Viennese electronic virtuoso Dorian Concept has made a name for himself internationally with his ever-developing sound and his virtuosic improvised solo shows. He also co-curated this year’s Popfest Wien, the annual music extravaganza in the heart of the city, and put together a playlist of new electronic music from Vienna – a sampling of the artists that echoed, crackled, and glitched across Karlsplatz in July.
The selection is as wide-ranging as Dorian Concept himself: Koenig has one foot in hip-hop and one in contemporary classic music; The Zew‘s“lo-fi cyborg songs” erase the border between folk and electro. From veteran producer Kimyan Law comes a track that pays tribute equally to minimalism and the dance floor, Wetter etc. takes us on a journey into the world of cyber-jazz…but no description will do this music justice. We recommend putting on the earphones and experiencing it for yourself – and be sure to catch their live shows at Popfest Wien!
Dorian Concept’s picks
Koenig
Lukas König is a gifted drummer, and in the last few years, he’s developed a unique, difficult-to-categorize sound, somewhere between improvisation and electronic sound manipulation.
Kimyan Law
An incredibly refined producer and musician. Over time, I’ve come to deeply respect his complex, deeply grooving, detailed electronic music.
The Zew
The Zew is a musician with a unique voice and a singular sound that she calls “lo-fi cyborg songs”. It’s a combination of folky intimacy, delicate singing, and clever songwriting.
Fennesz
The guitarist, composer and musician Fennesz is one of the pillars of the electronic music scene in Austria. I can think of almost no one who manages to infuse electronic music with as much life as he does.
Wandl
Wandl is a young singer and producer; his sound lands somewhere between soul, R&B, alt-pop, and electronic. His music deals a lot with the line between approachability and obscurity.
Rosa Anschütz
Rosa is a super-exciting singer and producer; her music and live show are extremely hard to categorize. Weight coexists with lightness, and banging club music shares space with ethereal ambient tracks.
Rent
Rent is an electronic musician who creates dense, often dark soundscapes with analog synthesizers. She incorporates noise and feedback very skillfully in her music, as well as beautifully distorted textures and chords.
Wetter etc.
This is a large group of highly gifted musicians and producers from Austria working on a collaborative project together. The music combines jazz harmonies and ambient loops with free improvisation and electronic sound manipulation.
For more, check out the Spotify playlist Vienna Electronic 2023!