A cultural event as any, this evening not only marked my first ever venturing into the huddled depths of Glasgow's famed Sub Club, it was also the first time I'd ever witnessed a 'noise'-categorised set (technically if Sunn O))) don't count), provided by none other than Russell Haswell - and more obviously, this was to be my first ever live experience of Autechre - the heroes who have provided great releases dear to my heart, such as "Amber", "Incunabula" and "Anvil Vapre" amongst others.
At once after hearing Russell Haswell's supposed 'cover' of Wild Planet's "Cabasa Cabasa" on the "Warp20 (Recreated) compilation", my first real excursion with his work, it remained a very clear suggestion of his general musical attitude. Consequently buying and listening to his album "Satanstornade", released on Warp, and co-produced with Masami Akita (a name I later discovered to be none other than prolific noise pump Merzbow), volume and aggression is enormously injected into the speakers and there is no denial of his allegiance to extreme electronic musics. With this mind, it could be said that I was in the fortunate position of knowing something incredibly outside the norms of a Numbers clubnight was liable to occur on the evening. Dancing our way across from Rob Hall's very danceable warm-up DJing, the crowd stood at the live stage, staring at nothing and waiting for something.
The thorn in my side is how brief Haswell's set actually was; definitely feeling like less than 30 minutes, it was a tremendous shame as the inflated bass and blasted hardware beats were unimaginably loud and engaging - so much so it even divided opinion in an Autechre-aware crowd no less. Aside from the odd comments around me ranging from "I'm off for a smoke, this guy's pish" to "man, this sound is truly alive", the audience generally stay put standing still, drenched with frenzied strobelighting - observing an empty stage bar the glimpse of Haswell crouched behind a table and obscured by the speaker. The set itself was very tight and the acidic tendencies and Roland-esque nuances in the music certainly aided it to rise above a potential unanimous spectatorial hate. The obvious similarities to Carlos Giffoni's "No Fun Acid" project sprung to mind at one point during the entertainment; a thought later echoed by Haswell's latest double album release "VALUE + BONUS" published on the No Fun label - one I intend to review in the future.
The crowd, completely removed from speech because of the sheer racket, warmly received Autechre's relentlessly unending beats - despite a concluded lack of familiarity. Firing off their set with a thudding bassdrum and gradually including malevolent thumps and squiggles, layers of rapidly placed beats sit atop cold deafening synth pads. It's like no techno I've ever heard before. Hardly acidic but still very squelchy; hardly breakcore but so fast and erratic. Under the impression that the first fifty minutes of the duration of their set (an hour) was completely improvised on the night, their live noodlings more often resembled parts of their earlier "Quaristiche" than the recent "Oversteps" they were intent on promoting with their UK tour. That would never be an issue though as I'm sure the majority of clubbers who attended (particularly those who had done their research and knew what to expect of Russell Haswell particularly) were more than likely confident that the duo wouldn't stick to the rules. One unpredictable milestone was the deafening roar from the (hitherto quietly content) crowd when shreds of the recognisable 'ilanders' was broadcast in the closing section of the set - a very strong indication that the crowd were perhaps very happy with the strange improvised future-music presented, but maybe the little party animal inside them wanted something less foreign to punctuate the performance. As impossible as it was going to happen, there were fleeting moments in the landscape where I knew if even the first thirty seconds of "Gantz Graf" were assaulted on the crowd, the place would instantly erupt. Such is the power that Autechre could verily grasp but conditionally avoid on supposed principles.
Having a certain naievity to Autechre's live presence, I was correct to assume from their exceedingly artistic (borderline pretentious) magazine interviews that the performance would not be entirely conventional. With a lot in common with Haswell, the duo's meticulous detail to sound throughout the entire set, even in a 'trying-to-dance' environment, certainly does not fail to go unnoticed. Their dedication to constantly advancing electronic music, especially by conversely matriculating over archaic technologies to discover a piece of hardware's full potential is a quality that excites their fans the most. Completely aware of their veteran status as genuine music workers, the audience let them lead the way - and rightly so. A vast amount of great music, electronic and acoustic alike, has been competently rooted in the improvisational address.
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