So let’s imagine you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, and you just crawled out of your hole and want to figure out what events to go to in, say, the last week of April 2011. To get a bit more specific, April 18th through the 24th. You might want to mark these dates on your calendar. If you’re into dance or electronic music and live in Boston, you may even want to try to get a couple days off work or pray your professors aren’t going to throw any pop quizzes or papers your way. The annual TOGETHER Festival is returning for a second round. Thought last year’s version was fun? Oh just wait.
In terms of last years’ TOGETHER, my only gripe was the fact it took place in the bitter cold of February. Those long lines (every single event was pretty much at capacity) were a bit brutal that time of year! The TOGETHER team must have heard this issue echoed a thousand times over, which probably explains why it was pushed forward to the more seasonal end of April. Although this might be finals week for some college students, it was certainly a great choice on their end to host it in the spring.
A number of clubs and promotional groups around the city are banding, er, together (no pun intended) to make TOGETHER 2011 more badass than ever though possible.
Before I get into the details, check out the promo video below, crafted by Jared Valliere. You will love the eye candy, or your money back (wait what money, it’s a free video, eh?)
Now, for the info you need to know. (FYI: if you’re already familiar with what’s happening, skip to the next part of this post. I’m basically regurgitating the next two paragraphs from the press release.)
BBC Radio 1 veteran Mary Anne Hobbs will be making her Boston debut, with frends Mike Slott, Take, and Lorn in tow at the Paradise on April 24th. Dubstep certainly has a front-and-center spot in this years TOGETHER. And if this isn’t enough for the bottom end posse, Ramadanman/Pearson Sound (hot off the heels of a Fabric mix), Zed Bias, and Sub Swara will also be making appearances during the week. World-renowned trance trio Above & Beyond will headline Royale on April 21st. Trentemoller will play the TOGETHER closing ceremony on April 25th; this will also be his first Boston appearance ever (and I definitely admire whoever was responsible for getting Anders out here, not an easy or inexpensive feat by ANY stretch of the imagination).
Anton Pieete and Switch (of Major Lazer fame) will be touching down at Rise on the weenend of the 22nd & 23rd. Wolfgang Gartner, Shuttle, and Hot Pink Delorean will all be making their sophmore appearances. Future Rock is performing live during the week, Planet of the Drums resident Dara will be playing drum and bass at Elements, and Pantha Du Prince will make his debut at the Great Scott. Did I hear something about a possible Hearthrob Reunion, as well as a SUBduction fiasco with Night Slugs producer Egyptrixx at the consoles? And the list goes on, there are plenty of others I know I’m probably forgetting (leave a comment in the section below to call the ones I missed to my attention.)
TOGETHER Artist Showcase DJ Mix
This morning I found myself sort of curious about some of these artists. Before today, I wasn’t all to familiar with Pantha Du Prince or Anton Pieete. I know, I know, I know. As a so-called music “journalist” I need to be on top of everything….well sometimes I’m admittedly a bit behind the haps. Cruising around Beatport today I started checking out the back catalogues of these artists. Their sound is very deep and minimal, yet still funky enough to get a head nod or two even from the most stubborn listener.
Digitally digging through their back catalogues inspired me to take things a little further and actually go through the vaults of ALL the headliners playing TOGETHER 2011, and make a DJ mix showcasing their work. I’ve always been a big fan personally of themed mixes like this. Although they might seem restrictive at first (especially due to the fact that a ton of different styles of music are being represented at the festival), somehow with enough exploring there are songs that will just seem to fall together nicely, regardless of sub-genre.
After spending several hours meticuously searching to get the tracks for this mix, I recorded it one-shot. There’s a couple small flubs but overall it came together nice considering I wasn’t well familiar with a lot of what I played. There’s definitely a deep/tech house vibe especially towards the beginning, and it builds and speeds up, flirts with dubstep a bit towards the end (without actually playing any full-on), and the drum and bass switcharoo is pulled at the very end for the last four tracks.
Now Mary Anne Hobbs doesn’t produce so I can’t represent her properly here, but one thing I never knew is that Dara actually produced a couple of originals, as well as 1 or 2 remixes, back in the 90s. One is included here. Much of what is in here spans the last decade, it definitely isn’t all “hot at the moment” tunage. If you’re morbidly curious about some of the acts coming to town, I encourage you to check out this sampler and whet your apetite.
Together 2011 Artist Showcase Mix (Mixed by Effective Res/Nickdawg)
(256kbps MP3, 76 minutes)
Sight Below: Without Motion
Trentemoller: Chameleon
Take & Samuel Simpson: Spronkle
Mike Slott & Martyn: All Nights
Zed Bias: Show Some Appreciation
Mr. C: Waxing
Anton Pieete & Mark Broom: Crabsticks
Pantha Du Prince: Behind The Stars
Switch: The Something Likes
Egyptrixx: Recital
Anton Pieete: Encore
Wolfgang Gartner: Yin
Wolfgang Gartner: Yang
Mr. C: Siren (Vince Watson Remix)
Anton Pieete: Siberian
Hot Pink Delorean: I’m Your Computer
Egyptrixx: Everybody Bleeding (Kingdom Remix)
Ramadanman: A Couple More Years
Ramadanman: Work Them
Shuttle: Lion
Sub Swara: Tambores
Kentaro: Moments
Above & Beyond: On A Good Day (J Majik & Wickaman Remix)
DJ Dara: Jealousy
Zed Bias: Something About This
Not unlike last year, this year’s round of TOGETHER will be packed with plenty of events outside of the bars and clubs. The record expo and fashion show was one of my personaly favorite events from last year (what can I say I like crate digging). There are some GEMS to be found in those crates, and with people like G Notorious and Pete Dev/Null, two of Boston’s most prominent vinyl collectors (especially in the broken beat realm), DJ’s and fans alike should be able to find plenty at reasonable prices. Boston Cyberarts will be co-sponsoring, so bring a full wallet; they will have tons of T-shirts, jewelry, and accessories to rummage through. This takes place at the Pozen Center at MassArt (621 Huntington Ave.)
Producers will be pleased to hear there will be plenty of audio production workshops as well. Word on the street is Dubspot is involved this year. There will also be other happenings such as film showcases and art panels. Additionally, I would like to point out that the Greater Boston Food Bank is teaming up with TOGETHER to raise money for food relief, and they are hosting a poster/artwork contest. I will be posting info on this exclusively tomorrow.
In the pipeline I also have a Q-and-A session I’ll be posting here shortly with the man behind the mayhem, TOGETHER’s founder and creative director David Day.
If you want to be the first to find out about breaking news for this festival, be sure to follow the TOGETHER gang on Twitter, and check out their website (where content is being added on a daily basis). Expect to hear plenty of updates!
If you want a combined discount on all of the events if you plan on attending many of them you should consider buying a week pass. Click here for more info - buying this will grant you admission to ALL of the events and workshops (almost 40 to date!)
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 11:32AM 
