Decibel Festival Day 3: Egyptrixx & Martyn

After two phenomenal evenings of music at Decibel, Friday night approached with no intention of letting up. There was much to marvel at on this night: Mux Mool, Ill-Esha, Breakage, Egyptrixx, Martyn, Kyle Hall. WHAT THE FUCK TO DO?

My inclinations toward darker dancefloor vibes led me to Neumo’s for Egyptrixx’s set at the Blurring The Lines showcase. I’ve seen the Torontonian Night Slugger twice in the last 12 months which is what brought me to him again – Egyptrixx delivers every time. Bible Eyes has quietly been one of my go-to records throughout 2011, especially “Recital [A]“… I just love how fucked up it sounds. Knowing his routine, I braced for the intense intro – Egyptrixx begins his set with a marathon of mid-range fuckery, bordering on noise. It’s harsh, to the point that I can understand any casual dancefloor dweller dismissing it.

But this is what I love about Egyptixx sets – to a degree, the Dave Psutka is less interested in traditional dancefloor dynamics & far more concerned with the limitations of a “dance” set. Live, his music is a fantastic negotiation between Kraftwerk, Sunn O))) &  modern sound design. Thundering kick drums pummel you, while acid washes of FM synths creep you the fuck out. As I’d hoped, “Recital [A]” was fantastic, its up-again/down-again synth hook proving quite effective. “Bible Eyes” was much like the album version: alien as fuck, with added dissonant chords that somehow added an appropriate sense of cinema to the bizarre exotic tone of the track. Then the tribal 6/8 tune. Jeez. From what I gathered, it was a new one, but it churned so furiously, I danced along like I’d known the track for years. Adding melancholy live vocals to the mix, Egyptrixx is one of those guys completely comfortable pushing the limits of what people can expect from a live electronic set. With Neumo’s immense sound, his set delivered in spades.

After Egyptrixx, I ended up wandering – I caught Breakage, Ill-Esha & popped into the Baltic Room for some proper local house. But ultimately the night was all about getting back to Neumo’s for Martyn’s live set. After an impressive set of Teutonic techno from Martin Butterech, Martyn rolled up & began a brilliant set. Playing all originals, he managed to fuse his new Brainfeeder material with some of his early “hits”, even managing to squeeze in a revamped live version of his remix of TRG’s “Broken Hearts”. But the new material shone the brightest: “Popgun” thumped loud & proud, its huge bassline moving the capacity crowd at Neumo’s & finale “We Are You In The Future” was unspeakably appropriate, its ravey melodic lines recalling Underworld & Leftfield in their heyday.

The set wasn’t flawless – Martyn was playing live (not DJing) & there were a few awkward pauses & bizarre tempo shifts. But he more than made up for it with the raw energy of his music. “We Are You In The Future” was really a brilliant closing moment: cascading synth lines & rigid breaks, it bridged rave’s golden era with the modern world of post-bass music ephemera. Martyn, much like his Dutch counterpart 2562, straddles many boundaries joining the multi-faceted world of modern club culture with a sleight of hand that gives him a distinct stylistic edge over much of the rest of the post-whatever pack.

Is it techno? Sure.
Bass music? Kinda.
Is it good? FUCK YES.

Wow Decibel. Another amazing night.

- Longshanks