The Colorado electronic music scene is blossoming with the help of Sonic Bloom, the state’s major electronic music festival, which just completed its third year in Winter Park, this past June.

The event brought some of the nation’s most respected electronic musicians to the Rocky Mountains, as well as some local underground favorites. For three days, Winter Park replaced ski caps and snowboards with face paint, turntables and most importantly, dancin’ shoes.

Sure, some details could have been improved upon—namely the venue. This one left me nostalgic for last year’s playground-esque Red Feather Lakes campground. Also, it seemed at times that certain performers played musical chairs, giving each new seating arrangement a new band name: Zilla, Sporque, Praang, and Eoto.

But there were some purely transfixing performances as well. Here are my three favorites:

GSP and The Freestyle Movement

Glitchy, unpredictable, throbbing, yet still dance-tastic, GSP was the surprise hit of Sonic Bloom’s first night. The Boulder-based collaboration typically brings more of a hip-hop, down-tempo vibe to the dance floor, but this time it became clear that GSP is evolving towards a more progressive and experimental glitch-hop/breakbeat sound. The crowd was at times frozen with concentration and at others twitching uncontrollably. In fact, I heard a fellow dancer say he felt “literally beat up by the bass.” And in case you’re wondering, in this scene, that’s never a bad thing. 

Bluetech

Portland, Ore.-based Evan Bartholomew is Bluetech, a classically trained pianist who creates his delicate, melodic songs with custom built Reaktor instruments and synthesizers. Track names like “Ice Forming on Glass” and “Dreamtime Lullaby” appropriately convey Bluetech’s graceful, precise sound that is somehow still primal and deeply affecting. Bluetech’s 7 p.m. (dusk) set provided the perfect rejuvenating segue into the more hard-hitting late night performances to come.

Bassnectar

San Francisco-based Lorin Ashton has become an admired fixture on the Colorado electronic music scene, playing just enough shows to keep the audience enticed. Bassnectar is known for bringing a unique and thought-provoking performance to every show, while continuing to infuse each set with his signature heavy bass lines and maximalist style. Dark melodies, dub-step rhythms and insistent bass lines that seemed aggressively pensive and at times poignantly emotive, characterized Bassnectar’s set at Sonic Bloom. A sign of true Nectar-mania, the audience was at once frenzied and hypnotized; rest assured, a full plate of wompage was enjoyed by all.

Besides supplying fresh sonic bouquets to audience ears all weekend long, the festival also hosted a small gathering of progressive activist organizations, including Conscious Alliance, Head Count and RuckusRoots, which promote food drives for needy communities, voting registration and eco-conscious voting, respectively.

Musical inspiration often translates into political action, and fittingly, it seemed that that gettin’ down and rising up went hand in hand at Sonic Bloom 2008.

To learn more about Sonic Bloom, visit sonicbloomfestival.com.

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