As live as robots get

Last Friday night, Feb. 19, was an exercise in contrasts, featuring some of the best new glitchy IDM sounds I’ve heard, and some pretty mediocre filler. I arrived early at le Belmont on word that local Hovatron was planning to bust out his new live hardware set. It featured a 303 and a 707, so I was expecting an acid house vibe, but the set built up from a mellow thump and meticulously sampled and cut scraps of synth into a steady, funky, 110 BPM cross between warehouse techno and new-school laptop crunk. It was truly unique and frankly unbelievable for a first performance, leaving me concerned that it would be a tough act to follow.

My fears were initially confirmed by a loose, jammy set from L.A.’s Jogger. They sang pop choruses and mixed live guitar with a bleeping Korg in an annoying, hippie way. Then along came Nosaj Thing and his flowing, effects-box-garbled, brainy breaks. The R&B undercurrent of his sound really emerged over the set, even culminating in a touch of twisted West Coast rap a capellas near the end. He seriously pushed the limits of the often-mundane Macbook/midi controller combo, and people just went nuts. This guy would be a serious weapon if combined with a real MC.

The night ended on a bit of a downer, as Daedelus’s totally un-groovy, up-tempo, scatterbrained chaos shook up the smooth, funky atmosphere. He was constantly switching it up and playing sped-up vocal samples that made his live set almost like an IDM version of gabber. Interestingly, though, he was using one of those gimmicky tactile interface MIDI controllers. Despite his great recordings, the show was enough to send me running. Seriously, keep an ear out for Hovatron and Nosaj Thing!

ANOTHER REVIEW MOSTLY WRITTEN IN THE CLUB, ON MY
SMARTPHONE, WHILE DANCING…jack.oatmon@gmail.com