Plaid sit right at the very heart of global electronica. In fact there’s a very real sense in which Ed Handley and Andy Turner are the perfect encapsulation of what the electronic music of their generation was all about. As Plaid and as two-thirds of The Black Dog alongside their WARP stablemates Autechre and Aphex Twin, they brought new rhythmic variation, emotive melody and sensual textures to electronic music, creating a warm and welcoming counterpart to the white heat of the rave explosion.

Which leads us to The Digging Remedy. All the elements that first inspired Ed and Andy are there – ecstatic Detroit chords in “CLOCK”, a brilliantly swinging hip hop beat in “The Bee”, Kraftwerkian electro jitters in “Saladore” – but everything is bigger and broader in scope, more luxuriant, more gleaming with detail, and there are fascinating new additions. The synth chords of “Melifer” and “Wen ” engage in counterpoint with acoustic guitar ripples that sound almost New Age. A spiralling, unfolding flute melody in “Lambswood” creates a downright mystical air, like you’re hearing a shamanic ritual from a lost continent. But though the production values are the very highest, none of this is slickness or high drama simply for its own sake, and never do Plaid engage in the crowd-pleasing vainglorious stadium bombast that is all too common in electronic music now. Of course they don’t – as they say: “in our opinion it should be the artists leading the audiences, not the other way round”. That’s something that could stand as Plaid’s motto, and the thing that’s kept them so very fresh over all these years, even as their aims and values remain just what they were at the start.

“ethereal and semi-eccentric pop music” - Zane Lowe - BBC Radio 1

Electronic duo Wyles & Simpson explore visceral themes such as Impermanence and Metamorphosis in captivating yet understated tracks. In a very short space of time the duo have managed to draw much praise: The Fader hailed their debut single Light & Dark as “an immediate and deeply satisfying listen”; the Independent described their live set as “impressively polished”; and Dots and Dashes praised their “often beautiful melodies of frequently immense intensity...as wholly holistic a show as you’ll likely see.”

"Wyles’ voice is a thing of beauty. Not fragile, or whispered, but strong yet sombre. Simpson’s soundscapes are finely nuanced; bass heavy, ethereal, discordant weighty and feather light” - LOTI

Sykur has long been a shimmering beacon in Iceland’s galaxy of electronic music. With a powerful yet personal stage performance, the air humming with energy and anticipation in every heart, Sykur lead any audience through the spectrum of human emotion. Having released two critically acclaimed LP's and a third one on the way, Sykur are veterans of the music scene and this shines through in the confidence and nuances of their performance.

Collective Collaborations artist, Lee Crocker brings his unique anti-art drawing session to Aberdeen on the Sunday afternoon of the festival with ‘Thank Art it’s Spectra!’. Crocker will be joined by the world-renowned sound artist, Helmut Lemke for a unique twist to the seasoned life drawing experiment which has been delivered at festivals all over the UK.

This drawing and sound extravaganza is inspired by the festival with life drawing models and music drawing taking influence from movies such as ‘Barbarella’ and ‘Forbidden Planet’ to give the whole event futuristic element. 

After years of solo tours, bad record deals and the odd single means Dave O’Grady spent the last 15 years practicing his craft as an apprentice songwriter, now comes the time for his first offering of songs. The Psych/Folk outfit fronted by the Dublin born songwriter and produced by Rich Robinson was a result of a chance meeting during studio recordings in Nashville, 2011, and followed by a couple US and European tours, Dave and Rich began writing in California. The pair penned a number of songs together in the hills of Topanga, which naturally came to be the debut Seafoam Green album. Wicklow born Muireann was originally brought in as a session vocalist to demo some ideas on Topanga Mansion. 

Classic Rock Magazine “Stunning…9/10”, 

Country Music Magazine ★★★★★

Clash Magazine "Gutsy Americana with a heart of gold…”

Cler Lever first burst onto the scene back in 2005 as the resident of Liverpool's notorious underground (literally) warehouse parties. In 2007, Cler was the worthy winner of Babycream's DJ competition following which she secured the opening set at Creamfields that year, warming up for Mark Ronson and becoming the first female DJ in history to play on the main stage. As well as playing at some of the best nights in the county alongside the likes of Frank Lorber, Sebo K and Felix Da Housecat.

Cler started her own night Rhumba, bringing some of the best DJs and producers to Liverpool for the first time including Patrice Baumel, Ben Klock, Phil Kieran and Super Flu. After taking a break to focus on other projects, Cler is back and picking up where she left off, playing an intoxicating blend of deep house and melodic techno.

“You could just listen to that forevermore, couldn’t you?”

                                                             – MARY ANNE HOBBS (BBC 6MUSIC)

Hidden Orchestra's eagerly anticipated third album, 'Dawn Chorus' (out 16t h June) is a highly personal, intricate and unique work from producer and composer Joe Acheson. The album is built around an expansive collection of birdsong and other field recordings, carefully captured across many years in diverse locations around the UK and abroad. Rich in detail and character, these sonic snapshots intertwine with layers of bass, drums, percussion and eclectic instruments - including piano, electro-harp, glockenspiel, Turkish mey and cello - for an emotive and transporting listen.

The first taste of this LP came in late 2016 with the “Wingbeats EP”, which captivated fans and tastemakers alike, the beautiful lead piece being strongly championed by Mary Anne Hobbs and picked for the BBC 6Music Recommends Playlist. Daytime and specialst airplay across BBC 6Music added to other high profile support from the likes of Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2), Late Junction (BBC Radio 3), BBC Radio Scotland and The Arts Desk, while the track was accompanied by a video featuring drone footage of breathtaking Icelandic scenery and birdlife.

A sonic experimenter and nature enthusiast, Joe Acheson has always captured field recordings and found sounds to incorporate in his Hidden Orchestra music, as well as using them in his award-winning work as a radio producer and soundtrack composer. Last year saw him developing this with “Marconi & The Lizard” – an EP born of an artist residency at Cornwall’s Lizard Point, commissioned by The National Trust and British Library. Released under the Joe Acheson solo name, this project was greeted with features in The Guardian and The Independent and radio support from Tom Ravenscroft (BBC 6Music) and Late Junction (BBC R3), creating even more interest in Acheson’s exciting musical explorations as the new Hidden Orchestra album continued to take shape in his studio.

MAMMÚT were founded in down town Reykjavík by five thirteen year old kids back in 2003. They have grown well known in their home country, Iceland, with more than 6 singles hitting the top of the charts on the national radio station and two gold records.

Their third album, Komdu til mín svarta systir, won them three out of seven nominations at the Icelandic music awards for best song (Salt) best album and the best album cover of the year.

In 2015 they signed to Bella Union, a London based record company and their first label outside Iceland. A few months later they released an EP, Rivers End. In 2017, the 14th of July, their debut LP Kinder Versions was released outside of Iceland.

A collaboration between artists Oli Rushen, Elliot Hingston and Ella Joy; Nányë is the brainchild of three progressive individuals. Their sound is a hybrid of electronic and analogue, luring an attentive listener through vibrant soundscapes, expanding over many genres and styles. Based in London, UK, Nányë is built upon the binding philosophy of modern progressive living, self exploration, and creative expression through sound.

With their Début EP deep in the works, Nányë will have their first release in the summer of 2017, and hope to bring their unique atmosphere to venues and festivals throughout 2017. Nányë’s first release represents the fusion of three vibrant compositional approaches. Bound by a love of electronic rhythm and over three decades of instrumental exploration, the percussive and melodic voices of Nányë blend into a soundscape full of strong transitional landscapes, spiralling production and delicate instrumentation.

Influenced by the production, philosophy and contemporary structures of artists such as John Fruciante, Shigeto, Bonobo and Portishead, Nányë’s debut promises a vast expanse of evolving sounds, with progressive movement, and lyrics articulating the baffling concepts behind existence.

Prof. Pete Stollery leads this panel, discussing the importance and use of sound in a city and will explore the public notion of identity of space through sound. 

Pete Stollery - Prof. of Composition and Electroacoustic Music, University of Aberdeen

Pete Stollery studied composition with Jonty Harrison at the University of Birmingham, where he was one of the first members of BEAST in the early ’80s. He composes music for concert hall performance, particularly electroacoustic music and more recently has created work for outside the concert hall, including sound installations and internet projects.

He is Professor of Composition and Electroacoustic Music at the University of Aberdeen. He is also Chair and Co-Director of the sound festival, Scotland’s annual new music festival.

www.petestollery.com

Halla Stefánsdóttir - Muscian and Sound Artist

Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir has been the artistic director of Nordic Affect since its inception in 2005. Believing that the exciting things happen “in the connection” Halla Steinunn’s work with the ensemble has been a tour de force when it comes to collaborative relationships with composers, visual artists, and producers. Furthermore she’s brought the spotlight to women’s role in music history, leading to projects such as HÚN/SHE which was broadcast by the European Broadcasting Service in 2015.

www.nordicmusicdays.org

Helmut Lemke - Artist

Helmut Lemke is a German sound artist who moved to the UK in 1996. Since he started his journey into the world of sound more than 40 years ago, Helmut Lemke has investigated sounds that are around us, some are obvious, some are familiar, some have to be found… and he has performed and exhibited process based work responding to his investigations.

His international, and enthusiastically ecumenical practice, has lead him to work everywhere from the frozen seas round Greenland, to a palace in Venice for the 55th Biennale. Along the way he has collaborated with other Sound Artists and Musicians, with Dancers and Scientists, Visual Artists and Architects, Poets and  Archaeologists, Performance Artists and Wildlife Rangers.

Helmut is still listening…

David Henckel - Artist

David Henckel is a contemporary audio-visual artist, experienced in leading complex public art projects which involve multiple partners. He works with emerging & established artists, local communities, commercial organisations and civic institutions to produce immersive installations and experiences.

 He has a multi-disciplinary practice often creating work which fuses Science, politics of space, the nature of sound, community engagement and the audience as players within the work. The installation Venus in Sole Visa, brought together artists, physicists, musicians, a visiting composer, NASA and a village community during the 2012 Transit of Venus.

 In 2012 he was awarded Axis’ MA Stars and appointed as Artist in Residence at The University of Central Lancashire, where he developed ‘The Sun at Night’ – a dynamic public art installation, which allows audiences to experience a year in the life of the Sun utilising images from NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory. It was shown in Preston’s covered market in 2013 and seen on the BBC’s Stargazing Live 2014.

Video: www.vimeo.com/145926660

This panel shows us the way in which artists and directors use cities as a backdrop, playing with urban spaces and architecture to create amazing displays on huge and small scales. Seb Lee-Delisle talks more about his commissioned piece, Lightning Catchers which will be projected onto Marischal College during SPECTRA.

Tine Bech - Artist

Tine Bech is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher, living in working in London, she make innovative interactive creations. Her work explores the potential for transforming environments and human behaviour through the creative possibilities of play and game making. She places the audience at the centre of her works, creating open systems, structures, and spaces where participation, curiosity, and communication takes place. Much of her work seamlessly incorporates new technologies, reflecting the way that they are increasingly integral to the human condition and the world around us.

www.tinebech.com

Seb Lee-Delisle - Artist

Seb Lee-Delisle is a digital artist and speaker who specialises in large scale interactive light installations. His work is a celebration of technology that encourages interaction and playfulness from the public. Drawing on his previous experience as a game programmer, he works with electronics, lasers and high power projectors to bring his artworks to life. Notable projects include Laser Light Synths, super bright bespoke synthesisers with laser visuals for the public to play, and PixelPyros, the Arts Council funded digital fireworks display that toured nationwide in 2013.

www.seb.ly

István Dávid - Limelight Projection

After spending years in the travel and advertising industries, István started working in light art as a producer and manager, creating large scale building projections in 2004.

Limelight was established in 2006 and has since produced more than a hundred projections and 3d mapping projects worldwide.  Working together with some of the pioneers of video projection mapping encourages István to look for unique challenges and explore new opportunities of keeping Limelight one of the leading groups of artists in the projection mapping scene of the entertainment industry.

www.3dprojectionmapping.net

Rob Vale - Illuminos

Rob Vale is a founding partner of Illuminos, a film/installation artist and lightning designer collaboration, creating visually inventive, memorable artworks and theatre events. His works range from very large scale illumination to small scale imagery, but in each project he aims to create something unique and specific to location and viewer. Combining elements of installation, dance, movement, and music through film and architecture, each project develops from an exploration of the emotions of an environment, aiming to capture the essence of a place, space, or feeling as a shared moment of time.

www.illuminos.co.uk

Light festival directors come together to talk about how they have established, grown and managed their festivals, and the impact the festivals have had on the cities, and present strategic ways for maintaining creative excellence and relevance as the festivals grow. 

Yasmina Alhaddadi - Marrakesh Light Festival

Yasmina Alhaddadi is art director and founder of several online marketplaces capitalizing local and global events. Furthermore she is a board member of Soho House & Co, a global private members’ club for people in creative industries. As founder of the Marrakesh Light Festival she brings together a broad cross-section of international light installations and cultural events that celebrate diversity and dynamism.

www.marrakeshlightfestival.com

Jörg Molt - CEO Satoshi School & Founder and expert on BitCoin / crypto currencies

Jörg Molt is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become a top ranked trainer and speaker on crypto currency within Europe. He is the author of the book: “Die Generation Bitcoin”. As an engaging public speaker, teacher and writer, Jörg makes complex subjects accessible and easy to understand. As an advisor, he helps governments and companies recognize, evaluate, and navigate security and business risks. Jörg has founded several bitcoin businesses and launched the Satoshi school where he is spreading blockchain knowledge and its philosophy globally. 

Satoshi School is a partner of the Marrakesh Light Festival 2018 sponsoring a light art object visualizing freedom by leading edge blockchain technology.

www.satoshi-school.com

Ilkka Paloniemi - Lux Helsinki

Ilkka Paloniemi has been involved and worked with light since the 1980s. His work can be seen in a variety of mediums, including theatres, operas, music, contemporary dance, architecture, fine arts...

He has worked in all levels of lighting projects from lighting design to a crew member and curator to producer. He is currently Artistic Director of Lux Helsinki and a leading consultant in performance art technologies in Granlund AV.  He has a masters degree in performing arts in lighting design and pedagogical studies. He has been given lectures in universities and curating seminars and symposiums related to light art.

www.luxhelsinki.fi

Craig Harvey - Factory Light Festival

Craig is passionate about technology and its ability to create accessible experiences in the public space which inspire, promote curiosity and drive change. With a background from large and complex industrial projects and the founder of multiple startup companies, Craig adapts the methodologies learnt from here and transfers them to develop a dynamic foundation and organisation which runs the Factory Light Festival held yearly, in Slemmestad (nearby Oslo) each year since 2012. Craig is educated as an Engineer within Mechanics, Electronics and Computer Science from Australia and Denmark. 

www.factorylightfestival.no

This panel brings lighting and design experts who have worked on large scale projects, national and internationally. Design Director of KSLD, Kevan Shaw has led award winning projects in museums, banks, centres including The Ashmolean Museum and Scott Monument.  

Kristján Kristjánsson - Design Director, EFLA

Kristján Kristjánsson is a multi award winning lighting designer. With a background in fine arts, Kristján’s career began in Reykjavík working for the lighting design firm, Lumex in 2004. Since then, he has worked with many different organisations include KSLD, where he started as a senior lighting designer. Kristján now works as the design director and head of lighting design for EFLA engineers in Iceland.

www.efla-engineers.com

Kevan Shaw - Design Director, KSLD

Kevan was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He graduated from Loughborough University of Technology with a BSc in Economic and Technological History and Social Psychology in 1975. Kevan began his career as a lighting designer for rock bands including Jethro Tull, Ultravox, XTC and Steve Hackett.

As Design Director of KSLD, Kevan maintains a supervisory and executive role in all of the practice's projects.  Always seeking to keep at the forefront of developing technologies, Kevan is considered an industry expert on LEDs, and the practice has become known for it’s innovative use of this technology.

Kevan is dedicated to lighting education and gives frequent lectures at conferences and events. He has an extensive knowledge of research techniques and lighting technology.

In 2013 Kevan was awarded Lighting Designer of the Year at LUX Awards.

www.ksld.com

Darío Gustavo Núñez Salazar - Verkís

Darío Gustavo Núñez Salazar is an Architectural Lighting Designer based in Iceland. He began his path in Lighting Design right after he graduated as an Architect. Darío has worked for many well-known lighting designers in Europe, Asia and America. He has also been involved in different festivals as workshop head and speaker. 

Currently, Darío is focused on his role as the Lighting Design Leader for Verkís Consulting Engineers one of the largest engineering companies in Iceland. He is also vice-chairmen of the Illuminating Engineering Society of Iceland (Ljóstæknifélag íslands). In 2017, Darío was awarded as one of the 40 under 40 top lighting designers by the Lighting Magazine in London.

www.luminark.is

Mental Overdrive is the moniker Norwegian artist and producer Per Martinsen has released most of his electronic music output under, from early industrial techno through legendary Belgian techno label R&S Records back in 1990, through a variation of dancefloor friendly beats on imprints such as Smalltown Supersound, Discfunction, Full Pupp, Ploink, Music Man and his own Love OD Communications. 

The new album “Epilogue” was released through Prins Thomas’ label Rett i Fletta on October 27th 2017 and is followed by a string of live shows throughout 2018.

- Full biography

- Artist website

- Bandcamp page

- “Northern Disco Lights” documentary on Norwegian electronic dance music