by RAF KATIGBAK

If your idea of the standard MUTEK act is a bald, bespectacled laptop twiddler in a black turtleneck, think again. “There’s always the debate about the plug-and-play nature of laptop shows,” admits festival director Alain Mongeau, “people criticizing laptop artists as being boring. But MUTEK was never just that. This year, there’s a very strong performance component that I’m excited about. In 2006, in every program, there’s one act that will definitely surprise people.”

This year’s seventh edition of Montreal’s experimental electronic music festival is shaping up to be the most dancefloor-driven yet. Return performances by Dimbiman, Pole, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, and Thomas Brinkmann will certainly draw some excited crowds, but it’s the fresh-faced new musical discoveries, some making their debuts on this side of the Atlantic, that Mongeau has the most to say about.

“Our media-art series, our audiovisual experiences,” is what he calls the festival’s A/Visions series, kicking off the fest this coming Wednesday (at Ex-Centris, Salle Cassavetes, Wed., May 31, 8 p.m., $20). “The first one is like a media-art circus. It’s about objects, mechanics. The stage is completely filled with machinery, like a huge lab.” Or maybe a Kraftwerkian kindergarten? France’s Pierre Bastien, combining a Dadaist spirit and a love for intimate, playful music, stands as conductor, scientist and mastermind over his homespun orchestra—a troupe of 10-odd musical machines made from children’s Meccano toys. Existing somewhere between Test Department and a vaudevillian flea circus, Bastien’s music is at once charming and challenging.

Also on hand that night will be the Montreal trio Artificiel, who takes the idea of the playful to a different level with their use of a Rubik’s Cube as musical instrument trigger, followed by France’s

Sensors_Sonics_Sights, whose virtual jam between theremin, laptop and muscle-contraction-controlled music software is captivating in a creepy, sci-fi, bionic-man kind of way.

Ayes for Noze and Lipp

At next Thursday’s Nocturne 2 event (with 1-Speed Bike at SAT, Thurs., June 1, 10:30 p.m., $17.50), the German duo of Szary and Gernot, aka ModeSelektor, will be delivering a live version of the dancehall/grime-inflected techno singles (featuring collabs with artists like TTC on Berlin’s Bpitch label) that have already been blowing subwoofers across town. But while the hype surrounding the duo will certainly bring a large party-ready crowd, Mongeau is convinced the downtempo, head-nodding heaviness of Eliot Lipp will be the surprise hit of the evening.

“Out of the tons of demos we get, once in a while there’s one that adds a new perspective. Eliot’s came in two years ago, before his album on Prefuse 73’s Eastern Developments Music label. My antennas brought back the information that his live set is really good, so we were waiting for the right occasion to have him. This is it.”

While the third Nocturne show, the night after, may signal the launch of the weekend shenanigans with the triumphant return of Perlon’s Dimbiman, as well as Montreal’s next generation laptop-dread Steve Beaupré, the Saturday night has traditionally been the peak of the festival. In fact, with Detroit Grand Pubahs’ MC Paris the Black Fu and partner Dr. Toefinger answering the question, “What if Blowfly and Kraftwerk collabed on a soundtrack for the Space Channel?” the night has high-performance written all over it. Also on the bill will be Montreal’s Mossa, France’s Noze, Cologne minimalist Brinkmann and the first-ever Montreal appearance of legendary Detroit collective Underground Resistance in their Interstellar Fugitives guise.

“This year, Saturday’s turning out to be an electronic cabaret,” explains Mongeau. “I saw Noze in Mexico and they’ll definitely be the hidden gem that evening. The two guys are stage animals, they really crank up the audience.” (At Metropolis, Sat., June 3, 9 p.m., $27.50)

The grand finale is the big Scape label showcase with Mike Shannon, Deadbeat, Jan Jelinek and Pole (at Darling Foundry, Sun., June 4, 9 p.m., $22.50). I know what y’all are thinking—Pole? Again? Didn’t I see him perform at MUTEK not that long ago, with his hip hop project? And didn’t it kinda suck? Well, yes. But his new thing is different. For one, it’s a full band that adds a post-rock edge to his dubbed-out, threshold-teetering sound. And second, it doesn’t suck—it rules, in fact. So go see it.

>> Music Listings