SND. Click here to view flickr.

Autechre / SND
Tuesday 4th March 2008
Hearn Street Car Park, Shoreditch, London

Despite being on for just 30 minutes, SND were nothing short of stunning. Partly decked out in standard techno issue North Face gear and resolutely refusing to engage with the audience. Their workmanlike demeanour seemed to fit, as the display of rhythmic disintegration became ever complex over the course of their set. Their unique palette of manipulated drum and MIDI melodies sounded urgent and new. Hardware / software upgraded to compete in the current climate. Abstract dancehall collapsing inwards whilst extreme frequencies re-arranged bowels. This is how dance music should be sounding like in 2008.

If SND came across as distant, then Autechre are positively dysfunctional. Partly decked out in standard techno issue North Face gear and resolutely refusing to engage with the audience (northerners, eh?). Generate your own conclusions about what the lack of any visual stimulus does to the performance as they kill all the lights....."move along, there's nothing to see here." But sonically speaking, for about an hour, the boys from Rochdale did their best to level Shoreditch.

The shock of it this time round was its deceptively accessible entry point. Taking cues from electro and mousing it apart ever so gently threw everyone off....like, we can actually dance to this? Nothing was recognisble, everything was familiar. Certainly no reference points to any historical work and nothing from the recent 'Quaristice' album either. The constant mutation, intense tempo and exemplary playback device resulted in an incredible, immersive experience.