Matthew Herbert, Barker, Debit, Marc-Antoine Barbier, and more | Nocturne 1- MUTEK

Berlin-based artist Sam Barker untethers techno from its well-worn anchors, diffusing its parts into airy electronic music forged by a weightless approach to sound design. After forgoing the ubiquitous kick drum on his breakthrough Ostgut Ton release Utility, his recent releases like 2025’s acclaimed Stochastic Drift on Smalltown Supersound make way for a prism of mercurial rhythms, diaphanous melodies, and peak-time emotional impact.

Using live accordion, tape decks, and modular synthesis, Mexican artist Debit reconstructs the degraded harmonies and magnetic glitches from her acclaimed album Desaceleradas. Pitched-down cumbia loops, mechanical hisses, and flickers of digitized VHS footage from Kolombia street dance culture form the haunting spectre of a cultural archive that refuses to disappear.

Inspired by writings on biophony, Marc-Antoine Barbier’s Musée des espèces conjures up a rich world of organic soundscapes and imaginary ecosystems. Electronic music, analog textures, and saxophone meet in his real time recreation, provoking an immersive, non-linear listening experience balanced between spontaneous improvisation and the record’s existing sound world.

In the North American premiere of theukhasmorefoodbanksthanbranchesofmcdonalds.com, Matthew Herbert comments on the UK’s surge from 35 food banks in 2010 to over 2,800 today. Using the sounds of the most requested items—tin cans of meat and fish, toiletries, pasta, nappies—he crafts energizing, incisive dancefloor music that demands attention.