Look, how time flies. MELT! Festival 2018 is approaching pretty fast and we surely can’t wait to get into ‘sleepless floor mode’ again at the city of iron, Ferropolis. Once again the beloved German festival institution delivers a great variety of genres, musical fields and a great mixture of well-known artists right next to some talented newcomers. And as much as we’re looking forward to the performances of The xx, Florence + The Machine, Fever Ray, Jon Hopkins, Cigarettes After Sex and other big players we always enjoyed discovering the lesser known ones at MELT! Festival. So, we took a closer look at the event’s impressive line-up (do the same right here) and picked five slightly smaller but quite personal highlights out of it. So, if you want to belong to the cool kids, you’d better take a closer look right here. And who knows … maybe you can even win a few tickets for the big party in the end?
Kedr Livanskiy
As a regular reader of NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION you should have heard about Russian electro underground queen Kedr Livanskiy by now. Ariadna was one of our most loved hidden album gems of 2017 and we also dedicated a bigger interview feature to the young lady not so long ago. Her hypnotic lo-fi sound, combined with adventurous structures, stubborn DIY spirit and a her shy/ mysterious chrachter create a wild and furious sound that’s hard to capture but still very tempting. Call it ‘Futuristic nostalgia’, ‘lo-fi techno’ or ‘New Russian whatever’ – we can’t wait to witness her unique sound live on stage at the festival ground.
IAMDDB
Gurr
Next to all the stylish R&B, techno and house music music you might wonder if there’s still room for music beyond the electronic music field on MELT! Festival. Although indie rock is in general way less present than it used to be here over a decade ago it’s still popping out every now and then. Andreya Casablanca and Laura Lee aka Gurr are band that works against the current trend. The furious female rock duo feels like it directly beamed itself from 2006’s musical landscape into the hear and now. Driven by the stubborn and confident charm of their catchy lo-fi indie gems Gurr already gained a strong and constantly growing in their German home country. They also won the MPALA European Album of the Year Award, toured with the Shame lads and are goddamn ready to conquert the rest of Europe and the world. Now, wouldn’t that be a wonderful success story?
Smerz
SMERZ is the electro pop project of Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeld from Norway and one of the hottest additions to the restless XL Recordings roster in the past years. Now based in Copenhagen, the duo produces a futuristic sound between slow motion techno and those sometimes sweet and soulful pop melodies. What sounds like the deconstruction of synthie pop, is better than James Blake’s last record but equally breaky and danceable. SMERZ’ music is dark but heartwarming, cool but euphoric. Step out of the tent, look into the sun and decide which shoes you gonna wear; all the cool kids are waiting for you!
Erobique
Okay, and finally something quite different. This man feels a bit out of place in this list of buzzing young women, mostly because he’s not entirely new and… well, a man. But what a man! Carsten Meyer and his alter ego Erobique have been around the German electronic music scene for over two decades now. He once even formed a band with DJ Koze but somehow never received the critical acclaim like his old buddy. And even in Germany he’s more of a special interest thing and this needs to change! One of the main reasons might be that Erobique is not really a recording artist but more of a live performer. He barely releases EPs, albums and own productions but prefers to keep them in their live environment. Here he improvises with his mighy house music piano(s), countless effects and his vocals. Meyer is not a DJ/ producer in the traditional sense – he’s an entertainer, an old-fashioned showman that carries his audience through the set and is carried by the people enjoying these sets. He also doesn’t take himself too seriously which has gotten rare in the ultra cool dance music scene. He is like his shows: unique and original. We don’t deserve him and yet are more than happy to experience this loveable lad once again at MELT Festival 2018.
And last but not least the best part: NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION gives you the chance to attend as we’re giving away one pair of tickets for MELT Festival 2018! All you need to do is follow these three simple steps:
1. Head to our new Stay Updated page
2. Sign in for NBHAP’s forthcoming newsletter!
3. Send a mail with your full name and the subject ‘MELT’ to win@nbhap.com
THE COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED AN ALL WINNERS HAVE BEEN INFORMED.
Thanks for taking part! Get yourself in the right mood by enjoying our very own MELT Mixtape right here.