Beautiful looping performance by Priscilla Ahn.

My new favorite music video of the moment.

Last night I watched High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music, something I’ve been eagerly awaiting since I found the movie on Netflix and added it to my queue. Let me say to begin with that I really enjoyed this documentary. First off, it’s about techno and I am (of course) very into electronic music of most forms. Techno in particular has a special place in my heart because of the second reason: it originated in Detroit and I am (of course) very into Detroit.

Given my interest in both topics there was a lot that the documentary discussed that I knew. For instance, I know about the Belleville Three and I know about Electrifying Mojo. I know about the Music Institute (which was just a couple blocks from where I work now) and the reasons why the music has such a life here in this city.

But there was plenty that I still learned. I think most interesting was just learing about a lot of the personalities directly involved and more detail about the moods at the time and how it built up to this sort of creative outlet. It’s not a particularly long flick, but it is arranged well and has a nice flow to it. Some people might criticize that there isn’t more music, but frankly this is a documentary about the creators and the time period just as much as it is about the music itself.

Here’s the trailer if you’re interested in checking it out.

Moby “ooh yeah” by eggman from I am the eggman on Vimeo.

Check out some of the songs from Nina Deli on her MySpace, especially the song Flow. I happened across it yesterday checking out some audio software (I’ll have to go into it later) and really dig it.

I have a lot to catch up on! The Wings are (despite last night’s tough loss) still leading in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Red Bull Air Race came to Detroit this past weekend and played to the biggest crowd it ever has and the Pistons managed to blow it against Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But this all too brief post is going to try and give you a little taste of what DEMF was like this year. Some have accused it of straying from its roots and going too “mainstream.” While it’s true that some more mainstream artists performed this year to say it sold out would be kind of an exaggeration. The fact of the matter is they needed to make the festival sustainable into the future, and Movement 2008 proved that Paxahau can do that and do it well.

First of all, the event was well organized. The last couple years have definitely shown improvement and this time it really showed that they knew what was going on. Beyond all stuff that festival-goers would see you could tell they had their act together by virtue of the fact that they were attracting more sponsors who were eager to jump in and take on a big role.

Second, I think the lineup speaks for itself. Despite the “mainstream” influence there were plenty of people representing the original sound. Pulling down names like Moby and Girl Talk is icing on the cake I think, not a reformulation of the festival itself. Richie Hawtin’s set was probably one of my favorite that he’s done at DEMF in the last few years. Deadmau5 was exceptional, as were Kenneth Thomas, James Zabiela, Magda, Mark Farina, Kevin Saunderson, Josh Wink and so many others that I haven’t mentioned. Beyond that there were plenty of acts I didn’t even get to see.

Third, the crowd was great. I met people from around the area and all over Michigan but from at least twelve other states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, Australia, Brazil, Germany (lots of Germans actually), the UK and Russia. Seriously. It wasn’t like I was even going out of my way to try and find people from out of town, it’s just cemented itself as an international event.

All in all it was an amazing weekend. The weather was perfect, the sound was fantastic and plenty of good friends were around to enjoy it with. As in years past, I can’t wait till the next one.

I’ll have to do a follow up DEMF post, but here’s just a little video I recorded with my phone of Moby’s performance, which was mindblowing. Honestly I wasn’t expecting much, but he may have been one of my favorite acts of the entire festival. If only my stupid phone had recorded longer. It cuts out right as he dropped the beat and everyone lost their mind.

In poking around a bit more on YouTube the other night I found this video of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland getting remixed. I have to say, the music by itself is really good but the very well done video adds a lot.

I don’t even need to say much else, just read this quote from the Detroit Institute of Art site.

From 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., boxers from Detroit’s famed Kronk gym duke it out and Mexican masked wrestlers, Revolucha, hit the mat in a ring taking center stage in Prentis Court. Ann Arbor’s The Bang! provides the backdrop with a dance party adventure mixing everything from rock’n’roll to ‘60s soul, from BritPop to HipHop.

Yes.

(That’s on a Thursday night by the way.)

Pretty fantastic music video set to “Again and Again” by The Bird & The Bee. I love seeing creative stuff like this. What a cutie too.