METAMORPHOSE 06 @ Continental Cycling Center Shuzenji
DATE : 26-27th August, 2006 (Fri, Sat, Sun)
PHOTOGRAPHER : Metamorphose Office
TEXT : Nick Lawrence (HigherFrequency)
2006 was to be the second year for Metamorphose at its new Shizuoka home after packing up shop in Naeba. Now fans of the long running outdoor event are welcomed to the bicycle track setting which is reached only once you have made your way through a slightly dilapidated amusement park where the rides' thrills seem to come not from speed or great heights but from fear of tetanus and debilitating injury. While much of the event is confined to the less than natural asphalt cycle track, the picturesque mountain backdrop saved the day and eased away any thoughts of city life and the working week. Metamorphose is more than just a dance music festival, it is also an opportunity to go camping with friends, eat weird and wonderful foods and take in some rather bizarre sights. While strolling around the cycle track during the event those not drawn in by the Thai ramen, kebabs, foot long hot dogs and the obligatory hippy wares, were sure enough amazed by the installation art or the seizure inducing bus which was decked out with strobe lights a plenty. While it may've been slightly annoying to many on the day, a shout out must go to Metamorphoses ingenious eco-friendly scheme of refunding 100 yen from the purchase price of any food or drink item whenever a festivalgoer was good enough to dispose of the waste appropriately. No matter where you are in the world every outdoor festival will invariably attempt to bridge the genre divide and push their own beliefs of 'eclecticism'. Most of the time they fail dismally with the token crossover act receiving disappointing crowds. However, Metamorphose was a little different in the fact that it actually put its money on the right horse, KononoNo1. Despite most people only arriving minutes earlier the sounds of the likembe (thumb piano), rhythmic percussion and indecipherable French vocals were more than enough to get people flocking to the Solar stage in their droves with countless tents left half erected, momentarily forsaken in favour of a quick groove shaking session. |
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After walking approximately 3.72 kilometres from their campsites, hundreds of weary travelers were greeted by the sounds of Sebastien Leger over at the Lunar stage. To reach the highest level of understanding to exactly what the Bits Music boss was dishing up it is best to recall the words of King Unique, "Dirty, filthy, immoral". Although Leger never actually played 'Dirty', those three words go a long way to describe the sleazy samples, grinding basslines and chunky beats that were resonating throughout the shed which provided a setting reminiscent of an illegal rave. Later that night DJ Sneak had the Lunar landers bouncing to those notorious Sneak beats. Sneak managed to continuously keep the pace up and the tunes banging. No hit tune was safe from the Puerto Rican ex-pat. Madison Avenue's 'Don't Call Me Baby' took the masses back to the late 90's while 'Gets Nocht' from Alter Ego man Roman Flugel and Sneak's own remix of Gnarls Barkley's record-breaking 'Crazy' brought everyone straight back into present day house tune territory. Plenty of Chicago stylings to keep the crowd going wild before handing over the deck duties to another former Windy City resident, Mark Farina. Hidden away behind the main campsite was the impressive Planet stage which on the day played host to the Idjut Boys and their mash up of dub, disco and funk as well as Chicago legend Mark Farina for his second set of the day after performing after DJ Sneak across at the Lunar stage. Also rocking out in the giant dirt patch was event guardian angel Fumiya Tanaka whose reputation with big international names like Ricardo Villalobos helps him to organize some class A acts for Japan's most popular outdoor dance music event.
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Although many at Metamorphose weren't even old enough to remember the 1984 release of Manuel Gottsching's "E2-E4" it didn't put a damper on the Solar stage attendance for his set which came shortly after improv masters the Bays were ushered off the stage. Many were there to pay their respects to a piece of music that defined much of modern day synthesizer use but receives relatively little credit when compared to other electronic music pioneers such as Kraftwerk. After a brief introduction of his first solo performance of "E2-E4" since its recording 25 years earlier in 1981, Gottsching positioned his lean frame into the custom made synthesizer booth and got straight to work. The music Manuel can usher out of his machinery had everyone baffled as to how this could've been devised a quarter of a century ago. The hour-long performance was over all too soon, but not before a brief jam on his guitar. Once Gottsching had left the stage two questions lingered in the crowd's minds. Firstly, how was Gottsching so ahead of his time and more importantly, what have producers been doing since? Back a few kilometers over John Dahlback had the loyal Lunar stage visitors in the palm of his hand and was molding them at a whim like the putty their legs had become. The punchy kicks never quite blew the speaker stacks but the young Swede's blippy sound did manage to blow more than a few minds, many adoring fans mesmerized by Dahlback as he bounced around the stage with a wide grin on his face and a strategically placed hat on his head. Latin lothario Luciano had the honour of wrapping up proceedings down at the Lunar stage. Something about the warehouseesque setting and the party-hard Metamorphose acolytes managed to manipulate the usually Chilean inspired music of Luciano into techno more in-line with his current home of Switzerland and his many European residencies. Never the less some things remained unchanged like Luciano's unmatched showmanship. The Cadenza co-owner raising his hand for his trademark signal every time the killer kick dropped back, evoking images of Babe Ruth signaling to the outfield before bringing down the house. The job of bringing home the Solar stage, which had featured the local favourites Takash Numazawa + Yuji Katsui + Marcos Suzano as well as French based Ivan Smagghe and Arnaud Rebotini as Black Strobe, and the event as a whole was bestowed upon American Sunshine Jones. In amongst the deep house were outbursts in the form of political monologues however, most in attendance were safely tucked away in their tents at this point, resting up before the long drive home. | |
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