A more expansive venue this time for the SKAM chaps. Pretty
respectable crowd but not full, hardly surprising on a Thursday
really.
I'm not sure what order the DJs played but according to the flyer it
was Surgeon and Mark Broom - whoever, they were good but not
remarkable so. Nice mix of Numbers into some electro into Tour de
France, though.
Jega (wearing the same shirt as last time) has improved in the last
three months. His set at Versivo in November was good but too
bitty. Much more coherent this time, and nary a peep of recognizable
material from the SKAM ep. In fact, you could divide the set on
Thursday into two halves. The first comprised innovative Jega-techno
with melodic flourishes and junglistic rhythms (but NOT jungle).
Very nice. The latter half was more straightforward hard-ish drum
and bass - competently done and certainly appreciated by the crowd.
However, I couldn't restrain a slight pang of disappointment that he
wasn't doing something more original.
The Ae set was quite similar to what they played at the same November
Versivo, but with the surprise introduction of an 808, distorted for
at least half the time. The only element I recognized was a chord
which seemed to have escaped from one of the Peel session tracks.
Very impressive - no one seems to have embraced the performance ethic
more thoroughly than Autechre. There is very little overlap with
their recorded material. My only reservation is in fact a
compliment; as a friend said, it's music that you want to sit down
in an armchair and absorb rather than 'freak out' to. There's so
much going on, so many rhythmic changes. That didn't stop me
indulging in a little sideways swaying and head-nodding.
A little message from SKAM on the flyer for versivo 09:
versivo@pc.geeks.get out more
adam