CTM-Festival’s new and irregular series of events, POLYMORPHISM, introduces forward-thinking artists, labels and networks whose innovative programs and aesthetics relentlessly subvert – or simply transgress – the established parameters of musical scenes and genres.

Never before was music so ubiquitous. Never before was there so much of it, nor such a broad range. This is evident in the sheer overwhelming confusion of styles and epochs to have emerged from a musical culture that aims to keep every last thing in its tool-box, just in case…. Yet precisely when anything and everything counts as a viable source, and when no rules apply, the results can be astounding: new sound designs draw on the infinite inspiration offered by accessible archives as well as on the endless malleability of modern technology – and adopt such eclecticism as their core matrix. The ensuing musical styles defy simple categories and mono-dimensional description. They know their history yet are not simply retro, pursue a liquid, multifaceted, constantly morphing vision but are never arbitrary. Instead of narrowing their breadth of style in an exclusionary manner, these opalescent hybrids snake out simultaneously in various directions, garnering en route a myriad of different influences that they meld to a novel array of musical testimonies.

Their bottom line is to remain open to the polyphony of the modern world, and the tools of their trade are recombination, pastiche, fusion, morphing, montage, DIY-media archaeology, re-contextualization and the integration of material processes. Their basic and wholly paradoxical attitude combines respect for their sources and materials with an utter disregard for established yet tired concepts of "quality", "good taste" and "target audience". The results are surprisingly ingenuous: sophisticated at times, rough and ready at others, either absurd or compellingly logical, amorphously "muddy" or packed with strong contrasts – yet never, ever anything less than resolutely eclectic and subjective.

With Polymorphism – a vibrant mix of club nights, concerts and experimentation – CTM intends to capture the best of this exponential explosion of radical sound mutation. The series kicks off with 100% SILK (1. June, KaterHolzig) and Hippos In Tanks (8. June, Berghain), two labels from Los Angeles whose no-fi philosophy, elegant references, non-dogmatic productions from the far side of flash-in-the-pan hype and, not least, their strictly superb club and pop music, are all set to make you prick up your ears and dance your socks off.  

# 1 – 100% SILK

1. June, KaterHolzig

featuring LA VAMPIRES / ITAL / MARIA MINERVA / MAGIC TOUCH

special guests HEATSICK / BILL KOULIGAS

# 2 – HIPPOS IN TANKS

8. June, Berghain

featuring JAMES FERRARO / LAUREL HALO / NGUZUNGUZU

special guests PUZZLE / THE MONOKID / OPIUM HUM

Supported by