SPILL FESTIVAL REVIEW: MOVEMENT MUSIC FESTIVAL 2025 @ HART PLAZA, DETROIT – SALAR ANSARI

MOVEMENT MUSIC FESTIVAL 2025 @ HART PLAZA, DETROIT

SALAR ANSARI

MAY 25, 2025

The Detroit Stage is the smallest of all the Movement Festival’s stages and feels most intimate. It is where Detroit’s finest and up and comers show off their craft. While the music is as pulsating as any of the other stages, the grass standing area makes you feel like you are in someone’s backyard. Super chill vibe.

Salar Ansari is a DJ, producer, and influential figure in the Detroit electronic music scene. Born and raised in Tehran, he emerged from the city’s underground, absorbing diverse musical influences that shaped his distinctive blend of techno, house, and Persian rhythms. Co-founding Analog Room, Salar played a key role in promoting regional electronic talent and fostering cross-cultural exchange. Settling in Detroit, Ansari became a sought-after collaborator due to his deep understanding of sound engineering, working with some of the city’s finest artists. His productions earned him the 2021 Detroit Music Award for Best Electronic Album. Co-founding Feeder-Loft Studio with Luis Resto, he nurtures the next generation of electronic music talent. From global performances to credits on seminal record labels like Blue Note Records, Ansari’s career reflects a dedication to pushing creative boundaries while staying true to underground roots.

Salar Ansari’s Movement 2025 set pushed past convention with a daring blend of stripped-down techno and sonic surrealism. Anchored by tracks like “Optimus” by Nail—a dubby house roller with a chunky bass line—and RudeBoyz’s “Mercedes Song (feat. TD Snax)”, which injected raw Gqom energy, Ansari constructed a hybrid world of minimal thump and textured unpredictability. The set included fragmented acid lines, metallic percussion loops, and sharp hi-hats moving in and out of sync with a determined yet irregular pulse. Rather than build tension traditionally, he sculpted sonic pockets—sections of grit, space, and broken rhythm. It was hypnotic and abrasive, tactile and spiritual. For those seeking linear gratification, it may have seemed obtuse. But for the adventurous listener, it was a vivid sound journey—part hardware ritual, part subterranean invocation.

(Photography by Paul van der Werf)

About Movement Festival

Founded in 2000 as the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Movement has grown into one of the world’s most respected celebrations of techno and electronic music, rooted in the city that gave birth to the genre. The 2025 edition marks its 25th anniversary with over 115 acts across six stages, blending Detroit legends with global innovators in a weekend-long tribute to the sound of the underground.

Photos

Festival Links

Artist Links