This year's annual Decibel Festival marked the seventh year that producers, DJs, visual artists, and electronic music enthusiasts from around the globe have descended upon the city of Seattle for a week of musical performances, conferences, and even the occasional Boat party and outdoor bass rave.

dB 2010 saw an expansion on last year's festivities with an additional full day of programming on Wednesday, as well as the addition of a second afternoon of dB in the Park which had traditionally only been held on Sunday afternoon. The often heralded Optical A/V showcases also found a new home in legendary Seattle venues The Triple Door and Benaroya Hall.

Fresh off the plane and with a quick bite to eat in mind, we made the inevitable trek to Seattle staple Dick's for some much needed sustenance. All jokes aside, Dick's is one of Seattle's oldest and most respected burger joints, as referenced in Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Posse on Broadway".  As fellow patrons conquered Deluxe's, milkshakes, and fresh-cut French fries; one hell of a gut-bomb later we ventured up Capitol Hill to Pravda Studios to pick up tickets for the weekend and made some brief introductions as the Decibel staff was well underway with preparations for the week to come.  As Lusine shook his head with disapproval at my abomination of a passport (which has since officially been retired, a proper eulogy forthcoming...) we headed over to one of downtown Seattle's premiere loitering destinations, the REI flagship store. With a 65-foot indoor climbing wall, fake waterfalls, and enough outdoor gear for the entire state of Washington at our disposal, the primary purpose of this destination was to capitalize on the free parking in their multi-level parking garage while waiting to check in to our hotel.

After getting settled in back at the hotel, we decided to hit up Happy Hour at Club Contour before venturing over to the Ghostly International Label Showcase at Neumo's.  Contour's HH is one of the few places you'll find two entrees and and a Pint for under 10$ anywhere, let alone right in the heart of Downtown Seattle.  You also have to appreciate any establishment in which Happy Hour is actually a five-hour long affair.  As the night's festivities fast approached, we made our way up Pike St. to Neumo's to make sure we caught the opening set of the night from Mux Mool.

Walking inside an almost packed to the brim Neumo's at little past 9pm, it was hard to not take a step back and appreciate the growth of this festival since we first attended back in 2008.  The Ghostly Showcase in 2008 had then taken place at the much smaller Baltic Room with sets from Tycho, Lusine, Deru, and The Sight Below.  Fast forward to 2010 where droves of ticket and pass-holders alike crammed into a sold-out Neumo's to hear the sounds of Gold Panda and Pantha du Prince, in from the UK and Germany respectively, with stateside producers Lusine and Mux Mool also rounding out the bill.

The night kicked off with a live set from Brooklyn-based producer Mux Mool.  2010 saw the release of his debut full-length 'Skulltaste' on Ghostly; an eclectic compilation of beats ranging across the entire electronic music spectrum.  His live performance played to his expansive pallette, progressively winning the dancefloor over with one track after the next, even getting the head-nodding beat junkies to move their feet by the end of his set.

Next up was the Seattle debut of Gold Panda, also fresh off the release of his own recent LP 'Lucky Shiner' on the Ghostly label earlier in the month.  After an ambient intro, he began cracking away at his Akai MPC with effect-laden hypnotic beats and delivered a set that could be appreciated by the instrospective chin-stroking massive as well as eager fans ready to let off some steam on the dancefloor.

A Decibel Festival staple, producer Jeff McIlwain aka Lusine was next at the helm and had the whole of Neumo's getting down in synchronicity during his spellbinding performance.  His set pulsed with dark techno and house flavors, with driving sub-basslines causing the dancefloor to break out into a frenzy.  Still able to showcase his vast knowledge of sound design and atmospheric nuances, Lusine played a stellar set targeted at getting Neumo's moving.

Pantha du Prince took the stage at around half-past midnight and started his set off with a patient construction and layering of ambient textures and soundscapes before the first hints of drums and percussion began to work their way into the mix.  As the set picked up steam and the driving beats reverberated through the masses at Neumo's, we decided to up the BPM ante and head over to the Baltic Room to catch the tail end of the inaugural dB Drum & Bass Showcase.

With long-running Seattle weekly DNB Tuesdays and crews like Onset and Kaos Theory still holding it down for the DnB diehards in the Emerald city, it was well deserved that the genre and it's community get a proper showcase at Decibel.  When we arrived, London's Klute was already heavy in the mix and obliterating it on the decks to the tenacious and rabid massive brukking out inside the Baltic Room.  www.seattleDnB.com

After being featured as the #2 Sandwich in America according to TLC's "Best Food Ever", we knew that we needed to start Thursday off with the Cuban Roast Pork sandwich at Caribbean eatery Paseo.  Now we here at Bassfaced take sandwiches with the utmost seriousness and this beauty was easily one of the Top 5 sandwich induced sensations of my entire life.  To get the full effect, make sure you order it to stay and keep your eyes open for the highly sought after open table, which can be hard to come by.

After the ensuing food coma and taking some time to fully wrap our minds around the subtleties of the fresh cilantro, jalapenos, and aioli spread, we hoofed it to Neumo's which now featured dual projection screens as well as an LED backdrop directed by Audiopixel, to catch the Flying Lotus & Friends Showcase.  

We arrived to the sounds of LA beatsmith and Brainfeeder alum Samiyam appropriately donning a Seahawks fitted, cranking out woozy beats over the PA.  Just off a recent tour stint to Australia and NZ, he powered through the jetlag with a set of broken beat and bleary eyed hip-hop rhythms, incorporating the occasional MOP and Rich Boy verses and a Big Band sample flip for good measure.  Perhaps the unsung hero of the set was Cupcake Royale for coming through with the mid-set power nosh to energize him through to the end of his set.

Next up was Milwaukee-based producer Lorn who threw together one of the more impressive performances from the weekend.  Lorn took a darker and more direct path to the hearts of the Decibel faithful, with punishing and unrelenting low-end while still keeping the hip-hop influence alive with some Mobb Deep.  The visuals provided by Killingfrenzy & Audiopixel were a welcome enhancement to the dark, foundation rattling subs and next level percussion.

Eskmo then brought the intensity down a few notches, but didn't slack on the low frequencies.  With his self-titled, full-length LP out on Ninja Tune later this Fall, he performed some of that newer material, including the LP's first single 'Cloudlight' lending his own live vocals on a number of tunes throughout his set.

Flying Lotus was next up and had unexpectedly brought along with him Cosmogramma session bassist Thundercat, as well as drummer Ronald Bruner Jr. to play alongside his live set.  FlyLo's jazz background and upbringing was unmistakeable as he did his best to conduct the Bruner brothers through some renditions of his original compositions as well as some unexpected covers and improvisation along the way.  After hearing about his highly touted Infinity band's performance in LA earlier the year, it was a welcome surprise that seemed to captivate the entire Neumo's audience.  Highlights from the set included a live cover of DJ Roc's 'One Blood' forthcoming on his Planet Mu LP 'Da Crack Capone' as well as a rendition of Bone Thugs & Harmony 'Ecstacy'.  The vocals of Weezy and Thom Yorke also found their way into the energetic and mesmerizing performance that set itself apart as one of the most notable moments from the festival.

Friday night featured some of the toughest programming conflicts of this year's Decibel.  The PlanetMu Showcase featuring Starkey, Ikonika, and FaltyDL at the Baltic Room while RBMA on The Floor at Neumo's boasted live sets from Shlohmo, Teebs, Addison Groove, Mount Kimbie, and Modeselektor.

We first stopped by the Baltic Room to catch the tail end of FaltyDL's set, bringing some of that NYGarage flavor all the way out to the Pacific Northwest.  It was then off to Neumo's to catch a rare Addison Groove live set, complete with analog Roland 808 Drum Machine.  After seeing Headhunter throw down an impressive DJ set at DubWar a few months back, it was a treat to see him playing out his recent Addison Groove productions in a live setting, with percolating and booty-dropping 808 patterns being triggered at  a moment's notice.

After Headhunter, it was time for the highly anticipated Seattle debut of Mount Kimbie.  With their debut LP 'Crooks & Lovers' gaining acclaim throughout the electronic music community and must-have mixes done for XLR8R & Resident Advisor earlier this year, the crowd eagerly awaited the duo's performance.  While sound issues were few and far between during our romp through dB, this set seemed to be a nightmare for the sound crew at Neumo's.  With only an hour-long time slot, the beginning of the set was marred with technical difficulties which had many in the crowd already foaming at the mouth for Modeselektor.  While the duo managed to push through a seemingly insurmountable amount of obstacles and gain some cohesion by the end of their slot, the set would have perhaps been more appropriate for one of the early evening A/V Optical showcases rather than sandwiched in between the more club friendly sounds of Addison & Modeselektor.

From the moment Modeselektor hit the stage, backed by the incredible visuals from Pfadfinderei, you knew this was going to be a world class performance.  As the crowd struggled to find room on the floor to throw the occasional elbow or skank, the zany Germans refused to let up, creating absolute pandamonium on the floor of Neumo's.

Waking up to a beautiful sunny day in Seattle on Saturday meant heading to dB in the Park ASAP to soak up some Vitamin D and rays while they lasted.  This year saw a change of venues for dB in the Park, previously held at Volunteer Park and now moved directly under the Space Needle at the Mural Amphitheater.  As tourists walked past the punishing JV2 Soundsystem, some stopping by to take the occasional peak at the beat-heads, hippies, burners, and Seattle-ites alike all enjoying the earth-shaking bassweight, we headed inside and linked up with BC-based DJ Mat the Alien before his set.

If you've ever been to Shambhala in BC, you know Mat.  He's the one leaving jaws scraped on the floor in the Village every year, pushing that PK soundsystem to it's limit and showcasing some of the most incredible, exta-terrestrial feats of turntablism you've ever seen.  After missing this year's Sham due to the birth of his son Elliot, we were happy to see his name show up on the bill for this year's Decibel.

If you have an intense passion for Turntablism and bass music, this man should undoubtedly be one of your favorite DJs.  

Up next was San Francisco's NastyNasty playing a live Ableton set, as we took some time in the Beer Garden to take in a pint, appreciate the view and some serious tunes.

Despite not having a slot to showcase his visual show, which debuts this November, Nosaj proved to be captivating enough in his own right. Bluetech's live dub band Satori Social Club appropriately wrapped up a beautiful day in the park as the sun began to set and another night at Decibel loomed. Much thanks to Bass Drop and Decibel for a great afternoon of music.

Saturday night we headed over to the Baltic Room to catch the Hotflush Label Showcase where it became immediately clear we weren't the only ones with this plan....

We arrived during Untold's set to the unmistakeable vocals of Flowdan and the sounds of Autechre's remix of The Bug's 'Skeng', now available on the Ninja Tunes XX boxset.  Leave it to Autechre to somehow make a more grim, sparse, and haunting reinterpretation of Kevin Martin's music.  The week's festivities also seemed to have already taken their collective toll on the subwoofers down at the Baltic Room.  As we heard some Redlight entering the mix, we took a bit of a breather from the ramjammed club, but the BQE-esque traffic backup for re-entry meant sacrificing sets from Scuba and Sepalcure to hear some music over at Neumo's where Carl Craig was already championing his headlining set at the D25 Showcase.

After a quick trek through the tailgating massive outside of Qwest Field on Sunday afternoon we came to grips with the fact that neither a half sleeve of stamps nor will a Modeselektor ticket stub grant you entry to a Seattle Seahawks football game.  We wrapped up our stay in Seattle at dB in the Park where Mary Anne Hobbs was already busy blaring some proper Shieffield bassline, winin' up the crowd to Kase & Shinobi- 'Ya Dirty Girl'.  Mala 'Eyez', Joker & Ginz 'Purple City', and a picture perfect blend of 'Tron' with 'PClart' by Kavsrave were among the set's highlights.  As she dropped 'Sweet Shop' to cap off her set, running down into the crowd to skank out one last time with the supportive crowd, Plastician stepped up to the decks to do his thing sporting a military grade laptop and a fresh Mishka Cyco Symon T.



Now nearing the end of his massive US tour, Plastician threw together a marathon two-hour set that had the feel of Seattle's own personal Rinse.fm show, albeit without the consistently entertaining host MC Nomad.  Playing out a selection of crowd-pleasing top Dubstep hits of the Summer from Magnetic Man & Benga, 'Stician also didn't shy away from dipping into some murky Grime selections with tunes from Rude Kid, P-Money, and DDoubleE.

Serious gratitude to Erica Toele from Decibel Festival for the press hookup and everyone involved for all the hard work they put in to make this event possible each and every year.  For additional dB coverage, be sure to check out iamalaser who did a great job capturing the Ghostly, FlyLo, and RBMA showcases.

Would also like to take the time to big up the people we met along the way:  Mat the Alien, Graintable, Ill Cosby, Evan, Amy, Incyde, NastyNasty...be easy everyone!!!

Ghostly Int'l Showcase photos credited to Megan Dapper