This year’s Moogfest 2012 has quite a line-up of electronic artists—Orbital, Four Tet, Mouse On Mars, Pantha du Prince and Thomas Dolby, to name a but a few. Joining the ranks, however, is Nas, known more for his lyrical skills and rap delivery than any electronic, Moog-driven music production.

Moogfest is held annually in Asheville, North Carolina in celebration of synth pioneer Bob Moog, namesake of the Moog brand of synthesizers. If anyone is deserving of a festival in one’s honor, apart from “The Big Lebowski,” it’s certainly Mr. Moog, who passed away in 2005. A genius and a gentleman, Moog’s equipment has given birth to so much fantastic music that it’s incalculable.

Apparently Nas will be performing with a “full, Moog-ed out, nine-piece band.” Delicious. It could only be made better if Moog maestro Wendy Carlos were up their manning the synths (no pun intended).

Moogfest is also welcoming back Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin, Asheville’s own garage proggers Ahleuchatistas, and New York duo Buke & Gase, a duo that builds their own instruments, speakers and pedals. (I’ve seen photos of their equipment and it’s lovely homebrew.)

Electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick will also be presenting his 1967 album “Silver Apples of the Moon,” which has influenced a generation of composers, performers, and music theorists. The performance will be accompanied by video from Berlin-based media artist Lillevan.

The third annual Moogfest, held Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27 will also feature other events such as a circuit-bending competition. Circuit-bending is essentially repurposing, tweaking or “bending” an electronic instruments circuitry to create new, warped and exciting sounds. Aphex Twin is known to be a particularly prolific circuit-bender.

Below is the full lineup:

Primus 3D
Orbital
Nas
Miike Snow
Santigold
Richie Hawtin
Squarepusher
Explosions in the Sky
The Magnetic Fields
Four Tet
Divine Fits
GZA presents Liquid Swords
Carl Craig
Pantha Du Prince
Shpongle presents The Masquerade
Thomas Dolby
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Actress
Cold Cave
EL-P
Tim Hecker & Daniel Lopatin
Mouse on Mars
Prefuse 73 with Teebs
Ana Sia
Morton Subotnick presents From Silver Apples to a Sky of Cloudless Sulfur*
Bear in Heaven
Killer Mike
Blondes
Julia Holter
Disclosure
Exitmusic
Trust
Buke & Gase
Ahleuchatistas
Wick-It the Instigator