IDM Mailing Archive

I'll resist the temptation to review this show in the voice of Wesley Willis. Just a quick word though -- Richard Devine and Phoenecia rule live. Rich is onto some s t r a n g e other shit -- obviously there is the Autechre connection, but while they, despite their pointellistic cut-up beats, are at heart minimalists, Rich Devine is a maximalist. A typical track has a foreground of obsessively detailed percussive clatter and odd screeches and grunts, and a background of barely perceptible poppy vamping. Phoenecia's set was marred by losing the subs about halfway through unfortunately, but it was still quite a tastey performance of the far side of electro. Thanks to Mike Javor for setting up this date and letting me pass out on his couch. It is only through the dedication of people like Mike that we in the midwest will get to see cutting edge acts. An aside about Chicago crowds -- just because the candy ravers dance, does that mean all you jaded hipsters have to sit on yer asses all night? Both sets (and the DJ'ing in between by Dan Siska -- don't know if I remembered the name right). When Rich gets out to Iowa this fall we will show Chicago a thing or two about crowd enthusiasm, even in the face of extreme sonic terrorism. kent williams -- kent@avalon.net

On 15 Aug 1999, mike javor wrote:

quoted 5 lines kent,

> kent, > > we will not take this sitting down on our jaded hipster asses... > > ;)

Mike didn't sit down all night as far as I know, and I don't have first hand knowledge about whether his ass is jaded or hip. Much respect to Mike for booking challenging acts. If you think being a promoter is all hobnobbing with the semi-famous and rolling in a bedful of cash, guess again, friends.

quoted 3 lines and it was dave siska on the tables, for those that are/were interested

> > and it was dave siska on the tables, for those that are/were interested >

Yeah Dave, that's it ;-) He's one of the few people I know (teep comes to mind) who is able to combine really wide ranging tastes with a willingness to please a mixed audience. From Autechre to dubby minimal techno seamlessly, and throwing in an occasional wildcard, like the Boards of Canada Mira Calyx remix... And while I wasn't out to insult the entire city of Chicago, I will say the crowd was much more reserved than I'm used to. The fact that Rich Devine and Phoenecia make music that can be challenging doesn't mean that it can't be enhanced by responding physically to it.