The BratVegas team arrived at Wilsonic early on the Friday evening. The weather is unseasonably bad but the atmosphere pleasant as bands play on the one open stage (the program on this stage will finish at about 2300, then performances at the 3 tents will begin, and the same will happen tomorrow). Our first impression is we hadn’t realised how many people with dreadlocks there are in Bratislava. As far as the early music goes, Autumnist is a nice enough listen but are doing nothing new and don’t stir the crowd from amiable chit chat. Akira make more impact but are little more than run of the mill indie. Yes, they have electronic elements but every band with guitars does these days.

Trouble over Tokyo is a one man project from a Vienna-based Brit. He makes electronic acoustic music - folktronica is a genre often used for this combination of influences but may not be apt here as the lumpen strumming wouldn’t be accepted by the folk community. The overall sound is bad, the guitar is much too high and the pre-programmed electronic elements barely audible. A better mix may have helped bring the best out of his excellent voice but the rudimentary guitar playing would still distract from it. The songs were ok but no more. He was nervous, but endearing and not without charm. The performance would have worked in a small room but he seemed overwhelmed and it made for an uncomfortable listen. He’s got talent, but the performance didn’t reach the standard for an international festival. 

Junior Boys are a slicker, more polished, more professional affair. Again with a great vocalist, but this time with the songs to match. They’re from Hamilton, Canada but play Berlin sounding electro-pop (but then isn’t there something Berlin sounding about all electro?). It doesn’t push boundaries but doesn’t need to. In the world of electronica, obsessions with inventions of new, increasingly obscure sub genres and an obession with sound often lead to a neglect of songs. Well crafted, well sung songs are a rarity so a special thing. Hazel has sounds effects that sounds like 1980s computer games and a lovely melancholic melody. In the Morning starts with an old skool arpegiator that, like Animal Collective’s recent underground hit My Girls, references Jamie Principle & Frankie Knuckle’s “Your Love”, which music historians regard as the first house record. This reminder of dance music as it was in the mid 80s gives a historical context to Junior Boys and Wilsonic. At this point BratVegas start to feel like we’re at a festival.

The next act are billed as Nôze All Star Band featuring Dani Siciliana. If anyone can claim to be the Wilsonic house band it is Nôze, the French duo who have put together a lineup of Jazz musicians fronted by singer Dani Siciliana, best known for her vocal work with and subsequent marriage to Matthew Herbert. Nôze’s status at Wilsonic and the anticipation for this collaboration are evident before the performance in the crackle in the air that belies the general wisdom that Slovak crowds are overly reserved. The first few numbers are loungey jazz, beautifully delivered with playful interaction between the band members and Siciliana in great voice. At the finale to the next song the music fades as he is joined by the 2 members of Nôze to promise the object of their song (or possibly the crowd ) that they’ll make them cum all night. Then electronic beats kick in, the guests leave and Nôze perform their vodka swigging, good time jazzy house. It was a great collaboration, a great performance and everyone in the crowd is grinning and bouncing.

Playing on Saturday and receiving top billing for the festival, Jazzanova play unashamedly upbeat positive music. It’s perfect festival fare but perhaps more suited to a sunny afternoon than a cool evening. The danceable soul influenced numbers make us think of 90s acid jazz and that’s both a good and a bad thing. What’s good about these guys is that they can really play and it’s a pleasure to hear musicians of rare quality. What’s bad is the tendency to stray into cheese territory, the more introspective ballad moments provide nice a change of pace but can get a touch nauseous. Even back to the uptempo stuff the solos can be too drawn out, we know they’re great musicians but that’s no excuse to meander – they’re better when they play as a tight unit. Guest vocalist Paul Randolph is charismatic and sings with power and feeling but the vocal gymnastics and reminders that we’re all God’s children bring back the whiff of dairy produce.

Henrik Schwarz is a DJ/producer from Germany. He plays house ranging from deep and jazzy to minimal and techy. His hour set is a masterclass in how intelligent djing can be fun and how underground can be accessible. Building with groove based but melodic music with jazz instrumentation, it’s 20 minutes before the first vocal is heard and the already bouncing dancefloor clicks up a notch. As the set comes toward its close there are more songs, less tracks and an uplifting finale. Wilsonic’s manifesto is to recreate the “atmosphere of a concert, a club and a party” and the club atmosphere is never better achieved at the festival than now.  

So fellow Berliners, Moderat have a tough act to follow. They were formed by the fusing of 2 electronica acts Apparat (Sascha Ring) and Modeselektor (Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary). The result is something with elements of the glitchy minimal of Modselektor and the dark, breaksy electronica of Apparat. Modeselektor have also collaborated with Pfadfinderei on music/visual installations and the visuals are an important part of the performance. The result is quite spectacular. The eerie atmospherics remind us of the surly progressive house of the late 90s and early 00s. It’s more restrained though, less dancefloor focused with varying break patterns which avoid the relentlessness drive that make prog prone to sameness. Occasionally they let rip and a forceful 4/4 drives us along but it is always reigned back in and the balance restored by subtle melodiousness. The vocals are half hidden and remind us of Thom York’s “The Erasor” (Thom is a fan and Moderat will support Radiohead on some of their European shows this summer). In front of visuals of sepia tinged branches the Apparat sounding breaks of the last track build to clubby atmospherics. As with the rest of the set it’s emotional but understated and the more powerful for it. Musical journey is a cliché but it’s the best way to sum it up.

Having witnessed the performance of the weekend we decide to leave, though there are a couple of hours more music for the hardcore. We think again about Wilsonic’s promise to deliver the “atmosphere of a concert, a club and a party”. With Moderat the concert, Schwarz the club and Nôze the party, we’d say they’ve achieved this goal. So we leave happy.