just back from seeing Autechre at Bowery Ballroom, NYC.
Rob Hall, the tedious opener, chased the crowd downstairs for a few
drinks. Then Autechre came out and played some pretty good (and
occasionally great) music, but they never managed to electrify the
crowd, which wound up talking loudly through most of the set (one
could construe that to mean that the music wasn't loud enough, I
suppose). After a couple of things with a surprisingly
straightforward techno underpinning, they settled into their patented
random time-signiture onslaught. there were too many songs of similar
character and intensity -- drum heavy, uptempo. it was easy to glaze
over. The few times the crowd roused to cheers happened at a couple
of points where they finally switched to a slower groove.
nonetheless, if one closed one's eyes, there was plenty going on,
more riches than one could keep up with at times. no one does it
quite like them, despite routine allegations to the contrary. would
have been happier closing my eyes in a more comfortable and intimate
space than Bowery Ballroom, but what the hell.
k
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org