Live at the Orange Peel

Asheville, NC

May 28, 2005

www.warprecords.com

I do not know why I spent the evening looking at the stage... there was nothing there to see. The stage lights were out and all I could see were the faces of Autechre thinly bathed by the light of a computer monitor and the dim red lights of a mixing board.

Regardless, they spun a continuous and lengthy show... over 1.5 hours. Not a few members of the audience were drenched in sweat... B.O. washed over the audience. This was true IDM. White nerds dancing to staccato beats. Black framed glasses and spazz core dancing. What is it about synths, samplers and square .wavs that makes white folks dance?

I have always said that IDM was a true misnomer as everyone knows that intelligent people do not dance. Regardless, I was compelled to join in. I had gone native... I was the sweating raver.

Andere Länder, andere Sitten.

All other IDM is descended from Aphex Twin. Squarepusher is clearly influenced by Aphex Twin's fluent, fluid frequent freak outs. Boards of Canada borrow from Aphex Twin's early and ambient work. µ-Ziq borrows from such Aphex Twin classics as I Care Because You Do.

But Autechre differ from their Warp label mates in that they are truly their own act. Their pedigree dates back to 1987, preceding that of of Aphex Twin (unless you believe Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85 - 92).

Every Autechre loop and keystroke is percussive and so their music is visceral. My gastrointestinal tract reverberated continuously. This is tribal music for the urban white male and female. This is the sound of emails fucking each other. This is digital, this is penetration.

The Orange Peel forbids smoking, but I felt a fire could erupt right there on the dance floor. A fire that would illuminate our elusive musicians. A fire that would illuminate the ages.

Rating: 4