Melt! Festival 2012: Ten To See

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Returning for its fifteenth year, Melt! Festival takes place in Gräfenhainichen’s giant industrial crane museum. Surrounded by a vast fresh water lake and inhabited by truly unique structures, Ferropolis in Germany provides a breath taking space for an incredibly exntesive and collective line-up to do their thing. Taking place from 13-15 July the festival is completely sold out but for those lucky enough to have tickets already there will undoubtedly be some hard decisions to make so we thought we’d give our run down of this year’s essential acts.

Caribou

Polaris Prize winning Dan Snaith’s blissfully tripped out, sun dappled beats jostle with sweet vocals loops and intoxicating synth flickers, which will undoubtedly make his the most euphoric festival set off the weekend.

Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble

Electronically inclined classical music structures with complex textural densities that emerge from jarringly uniform glitches, Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble’s orchestral arrangements are rooted in the organic but, specifically on their latest record Mr. Machine, become motorised contraptions – seemingly moving forward and evolving under their own momentum.

Destroyer

Another Canadian addition to our top picks, Destroyer’s wonderfully cinematic visions and irresistible romantic eighties melodies will provide the perfect moment to slow down and soak up the festival’s atmosphere.

Icona Pop

Icona Pop’s electro pop offerings have that rare ability to make you feel invincible whilst instantly convincing you that not dancing, is not an option.

Modeselektor

Modeselektor were undeniably one of the best things we saw at Field Day this year. You would be a fool to miss Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary’s brilliant concoctions.

Yeasayer

Can’t wait for the release of their forthcoming third full length Fragrant World? It might not be a bad idea to get yourself along to Brooklyn natives’ show merely on the off chance that they might play some new material, let alone the fact that we already know their back catalogue has enough gems to deliver a festival set worthy of praise.

Niki & The Dove

Each time we see Malin Dahlstrom and Gustaf Karlof live they deliver something different, from a synth heavy dance orientated set to overwhelmingly primal offerings – splitting at the seams with percussion. There is unlikely to be a frowning face in the crowd, they are an absolute joy to watch.

AlunaGeorge

Slinky 90s r’n’b beats with a flair for the sensual wrap themselves around saccharine vocals and warped electronics in Aluna Francis’ George Reid produced You Know You Like It EP so we can’t wait to see what she gets up to live.

M83

We’d be surprised if M83′s set doesn’t turn out exactly how we imagine it – lights flickering, a mass of bodies moving as one, throwing their hands in the air, lost in the moment.

Twin Shadow

With his more open, heart-on-sleeve album Confess, George Lewis Jr. has finally transformed into the charismatic and captivating frontman we all wanted him to be.