Vlad will open the festival on Thursday night. He gets the meaning of music as ritual and that’s why we dig his sessions at Convenanza. No wonder one of his fave tracks is “Going Up” by Coil. 

Like the Guv’ he embraces the premise of music as a transcendental experience. In his own words: “Sometimes the portal opens. There is no guarantee a transcendental experience is going to manifest, but if it does it’s mind-blowing”. In a world of instant gratification and constant pace, we like the way he takes his time to take you to a different reality. His marathon sets cover an impressive range: Vladimir has built an enviable path on the back of leftfield dance music selections and dust-covered records, pushing clubs the world over into parts unknown with countless slabs of vinyl: spine-tingling IDM, house, and techno of course, but also piles of obscure Machine funk. But also Steve Reich, NWW, Slowdive, ambient music and Industrial.

Ivkovic found his musical and spiritual home at Salon des Amateurs, an unassuming spot in Düsseldorf that’s gradually proven to be wildly influential, giving rise to otherworldly talents like Lena Willikens, Tolouse Low Trax, Jan Schulte and many others. He launched his own label Offen Music in 2015 and has become a staple of the European club circuit; playing at celebrated nightspots including De School (Amsterdam), Berghain (Berlin), Nitsa (Barcelona), Kaiku (Helsinki), Sub Club (Glasgow), Phonox / Fold / Corsica Studios (London), Pacha (Ibiza), Blitz (Munich), Zukunft (Zurich), Concrete (Paris), Robert Johnson (Frankfurt) and in the USA, he became a resident of his beloved Nowadays. Even the festival circuit has come calling, inviting Ivkovic and his inventive rhythms to large-scale events like Sustain Release, Making Time, Primavera Sound, Unsound, World Minimal Music, Houghton and despite all of these international adventures, Ivkovic has kept his focus on music, especially the dark and often psychedelic sounds that lurk in its unexplored corners.

Thurs, 7pm-1.30am, Bar à Vins