Norbergfestival 2009 report card
Minimal techno, click house, IDM – pretty much absent this year. The much anticipated skweee battle sort of ran out in the sand, with the majority of the audience leaving before their set was done. An anti-climax if anything. I guess they are better not live. Teatermaskinen represented quite nicely though with cheap food and drinks, tall tales of their new bauhaus, Johan Jönson reading from his latest book, and some industrial acts that I missed. I also missed Danish favorites Rumpistol and Kid Kishore / DJ Hvad, a damn shame. But what was really 2009?
8-bit beats. Role Model and especially Goto80, backed up by the intriguing VJ-wizardry of Raquel Meyers, knocked down all doors and the competition flat to the ground. They’re just getting better, and better. And more than a few happy amateurs could be seen on the camping area performing rituals of black magic with their gameboys.
Breakcore. Broken Note have learned his lessons from Kid Spatula’s epic track Hard Love, stretching them out and employing them for a set of maximum dancefloor action. The Teknoist was a nice surprise, too, and even had the good taste of dropping Bjork’s Joga over some modern electronic brutalism. DJ Producer convinced us that hardcore will never die, dropping riot techno beats while doing old school scratch routines on CD-players. Three pretty great shows. And around the camping area you could hear people blasting new strange hybrids of speedcore and jungle from their soundsystems. The hard music is back.
Acid. B12 won new fans (me included) with a traditionalist, transcendental, 303-based show. Another victory for knob-twiddling shamanism. And with Camp 303 organizing an official stage, there were no shortage of enthusiasts squeezing out the last drop of acid out of their beautiful analog equipment. The best music of the festival could often be found at that stage. But even with that crew becoming an official part of the festival, some of the most innovative and exciting performances could still be found on the camping area.
