IDM Mailing Archive

here's a review of last night's show: -- We got in around 10:45, at which point some DJ was spinning some nice noisy clanging techno. The mixing wasn't always very smooth, but the track selection was imaginative. (I think I heard 'Quoth' in there somewhere) We left and came back about a half hour later, at which point Phthalocyanine was in the middle of the latter part of his set. This was some of the harshest noise I've heard in a while. Much more brutal than recent Autechre, for example, since the noisebeats had less texture and rarely coalesced into any sort of groove. There always seemed to be two or three loops of different lengths and different tempos going on at once, and new elements came and went continuously. Sheer arhythmic chaos. After Phthalocyanine came lowres, who started off with a 3 or 4 minute devastating beatless introduction; like the build-up to the darkstep track from hell. The beats throughout the set were noisy and metallic, although relatively simple. The set climaxed with the last song, a transcendent mesh of robotic beats with a beautifully distorted vocoder sample over the top. The crowd had been building throughout the night, and after all the harsh noises, I think everyone was ready for John Tejada. He had the simplest setup of the night, with what looked like just a sampler and a mixer. His set wasn't nearly as experimental as the other two, but it was masterful. Starting out with a simple two-chord riff, he layered on beautifully sculpted beats and smooth, smooth pads. The best comparison I can think of is like B12, but funkier and more minimal. By the end of the set, the floor was filled with dancers. After John Tejada's set, the first DJ came back on and spun for a while and was then replaced by someone else, who spun mostly hard, distorted techno with a few nice fader tricks. All in all, a pretty good night. Wonderful, funky trancey techno from John Tejada, and a two very challenging, experimental sets from Phthalocyanine and lowres. -- -arjun