Autechre belong in the art hall not the dance hall
I squeezed into the Temple Bar Music Center on Saturday night amongst the assembled mass of geeks decked out in t-shirts and trainers for Autechre's first live show in Dublin for six years. Noted for their often abstract live performances I wasn't anticipating much in the way of bootie-shaking dance floor beats. Even so, I was sufficiently intrigued to fork out 23 euro to see what Autechre would serve up to their dedicated following.
Within a few minutes any lingering notions I had of leaving the place with a sweaty t-shirt and tired legs were gone. As the beats became more ear busting and the lack of interaction between performers and audience all too apparent, the crowd melted away to the bar or began chatting dolefully all around us. Perhaps if they had felt it within themselves to play a few tracks from their exceptional back catalogue the night would have been rescued! Instead, we were subjected to a typically abstract, somewhat unfamiliar set of out-there noises. All but the die hard and pill monsters had faded before they ended their rather short and altogether unconvincing one-hour set.
Having said this, I am still of the opinion that Autechre and similar avant-garde electronic artists have a lot to offer but perhaps the nature of the music is more suited to conceptual works such as accompaniments to an art installation or as a soundscape to an adaptation of a Beckett play or some other suitably chaotic piece of drama. For myself at least, the dance floor of The Temple Bar Music Centre on a Saturday night is neither the time nor the place to appreciate this brand of electronica.
*Following Autechre, Rob Hall played one of the finest techno sets I have heard in a long time. Spinning all kinds of classic tunes from the likes of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, it certainly made up for the disappointment that had gone before.*
[Gig Review]
[Autechre]
[Electronic Music]
Published by Padraig.
Within a few minutes any lingering notions I had of leaving the place with a sweaty t-shirt and tired legs were gone. As the beats became more ear busting and the lack of interaction between performers and audience all too apparent, the crowd melted away to the bar or began chatting dolefully all around us. Perhaps if they had felt it within themselves to play a few tracks from their exceptional back catalogue the night would have been rescued! Instead, we were subjected to a typically abstract, somewhat unfamiliar set of out-there noises. All but the die hard and pill monsters had faded before they ended their rather short and altogether unconvincing one-hour set.
Having said this, I am still of the opinion that Autechre and similar avant-garde electronic artists have a lot to offer but perhaps the nature of the music is more suited to conceptual works such as accompaniments to an art installation or as a soundscape to an adaptation of a Beckett play or some other suitably chaotic piece of drama. For myself at least, the dance floor of The Temple Bar Music Centre on a Saturday night is neither the time nor the place to appreciate this brand of electronica.
*Following Autechre, Rob Hall played one of the finest techno sets I have heard in a long time. Spinning all kinds of classic tunes from the likes of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, it certainly made up for the disappointment that had gone before.*
[Gig Review]
[Autechre]
[Electronic Music]
Published by Padraig.
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