Joining the Movement : A recap of AIM's debut weekend

How do you start a movement? I'm not sure, but the organizers and DJs of the first ever Art Innovation Movement festival - or AIM - sure know how.

The inaugural edition of AIM ended just a few days ago - and I'm still wishing it hadn't. My goal in attending the festival was to see if I would be able to find the beauty of house and techno music. As someone who got their start in trance and dubstep, I got to the festival with my nose up in the air, and left with my feet in the dirt; humbled by the weekend's beautiful sound and experiences.

I have to say that I am absolutely blown away by the diversity of both house and techno music. There was a lot more house than techno at AIM, and although it was nothing like what I was expecting, it was everything that I would want to experience again. In an attempt to capture a minute amount of AIM's awesomeness, here's a recap of the best of the fest.

Best Set Overall

As someone who hadn't typically listened to much house or techno prior to this past weekend, I wish that I could choose just one "best set" to give you some kind of definitive picture of my favourite sonic experience. However, I am unable to choose just one. Instead, I'll pursue objectivity and relive some of the most memorable performances:

Four Tet's set is one of the most memorable for me. Even though I can't really put my finger on the genre of the music that the Londoner was playing; out of the hour and a half that he was up, the last 45 minutes really got me going. The music wasn't energetic as far as beat goes, but as a sucker for lofty, atmospheric melodies, Friday's pre-closing set was more than I expected in terms of enjoyability, and was my first real introduction to tech house, too.

Electro Acrylique: This performance was so cool!! Electro Acrylique is a group (consisting of DJ Pfreud and artist Alexi Stefano) that combines hi-tech and low-tech artforms via electroacoustic live painting performance. When Alexi's canvas is hooked up and he begins to paint, each brush stroke creates a sound, which he and Pfreud use to create rhythms, and eventually, a completely danceable sound and a beautiful piece of artwork. 

Geistboy: I don't think Geistboy was added to the lineup until the timeslots were posted on Facebook, but either way, it's a good thing. I don't think that people want to feel less talented than someone significantly younger than them until they absolutely have to. Still, during Geistboy's set, I was way too wrapped up in the music to feel bad about the fact that this DJ is only sixteen years young. It was a great morning set to get the vibe going at the Moog stage for the remaining 2 days of festival madness. An equal mix between his original material and selected tracks, the set was full of heavy grooves and fluctuated between minimal and hard rhythms that carried on seamlessly into the next set.

Eekkoo: I was really proud to see Eekkoo playing at AIM. I wanted to attend his set, because the last time I saw him, he was opening up for Deadmau5 for a crowd of about seven people at New City Gas last year. I know that there were a lot of people at the stage for Eekkoo, but I wasn't paying attention to anyone except the man himself and the infectious beats he was dropping. Hard hitting and danceable rhythms all around, and just the right amount of a progressive flair for a deep, but wild set.

Best Technical Difficulty: CRi's set was set to take place afrer Shash'u on Friday afternoon when it cut off about 10 minutes in. There were one or two periods of music, but the set was, for the majority, simply cut because of unforeseen issues. An honourable mention goes out to how bad the location's humidity must have been for everyone's equipment for the duration of the festival. I hope nothing broke!

Jamie xx

The Martinez Brothers

Tiga

Pat Boogie

Best Live Performance: Tesla Boy

I'd been looking forward to Tesla Boy because they're so different from the rest of the AIM lineup. Instead of one person having ample room at a table on the Moog stage. Tesla Boy's four members were cramped into the small space for a kicking live performance with bass, guitar, and drums. The crowd was into the music, and the fans of the group went wild when they played "Strong".  The best part for me was the last technical difficulty of the evening when the members of the band went in to a collective drum solo, only to resume the rest of their performance flawlessly.

Biggest Regret: Missing So Many Great Acts.

I regret sleeping! After reading about the AIM lineup, I don't think there was anyone I didn't want to see. I missed Kevin Saunderson, Nathan Burns & Soundshaper, Mightykat, Shash'u...I could go on, but I knew I wouldn't have time to see everyone. When looking at the remainder of the lineup after I woke up each day, it broke my heart a little looking at what I had missed.

Best Visuals:

AIM put a lot of emphasis on the fact that there would be projection art at the festival. Somehow, when reading about that, I didn't expect a feel-like-you're-tripping style light show when I walked up to the main stage at one-thirty in the morning, but that's what happened. Edu Imbernon's visuals were absolutely crazy. Flashes of strobe lights, lightning, and dripping kaleidoscopes of flashy colour were among the projections that lit the stage for the set, and brought the high-energy music to an entirely different level.  

Dreems at the Multi Culti Stage

The Best Hidden Gem: The Multi-Culti stage: 

In a spacious corner away from the rest of the festival was where I decided to end my weekend. It was a little oasis that only came to life on Saturday night. As opposed to the other big stages that were surrounded by concrete and electronic visuals, this humble set-up was decorated in tiki lights, tree branches, ferns, and spiced with incense. Groovy psychedelic sets with dreamy, ethnic beats and sets dominated the two days that the Multi-Culti stage was active. At the heart of it all was Thomas Von Party. There's something truly unique about this guy that I can`t quite put my finger on. He's got an enthusiastic energy that carried through his sets and permeated the entire dance floor; as he danced between the crowd, the turntables, backstage, and around again. Auntie Flo, Dreems and DJ Three were some of the others that made up Von Party`s entourage and kept the significantly smaller crowd on their feet until the ending hours of the festival.

Needless to mention, after I watched Nature Of Music's emotive performance, the Multi-Culti stage is where I spent the last hours of my AIM experience. I hope that AIM continues to grow and expand their horizons and how they view the festival experience. It came with a unique atmosphere and set of performers that are all set up for immense success as their careers continue to blossom. Aside from some minor technical difficulties that set one of the stages back a little bit, I believe there's only one way they could improve on their first edition of the festival: have a second one.

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Want more AIM? Listen to Thinkbox's interview with Tesla Boy's Anton and Electro Acrylique's Alec Stephani on the July 3rd Edtion of The Machine Stops.

Thinkbox hosts The Machine Stops every Friday from 9:00 to 10:00am, only on CJLO 1690AM.

All photos are credited to Vivien Gaumand - This is HERD.