| StoreTags: ATP, aphex, techno
Author: Analog on December 15 2007 Viewed 1644 times. 5 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
-->
Last weekend (it seems so long ago already) I went to the best festival ever (TM) All Tomorrows' Parties. The lineup was amazing, as you may know, including Aphex Twin, Sunn O))), GZA, Thurston Moore, Etc etc.
I've seen Aphex Twin play live once before. It was at Reading festival. The tent he played was pretty big, but stuffed full of indie kids not dancing. I couldn't even get in the doors as he played some fucking banging techno (including vitalic's La Rock 01 which had just come out). I was really mashed and wanting to dance, but frustrated by NME statues.
So at ATP i was looking forward to a second chance. And what's more, Aphex was playing the medium stage and doing so twice (the pavillion stage has restrictions on sound, the medium one doesn't: he was to play the same set in the same slot on both saturday and sunday nights).
Saturday night was just totally debauched. Drinking from mid afternoon, GZA on at 5pm (???) so the night started properly then. By 1:30 when Aphex came on i was beyond paggered. I couldn't remember ANYTHING about the set: stage set up, where i was, whether i was even awake, what the music was like. I was informed i was raving like a bastard all the way through.
Sunday i decided to go and watch the set again: i'd paid my money and aphex twin was one of the main acts i wanted to see. why not take the chance to watch him again, this time more sober? pay attention. watch the genius at work. i might even learn somthing.
By 1:30am again, i was lagging a bit. It had been quite a heavy afternoon: boris, followd by Earth, then Sunn 0)), but a couple of pints of cider were helping. The crowd was smaller, but everyone was dancing and having a good time.
So what was the set like?
It was all right. That's about all i can say. Techno for the first half. lots of nice oldskool stabs, acid tweeking, 909s, garagey bits, windowlicker sounds. mostly four to the floor, a bit of breaky stuff. Not massively bass-heavy. upbeat, speeding in tempo later. Second half: Jungle and DnB. Pretty good Jungle: nice classic amen stuff, heavy bass, some pounding liquid dnb. One or two sections of mashup chopped breaks, verging on frantic (classic aphex) sound, but never quite going all the way: always quite easily danceable. Finally some digital hardcore type stuff (sounded like Hannan Elias to me; ie, slightly dated) which left a nasty 3day tinnitus in everyone's ears. The crowd went wild. So did I (again).
But it left me thinking. Aphex Twin's set was in no way unique. I could have had the same set, pretty much, from Tim Wright. It was a decent set, no doubt. Interesting to a degree. a few different styles. Very danceable. But pretty dissapointing at the same time.
I know he's played this set at the Warehouse Project in Manchester over the same weekend, and it would be perfect for there. I just felt like it could have been so much more. Where were the frantic, spastic rhythms we know and love? "I'm taking control of the Drum Machine" style? Or some ominous droning stuff? some none rhythmical freakout machinations? or just something to set Aphex Twin, the Lord of Alternative Dance Music (TM) apart from so many other DeeJays?
Maybe i was blown away by Sunn O))'s 50 minutes of petrifying discordant drone a few hours earlier. Or Chrome Hoof's death metal disco circus the night before. Or any of the other myriad of mind expanding acts i'd seen over the weeken. But for me, at what is probably the most experimental UK festival, Aphex Twin was a flop.
Teh Aphex Beats don't cut the mustard. 
 | |
Comments
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
hardvoltnine
muscians are like atheletes, but they get a worse name.
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Analog
i don't get you.
sweating, wearing lycra?
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
j_chot
this is what happens when you people attach god-like-status to these poor people,
you become dissipointed, then you forsake them.
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Analog
It was pretty surprising that none of what he played sounded, really, anything like any of his released msuic.
Everything was a more simplistic, ordinary.
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
celibacyclub
i like simple aphex
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Analog
so do i.
i'm not saying i wanted some sort of idm wank fest.
it just seemed like a very well trodden path. he has the oppertunity to do ANYTHING he wants with the live set.
But chose to do tthe same as a lot of other people do, and not particularly any better.
Either he's trying to show he can still be down with the kids ("I'm not pretentious, honest"), or what? i don't know.
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
GrapeApe
maybe you're reading too much into his set. maybe he was just playing tracks that he's digging right now.
i've seen sonic youth perform live 12 times. each was extremely different. one set was really mellow and jazzy (no feedback freakouts). every song they played was extremely controlled and extended from their album tracks. i was completely blown away. but i heard kids walking out all depressed because they were expecting "more." maybe they saw some video of sonic youth thrashing the stage and were let down. i dunno.
all i'm saying is that he's just a guy playin records ...errr mp3's???
be grateful he's not all into 70's singer/songwritters right now and felt like playing a whole set of joni mitchell & james taylor.
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Analog
I get you there.
It seemed, in a way, like the set was inapropriate for the festival. Having been there twice i know it's the festival where, pretty much, nobody dances. Even during GZA's set, half the crowd didn't even nod their heads. people just seem realluy scared to let go at this festival.
So i kinda like the fact that he did a raving set and got everyone raving.
It's not that i expected "more," just that i know he COULD have done more!
Has anyone ever seen him do a really wierd set? i got the impression that he tends to do ravey sets like this anyway (he certainly did at reading fest a couple of years back)
I have to say, i saw Squarepusher about 4 years ago, and he blew aphex away. And that was with a 10pm curfew!
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
astroboy
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
atum
aphxtwin not good enough huh?
spoiled much?
edited: Dec 15 2007
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Analog
astroboy's link said: "I was there on Saturday, it was a good laugh. Standard MO with him crouching behind his desk and plenty of stupid rave."
Atum: i was very spoiled at that festival. Sunn, Earth, Thurston, GZA, Paranoid Critical revolution, Seasick Steve, Glenn branca, chrome hoof, om, boris, damo sazuki all amazing. Sunn totally blew me away.
Aphex Twin was mundane. which, considering his amazing output is, well, confusing.
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
atum
that lineup is packed with gems, youre lucky to have been there. when i think back on some favorite shows i really didn't apreciate them shits till years later. euros have the best shows
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
j_chot
yeah! fuck you europe!
12/15/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
orac808
Any one going in April...? line up looks EVEN better... well at least more stuff i REALLY like. Explosions in the sky, Four Tet (who insidently i spotted xmas shopping today), Animal Collective, A hawk and a hacksaw (who i missed).... tons of really cool stuff. i wanna go. think i can afford to.... although i have just got bjork and radiohead tickets.... 2008 = year of the gig.
12/16/07
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
jack123
I saw animal collective live in philly, had it not been so loud I could have actually gotten some sleep!
I find them a tad boring.
Register / login
|
^
EM411 is Copyright 2001-2008 EM411.com
All rights reserved. | Contact | RSS
|
