Perfect specimens

Live techno is a tough game. Over the years, I’ve spoken to a lot of the artists out there experimenting with it, and it always seems to come down to a question of reverse engineering. Most electronic dance music is sequenced and produced in circumstances about as far from an interactive live setting as you can imagine. It’s largely judged and appreciated for its detail and nuance, the perfection of a particular mood, and it makes for an incredibly granular, inorganic recording process. So the artists involved have to create something resembling a live performance from an inherently automated style of music.

But recently, at least in part as a result of the record-sales collapse and the rise to power of the booking agent, producers who can jam it out live have been in demand. You could make a pretty strong case for two different visiting artists this week being amongst the most innovative in the small world of live techno. Just as seeing Fever Ray and Alter Ego within one week a month ago set the bar, this weekend’s return of both Zombie Nation and Simian Mobile Disco should be a good barometer for what’s happening right now. Both have also released pretty exciting LPs this year, so they’ll have fresh material to bust out. Zombie’s at Parking tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5, and you can expect a creepy, aggressive, distorted, rumbling sound from him, combined with a tailored video show.

SMD, who’ll be at SAT on Saturday, tend to start out with their futuristic R&B numbers and gradually make their way into the big-room banging beats which comprise the majority of their catalogue. Both shows will be dope, so if you haven’t seen them yet, check it out.

FROM NAKED APE TO UNDEAD MENACE…
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