L.E.V. festival, the Spanish platform for the production and promotion of experimental electronic sound, audiovisuals and digital art, was created seventeen years ago by DATATRON collective. The festival holds two main big annual events in the country: L.E.V. Festival in Gijón and L.E.V. Matadero in Madrid. The festival has just released the first line-up announcements for the Gijón edition, which will take place from 27 to 30 April 2023.

With the support of Gijón’s Town Council and the Principality of Asturias, L.E.V. will see an ambitious lineup that will turn the Asturian town into the epicentre of electronic sound experimentation and contemporary audiovisual and digital creation with four performances in days in different spaces and cultural centres. Live shows will include artists such as Robert Henke, Hélène Vogelsinger, Ikonika, Franck Vigroux & Antoine Schmitt, Grand River, Kathy Hinde, Annabelle Playe & Alexandra Rădulescu and Claraguilar and audiovisual installations and activities related to extended realities in synergy with the Arenas Movedizas project, LABoral Centro de Arte and Centro de Cultura Antiguo Instituto.

On Friday, April 28, at teatro de la Laboral, Robert Henke will showcase his project CBM 8032 AV, created with vintage computers. In CBM 8032 AV, Henke explores the beauty of simple graphics and sounds using five Commodore CBM 8032 computers. This work plays with the ambivalence of contemporary aesthetics and the use of obsolete, limited, 40-year-old technology. We’ll see the premiere of All Above, the recently released album by Grand River, the project by composer and sound designer Aimée Portioli. Annabelle Playe and Alexandra Rădulescu worked together to create the project KRASIS, an interactive performance where the devices and media used by each on stage are interconnected, generating a dialogue and an exploration between image and sound in real-time. The night will be completed with the world premiere of Videoscope by Franck Vigroux & Antoine Schmitt, an audiovisual performance based on Vigroux’s latest release, Magnetoscope.

Also at Teatro de la Laboral on Saturday, April 29, the day will kick off with the performance Twittering Machine by audiovisual artist Kathy Hinde, who translates John Keats’ poem Ode to a Nightingale into Morse code and reinterprets it sonically, including bird songs recorded with different effects, intertwined to create a hypnotic chorus of real and artificial birds. Hélène Vogelsinger will showcase her modular synthesiser project, Metaphysical Alteration. In this project, she explores different spaces to connect with their energies, creating unique, poetic moments.

On Saturday, April 29, daytime live shows will take place at Muséu del Pueblu d’Asturies. One of the highlights of this day is Ikonika, one of the most respected names in the UK bass diaspora. Known for her numerous releases with Hyperdub Records, Ikonika is a constantly evolving artist. Her last Bubble Up EP, reflects her diverse interests and musical influences, generating a show where she combines her vocals with live edits from her songs. Komatssu will play their third album No place For Poetry, an exercise in eclecticism, combining space techno and melodic landscapes, solid breaks and beautiful atmospheres. Closing the line-up at Muséu del Pueblu d’Asturies Jailed Jamie, accompanied by Helios Amor, will premiere, especially for L.E.V. Festival, his album Gimme Something To Break. While on Sunday, L.E.V. will bring back daytime shows at Jardín Botánico Atlántico de Gijón with an alternative format which will leave the audience in awe. 

Saturday night will again take over the Nave de LABoral Centro de Arte. Highlights of the night include producer Throwing Snow, aka Ross Tones, who will showcase his fourth album, Dragons AV, a work halfway between science and ancient wisdom, between prehistoric rites and the complexities of the contemporary world. The ten tracks in this album combine solid electronic beats with the physicality of countless acoustic instruments, accompanied by a neural network of visual elements created in collaboration with the artist and technologist Matt Woodham. The live show by two-piece Enxin/Onyx is a constant interaction between elements of each artist’s individual practices, generating a sonic experience which knows no bounds. Zoë Mc Pherson and Alessandra Leone come to Gijón with Pitch Blender live AV, a strong setlist full of cybernetic experiments for the dancefloor, like a rave in an art space, released through her own SFX label, also co-directed with Alessandra Leone.

The closing act is on Sunday, April 30, at Teatro Jovellanos. For this occasion, they will bring back the project Dökk by Italian studio fuse*, a live-media performance that will take us on a journey to the subconscious, the emotions and the unpredictability of the human being.

As in previous editions, throughout the four days of the festival, different spaces of the town will host several audiovisual installations and activities related to extended realities, such as virtual or augmented reality. More information on these installations and activities will be in the next few weeks.

Tickets are available from this link.

Text by CLOT Magazine

Website https://levfestival.com/22/en/
(Image courtesy of L.E.V.)