Kenneth Tarek Sabbar’s ARTICULATION. series wants to adjust Madison’s understanding of electronic music

The series kicks off July 5 at Gamma Ray Bar, showcasing techno, ambient music, and more.

On Wednesday, June 5, multi-instrumentalist Kenneth Tarek Sabbar—who has played in multiple electronic and experimental projects in Madison and Milwaukee—announced ARTICULATION., a new series at Madison’s newest independent venue, Gamma Ray Bar. The series will have its inaugural show on Friday, July 5, and take an expansive and flexible approach to showcasing electronic music. “The general gist is that I’m trying to complement the events that already occur in the area—JAMS, Remain In Night, etc., but focusing exclusively on live electronic (or ‘electrified’ as I put it) acts,” Sabbar tells Tone Madison. “Not even necessarily restricted to techno in a given night, but techno- and electronic music-tangential.”

Sabbar outlines what audiences can expect from the series, at least to begin with: “So far, the pattern is an ambient/experimental opener, followed by techno/dance-oriented music. Future iterations may have a different organization. At this point, I am seeing what works and what doesn’t and am mostly informed on my own experiences trying to play live sets as a techno-oriented artist.”

For the series’ first show, Sabbar has assembled a formidable and eclectic roster of versatile acts, drawing heavily from Milwaukee’s music community. “[I’m] generally trying to close the gap between Madison and Milwaukee and the Midwest in general,” he says. And it’s a salient point on multiple accounts. For all their proximity, there doesn’t ever seem to be as much cross-pollination between Madison and Milwaukee as there could or even should be, and anything that bridges the gap is welcome. And few are better candidates to pursue a venture that aims to do so than Sabbar, who has spent ample time as a musician in both cities.

Apart from Sabbar—who will be playing the evening’s closing set—every musician playing ARTICULATION.’s introductory show is presently Milwaukee-based. Alisa Rodriguez’s exceptional ambient project Apollo Vermouth will be opening the event. Rodriguez’s discography both as a solo ambient act (with multiple monikers) and as a member of Sundial Mottos—a band that also featured Graham Hunt—as well as Operations, has been reliably superb. Since the 2012 release of Burning In Heaven, Rodriguez has consistently released compelling instrumentals as Apollo Vermouth, and the current culmination of that work can be heard in 2023’s mesmeric Forever Back There.

Hot Science and Monaco 74 will have the second and third sets of the evening. The former’s fragmented, energetic take on electronic music and its many subgenres manages to fascinate as much as engage. Hot Science’s 2020 full-length, Last Laugh, is solid evidence. Monaco 74—the duo of Valcove and R. Mann—is a collaborative effort between two artists who are integral parts of Milwaukee’s Golfshoe Music collective. Outside of a vertical video capture of a 2022 Moncao 74 set, there isn’t much in the way of recorded evidence available of the duo. Compellingly, both the video and its description convey the duo’s penchant for propulsive yet contemplative electro-ambient work. The video’s description cites Boards Of Canada, Aphex Twin, Chemical Brothers, and The Orb as influences, and their set certainly bears out that assessment.

Sabbar will wrap the evening up with a solo techno set. On a personal note, the last time I saw a solo Sabbar set, he soundtracked a particularly striking 2022 lakeside sunset in Houghton, MI. It was an experience that stayed with me, and I can say with confidence that his performance for ARTICULATION.’s opening salvo is worth anticipation. The “performance” part here is key: Sabbar thinks Madison needs more shows where audiences can see electronic musicians working in real time with their various tools. For the series’ first entry, audiences will have a window to Sabbar’s handling of the synths and sequencers that drive his techno sets, the richly processed guitar approach of Apollo Vermouth, and much more.

“Madison has a very thrivent dance-music scene but few live electronic events,” says Sabbar. Dance nights like JAMS—which recently announced a relocation to Gamma Ray Bar—and festival events like Musique Electronique often punch above their weight, booking international slates of house and techno luminaries to spin DJ sets alongside some of Madison’s finest homegrown DJs. Those events do include some live-PA performances, but focus more explicitly on DJing. Sabbar is trying to scratch a different itch.

He also wants ARTICULATION. to play an accommodating role alongside other live music events in Madison’s wider live-music landscape. “I’m trying to slot it in so that our events don’t explicitly compete with other events but again, complement other events going on,” says Sabbar.

Sabbar says the ARTICULATION. series’ name is a sly nod to “how electronic music is actually performed/played, rather than it being ‘tracks’ in a DJ set. And doing that live, in person.” He says the title also reflects his desire to “demonstrate some flexibility on what even defines electronic music,” pointing to action figures’ malleability as an unlikely analog. “I did a brief ‘fest’ in Milwaukee and tried to enumerate how somebody deciding to amplify and process a cello or harp or guitar or whatever through pedals is as much ‘synthesis’ and ‘electronic’ as a synthesizer,” clarifies Sabbar. This insight drives home a crucial point home: ARTICULATION. is in the capable hands of someone who knows the immeasurable value of making the right adjustments.