This long weekend was definitely a big one for those Melburnians with a taste for the electronic, and while it may not have been on the scale of We Love Sounds or a certain flying Dutchman’s arena show, those crazy kids from Stable and The Likes of You managed to put on one hell of a show with Stephan Bodzin at Brown Alley Saturday night.
I arrived around midnight to find the joint heaving already, seemed like a lot of We Love Sounds punters had decided to kick on and were definitely looking a little dazed and confused for it. Nonetheless I managed to catch a couple sound bites of one of Melbourne’s best up and coming female DJs Virgina Le, who’s impeccable track selection appeased the diverse crowd perfectly, providing a great opening for Gavin Keitel to start pushing the tempo. Luckily the majority of WLS stragglers started to drop off after a couple hours, leaving the initially mosh-like dance floor sufficiently breezy for those eager to check out Bodzin and his electrical expertise up close and personal, or simply enjoy some dance space.
And electrical expertise there was indeed. Aside from the usual array of decks, mixers, and midi controllers, the man from Bremen also included the Lemur, Korg KP3 Kaos Pad, and a glowing wireless drum pad type looking interface I couldn’t quite fathom. Who else but the son of an experimental musician? The camera that had been set up just above his hands over the Lemur and projected onto the big screen was a really great idea, as one of the arguable hiccups of the genre is that no matter how dedicated a technophile you are, you can never really know exactly how what someone’s doing behind the decks affects what you’re hearing on the floor. The demonstration was engaging (and colorful!), and really just made the live set more interactive. Never less than three steps ahead of the crowd and ever the puppet master, Bodzin layered hair raising static builds, unpredictable melodic interludes, continually rhythmic baselines, and a couple crunchy bites of glitch. Dropping the majority of big hitters from his EP Liebe Ist… (Love Is…)_, some of my favorites were the rolling bell tones of Sonnenwind, his new single Bedford, and the eerily delicious title track Liebe ist.
Moving on into a DJ set after an hour an a half was a surprisingly nice change, showcasing his diversity and even picking up the intensity or at least taking it in a different direction. Once again the visual goodness was provided by VJ Netzair, who after pulling a marathon set at WLS somehow managed to keep the Bodzin punters fixated on his uniquely beat-matched cross cutting performance. Visuals don’t often get enough recognition at gigs, and having seen this dude a couple times now I can say that the industrial composition and original reels used really bring something new to the gig experience, especially in a techno environment where bass, glitch and snare can be translated optically.
Not being able to nip outside for a breath of fresh air after 2am was definitely a bit brain straining for me so I scampered straight after Bodzin closed up. The toll of the new restrictions both punters and organizers was generally visible too, and anyone who experienced this over the weekend should take it as a reminder to voice their opinions about the lockout to save it being implemented without a fight! Regardless, hats off to the promoters again for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Authentizität ist alles!!! For those of you who missed out or have been left craving more, check out The Likes of You feat. Phonique July 12 at Brown Alley. It’s sure to be tasty.
stable says...
Love your work.. xoxoxo