Conscious Electronic’s most coveted acts of Lightning In A Bottle 2019 [Event Coverage]
Year in and year out, DoLaB’s Lightning In a Bottle (LIB) is Southern California’s premiere transformational event of festival season. Equipped with an ethos centered on sustainability, harm reduction, cultural respect, and most of all, creating an environment for extraordinary experiences, DoLaB is making some rather notable changes for its 2019 installment. Not only is the festival changing its location from Bakerfield to Buena Vista Lake in Kern County, California, but organizers have decreased ticket sales by 20,000 to better serve its mission of creating an intimate and one-of-a-kind experience for all those who enter into its domain.
The LIB line-up is always a sight for sore eyes, with every artist treating their slot as a truly powerful platform. Among the many amazing artists slated for the gathering, we’ve taken on the task of dwindling them down to a few of our “cant-miss” artists in 2019. You’ll see a few Conscious Electronic favorites, along with some exciting new faces. Here are our top six artists to see (and when to see them) at Lightning In A Bottle 2019.
For the full 2019 workshop and musical schedule, head here.
1. Flying Lotus 3D
Flying Lotus isn’t a young spring chicken. A veteran of the music industry and Grammy-nominated electronic producer, Steven Ellison has become just as well known for his Brainfeeder music label as he is for his visually immersive live shows and off-kilter sound design.
Naturally, Fly Lo was a perfect target for Ryan Pardeiro, COO & co-founder of 3D Live, a Los Angeles-based company that designs three-dimensional entertainment software. Think moon boards and projection mapping among other cutting-edge technology. The production team’s approach is purely improvisational, which supremely matches Flying Lotus’s live, off-the-cuff mixing style. Just like Flying Lotus never plays the same songs, 3D Live never plays the same visuals twice. It’s a match made in heaven since everyone is working together in a highly original way with each and every impromptu show.
Now Flying Lotus has just announced his 3D tour, which kicks off in Las Vegas in late October—but not before he takes the live set-up into festival stages throughout the summer. Lightning In A Bottle is the Flying Lotus 3D festival debut, which makes him our top must-see set of the entire weekend.
Be sure to catch Flying Lotus Friday at 12:45am on the Lightning Stage.
2. SHADES
As the duetted act of Alix Perez (Belgium/UK) and EPROM (Alexander Dennis of Portland, Oregon), SHADES developed into something akin to a cult in the four years since their inception. As pioneers of the half-time bass music sound, SHADES has grown into one of the most celebrated duos in bass-heavy dance music.
Last year saw the release of their debut full-length album, In Praise Of Darkness, which was released on Zeds Dead’s highly-acclaimed imprint, Deadbeats Records. Not only was the full-length effort one of CE‘s Top Albums of 2018, they also followed it with a brand new EP this year that knocked the dance music world into other-worldly dimensions. They’ve received support from Amon Tobin, Claude Von Stroke, Noisia, Bassnectar, and many other leading industry tastemakers, making them a highly sought after act for 2019. This weekend, they’re bringing their dark dungeon beats to LIB’s Thunder stage, which is one bass music aficionados
Be sure to catch SHADES Saturday at 11:25pm PT on the Thunder Stage.
3. Charlesthefirst
Charlesthefirst is easily a CE favorite and for good reason. Not only did we include him in our Artists To Watch in 2019, but we were huge fans of his Ascent LP, released late last year. Fusing his organic hip hop roots with lush and experimental electronic composition, CharlestheFirst has developed a danceable style steeped in dreaminess and psychedelia. Born in 1996 in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Charles has been heavily influenced by nature and the adventure that coincides with it. This is a young rising artist whose downright humility matches his originality and yearning for sonic experimentation, making him one to not miss at LIB this year.
Be sure to catch Charlesthefirst Friday at 9:55pm PT on the Thunder Stage.
4. CloZee
CloZee isn’t just a French goddess of tribal world-influenced bass, she’s helming the entire movement in the electronic scene. As a long-time CE favorite, at least since we interviewed her at Electric Forest last year, Chloé Herry has been catching people’s ears and capturing their hearts for about two years now—so much so that she’s garnered a full-on movement around her unique sound. It’s a sound that is centered around a tribal, low-end bass sound stamp with her classical guitar influences.
She says her love of music began at the age of 11 with the acoustic guitar. She even cites her guitar teacher as a major influence during her teen years. It wasn’t until she began working on electronic music production in her college dorm room that electronic music took over. She’s played just about every major electronic music festival stage in the world, and even made her second Coachella appearance this past month. She’s a long time favorite of DoLaB, so fans can expect she will have something special in store for the weekend.
Be sure to catch CloZee Sunday at 12:30am PT on the Thunder Stage.
5. Escapade (Walker & Royce b2b Ardalan)
The exalted acts of Dirtybird might be one way to describe Ardalan and Walker & Royce, but when one looks more closely into the depth of the record label’s roster, that may be a strong claim. As two of Dirtybird’s strongest rising acts, the three minds have come together to form a master class of spacey deep house sounds.
Be sure to catch Escapade Friday at 6pm PT on the Woogie Stage.
5. Opiuo
How does one even introduce Opiuo? The man, the myth, the legend. Imagine a precisely blended concoction of tight irresistible grooves, chunk fueled bouncy beats, luscious brooding soundscapes, and a bowl of scrumptious glitch. Welcome to the musical world of Opiuo. A self-confessed music addict with a light-hearted approach to life and art.
Although we’ve been fans of the New Zealand native since day one, Opiuo’s Syzygy 01 EP really caught CE‘s eyes and ears last year. Then, in a bold and historic move, the mastermind producer hosted a full live orchestra at Red Rocks, blending classical with his signature infusion of jazz, reggae, funk, rock, psychedelia, and downright chunky goodness.
Now fans of Opiuo, whose moniker is named after the opium for the masses, have the chance to witness his magician moves on the decks at Lightning In A Bottle.
Be sure to catch Opiuo Sunday at 11:15pm on the Thunder Stage.
6. Desert Dwellers
It’s no secret that the CE staff has a deep love for bass music of all types. Be it the low-end frequencies or the heavy headbanging filth or, in the case of Desert Dwellers, the other-wordly desert downtempo, we just love it all.
Desert Dwellers is the convergence of Amani Friend and Treavor Moontribe, who honed their individual crafts in the mystical deserts of California and New Mexico, long before electronic music reached mainstream. The duo combines the raw sounds of the natural world wrapped in dance-floor and chill-out productions. Blending deep bass, earthy percussion, etheric voices, and cross-cultural instrumentation into a sonic incense for the mind and body, it’s meditation music you can dance to.
Desert Dwellers’ unique global sounds are a bridge between worlds, and their label, Desert Trax, has become a platform to spotlight similar alchemical artists. DoLaB has long recognized the pair’s confluence of styles and mastery of form, along with their ability to enter their crowds into the psychedelic realm upon exposure. For this reason, among many more, Desert Dwellers is a must-see act of the weekend.
Be sure to catch Desert Dwellers Sunday at 8:15pm PT on the Thunder Stage.
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