Words & Images by: Tk Kayembe

Re:Convergence :: 11.13.09 & 11.14.09 :: Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom & Quixote’s True Blue :: Denver, CO

Euphonic Conceptions joined up with SetUFree Music to bring BoomBox‘s second annual Convergence Festival to a recently snowcapped Denver. Joined by some of the greatest, most noteworthy audio manipulators around and hosted at adjoined venues Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom and Quixote’s True Blue, the shows went off smoothly for a packed audience raging deep into 4 a.m. both nights

Friday, 11.13

Lazer Sword :: Re:Convergence 2009

Walking into Quixote’s, I was greeted by the crunky tech-hop of Boulder-based dyad Fresh2Death. Kids on the floor were fully wrapped up in the sound as Fisk and Samples had the 480-capacity venue, which typically hosts funk and jam bands, packed and moving like a velvet rope night club. Dropping originally produced tracks and remixes including Samples’ “Oh My,” “Chronic ‘N Reebokz” by Fisk, and “Hit That Jive” by Gramatik, their hyphy lazer bass supported the backbeat to the party, popping bodies as if performing in a 2020 champagne room. Fairly new to the scene, they’re quickly making themselves known, slaying shows and independently selling in the top three most downloaded on beatport.com. Make sure to keep an eye out for both Fisk and Samples as their blossoming careers are just beginning to take off.

As Fresh2Death wound down, Samiyam appeared side stage in a haze of smoke. Part of the Brainfeeder crew (alongside Flying Lotus, Lorn, Teebs, etc), Samiyam’s skill, coupled with a painstaking attention to detail, makes him one of the best among the new wave of electro hip hop producers. Hammering out gut-busting bass lines bracketed with melodic leads and snappy, idiosyncratic backing drums, Samiyam stomped around onstage just as hard as those watching in the crowd. Even more impressive was how he operated his entire set from a Roland SP-404 sampler, controlling samples, layering effects, and transitioning scenes in and out with impeccable accuracy. Some tracks were hard head-bangers with ghetto-tech rapapellas supporting them, others were slow swayers with woozy minor chord progressions submerged in deep underwater flanger reverb. No matter what he was playing, it was all fully engaging and his set maintained heavy energy from start to finish. His brand is truly the thinking man’s hip hop.

Re:Convergence 2009

After fully indulging myself in Samiyam’s superb performance, I made my way past spinning heads and overloaded busboys to catch Two Fresh. On and off the stage, Southern brothers Sherwin and Kendrick Nicholls flex their rhythmic expertise. Their understanding and appreciation of music of various varieties is apparent, as evidenced by their recent 1320 Records debut, Bakers Dozen. Joined live by drummer Colby Buckler, the trio moved the audience through the set apprehensively as fans faithfully followed function, freely, flutteringly, and fervently as they traveled through tracks such as “You Are Too,” which beautifully samples Harold Melvin’s “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” while adding funky synth bass with scuttled leads atop the perfect one-two drumbeat. Other highlights included “Night Owl” and “Recollection” from their latest release, in addition to noteworthy J Dilla and Alex B covers.

Before strapping on my boots and going to the war of getting from one venue to the next, I walked around Cervantes’ a bit to check out some of the outstanding art installations. During Two Fresh’s set I noticed fire spinners set up on some of the large performance cubes on the main level. Aimlessly drifting about, I stumbled into artist Patrick Beery, whose chalk drawings are among my favorite pieces of live artwork to watch. He quickly attacks his paintings, making deep strokes with the accuracy and patient fluidity of a skilled calligrapher. It’s truly captivating to watch. More wandering brought me to Boulderite Mackenzie Page‘s setup, whose work seems to be evolving more and more into its true being every time I see it. Drawing inspiration from life and all of its emotions, Page’s paintings overflow with powerful colors, subtle nuances and gradation. After a brief chat with both artists, I made my way back into Quixote’s for more subsonic carnage.

Ana Sia :: Re:Convergence 2009

Running back through the tiny doorway, I caught the tail end of Lorn‘s set. Another Brainfeeder label mate, Lorn’s anything-but-casual music is deep and personal. Riddled with his own vocals and other finely crafted vox work, his sound brought a completely different element to the party. Dark, bitter and full of passion, the alchemistic Lorn cycled through heart-wrenching songs, which felt like stories of endured experiences, while I joined others with my head down and eyes closed, completely surrendering, allowing the music to wash over me.

Realizing the time, I briskly wrapped around the venue wide-eyed as BoomBox‘s set began to take off. Gazing out towards the stage I watched as guitarist Zion stepped back and forth in place behind the typical boa-adorned mic stand as Russ tucked himself behind his heaping table of electronics. Any audiophile’s wet dream, DJ Russ’ stockpile of sequencers, controllers, and other toys that go boom spilled out in all directions, surrounding his glowing laptop screen. Once the twosome broke into a jam, the floor came to life, as vibrant as the enormous disco ball that hung high above. I continued to walk around, feeling out the music from different corners of the venue, enjoying my delicious dose of BoomBox, as per usual.

Un-snagging myself from the BB set, I (as politely as possible) pushed past people inconveniently loitering in the doorways, stiff-arming those in my way as if posing for the Heisman trophy. Re-entering Quixote’s I was greeted by the music of Ana Sia, which had the subtle discretion of a crystal goblet colliding with a concrete floor. Dulcet tones and deep bass lines immediately snared me as I swung my camera behind my back and got down with those around me. Music simply seeps out of this woman’s pores as she pushes the audience further and further, dishing out inconceivable deliciousness for bass fiends losing it on the dance floor. Her Friday set was diverse, straddling the line between intense and delightfully overwhelming as she brought ethnic percussion laced hip hop to the table, letting it ride for a while before seamlessly easing wobbly, fluctuating sub-sine waves into the mix. Keeping an eye on her scene and beaming brightly with every change, she neared the end of her first set of the weekend while Lando Kal and LL of Lazer Sword stealthily began setting up equipment for their set.

Megasoid :: Re:Convergence 2009

Before dropping anchor in Quixote’s for the rest of the night, I speedily panned back over to Cervantes’ to catch some of Denver native David Seied‘s set. Having been impressed by his performance at this past year’s Sonic Bloom festival, I knew I wanted to get a taste of what he was serving up Friday night. Standing in the back, I watched Seied drop original, strikingly well produced dubstep, tugging fervently at the heartstrings of those in attendance. After Lazer Sword was well underway, I crept back through the doorway to the other side to catch what was happening in the tinier of the two worlds.

Grabbing a decent spot at the back of the stage, I snapped some pics of Lazer Sword. Spying on LL and Lando Kal’s shuffling Ableton sessions, I followed their every move, shifting in and out of focus with my glass eye. They performed at a faster BPM than most others on Friday, making it good fun to dust off the kicks for one more hard dance before getting down a bit with Megasoid. Various sound effects streamed from eagerly pushed buttons on MPDs as the fellas cut through street-banger a capellas glued to blippy, octave-vibrating electro waves that even Lil’ John couldn’t deny as ‘crunk.’

Hopping up onstage, Speakerbruiser Rob of Megasoid set up his gear, transitioning in quietly behind his Turbo Crunk friends in Lazer Sword, making the summation of their set seamless with the beginning of his. Without skipping a beat, the audience kept grooving to the electronic “kick, clap” pulse of the drums and the high cut-off, chewy bass as Rob called out for all of the stage lights to be turned off. I loved this. With the lights low, people stop focusing so much on the inconsequential – how they’re dancing, what they look like, who’s around, etc. The only thing left to do with the lights off is close your eyes and let the music move you.

I kept by the front speaker as if rooted to the ground, unable to leave, completely disregarding my exhausted body. After a night of intense performances and bright, flashing lights, the darkness was perfect; it played the lurking, mysterious partner to the sounds coming from the speakers. Absorbing a majority of the set, it was time to get some rest, only to wake up the following day and prepare for the final night of Re:Convergence.

Continue reading for Saturday’s coverage…

Saturday, 11.14

Evol Intent :: Re:Convergence 2009

Night two started off a bit slower than Friday due to another snow dump. However, it didn’t take long for the masses to arrive, showing artists that ice and snow covered roads weren’t going to slow this party down. Entering Cervantes’, I was surprised to hear Lorn once again, as he surprised everyone with a small “tweener” set while the crew was setting up the stage for Evol Intent, who had switched time slots with Octopus Nebula.

Knick, The Enemy, and Gigantor make up the brutal darkstep/idm group Evol Intent. Once their set commenced, bodies began twirling. The trio started off with some speedy tunes, trying to match what they wanted to play with what the crowd could handle. Not quite ready to dance, and definitely not ready to leave, I stuck around Cervantes’ for a while, walking around and taking the time to check out more of the art installations. Denver artist Patrick Beery was set up on a cube to the left of the stage making deep chalk strokes onto his black light reactive canvas, while a few feet behind him Eliza Ross was painting on thin strips of Plexiglass set up on her easel. Another reason I love these gatherings (many times put on by EC) is because not only does your ticket entitle you to a few hours of live music, you are also treated to live visual art being created right in front of your eyes. Live art is imperative to the music scene, especially in Colorado, as it provides both the artists onstage and those with a brush to combine talents, thus creating a lavish piece of live love together.

Eskmo :: Re:Convergence 2009

Moving through the door behind the bar, I caught up to San Francisco’s Eskmo. His music is distinct and very much his own. Murky, swampy, buzzing bass and leads play patty cake with slow, minimal kicks, claps, shakers, and winding/twisting gear noises, which many times serve as the perfect addition to or replacement for hi-hats. He proudly rocked his electro-love set, adding in live instrumentation with a Novation MIDI-keyboard and Trigger Finger running from his laptop. His stance was rugged and fierce as he leaned on his controllers, forcing out of them exactly what he, and we, wanted. Highlights included lean-back track “Harmony,” during which he sprayed the title vocal sample over and over from the Trigger Finger, and the absolutely ingenious “Shock Doctrine (remix)” from STS9‘s Peaceblaster Remixes album.

Switching venues once again, I drifted into Cervantes’ to catch some of Ana Sia’s second set of the weekend. During the first five minutes of her performance I stood side stage and watched the room’s size double, triple and continue multiplying in size until what appeared to be all in attendance were littered around the main venue, either on the balcony or on the dance floor. Controlling the minds of all, the Puppet Masteress had bobbing heads devotionally following her effects as she rolled down samples and twisted knobs like a mother would the ear of a disobedient child. This Saturday night set had a completely different mood than the previous night, beginning more dark and daunting. Eerily moving sound through the crowd like a spirit-hunting force, Ana treated us to some brand new originals including “Tardigrade Symphony in D.” Drawing in a mesmerized crowd of catastrophic size, as she usually does, Ana took us all on another audio odyssey, fully submerged in sound, ritualistically baptized in bass.

SexyTime :: Re:Convergence 2009

After more aimless wandering about Cervantes’, I retreated back to Quixote’s to see Blockhead. Upon walking in, I was blessed with the marching band procession of “Insomniac Olympics,” an alluringly angelic track off his Music By Candlelight album. Blockhead’s appealing, no-strings-attached approach to hip hop is refreshing, and his dance floor friendly sonance is tasteful and soothing to the mind. Those surrounding me were infected by his contagious melodies and funky, nu-school backing beats. Unfortunately, almost as soon as I arrived his set was in wind down mode, as Tigran Mimosa and Samuel Pohner prepared to unleash SexyTime.

When asked to describe what Mimosa/Sleepyhead collaboration SexyTime sound like to friends, I always give ridiculous, obscure references. “The soundtrack to your wettest dream” seems to fit rather well. After Blockhead, I went backstage to switch lenses and catch my breath. When I made it to the top of the stairs, my jaw dropped. People were screaming, girls were up on boys’ shoulders with limbs flailing; it was pandemonium in every sense of the word. This, of course, only fueled Mimosa and Sleepyhead’s need to please as they dropped track after track of electronic urban-assault hyph-hop, making the floor shakier than the cinematography in The Blair Witch Project. Together they are a terrific pair, very observant of what the crowd wanted, and each song played evoked an instantaneous reaction from the audience. Standing within touching distance of the speakers, I could feel the bass rattle my teeth deep and intrusively, keeping a packed house screaming for more long after they closed their laptops.

Following SexyTime, my body informed me it was ready to quit. I quite regrettably missed Octopus Nebula, who ostensibly killed their late night time slot at Cervantes’ and was rumored to be among the top performances all weekend. Although the festival took place in two conjoined venues, navigating around and through them was overwhelming, to say the least. There were so many people, vivid installations, and so much astonishing music that catching every single act/performance felt impossible – the perfect sensory overload. Everything about the weekend was immaculate, another flawless EC production. I’ll probably still be catching up on sleep through the end of November.

JamBase | Denver
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