iii Points Music Festival 2017 Top 11 Acts to See

iii Points Music Festival 2017 has returned to Wynwood with a massive lineup this year unlike any we’ve seen before. There are some big scintillating artists throwing down and we could not be more excited! With so many dazzling performances to choose from, we decided to shine a light on the 11 must see artists to check out this year, good times guaranteed!

TOP 11 ACTS TO SEE:

BONOBO

Simon Green aka Bonobo is back with his sixth album – the masterful, magisterial “Migration” – is a record which cements his place in the very highest echelons of electronic music and beyond. By turns lush, manic, beautiful, melancholy, joyful, packed with both emotion and technical skill, this is perhaps his most ambitious attempt yet to capture the very textures of human existence in his work, as Green says of the broad dynamics on the album, “Life has highs, lows, loud and quiet moments, beautiful ones and ugly ones. Music is a reflection of life.” Migration is to him, “The study of people and spaces,” he expands, “It’s interesting how one person will take an influence from one part of the world and move with that influence and effect another part of the world. Over time, the identities of new places evolve.” It’s also true that the person will be changed.

Green’s newest work is itself a statement of this change and growth. Bonobo’s last album, “The North Borders”, went Top 30 in the UK and was number 1 in the electronic charts in both the US and UK. In support, his 12-piece collective (over an 18 month period) played 175 shows across four continents and 30 countries, wowing a total audience of around 2 million people. In fact, Songkick reckoned him to be amongst the most travelled artists on the planet that year. The tour included two sell outs at the Sydney Opera House, an all-day festival at the Roundhouse culminating in a sold out show at Alexandra Palace (10k cap) plus a number of high profile festival slots. Over the course of five albums for the legendary label Ninja Tune, a myriad of tours, singles, remixes and production work for other artists, Bonobo has built a large, loyal and engaged global fan base: over half a million album sales and over one hundred and fifty million streams on Spotify point to the levels of success achieved by this quiet, self-effacing man.

Most recently, Bonobo curated an international series of Outlier events including a sold out all day festival at Tobacco Dock in London and further parties in Berlin, Madrid, Paris and New York.

RUFUS DU SOL

Sydney, Australia-based RÜFÜS make atmospheric indie electronic dance-pop. Formed in 2010 when a rain-soaked vacation to Byron Bay turned into an impromptu jam session, RÜFÜS feature the talents of guitarist Tyrone Lindqvist, keyboardist Jon George, and drummer James Hunt. The trio quickly released two EPs, 2011’s RÜFÜS and 2012’s Blue. In 2013, they delivered their debut full-length album, Atlas, on Sony. Atlas topped the Australian charts and was quickly followed by the Desert Night EPs.

As their international exposure increased, they ran into some complications with the use of their name in the American market, forcing them to change their name to Rufus Du Sol in the United States. RÜFÜS returned in 2016 with their sophomore full-length album, Bloom, featuring the singles, “You Were Right,” “Like an Animal,” and “Innerbloom.”

GORILLAZ

Conceived as the first “virtual hip-hop group,” Gorillaz blended the musical talents of Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori, and Tom Tom Club’s Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz with the arresting visuals of Jamie Hewlett, best known as the creator of the cult comic Tank Girl. Nakamura’s Deltron 3030 cohorts Kid Koala and Del tha Funkee Homosapien rounded out the creative team behind the Gorillaz quartet, whose virtual members included 2-D, the cute but spacy singer/keyboardist; Murdoc, the spooky, possibly Satanic bassist and the brains behind the group; Russel, a drummer equally inspired by “Farrakhan and Chaka Khan” and possessed by “funkyphantoms” that occasionally rise up and provide some zombie-style rapping; and last but not least, Noodle, a ten-year-old Japanese guitar virtuosa and martial arts master.

The group’s website, www.gorillaz.com, showcased Hewlett’s visuals and the group’s music in eye- and ear-catching detail. Gorillaz debuted in late 2000 with the Tomorrow Comes Today EP, which they followed early the next year with the popular Clint Eastwood single. A self-titled full-length debut album arrived in spring 2001. Gorillaz was a massive worldwide success and achieved platinum-level sales in the U.S.; worldwide, it sold over seven million copies. The group’s Svengalis were quick to capitalize, and released the B-sides collection G-Sides, the Phase One: Celebrity Takedown DVD, and the dub-inspired remix album Laika Come Home in 2002. The project soon went on hiatus, however, as Albarn resumed work with Blur for their seventh album, 2003’s Think Tank. When he was ready to begin the next Gorillaz album, Albarn turned to Danger Mouse (the DJ behind The Grey Album, the infamous mash-up of the Beatles’ White Album and Jay-Z’s Black Album) and a host of other collaborators, including De La Soul, Shaun Ryder, Debbie Harry, Dennis Hopper, and Martina Topley-Bird. Although Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Nakamura did not return, 2-D, Russel, Murdoc, and Noodle were all present and accounted for on Demon Days, another Top Ten hit, which arrived in spring 2005. The album went double platinum in America and enjoyed even more success in the U.K.; it also received a host of Grammy nominations, a sign that the band had secured critical as well as commercial approval.

Gorillaz broke ground for a new album in 2007, but the project wasn’t released until 2010, when Plastic Beach marked the band’s third studio effort. Greeted to generally positive reviews, Plastic Beach received more attention for its tour, as ex-Clash members Paul Simonon and Mick Jones were both part of Gorillaz. During that tour, Albarn recorded a new Gorillaz album called The Fall on his iPad. Initially digitally released to fan club members on Christmas Day 2010, the album saw a wide official release in the spring of 2011. Unlike previous efforts that featured a vast array of guest artists, The Fall only featured four guest collaborations, three of whom (Bobby Womack, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon) had appeared on Gorillaz tracks before. Aside from the best-of compilation The Singles Collection 2001–2011, which was issued in November 2011, the following five years saw a period of inactivity in the Gorillaz camp, with rumors materializing about an apparent fallout between Albarn and Hewlett. However, these rumors were put to bed in early 2015 when Hewlett posted new illustrations of the virtual members online. Later that year, Albarn confirmed that a new record was indeed in the works. The following year passed and the first track to promote the record, the politically charged “Hallelujah Money” (featuring English musician and poet Benjamin Clementine), dropped in January 2017. The full-length effort, entitled Humanz, arrived in April 2017. Alongside Clementine, it featured appearances from Vince Staples, Popcaan, Danny Brown, Mavis Staples, Grace Jones, Jehnny Beth (Savages), and Albarn’s onetime rival Noel Gallagher.

NICOLAS JAAR

Nicolas Jaar is one of the least predictable and most experimental dance music producers of the late 2000s and 2010s, composing reflective downtempo numbers indebted to jazz and modern classical as well as minimal techno. In 2004, while under the spell of Ethiopian jazz and Erik Satie, Jaar began to feel his way through music production and made something of a breakthrough after his father bought him copies of Ricardo Villalobos’ Thé au Harem d’Archimède and Luomo’s Vocal City. Space Is Only Noise, Jaar’s first album, was released on Circus in 2011.

The widely eclectic album was a huge critical success, earning Jaar fans from both the dance and indie rock worlds. Jaar formed a live band featuring guitarist Dave Harrington and keyboardist Will Epstein, and the trio toured behind the album for three years, earning further acclaim. Later on, he continued producing, remixing, performing, and DJ’ing as a solo artist and became widely famous for his projects Pomegranates, Nymphs, and Sirens.

THE BLACK MADONNA

An increasingly respected DJ, known for uplifting sets that balance established anthems with idiosyncratic selections. She’s an accomplished producer, too, with a string of irresistible tracks—‘Exodus’ and ‘A Jealous Heart Never Rests’ among them—that still get plenty of airtime two years later. And then there’s her position as the talent buyer at Chicago’s Smart Bar, one of the best clubs in North America, which has arguably become even more noteworthy under her direction.

NAUFER

LinkMiamiRebels – Miami resident at Club Space and Club Trade – Full-time party instigator. Part-time comic.

BADBADNOTGOOD

Toronto, Ontario-based BADBADNOTGOOD is the talented young quartet of Matthew Tavares on keys, Chester Hansen on bass, Alex Sowinski on drums & Leland Whitty on saxophone. They formed and became inseparable friends at Humber College’s Music Performance program in 2011 and have been on a critically acclaimed, rule bending musical journey ever since. BBNG took the music world by storm with their 2014 LP, III, a brash yet refined record of angular jazz improvisations, lush ballads, kraut rock, & futuristic hip-hop tinged rhythms which led to a couple years of touring the world & collaborating with some of the best and brightest artists around the globe.

Badbadnotgood initially attracted attention for their jazz interpretations of popular songs from artists such Tyler the creator, James Blake, and Kanye West. The group’s third record, III, was released in 2014 and included the singles “Hedron,” “CS60,” and “Can’t Leave the Night.” In February 2015, the group’s collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan MC Ghostface Killah, titled Sour Soul, was released by Lex Records. In early 2016, the trio became a quartet when Leland Whitty joined on saxophone. The boys are back with the new album IV, their most impressive and highly anticipated project yet. IV continues their forward thinking progression, sounding something like a jam session in space between Can, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, Weather Report, Arthur Russell & MF DOOM. With tracks like “Time Moves Slow” featuring haunting vocals from Sam Herring of Future Islands, the syncopated groove of “Lavender,” a collaboration with Montreal based producer Kaytranada, the rumbling fusion build of “Confessions Pt. II” featuring Colin Stetson on the bass sax, “Love” which is highlighted with smokey left field raps from Mick Jenkins & the epic chords of “Speaking Gently,” IV is an exploration in post-genre virtuosity. Out Summer 2016 on Innovative Leisure Records, BBNG prove yet again that the possibilities & discovery in their musical quest are infinite.

Food Break? Oh yes!

All this amazing music and dancing is bound to make you hungry at some point, so we we highly recommend you munch out at the delicious
Fooq’s. iii Points is teaming up with Downtown Miami eatery Fooq’s, to bring a unique dining experience, the Fooq’s Cove, to the fifth-annual Music, Art & Technology Festival. Nestled in ‘the cove’ of III Points will lie an oasis of eclectic cuisine, offering festival-goers an experiential dining haven, artfully prepared by Fooq’s Executive Chef Saul Ramos, from Friday, October 13th through Sunday, October 15th.

Capturing the essence of the festival’s ‘3 points,’ Fooq’s will offer guests a unique daily menu, showcasing three different options for each day of the festivities. The counter service concept invites festival-goers to kick back in an exotically designed dining cove, and select from a variety of prix-fixe menu options with a Mediterranean twist.

Fooq’s will offer a dry rubbed, smoked chicken accompanied by Napa cabbage slaw with smoked almonds and herb roasted marble potatoes. Saturday’s dishes are vegetable-inspired, offering a grilled local veggie bowl with eggplant, corn, zucchini, fennel, carrots and red onions; alongside a rice salad and mint yogurt. For Sunday, offerings include a Cuban style smoked lechón; with a mizuna lettuce salad of carrots, cherry tomatoes, red onion and tossed with lime vinaigrette; roasted marble potatoes and bacon fat cuban bread. Vegetarian options will be available throughout the festival. Do not miss out on this mouth-watering smorgasbord!

JACKMASTER

You never know exactly what you’re going to hear with Jackmaster. The element of glorious surprise is crucial to his sets: from the lost Dance Mania gems he spends his time unearthing to forgotten Disco tracks to straight-up house and techno sets, the Numbers co-founder has more options up his sleeve than just about any other DJ out there – and a rare knack for connecting seemingly disparate style. What you are guaranteed to get is a master selector’s instinct for creating and riding the energy of a crowd: few can get a dancefloor as hyped as Jackmaster.

“I don’t think about music in terms of genre, I think about it in terms of energy levels,” he says – and as his star has risen over the past few years, this has been on perfect display at parties from Glasgow to Berlin to New York, and from superclubs such as Berghain and Fabric to legendary underground warehouse parties. He’s also proven that populist tendencies can have longevity, if done right: unbelievably, it’s now 10 years since the Numbers club night was founded, forging a tight-knit and loyal scene in which Jackmaster and like-minded Glaswegian’s could hone their skills. Now, the world can’t get enough of their sounds: the Numbers influence has spread across clubs and into the mainstream, with names such as Jessie Ware, SBTRKT, Rustie, Hudson Mohawke and Jamie xx all having released material with the label.

At the heart of Jackmaster’s wide-ranging sensibility is a fundamental honesty: he believes in neither following trends nor the concept of guilty pleasures. His commitment to both honesty and energy encapsulates what can make dance culture life-changingly thrilling: it’s about the clubber on the dancefloor reacting instantaneously and truthfully to the music. Few cater to that dancer as effectively as Jackmaster – no mere “crowd-pleaser”, but someone always guaranteed to please the crowd.

LANE 8

Daniel Goldstein, better known by his stage name Lane 8, is an American born musician, electronic music producer, and DJ. Rather than pander to the purists or create music for DJs alone, Daniel Goldstein aka Lane 8 has always tread his own, distinctive path – perhaps best summed up by his phones-free event and label concept This Never Happened.

The concept is a simple one: remove all phones and cameras from the event, get back to connecting with the music and the people around you. And it is one that has been embraced with passion by Lane 8’s dedicated fanbase and the dance community at large. In tandem with the events, Daniel’s output on the TNH label has stood out for its integrity and artistry whether on emotional epics like ‘Fingerprint’ or quirky upbeat groovers such as ‘With Me’. After blowing up in the blogosphere with a series of Soundcloud-driven Hype Machine #1s around 2014, Lane 8 rose to wider prominence through a relationship with the tastemaking Anjunadeep label and his critically acclaimed 2015 album ‘Rise’. Returning to the label with the Kidnap Kid collaboration ‘Aba’, 2017 will also see a steady stream of music on This Never Happened and more TNH tours the world over.

WOLF STORY

Music duo created by Steve Sanx & Rico from Paris. Because there is a Wolf Story behind every song.

DUDE SKYWALKER

Miami natives Sam Plessett, Alex Borges and Fabio Galarce are the brainchildren behind Dude Skywalker; an avant-garde musical project delving into the cosmic side of dance floor & lounge music.

ABOUT III POINTS
Born in 2013, III Points Music, Art & Technology Festival was built as a platform to shed light on Miami’s talented local acts, vendors, artists, thinkers, dreamers, doers and idea people. As the artist community was thriving, perception of Miami remained stereotypical to South Beach bottles and confetti culture, and III Points was created as a home and voice for the “other” Miami. III Points curates a lineup of international performances paired with the best of Miami’s local music scene, resulting in a three-day living installation featuring cutting-edge musical acts, visual art and innovative technology. III Points makes its home in Wynwood, the rising star of Miami’s modern, artistic urban development; the community identity is woven throughout the fabric of the festival. Over the three days, III Points takes over the town with lectures, panels, showcases, demos, BBQs, tech-talks, gallery shows, street installations, and a fully immersive 6-stage festival experience.

TICKETS

ABOUT FOOQ’S
Located in the heart of Downtown Miami’s burgeoning Arts + Entertainment District, Fooq’s is an eclectic eatery serving “Feel Good Food” in an urban, yet distinctly cozy setting. A concept created by restaurateur David Foulquier, Fooq’s brings a new definition to comfort food that sparks the sentiment of feeling right at home. The farm-to-kitchen fare at Fooq’s, features international menu selections inspired by global travels and Persian-French heritage. With its bright and airy interior, the charming restaurant is a vibe-driven zone complemented by distinct hospitality. Fooq’s is located at 1035 N. Miami Avenue, Miami, FL.

Web: fooqsmiami.com | Facebook: www.fb.com/fooqsmiami | Instagram: @fooqsmiami