Venetian Snares @ Audio, Brighton. 24/09/2012
Venetian Snares should really need no introduction, but for those of
you whose taste in music doesn’t generally include 180bpm+ chopped up
jungle breaks, mutated gabba kicks and 7/4 time signatures (among other
difficult to count brain hurters), this may take a little explaining.
For a long time now Venetian Snares has been considered an icon in
electronic production styles, and a pioneer of the mind-melting
breakcore sound. With a huge back catalogue of noisy and energetic
releases on multiple labels including the legendary Planet Mu, the rave
sadist of Winnipeg, Canada (see ‘Die Winnipeg Die Die Die F*****s Die’
and ‘Winnipeg Is A Dogs*** Dildo’) revisited Brighton to remind us all
that it’s Monday, the week has started and we all need waking up.
Tonight Venetian Snares begins his set at a slightly slower tempo
than usual, though the music is no less frenetic and it was obvious this
wasn’t going to last too long. Inevitably he picks up the pace pretty
quickly, and as he hammers the crossfader with precise cutting and
chopping you begin to wonder how on earth this guy’s head works. Fair
enough he wrote the music and probably knows it back to front, upside
down, on fire and in a blender, but Venetian Snares often has us
confused as to how somebody could be capable of such consistent mixing
considering the odd timings in which the tracks are produced. Even some
of the most talented DJs wouldn’t know where to start when mixing these
glitchy, erratic beats.
As he plays through both old and new tracks such as ‘Ultraviolent
Junglist’, ‘Szamar Madar’ and ‘Husikam Rave Dojo’, the crowd give all
they can to keep up. Without meaning to sound patronising, or to doubt
anyone’s sense of rhythm, there are parts of the set that are genuinely
un-danceable. But it somehow still makes so much sense. With the night
ending on a few minutes of pure noise, we leave Audio mesmerised,
slightly disorientated and glad the world hasn’t ended even if it
sounded a bit like it had.
Audio, Monday 24th September 2012
Words by Chris Biggs
Brighton Source Reviews - Venetian Snares
Venetian Snares Bandcamp
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