Red Bull
Music Festival
Paris 2018
From September 24th to 30th 2018, the Red Bull Music Festival touched down in Paris once again with seven days of events spanning the whole city - concerts, club nights, film previews, conferences and original creations punctuated the lineup of this essential Autumn festival.
From the collaboration between Newyorkan beatmaker Harry Fraud and 8 francophone MCs for a mixtape and a one-off show, to a night of musical improv orchestrated by Parisian pianist and composer Chassol, a celebration of video game soundtracks and gaming culture at the Gaité lyrique, 10 hours of partying at la Station, a public conversation with Terry Riley, an original performance by Oneohtrix Point Never, the screening of a documentary and a tribute to Prince set to music by Moodymann… we have brought together the defining moments of this third edition!
Oneohtrix Point Never
prESentS “Myriad”
For its opening night, the Red Bull Music Festival Paris invited Oneohtrix Point Never to present “MYRIAD” for the first time in France: an original scenic adaptation of his latest album Age Of (Warp Records). Surrounded by a trio of musicians, the American composer let his newest work unfold under the main hall of the 104 arts center, expressed though a cycle of period pieces in four parts combining ancient music, country-folk ballads and futuristic pop. A unique performance at the intersection between installation art and musical performance.
Credits : Sarah Bastin
Quand tout le monde
dort (PREVIEW)
Previewed at the Red Bull Music Festival Paris, the documentary Quand tout le monde dort depicts a highly personal immersion in the world of free and underground parties in and around Paris. From squats, to old forts and abandoned mushroom growing facilities, director Jérôme Clément-Wilz follows the members of collective “Le Pas Sage” as they organize events across the capital and draws up a close-knit portrait of a generation guided by radical and utopian ideals.
Exclusive viewing on Red Bull TV
Cadavre Exquis
Orchestrated by Parisian composer and pianist Christophe Chassol, this major concert involving improvised duos brought together 15 musicians from various walks of life who successively occupied the stage of the Cabaret Sauvage for almost two hours, with five minutes of improvisation per duo. A unique performance celebrating the unexpected and unpredictable with the collaboration of Chassol (keys), Thomas de Pourquery (saxophone & vocals), Quentin Rollet (sopranino saxophone), Gaspar Claus (cello), Jocelyn Mienniel (flute), Low Jack (loops & beats), Lucie Antunes (prepared drums), Christine Ott (ondes Martenot), Serafina Steer (harp), Ghedalia Tazartes (vocals), Mathieu Edward (drums), ALA.NI (vocals), Jacques (live sampling), Melissa Laveaux (guitar & vocals), Moodoïd (guitar & vocals) and Julien Gasc (keys & vocals).
Diggin' In The Carts
Credits : Philippe Levy
Credits : Sarah Bastin
Brooklyn Paris
After a first phase bringing together Californian producer The Alchemist and the finest rappers France and Belgium have to offer, the Red Bull Music Festival Paris invited new-yorkan beatmaker Harry Fraud (Action Bronson, The Weeknd, French Montana and more) to produce a new, original mixtape in the company of some of the rising stars of francophone rap: featuring Dinos from La Courneuve, Infinit', from Nice, Blu Samu, a Belgian of Portugese origin, Slimka and Di-Meh from Switzerland, rapper Krisy, a duo from Montreuil, Triplego, as well as also rapper and singer Jok'Air. They all came to the studio to record over original tracks especially produced for the occasion by Harry Fraud. Reunited on stage, they performed the contents of the mixtape for a one-off show at l'Elysée Montmartre.
Listen to the mixtape on streaming platforms.
The Red Bull Music Festival Paris took hold of the Gaité lyrique for a celebration of video game soundtracks featuring several of its most legendary figures as well as artists directly inspired by the world of gaming. Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima – two of the greatest Japanese video game composers – took to the stage to replay the soundtrack to their mythical beat'em all: Streets of Rage. As for Parisian artists Oklou and Krampf, they presented an original musical creation generated with a video game interface they developed from scratch, especially for the occasion. Scottish electronic music producer Kode9 then delivered a hybrid performance, across between a live show and a DJ set. Japanese video game music production is featured on a compilation released on his Hyperdub label, following in the footsteps of original video creations by game designer, developer and labelmate Konx-om-Pax. Journalist Nick Dwyer, the man behind documentary series Diggin' In The Carts, which explores the original story of Japanese video game music in the 80s and 90s, also shared the decks with Teki Latex, another huge fan of video game soundtracks, for a back-to-back exclusively devoted to video game music.
Credits: Jacob Khrist
Credits : Sara Bastin
2018
a conversation
with Terry Riley
Founding father of repetitive minimalist music, Terry Riley ranks among the most important composers of American contemporary music alongside Steve Reich, Philip Glass and La Monte Young. His revolutionary work, In C, composed in 1964 for 35 instrumentalists, had a profound influence on a whole generation of musicians, from the Velvet Underground to Brian Eno and Soft Machine, not forgetting Kraftwerk. A figure just as legendary as he is discrete, Terry Riley made a rare apparition during the Red Bull Music Festival Paris. He gave a talk which revisited his flourishing career backed by recordings the emblematic works which have charted its course.
Credits : Jacob Khrist
HYPERSTATION
The Red Bull Music Festival Paris set up shop at La Station and occupied the whole space of this former train station, Gare des Mines, for 10 hours of partying by the périphérique ring road.
The event included the first show in France for the seven percussionists, drummer and keyboard player who make up Ugandan project Nihiloxica, three of the best French post-punk/synthwave groups - Usé, Noir Boy George and Jessica93 - for a rare performance of their Roberto Succo project, Danish artist Courtesy in a back-to-back set with Noncompliant, Belgian duo Front de Cadeaux, DJ Bus Replacement Service for her first ever show in Paris, digger and radio show presenter from London, Elena Colombi, Silvia Jimenez Alvarez from Spain with his experimental techno project, JASSS, producer Aurora Halal who created the Mutual Dreaming nights in Brooklyn, Julianna, founder of Doce, the only record store in Medellín specializing in electronic music, Parisian Miley Serious, founder of label 99ct records, duo Jita Sensation and Oko DJ, both members of Parisian collective Bruits De La Passion.
Moodymann
plays Prince
For its final evening, the Red Bull Music Festival Paris handed the keys of the Rex Club over to Moodymann for a night paying tribute to Prince. Since his sudden death in 2016, the musician has left behind a vast repertoire of unreleased tracks that fans the world over have been fighting to get their hands on. Among them, Kenny Dixon Jr. alias Moodymann is something of an exception: the DJ and producer has set up a genuine sanctuary devoted to the Purple One which occupies an entire house in Detroit. B sides, unreleased tracks, bootlegs, remixes and more - the DJ came to share his collection of rare recordings from Paisley Park with us Parisians for a truly special moment in a Rex Club packed to the gills, the same place where, one night in1993, surrounded by 11 musicians, Prince delivered an incredible after show still etched into the memories of those who were present.
Credits : Keffer
Editorial
Like every year, a special edition of The Note, publication devoted to the festival, accompanied the Red Bull Music Festival Paris. Produced under the editorship of Antoine Carbonnaux, free copies were handed out across Paris throughout September - this issue echoed the festival program with a series of features and original articles.
Smaël Bouaici and Sarah Bastin visited Ubisoft for a behind the scenes look at how a video game soundtrack is created, Antoine Duruflé created watercolors of Prince, Alexis Tain went on a quest to find those who had witnessed Prince’s legendary after show at the Rex Club. Olivier Lamm described the successive metamorphoses of Oneohtrix Point Never, and Thibaut Gleize produced striking portraits of the artist. As for Aurélien Chapuis and Nevil Bernard, they entered the hyperactive mind of Newyorkan beatmaker Harry Fraud. Finally, Parisian composer Chassol dusted down his old box of memories for Antoine Carbonnaux and Flavien Prioreau.
Credits : Sarah Bastin
For this 2018 edition, Parisian illustrator Sanghon Kim was responsible for the visual identity of the Red Bull Music Festival Paris.
24 SEPT / Nef du CENTQUATRE
25 SEPT / MK2 Bibliothèque
26 SEPT / Cabaret Sauvage
27 SEPT / La Gaîté lyrique
28 SEPT / Élysée Montmartre
28 SEPT / Couvent Les Récollets
29 SEPT / La Station - Gare des Mines
30 SEPT / Rex Club
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VISUAL IDENTITY