Thursday 11th October 2007
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London

I like extreme computer music. Let's get that bit out of the way. Must stem from my childhood liking of early Radiophonic material. And probably all that weird tape loading noise I had to endure whilst waiting for my Commodore 64 games to load.

Russell Haswell & Florian Hecker who've managed to carve out names for themselves in the world of noise and electronic music recently delivered an album for Warner Classics & Jazz (oh yes, you read that correctly). 'Blackest Ever Black' was an album of electro-accoustic compositions based around theory put forward by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis.

Haswell & Hecker. Click here to view flickr.

The idea (I think) is this: drawings and scans of images are fed through a laptop version of the Xenakis' UPIC computer system. The resulting sounds are then diffused through a mixing desk, where they can then be thrown about in different directions. Sounds range from harsh white noise to circuit-bending frequencies that topple the low end. Oh, and did I mention it was loud. Fucking loud.

Some of the audience left very early, whilst the rest stuck it out keeping fingers close to ears. Visually immersive too, an impressive laser show doused the audience, whilst dry ice and strobes almost rendered you blind.

Pan Sonic, by comparison, just didn't cut it. After all, six speakers beats two. As a result, the Finns were less direct, less well-defined than the Austrian / English duo.

Haswell & Hecker. Click here to view flickr.

Rhythmically tight: they totally own it, after all they have had nearly 14 years of experience. They looked like (and at times sounded like) an electronic rock act. Collision of frequencies that sounded like guitar and Ilpo Vaisanen's knob twirling antics onstage were proof. It was only near the end of their set when things got interesting. Beats were dispensed altogether and they upped the noise threshold.