His contribution to the Fabric mix series and now infamous debut album My Way immediately come to the mind of any tech-house aficionado when they hear the name Akufen. However, for those who attended The Honeymooners hearty party at Ffour this Saturday, it’s clear that a performance in the flesh can always exceed expectations, in spite of where the bar has already been set.
I arrived to find the familiar and dually dynamic energy of Mike Callander and Dave Pham emanating from behind the decks in the main room, a collaboration whose reflections of diversity and consistent rhythm are always appreciated on the floor. The joint was already heaving by 1am, more packed than I have seen Ffour in a fair while, and while this comes with both pros and cons. I took it in stride and enjoyed more than a few fine beverages at the bar before checking out the side room.
And it was in that side room, nicknamed the ‘Attick’, that the night, out of nowhere, slapped me promptly upside the left side of the face and told me to pay attention. Paqman, an act I chide myself for being unfamiliar with, were cranking out the most wonderfully weird live set I’ve heard in a long time. Synthesizing everything from dub and low BPM drum and bass to tweaky psychedelica, solid melodics and deep beats, their performance thoroughly confused me in the best way possible. While the fact that it will probably be classed by most as experimental may limit their penetration of the scene, the boys upcoming album Deux is definitely something for general appreciators of innovative electronica to look out for. Luckily our man Akufen was set for a 3-hour extravaganza in the main room so I was able to enjoy Paqman til they gave up the floor to Steve Law.
So, on to the main event. While I missed the beginning of his set, Akufen seemed to have most of the room thoroughly hooked on his sound. The floor was packed as was just about every other square inch of space in the main room. With such a consistent and relentless beat banging out of the system it was especially satisfying every time a melody, hi hat or more pronounced bass was let loose. Though largely lauded as a micro-house maestro, it was good to hear some real diversity from Akufen, truly reflecting his intentions to play ‘technological dance music’ rather than be constricted within a genre. There were deeper sounds and there were minimal ones, even a touch of glitch, all introduced appropriately and cohesively. The one criticism I do have is with the sound at Ffour, which really fluctuates at different spots on the floor to the point where you can only hear the beat and no treble, especially frustrating when it’s packed out and new dance space is hard to come by.
Definitely one of the most pumping gigs I’ve attended at Ffour in a long time, lets hope the good times continue to roll at Charles Webster this Saturday. And for those interested in the sound of Marc Leclair AKA Akufen, check out the following link to his mix for the Bunker Podcast in March.
Bill_Gotovac says...
good work for that big up on paqman, tben! melbourne!! dont sleep on them!!