Gotye, Animal Collective among Moogfest music lineup

Moogfest, an annual festival devoted to art, music and technology, returns to Durham May 18-21 at various downtown venues.

This year's lineup also includes Suzanne Ciani, Derrick May, 808 State, Simian Mobile Disco, Syrinx, Jessy Lanza and Function.

More than 40 nighttime performers will also be taking part in the daytime conference program, which will include conversations about this year's themes: Black Quantum Futurism, The Future of Creativity, Hacking Systems, Instrument Design, The Joyful Noise of STEAM, Protest, Sci-Fi Wishes & Utopian Dreams, Spatial Sound, Transhumanism and Technoshamanism.

In addition to his performance, electronic musician Derrick May, also known as Detroit's Godfather of Techno, will host his own master class. Peanut Butter Wolf and DJ Greg Belson will team up for a class delving into encyclopedic storytelling. Nona Hendryx, co-founder of pioneering 1980s funk group LaBelle, will host a conversation on trend-setting wearble tech instruments. 808 State, acid house pioneers from England, will also host a master class.

Other performers participating in daytime programs include Animal Collective, Flying Lotus, Princess Nokia, Russell E.L. Butler, Elysia Crampton, K-Hand, Colleen, Elon Katz, Marisa Anderson, Mary Lattimore, Pharmakon, Noveller, Container, S U R V I V E and Wolf Eyes.

Moogfest's dance music lineup includes Berlin’s underground ambassador, Ostgut Ton associate, and former Berghain resident Function; California-based Buchla pioneer Suzanne Ciani; Toronto nu-disco sensation and Junior Boys collaborator Jessy Lanza. Avalon Emerson, Gaika, JDH & DAVE P, Jubilee, Lafawndah, Lena Willikens, London O'Connor, Mumdance, Not Waving, Octo Octa, Kill Alters, Pye Corner Audio, Silent Servant and Tasha The Amazon.

Philadelphia’s multidisciplinary artist Moor Mother, along with The Afrofuturist Affair and Metropolarity, will lead a program on Black Quantum Futurism including an array of workshops, readings and conversations.

Moogfest will also honor some of the innovative musicians who passed away last year. Gotye will present a tribute to late French electronic music pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey, with an intimate in-the-round performance and Ondeline Orchestra musical workshop. The Center for Deep Listening will hold daily workshops in honor of Pauline Oliveros, who prior to her sudden passing had been invited to appear at this year's festival. Peanut Butter Wolf will perform an open and free-to-the public DJ set honoring a variety of artists who have passed away, including synth pioneers including Bernie Worrell and Keith Emerson.

Moogfest's Experimental Films and Live Scores program will include Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein of S U R V I V E performing a live score from the Netflix phenomenon "Stranger Things." Neo-soul futurist Suzi Analogue and Harlem-based beatmaker VHVL will live score their self-directed horror film, No Moon No Man. And Flatsitter will animate Moogfest with his virtual reality bus, transporting audiences to the digital afterlife via the fascinating story of spiritualists in Lily Dale, New York.

New age musician, composer and laughter meditation workshop leader Laraaji will team up with Stones Throw/Leaving Records, a hand-curated cassette driven label, for an all-night sleep concert. This will mark Laraaji’s debut eight hour sleep concert, which he says “participants will imagine their self in the present time of a sincere desire, dream vision being fulfilled. Gentle ambient celestial sounds and tones unfold over an eight hour period with zither, and various instruments supporting rest and trance, in an extended yoga SAVASANA. Participants awake with a 15 minute guided laughter meditation.”

Moogfest will also continue its durational sound installation series. Pure sonic immersion will take place over three days of Moogfest. Each performance will unfold over a span of three to four hours, where anything can happen. This year’s highlights feature artists who will host the audience in intimate spaces while creating never-before-seen personalized sensory experiences.

Similar to last year, Moogfest will host free and open to the public programming. Those performances include comedian McQueen Adams, sonic manipulator DJ Nanny Cantaloupe and DJ Lance Rock (of Yo Gabba Gabba!). Also playing the stage, Michael Winslow of "Police Academy" fame will present Noise Activity.