Dance and Electronica with Chris Honnery
Sonic chameleon Matthew Dear, who produces under various aliases including Audion, False and Jabberjaw will release a compilation of his output as Audion entitled Audion X on his Spectral label in early December. While the release is a retrospective collection of the Texan’s work under his Audion guise, it also features two new Audion tracks, including the latest single ‘Motormouth’, a frenzied peak-time stonker that ought to whip any decent dancefloor into a frenzy. For those intrigued by Dear’s many monikers, Audion is his primary techno outlet, a counterpoint to his off-beat songwriting that is devoid of vocals. “If I put out an Audion track as Matthew Dear, then people would just be like, ‘what is this? I expect something with words, or something with more of a melody and then I got this really hard techno track’,” Dear is on the record as stating. “It’s good when you start dividing your different approaches to music. It makes it easier for people to grasp and label.” Audion X is an anthology of some of Dear’s finest techno making moments, including debut Audion single ‘The Pong’, 2004’s ‘Kisses’ and a contender for this author’s favourite techno cut, like, ever in ‘Mouth To Mouth’, which remains every bit as engrossing today as it did when first released in ’05. Then again, listening to any of the tracks on the Audion X affirms the quality of Dear’s production abilities, as the Audion back catalogue has lost none of its salience since first descending on dark dancefloors almost a decade ago.
Strange Signals will host Chicago producer Amir Alexander at Goodgod Small Club on Saturday December 14 as part of his first tour Down Under. Alexander has been spinning records since the early ’90s, but only started releasing his own tracks in 2008, debuting with his sublime ‘White Rhino’, which received a deserved rerelease last year. “There are two different versions of that track,” Alexander informed me via Facebook chat (how’s that for new-age investigative journalism!). “The one with the vocal is the dub version. The one without is the original… and is actually the first techno track I ever made.” Alexander has subsequently released on labels such as Argot, Hakim Murphy’s Machining Dreams imprint, Deep Vibes and his own Vanguard Sound label. One of the more engaging purveyors of house on the underground circuit, Alexander’s debut Sydney club set ought not to be missed. And for those attending the Subsonic Music Festival the preceding weekend, you can also catch Alexander throw down in the picturesque surroundings of the Barrington Tops Mountain Valley Resort alongside the likes of Klartraum and Marcus Meinhardt.
Berlin techno proponent Rødhåd will play an all-night set at The Imperial in Erskineville on Saturday December 14. A DJ who plays only vinyl (#purist), Rødhåd’s sound blends deep hypnotic techno and has been described as “matching the rhythm of western civilisation”. Rødhåd explains, “If you imagine a factory with a lot of workers inside, working in the same rhythm and sequence for hours, you suddenly have this loop in mind.” Holding a reputation as one of the best ‘closing’ DJs in the game, Rødhåd is the co-founder of the Dystopian group, which started putting on parties in Berlin four years ago, hosting the likes of Sandwell District, James Ruskin and Ben Klock as their reputation grew among the club cognoscenti. More recently, Dystopian has evolved into a record label through which Rødhåd has released his own EPs ‘Blindness’ and ‘1984’. Anyone with a penchant for uncompromising, melancholic techno – I’m determined not to use ‘Berghain’ as an adjective at this point – ought to pencil Rødhåd’s Australian debut into the diary in indelible dark ink.
Looking Deeper
Sunday November 17
Friday November 22
Saturday December 14
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through [email protected].
