Unsound Festival New York - have you heard?

February 4th (tomorrow!) marks the first day of the Unsound Festival New York, a ten-day electronic music that event to take place throughout various venues in the city and in Brooklyn. This is a very ambitious festival that has brought together a global community of DJs, producers, promoters, music collectives, underground groups and cultural centers behind this growing contemporary musical culture. Here’s the deal with this festival: Unsound was founded in 2003 in Krakow, and since then is known as a Polish based festival although it has had several successful cross-border showcases. 2010 is an exciting year for Unsound because it is the first time it will be appearing in North America and according to Mat Schulz, cofounder and curator of the fest, it is the largest scale the organizers have seen before! There will be plenty of parties to get your dance floor fix (ehem – three nights of Bunker madness on top of other parties) but there will be also several stimulating intellectual and experimental programs to choose from. Check out the schedule here. This festival is for the eyes, ears and mind with no shortage of events to choose from.

There are several artists I am looking forward hear, most of whom I have not heard perform before – the Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Mike Huckaby, Luke Hess and Carl Craig (although he will be performing a very avant-garde set to Andy Warhol’s “Blowjob”). There are also several DJs/producers I have only discovered from perusing down the lengthy line up of talents and am looking forward to hearing as well (Jacaszek, Marcin Czubula, Jacek Sienkiewicz, Newworldaquarium, Barbara Preisinger, nsi.). I have dug up some mixes by these artists so feel free to get a taste of what to expect by clicking on the names below that will lead you to their download link or stream. Full line up of the artists can be found here.

For more musical goodness, check out the free Unsound compilation on halcyondigi.com. This is a very impressive sampler that includes a very diverse selection with several exclusive tracks. I really recommend downloading this; it is available for a limited time only so get your fix now!

Mixes to check out...

Basic Channel Tribute - Basic Channel is one of Moritz Von Oswald's labels; this mix isn't by him, but gives you a sense of his musical style called "dub techno," which is so so so hot right now. Get on it.

Mike Huckaby - deep house guru with a 313 area code. 'Nuff said.

Luke Hess - from Detroit with a whole lotta soul. Quality ensured.

Carl Craig - legend. Essential for your ears.

Jacek Sienkiewicz - a mouthful of a name, but learn it well, this guy's on the radar.

Marcin Czubula - those Polish guys know what they're doing. Tech+house with some 'tude and a lot of oomph.

Barbara Preisinger - power to the she DJ. This one's hot all over Berlin. Badass beats.