This year’s dB Finale brings to conclusion our most robust Decibel Festival to date. As a “THANKS” to all of you, we bring back two performers who have been consistently Decibel top favorites: Germany’s legendary Monolake, featuring visual art by Tarrik Barrik, and Mexico’s Fax, who’s latest album for Static Discos has been on heavy rotation in our stereos. In addition, Detroit’s rising star Luke Hess and Berlin staple Cassy stop by to make their Northwest debut, completing (and complementing) one juggernaut weekend.

Opening the showcase is Fax (aka Rubén Tamayo), whose music constitutes a collection of rhyth- mic motifs, muffled reverberations, and upbeat melodies accentuated by streaming waves of electronic dub currents.

With 10 years of DJ experience, Luke Hess is regarded as a perfectionist in his live sets and behind the decks is know for layering his tracks in a very detailed and hypnotic manner. Hess has played at notable venues and events such as Panorama Bar (Berlin), Unit (Tokyo), Detroit Electronic Music Festival (Detroit), Fabric (London), and The Bunker (NYC).

Based in Berlin, Monolake originally consisted of members Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke, but now is now perpetuated by just Henke while Behles focuses on running their music soft- ware company, Ableton. Monolake’s minimal, dub-influenced techno music helped establish the sound of Berlin based record label Chain Reaction, subsequently using their own Monolake / Imbalance Computer Music label for the group’s output. Henke’s performances and interactive installations have been shown at Tate Modern in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, MUDAM in Luxembourg, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. In 2007, his work Layering Buddha received an honorary mention at the Prix Ars Electronica. Henke currently teaches as professor for sound design at the University of Arts in Berlin and will be performing with visual artist Tarik Barri.

Closing the night is Parisian house legend Pepe Bradock. Julien Auger found house music having already been a musician and DJ for some years. Having played in jazz and funk bands and then taking over the turntables for various Parisian hip hop crews, he was exposed to rave culture in the early 90s. The music Auger has produced since then – first as Trankilou and later as Pepe Bradock – undoubtedly betrays a massive depth and breadth of musical knowledge. But more importantly perhaps, his approach seems to reflect a mastery of many disciplines as it often combines the musicality of a jazz player with the sample-heavy eclecticism of hip hop head – all brought together with an understanding of ‘the groove’ that many house producers can only dream of. Pepe Bradock (with his idiosyncratic sound aesthetic) is undoubtedly one of the true ‘characters’ of dance music.