It’s a weekend of salty beats, thundering bass and new inventive music at Camp Bisco 2010, a three-day festival put on by Philadelphia jamtronic pioneers, The Disco Biscuits, near Mariaville, New York.

Capitalizing on the explosion of experimental rock-infused electronica that’s been evolving while redefining the festival scene over the past decade, Camp Bisco celebrates the fusion of hip hop, house trance, reggae and rock.  It’s also a chance for fans to experience new bands, new faces and new sounds in an ever-growing genre of live music.

The Disco Biscuits first put the festival together in 1999 for around 900 fans.  Since then, it has expanded tremendously, with 10,000 in 2009 and an estimated 15,000 fans this year.  With a powerhouse line-up of headliners, including LCD Soundsystem (on a worldwide tour to promote their new album This Is Happening), Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Bassnectar, Theivery Corportion and Ween, Camp Bisco has become one of the summer’s best small festivals.

The big-name acts’ performances are delegated to two main stages, set up next to each other so that as soon as one act ends, the next is ready to rock.  In addition to the main stages, there are two smaller stages for less-known performers; a “local” stage set up just outside the main venue area for up-and-coming acts and a dance tent for more elecrtonic-oriented artists.  These areas allow fans to find out about new artists and experience different music.  The hidden gems at these stages are often some of the most memorable performances, heightened by their excitement of finding new fans and playing such a well-known festival.

One such group, C-Mon and Kypski, brought their funky dance-trance from the Netherlands to the Dance Tent.  They play drums, bass, guitar and keys over a variety of samples, sometimes hip-hop, sometimes Eastern European music that sounds like a mix between polka and Russian waltz.

“It’s called klezmer,” explains Simon Akkermans, aka C-Mon.  It’s a traditional Yiddish form of music, normally played by accordian, violin and piano, often used in wedding celebrations.  “When we came across it, we liked it so much we just started sampling it,” he says.  While it’s definitely different from what most in the audience are used to hearing, with C-Mon and Kyski’s fast beats and enthusiastic performance, the crowd is up and dancing.

“It’s no different than playing anywhere else,” C-mon says.  “Everyone is here to have a good time, and that’s what we try to do.”

But Camp Bisco is about more than just new music.  There is also an incredible amount of impressive artwork in many different disciplines.  Standard canvas paintings can be seen selling at various campsites and vendors’ tents, in addition to giant wooden boards placed around the venue allowing for eclectic spray-paint art from various artists.  And a new artist named Jumbie blew minds with his LED-backlit posters, a perfect complement to the technologically inspired music.

The posters are basically layered images put together in Photoshop, which takes Jumbie anywhere from 8 to 30 hours to make, “depending on how crazy I get with it,” he says.  Using a variety of colors, opacities and images, the posters are mosaics in which, when put under color-changing lighting, some parts disappear while others are highlighted, making the image seem to move and reshape itself into something different.

He discovered this talent by accident, actually.  About two years ago, he had designed some posters and wanted to show them to a friend.  He had no light, but had a color-changing glowstick and held it up to the poster.

“I was like ‘no way, man.’  I’ve eaten a lot of drugs in my day, but there’s nothing in the world that can make the words disappear off the page,” he says.  His new kind of art mixed with software and electronics is exactly the type of technological innovation that is one of the the truly alluring aspects of Camp Bisco.

Among the art, music, mud and beer, the fans at Bisco are pleased overall.  There were a few snafus, however.  Wu Massacre came on late after Ghostface Killah neglected to show up, and Break Science with Talib Kweli and Dave Murphy also came late, switching slots with SOJA and then only playing for about a half-hour.  Rain and lightening delays kept Girl Talk and The Disco Biscuits from playing their final sets on Saturday night, but eventually the clouds parted and the crowds partied to some late-night jams.  With solid sets by Bassnectar, LCD Soundsystem, Ween and everyone else, the fans left satisfied with ringing ears, sore feet and raised expectations for Camp Bisco 2011.

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