Noncompliant has some sexy-cool techno bounce going in her mix for WHOLE Festival. It’s the perfect link between midwest techno and the coming queer-focused blowout in the countryside near Berlin.
Press play for some forward moving music (track listing at bottom):
Our friends over at KALTBLUT magazine invited Lisa aka Noncompliant over to their recent podcast. That “midwest techno” moniker isn’t just an in-the-know way to say, erm, which state a DJ came from while name dropping. It’s a byword for a particular breed of DJ who has clocked untold hours in the mud – sometimes literally – making the rave circuit for years on years, often booking their own gigs, hustling their own … cables/everything, and generally surviving on love of the music alone.
But the important thing about that is, you can hear it in the mixing. And we love listening to music that sounds confident partly because it gets us moving and confident ourselves. Oh yeah, and when you know what you’re doing, you can also drop a crowd-pleaser and classic now and then and totally stick the landing, like Lisa evidently did in Detroit at Movement last week:
More where that came from:
Now, yes, America is still recovering from Movement, but Europe has stuff like WHOLE coming up. The queer-organized, queer-focused festival has a massive lineup, partly because it pulls together LGBTQ and open-minded collectives from both sides of the pond. So you get the likes of The Black Madonna (who met Noncompliant back in said 90s rave scene before anyone knew who they were), Dr. Rubinstein, rRoxymore, Shaun J. Wright, our very own Jamaica Suk (also my studio mate), and lots more.
And Noncompliant will shift gears from headlining Detroit to headlining … a massive campsite queer fest.
And you know, for all the sense some people have that somehow queer culture is ‘hyped’ in music right now, the festival scene can still be a place where a lot of people feel uncomfortable, unsafe, and unable to be themselves. WHOLE promises to make a template for how the summer camp-out festival can be something different – not just a dark, smoky club, but a proper outdoor long weekend. And that could inspire all of us.
As KALTBLUT puts it in their intro:
WHOLE is the only festival of this kind in Europe creating an inclusive environment for the acceptance of all gender identities & sexual orientations, in a relaxing, outdoor environment, far from the hectic confines of the city. A festival by the queers for the queers, where feminine representation and persons or colour are not underrepresented, where not only electronic music, but also workshops, performances, and discussions have been planned all along.
Podcast: Countdown to WHOLE festival – Noncompliant [KALTBLUT Magazine]
There’s more music from WHOLE, too, over at KALTBLUT:
And here’s their fantastic promo video:
And you thought everyone in Berlin only wore black.
Check the festival, and maybe pitch a tent, but definitely keep dancing wherever you are in the world:
Noncompliant’s track listing
Here’s what you’re hearing. Study up / support artists and buy music! (Every single one of these is an artist and label who could use your support, in fact.)
01. Sharp Felon – Cyber Fex [Lone Romantic]
02. Steve Murphy – Ray Gun [Lobster Theremin]
03. The Hacker – Body Electric (Remastered) [Klakson]
04. Solid Blake – Soap Cube [Seilscheibenpfeiler Schallplatten]
05. Dennis Quin – Love Peace [Soft Computing]
06. DJ Deep – Mandrum Dub [Deeply Rooted]
07. Truncate, Chambray – Trax 4 The Club [Figure Jams]
08. Player – 006 B1 [Player]
09. Owen Sands – Purple Noise [Ill Bomb]
10. Blenk – Cells [Enemy]
11. Leandro Gamez – Primary [Analog Solutions]
12. Steffi – 1E-4 [Mistress]
13. Antigone – The Melody (Remix by ROD) [Children of Tomorrow]
14. Robert Hood – Dancer (Remix) [M-Plant]
15. Nikola Gala – Slide B [Teksupport]
16. Truncate – TRNCT_7_2 1 (Untitled) [Truncate]
17. Cheap And Deep – Beautiful [Modular Cowboy]