A remote corner of Monterey County transforms into a new-age wonderland all weekend, when some 20,000 attendees seek enlightenment through music, art, meditation and yoga – and at the bottom of glasses of craft wine, beers and cocktails. (And other less family-friendly ways for these virgin pages.)
This four-day festival camp-a-thon, Lightning in a Bottle, is in its 11th year and its third locally. For the first time, the festival is sold out of two-day and four-day passes before this hits presses. (Tickets are still available via the Boutique Camping Package, which accommodates attendees with furnished tents with private bathrooms, showers.)
This year’s Electronic Dance Music (EDM) headliners – from a list of hundreds of performers – include Grimes, Chet Faker, Jamie xx and Four Tet.
Grimes (Claire Boucher) pairs bubbly pop vocals with bright electronic beats anchored by dance punk guitar. Her creative rhythms and eccentric persona earned her attention from the likes of Jay-Z, who signed her to his management label in 2013. Boucher advocates for fair treatment of women in the music industry, particularly in EDM, where she says they’re underrepresented.
In April, Boucher spoke to NPR about producing her own music and working in a studio with gender bias. “I wasn’t allowed to touch a computer, for example, even though guys in the studio were,” she said. “I obviously know how to use a computer and I know how to produce.”
Australian Chet Faker (Nick Murphy) merges the gap between traditional soul, chamber pop and EDM without creating a sonic Frankenstein. He uses downtempo beats and incorporates strings and a piano, mixes it electronically, and produces a sound suitable for existentially angsty moments alone in a bedroom.
British artist DJ Jamie xx (Jamie Smith) merges soul, indie pop and R&B in an electronica context, layering music from those genres into danceable tunes.
Four Tet (Kieran Hebden), an influential EDM producer, has released eight albums and collaborated with the likes of Thom Yorke, Skrillex and Jamie xx. Hebden is inspired by his late Indian grandfather’s collection of Bollywood music, which he incorporates alongside electronica and string instruments from the original Bollywood songs. Hebden told Rolling Stone he wanted to create a psychedelic yet organic Bollywood sound.
Odds are good: If LIB organizers can pull this off, anything is possible.
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE Thursday-Sunday, March 26-30, Lake San Antonio, Bradley Recreation Area, Bradley. $685-$2,650/boutique packages, www.lightninginabottle,com
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