Seattlest's Picks for Decibel Fest: Day 2
For enlightenment on upcoming acts for Decibel Fest, we've been consulting with electronica guru Matthew Romein (you can view the previous installment here). Here are his picks for Thursday:
Red Bull Music Academy Presents at Paramount Theatre
The expanded space at the Paramount will be needed as Amon Tobin brings his Isam show to town. Featuring a giant grid structure of Tetris blocks, Tobin is encased and performing within the structure. This show has the potential to be the festival highlight. Tobin crafts a contemplative take on Blade Runner-like urban decay that thankfully doesn't limit itself to body-moving beats. This is IDM at its most intelligent and the HD visuals that accompany it will provide intriguing narrative elements to music that already contains reams of it.
An unlikely product of the Southern California beat science boom, Baths has been peddling his crunchy maximalism with successful results. He is one of the few products of the area who manages to eschew the tendency to rely too heavily on bass. His side project, Geotic, shows an affinity for processed ambient guitar loops and more then a few tracks on his debut album, Cerulean, incorporate simple piano playing. Coupled with the fact that he wistfully sings over many of his beats, he stands out in a crowded field for his ability to be heartfelt rather than simply skull-rattling.
TOKiMONSTA is another Southern California mainstay and the first woman to sign to Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder crew. Her beats are steady and heavy allowing her to lock into sinewy grooves with ease. The bass squiggles and squirms melodically creating a bouncy, trippy high that doesn't force you to get up off the couch (unless you want to). In a scene where everyone tries to do a lot of things at once, she does just enough.
Red Bull Music Academy Presents Amon Tobin @ Paramount Theatre // Doors 8:00pm, All Ages // SOLD OUT
Bit Rock at Crocodile
Truckasauras, courtesy of The Stranger
Holy Fuck delivers chugging, krautrock explosions for the ghost in the machine, circuit-bending crowd. They're not nearly as raw or harsh as fellow expletive abusers, Fuck Buttons, but they both incorporate a take your time approach to the musical build as well as a tendency to chew on their microphones when they aim for anything approaching vocals. There are also elements that approach the proggy sense of humor that Battles pulled off on Mirrored; an example being the opening horn salvo on "Safari." An inspired pairing with Truckasauras, although festival organizers will probably need a flatbed trailer to cart off all the gear these two groups will bring to the show.
When you open your album with a shambling cathedral-quaker like "The Palace of Light
(Revisited)", there are certain expectations as to what will follow. Naming your tracks "Black Iron Prison" and "A Long Narrow Corridor" only multiplies the notions of claustrophobia and apprehension. E*Rock doesn't seem to take himself too seriously though. He manages to effectively straddle an electro-based line between childishly horrifying and unsettlingly hilarious. Album standout, "False Fortress", shows a deft touch for pulsing and disquieting acoustic instrumentation that later falls into Dan Deacon marimba mania. If you were able to parse some enjoyment out of Add N to X's at times bloated output, this could be a logical next step forward.
Bit Rock at The Crocodile // Show 9:00pm, 21+ // tix $18
Matthew Romein will return in "Seattlest's Picks for Decibel Fest: Day 3."
