Mucho Flow’s venues are diffused into four different location for the finest arts venues, such as brutalist-style art CIAJG – Centro Internacional de Artes José de Guimarães, Teatro Jordão, CCVF – Centro Cultural Vila Flor, and to the nostalgic, faded glamour of the 1970s-built Teatro São Mamede. All the concerts take place in those separated places and give the opportunity to discover the borough by nights enjoin not only what happen inside but also bars and restaurants all around, connecting with the environment and not being stuck in the usual festival closed fence.

The force which move the festival is the idea that consciousness resides in glitch, which will not be uncommon and represents the interface errors that remind us that is not the reality we live in. Perhaps we are more live here. This concept realizes itself perfectly in the environment where ancient tiled buildings, tradition and history share the present with those visions of the future presented by Mucho Flow. The opposites collide and the glitches arise.

The setting is intimate and friendly, the impression of being in a secret place, at a private party, is concrete. It’s a secret well kept. This also means that the relationship between artists and the public becomes close, almost personal and therefore relaxed. This is essential because the line up is pure sound discovery, the focus is on what’s is new in the music scene from gabber to jungle, from noise to hyper pop, from electronic to ambient embracing folk. The crowd is open-minded and curious, emerging musicians test their performances endorsed by bigger names. And this shuffle mode works.

Every artist needs a mention but the variety and diversity of the experiences made this work hard and complex. The opening act is with Rita Silva, sitting on a theatre seat in Lynchian atmosphere of light and fog. The voice of Nadah El Shazly at the sunrise and the performative act of Bianca Scout capture full attention such as the presence of FRANKIE. The live show of Snow Strippers, Angry BlackMen and University bring the audience to different world, shacking sense in different directions. Every night the closing act is placed in the club warm embrace of Gabber Eleganza, TOCCORORO, DjLynce, Alex Wilcox, Crystallmess, Violet.

Highlights

Mabe Fratti | She’s from Guatemala and brings with her the experience of Mexico City. She’s a cellist, vocalist and composes art pop in a dreamy and genuine way. Without any doubt it is a difficult music to decipher, it has classical complexity and all the credentials to become cult material but the performance is the most serene, it brings peace and light emotions.

Hypnosis Therapy | If someone has missed the K-fenomenon in western culture with Hypnosis Therapy the things become more clear. The Seoul based electronic-hip hop duo is made up of rapper/producer JJANGYOU and producer Jflow, two human opposites who complete each other. The show is bigger than the stage: JJANGYOU enters with a demonic balaclava revealing himself as a real enfant terrible who jumps and screams giving everything to his art and public. Those kind of energy deserve recognition.

33EMYBW + JOEY HOLDER | This is the live A/V show, commissioned by Unsound,of musician, performer, and producer 33EMYBW and artist Joey Holder. 33EMYBW has been carving out a name for herself in Shanghai’s experimental electronic music scene and Joey Holder visually conversate with sounds around the importance of de-centering humans seeking to understand evolutionary practices from a non-human perspective. Ceremonial club percussion, vocal samples, and dreamy synths envelops all in its path merging with parasitic patterns enmeshed with insectoid silhouettes in a spectral collage of primary colours.

Still House Plant | Glitches, mixes, fusions. They are clearly inspired by jazz and rhythm-and-blues conventions, garage rock, a touch of emo, you can call it math rock, but also noise. The more a definition is added to another it loses sense. Because Still House Plant are kind of unique, they create their own artistic dimension where mistakes are no allowed because rules are close to zero. They are elegant, witty and definitely punk with a story to tell, a real one that starts from a blank page they are writing.