Opening CTM 2019 with a live rendition of her audiovisual album Pajubá is Linn da Quebrada. Considered to be Brazil’s answer to Lemonade, Pajubá takes its name from a cant language often used by the Brazilian queer community. Quebrada is known for making music that appropriates the often violent funk carioca genre to passionately rebut transphobia and other political violences, delivering “paeans to her country’s femmes and queers.” (Remezcla) She vociferously and unapologetically fights for space for those not often granted it, and was described by Mykki Blanco as an artist who “flaunt[s] her intellect as much as her queerness.” Over two nights, she will appear alongside dancers, percussionists, and DJs Pininga and Badsista. Badsista, who also MCs alongside Quebrada, will spin an energetic blend of rave cuts, funk carioca, and bass tunes at Panorama Bar. Pininga is a NAAFI and Staycore affiliate, and global bass explorer, who will also play a solo DJ set at SchwuZ on the same night that Quebrada herself will present her special “Trava Linguas” DJ set.

An equally inspiring kick-off occurs at CTM 2019’s opening club night at Berghain, launched together with Bassiani. Persisting amidst a tumultuous political climate, the Tbilisi-based venue and crew have earned a formidable reputation in the worldwide club scene for their excellent music programming, for uniting a passionate community that strives to counter injust politics, and for creating one of the rare spaces for the LGBTQ community in Georgia. After being shut down by local authorities for politically motivated reasons, the club became the catalyst and center of widespread protests that brought tens of thousands of young people to the streets, and garnered an international solidarity campaign and extensive press coverage that went so far as to positively affect the country’s restrictive politics. In a celebration of the power of dance to unite, residents HVL, Zitto, NDRX, and Kancheli will be joined by previously announced Iranian duo Temp-Illusion; Anastasia Kristensen, a resident of Copenhagen’s Culture Box and queer party Mainstream, who will premiere her first international live set; fervent yet playful techno producer Machine Woman; and a very special guest TBA.

US noise rock band Lightning Bolt have churned out roaring recordings and delivered maniacal performances for two decades now. Known for confrontational performances, Lightning Bolt revolutionized underground rock in immeasurable ways. Throughout their rising fame, they’ve consistently maintained their own indie and unpretentious path, focusing on concerts that bring together artist and audience through sonic pandemonium. 

From pioneers to new adventurers, a range of hard-hitting artists will appear across a night at Berghain that echoes last year’s gabber infused Friday. Breakcore pioneer Venetian Snares will return to the festival in an appearance that harkens back to CTM’s famed Wasted nights. Nyege Nyege Tapes affiliates MCZO & Duke will be repping the vibrant singeli music scene of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, with an energetic blend of rap and rapidfire beats. Putas Vampiras is part of Brazil’s celebrated Vampire Haus crew, who are known for spirited, inclusive, and accessible parties that feature hard, unyielding sounds. Sote, a driving force behind Tehran’s experimental music scene, will deliver a brand new decimating hardcore set. SHAPE platform supported artists will also appear: DJ AZF is on the rise as one of the most exciting names in French industrial techno, and Sentimental Rave who conjures the spirit of the golden age of rave. They are among the first names confirmed for SHAPE's 2019 roster, which will be announced in full dearly December.

Returning to CTM is Through My Speakers, a family united through their shared love of bass music. TMS founder Sarah Farina and members LeFeu, Qumasiquamé, and Walter Vinyl have invited special guests Slikback, Gafacci, Phatstoki, and Sho Madjozi to join them at CTM. Kenyan producer Slikback made a name for himself with 2018’s gnarly, bassy Lasakaneku, which came out on Nyege Nyege’s new label, Hakuna Kulala. One of Ghana’s most sought-after producers, Gafacci has created hits for some of the biggest names in Ghanaian music will appear in support of his first solo EP, AHUNDA. DJ Phatstoki is part of the Pussy Party team, a night that provides a regular platform for queer, femme, and women DJs/ artists to “practice, incubate, exchange, and expose.” Sho Madjozi is the South African rap queen known for gqom-rooted tracks such as “Huku” and “Dumi Hi Phone.”  

Versatile producer Dasha Rush, actor and dancer Valentin Tszin, and visual artist Stanislav Glazov will present Les Territoires Éphémères, an audiovisual piece that explores inconsistencies in memory and perception across generative imagery, movement, and abstract poetry. 

Jerusalem In My Heart is a live A/V project featuring musician Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and filmmaker Charles-André Coderre. Their influences are diverse, stretching across post-punk, psychedelia, and folk recordings from Beirut and Syria. Sonically, JIMH fold acoustic buzuk and zurna instrumentation into layers of distortion, reverb, and saturated synth work, creating gorgeous atmospheres and poignant melodies. With their third full-length, Daqa'iq Tudaiq, released earlier this year, JIMH continues to expand the horizons of its profound conceptual and aesthetic engagement with Arabic/Middle-Eastern traditions.

A highlight from last year’s CTM edition, Perera Elsewhere returns to give an adventurous live band performance of eerie ambient textures, psychedelic pop, avant-R&B, and experimental folk at Festsaal Kreuzberg, alongside the previously-announced appearance of A Tribe Called Red.

Through A Series of Gaps Rather than a Presence, artist and sound researcher Pedro Oliveira will offer an artistic, decolonising framework for investigating what he calls the “colonial politics of sonic biometrics.” Oliveira examines acts of collecting, ranking, taxonomizing, and normalizing vocal traits and their subsequent weaponization in the border-industrial complex. Through vocal performances using content from voice recognition and accent recognition databases, Oliveira builds a new form of anti-archive sonic insolence.

Berlin-based writer and visual artist Tim Tetzner will present I Just Can’t Avoid the Void in Avoid, a multi-channel composition woven from 1500+ feedback snippets of hardcore tracks released between 1981 and 2018. The work explores the resistance to appropriation and commercialisation seen especially in hardcore genres originating in punk, which, still going strong after over 40 years, might suggest successful strategies and codes for the perseverance of subcultures.   

With the support of Upnode festival network and Music Norway, Nordic artists feature heavily in this year’s edition. Renowned experimental vocalist Maja Ratkje and Ume Saami singer Katarina Barruk will present “Avant Joik,” a piece that explores and experiments with joik (a Saami vocal tradition). Ratkje’s extensive discography includes the acclaimed Voice (2002), which consists solely of timbres constructed from her experimental vocal techniques. Barruk has emerged as a vital voice in the persistence of her native Ume Saami language – a moribund tongue with approximately 10 native speakers left today. Credited with producing one of the year’s craziest records (Self-Titled Mag), Vanligt Folk released Hambo in September 2018. The record takes its name from a traditional Swedish dance, amalgamating its music with minimal wave, EBM, and dub influences. The trio rail against the rise of the far-right in Sweden in a record that intertwines tradition with dry, bizarre humour and erratic, eccentric production. Kristiina Männikkö is the Helsinki-based DJ with a love for electro, EBM, techno, and moody, mystical electronic sounds. DJ Svani is one of Norway’s most exciting DJs, blending kuduro, dembow, hip hop, and R&B. Swedish composer Maria W Horn distorts time and space through sonic extremes, playing with and manipulating mental states. Bendik Giske is a queer artist and saxophonist that utilises physicality, vulnerability, and endurance to solder together jazz and club music with mesmerising performance. The unapologetically quirky dj. flugvél og geimskip will bring electronic and gaming-inspired pop with an Icelandic twist in support of her forthcoming album, Our Atlantis.

CTM’s club programme swells further with the addition of Saskia Sledgers, better known as Miss Djax, who has deservedly earned herself the title of ‘Acid Queen.’ One of European rave culture’s most influential DJs of the 90s, Slegers has spent roughly 30 years slamming together techno, acid, and other hard rhythms and radioactive sounds.  

Since discovering punk and dub music in 1977, the eclectic, singular DJ Marcelle has deservedly gained a cult following. Known for adroit mixing with a three-turntable setup, Marcelle’s unconventional approach can be heard on her regular radio show, Another Nice Mess.

Qween Beat and House of Amazon affiliate quest?onmarc’s output has been described as “austere yet high-impact,” (Thump) and creates unusual pairings of ballroom, house, metal, and industrial.

Continuing CTM’s tradition of exploring Berlin’s new, upcoming sounds, a variety of local rising talent will also feature. Juba runs club night Boko! Boko! with Tash LC and Mina. Her sets evidence a love for afrobeats, afrohouse, and baile funk; and she can be found hosting Afroelectronik on Berlin’s Cashmere Radio. One of the hosts of Tresor’s New Faces parties, Reka will thrown down a versatile techno set. Sara Fumaça and Foresta, two members of Berlin’s female and non-binary DJ collective, No Shade, will offer a special b2b DJ set. Fumaça is a visual artist and DJ who spins Portuguese dance music and global bass sounds. Foresta describes her style of mixing as “[b]ass-heavy, restless, [and] diverse.” Fellow No Shade member Kikelomo, host of Cashmere Radio’s Pass the Aux, will also appear, bringing her blend of UK garage, grime, and global bass to CTM.