PAN_ACT Festival at The Bunker with Regis, Lee Gamble, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Laurel Halo, and Bill Kouligas at K&K Super Buffet
$20
In June 2013, ISSUE Project Room and the Goethe-Institut New York present PAN_ACT, a multi-faceted series of performances, talks, and installations exploring parallel strategies in conceptual art, underground dance, and experimental music. Curated by ISSUE Project Room's Lawrence Kumpf and Berlin-based designer and founder of the PAN label Bill Kouligas, PAN_ACT presents a diverse array of artists working in Berlin, London, Boston, and New York, drawn largely from the PAN roster. Sixteen events span multiple venues including ISSUE Project Room and the Goethe-Institut Wyoming Building, as well as collaborative presentations with MoMA PS1, The Bunker, Make Music New York, and Non-Event (Boston).
Regis is the pseudonym of Karl O'Connor, best known for his influential Downwards label that he has run with fellow art terrorist Peter Sutton (Female) since 1993. His work with the recently disbanded Sandwell District collective also turned a lot of heads in recent years. Unconventional and single-minded to say the least, by decentralising the focus on the DJ/producer personality, he remains one of the more highly regarded creative forces within the British techno/electronic scene. Regis has not appeared in New York since he played at The Bunker in 2009.
Lee Gamble came on to our radar last year with two amazing LPs on PAN. One of these albums, "Diversions 19941996," was built entirely from samples of breakdowns from Lee's extensive collection of Jungle mixtapes, and heavily lauded as one of 2012's best albums. While these albums showed Lee's strength as a producer of more outsider sounds, we could not help but notice some of the podcasts linked below, which show off Lee's considerable skills as a DJ for educated dancefloors.
We are long time fans of Keith Fullerton Whitman, so with his recent album on PAN, his inclusion on The Bunker lineup for PAN_ACT was a no-brainer. Keith is one of the most important figures in modern electronic music, not only because of his own albums and performances which always push at the boundaries of what music can be, but also because of his efforts at Mimaroglu Music Sales, his online store that helps keeps innumerable labels and artists operating on the fringes afloat. We have never heard Keith do the same thing twice, but his current set up involves a modular synthesizer, quadrophonic sound, and a lot of improvisation. Keith usually plays to his environment, so will be interesting to see what he comes up with at a place as offbeat as K&K Super Buffet.
Higher harmonic energy is the keystone of Laurel Halo's music, which challenges the boundaries between techno, ambient, pop concrete, dub and synthetic psychedelia. Fixed stylistic territories fold in on themselves, time quickens - it's music for transit and body listening. Meanwhile Halo's live set has electrified clubs, DIY venues, festivals and museums both in the States and Europe. In the live context Halo's music becomes heavy, looming and dancefloor driven. As Jon Caramanica of the New York Times has written, "she's a sharp, and sometimes tantalizing performer who knows how to deploy wobble, drone and nervous energy in refreshing fashion." Laurel's set at The Bunker's event at Unsound last year was a clear highlight of the festival.
Bill Kouligas is the man behind PAN. He does all of the A&R, the eye-popping graphic design, and a ton of other less glamorous work it takes to keep the DIY label afloat. While Bill's efforts have been more recognized in recent years because of PAN's success, he recroded and performed as Family Battle Snake for many years, and is a fixture in the experimental music world. He is going to open the night's festivities with a live set.