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A Canadian has been found guilty of terror charges. Tahawwur Rana was found guilty of conspiring to attack a Danish newspaper. He is a fifty-year-old former member of the Pakistan army with Canadian citizenship.

The newspaper in question famously published cartoons of the prophet Mohammed angering thousands worldwide. Rana was charged with plotting to storm the paper and behead its staff.

The verdict was part of a larger trial involving an American charged with helping the terrorists who were part of the Mumbai attacks in India.

Rana’s childhood friend was a key witness for the prosecution. He testified that Rana provided assistance while he scouted for targets in India. He also admitted guilt to his role in the attacks and agreed to testify in exchange for not being given the death penalty.

Rana was found not guilty of providing assistance in the Mumbai attacks.

Mutek’s Nocturne 2 was the Modeselektion night – a night of forward thinking party music whose main room line-up was curated by Germany’s Modeselektor.

The event really was a no-nonsense affair; there was no space on this line-up for filler, so things got started right away with the heavily anticipated Siriusmo. I walked in about half way through his set to a relatively relaxed, but very appreciative, crowd that wasn’t large enough to make the dance floor uncomfortable, but was sizeable enough to let you know things were well underway. It was pretty much perfect. It’d be a mistake to think that them appearing relaxed meant they weren’t into it, as I learned during a breakdown when the crowd erupted into massive cheers and applause that really seemed out of sync with the kind of energy they were displaying. Musically, I’m a little afraid to try and put Siriusmo’s set into words lest I do it injustice. It spanned a wide spectrum of tempos and moods, at times sounding industrial, light, or even goofy. If there’s one thing he was not, it was monotonous. The rhythms were constantly changing in a way that I couldn’t predict, or even make sense out of, but it was done in a way that made you feel as if you were obviously in the hands of a master. The crowd ate it up (many even considered it the highlight of the night).

At 11pm, local producer Jacques Greene took the stage for the world premiere of his new live performance, accompanied by another local producer Ango. Apparently, Jacques Greene does not mess around with the word “live”. His entire performance was done on a vast array of hardware that surrounded him on stage; it was kind of as if he was in some kind of music laboratory. The performance felt a little straight forward after the beautifully eclectic mess that Siriusmo performed; though there’s nothing wrong with that. They delivered a solid set of blissful, synthy electronica. While I thought the music felt a little same-y in terms of the mood and rhythm it produced, it was still an excellent performance with a great progression from start to finish and enough to keep you interested. That being said, closing the set with a live remix of his most recent hit, “Another Girl,” as the only vocal track of the whole performance was possibly one of the best closing moments in any set I caught all weekend. It really shifted the performance into higher gear and gave the whole thing a really crisp sense of culmination.

Up next was New York’s FaltyDL. Going into his set, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m a big fan of his productions but had never seen him live. He started on some pretty groovy, old school house vibes that really got the place moving, until about 15 minutes into the performance where he really turned things up to 11. I’m not sure exactly what he did, or how he did it, but I was completely lost in his set from that point. He dropped banger after banger after banger and really worked the crowd up into a frenzy. Notable tracks (for me) were Ramadanman’s “Work Them”, Joy Orbison’s “Sicko Cell” and Addison Groove’s “Fuck Tha 101.”

I don’t have much to say about Anstam because I spent most of that set over at the SAT for a bit of the A/Visions event. What I did catch was very bass heavy on an industrial tip, but felt a bit too slow for me after the madness that was FaltyDL.

Finally it was time for the headmasters to shine. Modeselektor came on to close out the night in fine style (or at least with aggressive attitudes). They went so hard at one point I think they started playing downright hardcore and schranz (I might be exaggerating a wee bit, but the intensity of their show was not to be trifled with). Honestly, the music was so overpowering that I’m not even sure what else I have to say about it. They brought a bag of low-end, bass-heavy party tracks with them, set out to absolutely tear Metropolis apart, and they did it. Well done, boys. I wish I could say more, but my pen died (I suspect the ink was atomized inside of it), and it was hard to keep a level head for mental note taking in that hurricane.

-Patrick Meloche

Aaron Rome’s four-game suspension has left the Vancouver Canucks fuming.

Originally, head coach Alain Vigneault admitted that Rome's hit on Boston Bruin Nathan Horton was late. But after hearing he will be out for the rest of the playoffs, the team is outraged.

Rome's suspension is the longest in playoff history. Neither player will be seen again this spring as Horton suffered a severe concussion due to the hit.

It appears the NHL still has problems with proportions. Rome was given four games for headhunting while Sean Avery of the New York Rangers was given six just for badmouthing. There has also been non-punishment of many previous head hits because the league could find no rule to apply.

But most importantly, the Rome case suggests that the league is finally chasing public opinion rather than ignoring it. The NHL is changing concussion protocol. They are restructuring their discipline office with clear hints that punishment will be more severe next season.

Wednesday marked the beginning of Mutek – five days of digital creativity and electronic music. An impressive line-up of artist awaited festival goers over the course of the festival: Amon Tobin, Modeselektor, Plastikman, Gold Panda and James Holden (among others). There was no lack of choice or things to do on the first day, from free shows with artists playing inside Berri-UQAM Metro, or in Place de la Paix on Saint-Laurent, to the big indoor events like A/Visions at the Salle Pierre Mercure and the main event, the world premiere of Amon Tobin's new show at the Metropolis during Nocturne 1. They might as well have called it the Amon Tobin day, because it was on everybody’s lips. It was probably the most anticipated show of Mutek. Actually, there were a few highly anticipated shows at this year’s edition, but I will get back to them in future articles.

Nocturne 1

I was not able to cover other events that day but I absolutely did not want to miss this one after seeing what I saw at the sound check. I arrived early so I would be able to catch a good spot at Metropolis, which turned out to be barely filled with people - a bit too early, I guess. First up was Badawi, a veteran of the New York underground bass scene, whose real name is Raz Mesinai. Badawi is his latest experimental project. He delivered a decent set that took some time for the bass to drop - ten minutes to be honest, but who is counting anyways? It was filled with drum machines, looping sound effects, and heavy bass lines; it was minimal at times, but the pace quickened midway through his set. He played for 45 minutes before giving way to Gold Panda.

Gold Panda

There were a few artist I was looking forward to seeing perform at Mutek most; Gold Panda was one of them. The London based producer’s 2010 debut album, Lucky Shiner, has garnered critical acclaim throughout the electronic music scene and has been in regular rotation on my iPod and on our show, The Letter B. He manages to seamlessly mix different styles and textures into his work in a way that creates a very upbeat, organic sound where everything just seem to fit together. The proof is the fact that it only took 5 seconds of his first track for people to start dancing. It was almost instantaneous!

Amon Tobin during his Sound check (mnjivr)

Then it was time for the main event! I’ve been a fan of Amon Tobin for a long time. I’ve always like his style and how he makes ordinary sounds into tracks. The Brazilian born producer has always come up with different ways of reinventing himself. For Mutek, he pushed the boundaries with his latest creation: an audio-visual 3-D experience that takes the audience into the mind and imagination of a genius. Tobin places himself in a multi-dimensional 3-D art work on which pre-rendered elements are projected on to the structure which is all narrated by his latest album, ISAM. I had been to a preview of it earlier that day but it was nothing compared to what it was on stage. It was as if during one song you could have been on a giant spaceship with engines and machines working and the next song you were floating amongst the stars or in a city filled with lights and sound. All the while, Tobin has in his cube placed in the middle of the 25’x 14’ x 8’ shapeshiftting installation that resembled Habitat 67. It was a site to behold; the ambience, the lights and the music really fit perfeclty together.

I can honestly say that I have never seen something as jaw dropping as this performance. It was an audio-visual overload; at times you could easily loose track of what was being shown because of the sheer speed and detail that every scene had. After seeing Badawi and Gold Panda - who were brilliant - as well, I can say that I can die in peace! Well no... because there’s so much more ahead, but it was that amazing! The real work of a creative genius.

More pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alejandro_projects/sets/72157626906218806/

-Alex Menjivar hosts The Letter B on Saturdays from Midnight-1am