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The 13th edition of MUTEK has come and gone, and all that's left of it are the memories (or at least, most of the memories... probably). As usual, MUTEK delivered stellar performances over the entirety of its five-day span, and since no one wants to read a review that runs on for pages and pages, I'm going to limit myself to the most memorable events I was fortunate enough to see.

Leboeuf et Laviolette @ Experience 2

These two native Montrealers were playing the middle set during Thursday night's Experience 2 event. They won me over early with a more-than-healthy dose of some banging acid that was just what I needed to curb my growing impatience over having to wait two nights before A Guy Called Gerald's Nocturne 4 performance. The rest of their set travelled through a myriad of sounds with increasingly complex percussive elements, but faithfully kept up the driving energy they set off with. It's rare that I get down so hard at 6pm without a few beers in me, and rarer still that I think to look into a local act's post-performance (an admitted weakness that I'm looking to remedy, and if you're guilty of it you should too), but these guys checked both boxes. Don't sleep if you see these two on a line-up!

Kode9, MFO & Ms Haptic present "Her Ghost" @ A/Visions 3

I'm not going to lie, this was one of the things I was most excited about at MUTEK this year. It was a reinterpretation of Chris Marker's "La Jetée". I only discovered the original film because I read that Kode9 had plans to write a new score for it a few years ago. Getting to see that same performance in person, and finding out it was in fact a whole new edit of the film? Awesome. The soundtrack was jagged and harsh, reminding me at times of Speedy J and Scott Pagano's "Umfeld". It was perfect for underscoring the sinister and broken world being portrayed. The edit of the film itself was fantastic. Telling the tale from the woman's perspective and travelling into the uncharted territory of her post-war experience was the film's greatest strength. I highly recommend taking the time to watch both, as this new interpretation really was a perfect compliment to the first.

Minilogue vs. Mathew Jonson @ Nocturne 4

This really was a mammoth performance, and certainly my favourite of the festival. As far as I understand, this set was mostly improvisational. It didn't show, and if they ever had any slip ups, I never noticed and certainly didn't care, nor did anyone else. They had the entire room eating out of the palms of their hands. I couldn't tell you exactly what they were playing (it was certainly techno, but I'm no good at attaching prefixes to things, and it shouldn't matter), because at this point my notepad was firmly stashed in my pocket and nothing was going to stop me from dancing for even a second. The sound was great, the crowd was great, and the three on stage seemed like they were having the time of their lives. Having their set extend a full 45 minutes longer than advertised was a great treat.

Nautiluss @ Nocturne 3

As an artist I think he had one of the most fascinating stories at MUTEK. He was once half of Toronto's Thunderheist, but today has dropped his Grahmzilla moniker and shifted into much more personal music that's almost completely at odds with his old material. As a producer, you can tell he's making a really honest exploration of his interest and his abilities, and I can't wait to see where he ends up. In reading interviews with him and digging into his history, I was really struck by his humble passion for what he's doing. More than anything else, he seems simply happy and excited to be doing his own thing, regardless of the attention it's getting him, and there's a sense that we're all lucky to be able to experience the journey together.

Honourable Mentions

The Mole & Mathew Jonson @ Piknic – The heads knew to be at the smaller Guru stage to catch this, but it definitely should have been a main stage performance.

Monolake @ Nocturne 2 – Somehow, I missed three quarters of this set, but I wish I hadn't. The last bit was pure fire. I've never skanked to dub techno before, and for that, I salute you.

Bernardino Femminielli @ Experience 2 – You win for having laser guitars and 80s-style sex appeal.

The sound system at SAT.

The over-enthusiastic Frenchman telling me to "let the music become myself" during Jeff Mills.

-Patrick Meloche hosts The Letter "B" Sundays from 2-3pm

Formed in Portland, Oregon in the early 1990s, the Dandy Warhols achieved moderate mainstream success later in the decade with hit singles like "Bohemian Like You" and "Everyday Should be a Holiday", the latter featured on the soundtrack for the enormously popular comedy There's Something About Mary. While the group's brush with Top-40 stardom was relatively short-lived, their music has stood the test of time for college radio crowds and those who justifiably or inexplicably lean towards 90s nostalgia in their musical preferences. The group's signature psychedelic revival meets Brit-pop sound with a hint of glam rock posturing make them an interesting and notable cultural artifact of the period, as well as a great addition to a party-bound mix tape. All that being said, why on earth would this group be touring in 2012? Could seeing the Dandy Warhols live well past their prime (in my case, last Saturday at the Corona Theatre) be an absolutely depressing waste of time?

What may be considered depressing about this situation is the fact the Dandys are touring to support their latest release, This Machine, lukewarmly received by critics due to its attempts at sounding more 'grown up' and 'sober'. If you've never seen Ondi Timoner's documentary Dig!, you probably won't fully grasp the absolute self-absorbed immaturity and drug-addled mania that inspired the group when they were churning out their most well-received material. This insanity is also part of what makes the group such interesting characters, at once absolutely repulsive (for example, Courtney Taylor-Taylor's constant cracked-out boy-model posturing on stage and off and general dick-head attitude) yet completely alluring. Considering they've lost this spark in their new music, I was concerned that their live performance would be lacklustre at best.

Opening for the group were 1776, a standard, three-piece band that sound like a combination of every monolithic rock group to ever grace a Bluenotes rock tee. Too self-aware to be charming and without a hint of stage presence, passion or attempts at musical innovation, I found the group to be a depressing reminder of who, to this day, has a stronghold over the music industry (cough, baby boomers).

Second openers were shoegazers Psychic Ills, whose frontman Tres Warren is absolutely mesmerizing and has a great voice for the drone-y sounds they produce but the group's live performance isn't exactly a forte. I really enjoyed the group's sound, but would suggest picking up a record instead to trekking out to see them in the flesh.

The Dandy Warhols' set, much to my surprise, was very engaging and sounded kind of great. While Courtney Taylor-Taylor's falsetto has become a little sad in his middle-age, he managed to pull it off a couple of times with ease; largely, the vocals had been re-arranged to accommodate his lower vocal range. The group had great energy as they performed selection of hits in chronological order, mixing in new material towards the end of the night. Crowd-pleasing hits performed included "We Used to be Friends", the oft-requested "Horse Pills", "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" and Taylor-Taylor's solo rendition of "Every Day Should be a Holiday" (a personal favourite of the night). The Dandys kept their material fresh, linking old favourites together with unexpected, spacey jamming keeping tough critics, like yours truly, entranced in the performance instead of watching the clock, waiting for the set to end. The group had great stage presence and seemed to have a good sense of humour about what they were doing. Overall, a surprising and impressive set.

-Kelly K hosts Cut Your Hair and Get a Job Tuesdays from 1-2pm

The weekend saw crucial elections in the Middle East and Europe, reports BBC news.

Greece’s pro-bailout New Democracy party narrowly beat the anti-bailout Syriza party.

This comes as a sigh of relief for world leaders as the threat of Greece potentially leaving the euro loomed.

New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras stated that this is a victory for all Europe and called for a “national salvation government.”

In France, parliamentary elections saw President Francois Hollande’s Socialist party win enough seats to form a majority.

The win allows them to implement plans to hire more public workers and set out a tax and spend programme without the support of other parties.

While votes are still being counted in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is claiming that its candidate Mohammed Mursi has won the presidential election.

Opponent Ahmed Shafiq, who was prime minister under former President Hosni Mubarak, is rejecting the victory claims.

The Supreme Council of Armed Forces, Egypt’s ruling military, recently dissolved parliament. It has given itself legislative control and revoked the president’s control over the military.

Official election results will be announced Thursday.

Flickr photo by: UN Women Arab States

Read by Franco Proietti

Produced by Erica Bridgeman

Stories written by Carlo Spiridialiozzi, Danny Aubry and Alyssa Tremblay