as though I had been baptized by the devil herself; I then proceeded to lick it off of my arm.
Download: Crystal Castles - Vanished
The Flaming Lips
As expected, The Flaming Lips turned the stage into a psychedelic playground that included confetti, bubbles, balloons, and fluorescent smoke machines. The stage was set up so that there was an enormous LED screen behind the band, out of which singer Wayne Coyne emerged in his plastic hamster-bubble splitting the screen in two.
Download: The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1
Amon Tobin
Although I’ve heard talk around town that his performance was overrated, I’m maintaining that Amon Tobin’s show gets the award for best visuals. He performed inside an ineffable geometric contraption that seemed as though it was teleported from the tenth-dimension, concocted to support his touring dates for his most recent album, ISAM.
Download: Amon Tobin - 4 Ton Mantis (Radio Edit)
DAY 3
Beats Antique
Beats Antique is a world-fusion band complete with highly attractive belly-dancers. Their seductive and mesmerizing performance was laced with phrygrian melodies as well as syncopated electronic jungle beats–it was equally as challenging to unglue my eyes from the dancers as it was resist the urge to dance.
Download: Beats Antique - Dope Crunk
M83
M83 is the shy French DJ, best known for his 2008 album Saturdays=Youth. His music is as dreamy and ambient as the M83 galaxy itself. During his press conference, M83 admitted that he was obsessed with spaceships and space adventures when he was a child. And despite the fact that his new album is titled Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, he mentioned that he rarely remembers his own dreams anymore as a result of a few too many tokes. Clearly, someone with the musical capacity of M83 does not need to dream, for he regularly creates them.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Passion Pit
Passion Pit’s performance was imbued with such an amazingly high, transcendent energy that I forgot it was literally freezing cold at the outdoor stage. Dancing all around me in the audience were larger-than-life, jubilant, green monsters, a 20-foot butterfly/bicycle contraption, fifteen glittery girls with rollerskates and neon orange wigs on, as well as a couple wrapped in aluminum foil. It was altogether an upbeat, surreal, unforgettable experience.
Download: Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (The Knocks Remix)
Childish Gambino
Childish Gambino, otherwise known as the multi-talented juggernaut Donald Glover, gets my award for the ultimate panty-dropping performance of the festival. If it were possible to be impregnated by music, then I’m definitely having octuplets. In “Do Ya Like” he states matter-of-factly, “Everybody loves me.” After his Moogfest performance, it seemed as though Glover was telling the truth.
Download: Childish Gambino - Break
Gold Panda
Imagine that you are eight years old, on the edge of sleep, in the back seat of your mom’s station wagon, watching the droplets of rain collect on the window at dusk as you listen to the radio on a long car ride home. Now combine that inner-peace with some Asian influence and some tasteful glitch and bass. That’s about what Gold Panda’s performance felt like, both visually and sonically. It opened all seven of my chakras at once, providing a harmonious conclusion to Moogfest.
Download: Gold Panda - An Iceberg Hurled Northward Through Clouds
Sun Ra once said “Just as you judge a tree by its fruit, you judge a planet by its music.” If what Sun Ra said is true, then Planet Moogfest is a blissful oasis for musical and individual liberation, a place where reality deconstructs into truer, mythical elements, and also a place where sound technology enables greater and greater depths of expression. As a current inhabitant of Asheville, NC, I am curious to see how Moogfest will affect the already rich cultural landscape of a city beloved and undeniably impacted by Bob Moog. Surely Bob is beaming with pride somewhere, likely in some multi-dimensional sonic world his instruments continue to mimic.
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