Live Review: Daedelus, Motion Picture Actress

While not as resolutely experimental as the headliner tonight, Motion Picture Actress has been playing around on the more interesting borders of downbeat electronica for years, testing out jazz and even flamenco influences. Tonight, he’s playing with a style closer to home and as the set begins to push beyond down-tempo and instrumental hip hop, touches of house begin to appear, with very danceable results. It’s all reinforced by the addition of a live drummer, lending the set an immediacy electronic music can sometimes lack.

Not every track works — a late piece that relies heavily on voice-over samples ambles along — but by and large it’s an impressive performance, incorporating not only the drums, but a heavy dose of reverb-washed vocals without losing any of the subtlety of his electronic production.

Before he begins to play, Daedelus announces he doesn’t like to stop until his computer dies [or the set ends], and so it proves. Once that first note rings out, Daedelus is in constant motion, hands flicking between laptop and Monome with the fast, precise movements of a bird. Despite what could politely only be described as a modest turn-out, he pours all of his energy into the music, pausing only to acknowledge the crowd, hand-on-heart.

Daedelus is a master of mixing disparate sounds together; tracks, genres, tempo, everything is in almost constant flux, but it never feels confusing. Beats ebb and flow, and Daedelus makes controlled chaos seem effortless — every transition works, and the moments of absolute anarchic intensity are balanced by slower builds, providing the crowd a chance to recoup. There are nods to current dance forms — trap, dubstep, downbeat all make an appearance — but it’s his work with IDM and techno that impresses the most. In the sharply-changing world of electronica, these genres could easily feel anachronistic, but Daedelus’ enthusiastic embrace leaves them feeling celebratory instead, a reminder of the potential of the form.

It’s possible to sit back and enjoy the music tonight, but this is a mix built first and foremost for dancing. As head music, it’s interesting, but up on the floor it’s infectious, and few of those listening are able to stay still.