quote:

Minus break their ten weeks of silence with a string of concept parties featuring a glowing cube. The dates, which kick off with a night in Detroit during the DEMF, will feature Richie Hawtin and a rotating cast of Minus members including Magda, Troy Pierce, Marc Houle, Gaiser and Heartthrob. The DJs and live sets won’t be happening one after another, apparently, but the parties will feature collaborations between Minus artists throughout the night. So what about this cube, then? It seems the Minus crew spent their ten weeks off dreaming up a concept and theme to go with the parties, which sees the artists dressing up as sci-fi characters with slick visuals and a dedicated website to match. There’s also a whole backstory about the cube, of course, which is described in the press notes as “a mysterious object discovered in a clandestine excavation site. Initial tests reveal a dense, carbon-based structure utilizing liquid crystal technology. While its origins remain unclear it seems to have been created by intelligence far greater than our own.” “What is apparent is that the Cube is a highly advanced communications device that responds positively to the presence of humans and interacts accordingly,” explains, er, Guardian of the Cube Richie Hawtin. “By acting as a central hub it seems to allow us to direct our thoughts, collect and share ideas, transcend language and interconnect musically in ways previously not possible." We're not sure quite what to make of that. Anyway, to get involved, you'll need to buy a membership card, which is embedded with a microchip which can “make contact” with the cube. This puts you in the running for various prizes, downloads and allows you to tune into a wireless network during the gig.

M_NUS Contakt

What do you guys think of this? To me, I think it could either be really cheesy, or kind of cool. I'm betting on the really cheesy. Good on the M_NUS guys for taking a risk though and trying something new.

Here are the tour dates:

May 24 Minus presents Contakt, St. Andrews Hall, Michigan
Jun 20 Sonar 2008 by Night - Friday, Fira Gran Via, Barcelona
Jul 22 10 Days Off - Day05 - Minus presents C.., Vooruit, Belgium
Aug 29 Minus presents Contakt, TBA, Montreal
Oct 11 Minus presents Contakt, Columbia Halle, Berlin
Oct 18 Minus presents Contakt, SEOne, London
Oct 25 Minus presents Contakt, The Sand, Amsterdam
Oct 31 Minus presents Contakt, Palazzo dei Congressi, Central
Dec 06 Minus presents Contakt, TBA, Tokyo
Dec 13 Minus presents Contakt, TBA, Argentina

Looks like the first date is for DEMF. Those who are going will have to let us know what it's like!