Various live reviews including The Orb, Vapourspace, Megadog and Autechre’s debut, 11th December 1993
March 16, 2009
By the beard of Zeus! These 2 pages of live reviews are the fucking motherlode of IDM (sorry for terrible genre moniker) it’s seems incredible that all this happened within the same week. Where to fucking start?
Well probably best to hi-light the smallest, most shoddily written review of Autechre’s debut live performance first cause it’s easily missed. I know hindsight is a marvellous thing and all that but given given that Incanubula (A STONE COLD FUCKING CLASSIC – DOWNLOAD!) had already been released they’re not given nearly enough prominence on the page. If you were there please comment!
Reynolds gets the dream ticket of Vapourspace, Aphex Twin, Moby (before he wrote music to sell cars) and Orbital. Reynold’s nails the description of Vapourspace’s Gravitational Arch of 10 (another STONE COLD FUCKING CLASSIC – DOWNLOAD!) as “cyber-Bach variations that make your flesh ripple” and that’s before the E kicks in.
Push takes on The Orb at Brixton Academy and makes me smile with “As The Orb journey further into the fourth dimension, several members of the audience enter the fifth” and continues in the same playful manner at the Megadog, “because the bar shuts fours hours before the close of play – extra curricular activity is ordained. In the name of duty, in the name of investigative journalism; in the name of…oh, sod it, you only live once.” Too right matey!
There’s 3,000 people inside but a thousand have been turned away at the gates by the time Trans Global Underground take to the stage. A thousand! A fucking thousand that didn’t get in! Does any club get even a thousand people inside it these days?
“It’s six am and Megadog comes to a blinding, light-up halt. We smile in unison with the sweaty bodies that surround us, knowing that we’ve just experienced the very best club in the world. Ever”
Those were the days. Those were the fucking days.
Vapourspace – Gravitational Arch of 10 (this is the radio edit – get the long version)
Update: This post has proved fairly popular since hitting some forums. Thanks to those who have posted at residentadvisor.net, linkfilter.net, darktrain.org – more live Underworld coming tomorrow! Big thanks to everyone who has Facebook/Twittered this site recently too.
I used to listen to this record a lot. More specifically I used to listen to this record a lot between the hours of about 4-7am on Saturday and Sunday mornings. And when I say “listen” I really mean “lie catatonic while the record played in the background”.
But this does the music a disservice. It still holds up. It’s still a great record. I’m listening to it now as a matter of fact. It doesn’t feel especially dated. In fact it sounds a lot like the record everyone keeps hoping Autechre might release after 10 years of unsatisfying glitchronica. A step back perhaps, but sometimes we need to step back in order to move a little further forward.
Sharon O’ Connell now writes for the music section of Time Out (London) but also contributes to Uncut magazine. Click here to read her brief interview with Fuck Buttons, one of today’s exciting, adventurous electronic bands.
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