Making Time ∞ returns to Fort Mifflin with 100+ acts. Check out some of our favorites.

This site generally focuses on happenings in our home turf of Los Angeles, but we’re making an exception here to highlight an upcoming event that’s truly exceptional… Making Time ∞ is a “TRANSCENDENTAL futuristic sounds experience™” taking place September 22-24th at the historic Revolutionary War site Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia. Organized by Philly legend Dave P., the 3-day festival features one of the most impeccably curated lineups we’ve ever seen in the United States and is certainly not-to-be-missed for electronic music lovers and those looking for a festival outing away from the city.

Launched in 2020, Making Time ∞’s previous years have featured the likes of Four Tet, James Murphy, Avalon Emerson, Bicep, Powder, and Omar-S, to name just a few. This year will be the festival’s third edition and they’re pulling out all the stops with 100+ live artists and DJs sprawling across 5 stages on the former battlefield by the Delaware River. This year’s headliners include Jamie xx, Helena Hauff, Octo Octa & Eris Drew, the fearless Glasgow duo Optimo, DJ Koze, Hessle mainstay Ben UFO, DJ Nobu, Jersey club legend UNIIQU3, Maurice Fulton, Objekt and Young Marco.

“The festival felt like something you see in old rave vhs. We remember hundreds of people all dancing in their own worlds, heads down, not looking around, smoke everywhere, not a phone in sight. Bliss.”

BICEP

Besides the fantastic curation, the production and atmosphere of Making Time ∞ is something that must be seen to be believed. Planes fly overhead en route to the nearby Philadelphia International Airport. Buildings from the 1700s are painstakingly projection mapped by decades-long Making Time partner Klip Collective. Klip Collective principal Ricardo Rivera transforms the site’s moats, casemates, historic buildings and mounds into living, breathing, psychedelic spaces. Check this video from last year !!!

More info: “For decades, Dave P’s Making Time has transformed clubs, warehouses, boats, restaurants and just about any other kind of non-traditional venue you can think of into temporary autonomous zones—canvases for cutting-edge music and visuals. During the pandemic, Dave conceived of events at the historic Revolutionary War site Fort Mifflin as a way for attendees to party safely (a constant Making Time priority). In the process, he may have reimagined the possibilities for an electronic music festival in Philadelphia, the east coast, America, even the world. For 2023, those possibilities feel more infinite than ever.”

Pre-sale tickets are available now: https://makingtimeisrad.com/

In anticipation of the festival, we’ve shared a selection of our favorite acts on the lineup. Even if you’re not able to make it to the festival this year, we highly recommend checking out the featured listenings below for some truly TRANSCENDENTAL™ sounds.

Hailu Mergia (Ethiopia)

Master accordionist and veteran bandleader, arranger and keyboardist Hailu Mergia is best known for his role in the legendary Walias Band in the 1970s, one of the most significant groups in Ethiopia’s “golden age” of music. Mergia’s last show in Los Angeles was cancelled suddenly due to COVID complications, so we highly recommend catching him here! Revisit Tana Yonas’ interview with Mergia.

Natural Wonder Beauty Concept (NY/SF)

Natural Wonder Beauty Concept is a new partnership between Ana Roxanne and DJ Python (Brian Piñeyro). After putting out critically acclaimed albums in their respective musical worlds, the two rising artists met in New York City and struck up a singular friendship “after driving around the outskirts of the city, listening to Telegram by Björk, HTRK, Portishead, all manner of melancholy acoustic indie songs.” Their self-titled debut album is out July 14 via Mexican Summer.

DJ Sundae (France)

“A Parisian of immaculate taste,” Laurent Richard aka DJ Sundae co-hosts the ISC staff favorite No Weapon Is Absolute show on NTS Radio playing everything from shoegaze and acid folk to ambient, post-punk, and dub. He also heads up Idle Press, the label that released one of our favorite albums this year from HTRK’s Jonnine. The Paris-based visual artist / record collector / selector doesn’t often make it over to the states, so this set is absolutely not-to-be-missed!

Lena Willikens and Vladimir Ivkovic (Germany)

One of the great DJ duo’s of the last decade, Lena Willikens and Vladimir Ivkovic both cut their teeth as residents of the world renowned Salon des Amateurs, a small bar in Düsseldorf that’s been described as “the post-kraut Haçienda.” Their combined alias Willikens & Ivkovic “displays a telepathic understanding of one another as artists and their mastery in creating cinematic and immersive atmospheres.”

Malibu (France)

“If there are any barriers left between mainstream pop and ambient experimentalism, Malibu is passing through them like water. ” The Bordeaux-based, Angola-raised artist, who also goes by DJ Lostboi, appeared on Pan’s now classic 2017 compilation mono no aware right before that Yves Tumor track.

Carmen Villain (Norway)

“A little Jon Hassell, maybe a little Susumu Yokota, but altogether its own thing.” Norwegian-Mexican artist and producer Carmen Villain makes atmospheric music combining elements of fourth world, dub, and ambient. Her latest album on Smalltown Supersound Only Love From Now On continues a streak of impeccable releases with lush textures, delicate field recordings, acoustic instruments, and dubby grooves.

DJ Nobu (Japan)

Known worldwide for his abstract wormhole-inducing techno sets, Nobuhito Horiuchi aka DJ Nobu is one of Japan’s most in demand selectors. From RA: “An absolute master at curating and mixing techno, Nobu has helped to inspire a Japanese school of techno that is psychedelic, hypnotic and often very pretty, without losing the genre’s oomph or edge.”

Optimo (Scotland)

Another incredible duo, Optimo (Espacio) are Glaswegian selectors JD Twitch and JG Wilkes. For the past 20+ years the pair have helped to define Glasgow’s musical landscape through their long-running club night and genre-defying DJ sets that touch on everything from krautrock and no wave to fourth world and dub. “Twitch and Wilkes exhibit a unique disregard for genres and musical restrictions in their craft, creating a nightclub experience that strikes out into territories far beyond the accepted boundaries of club music.”