raster noton showcase / drake underground, toronto / 11/05/08


olaf bender / byetone / plastic star

frank bretschneider

carsten nicolai / alva noto

signal

Raster Noton label artists are revolutionaries when it comes to pushing the boundaries of minimal techno with their strong raw vision and stripped-down minimal aesthetic. Nicolai has performed as Alva Noto at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, at Centre Pompidou in Paris, at Kunsthaus Graz and at Tate Modern in London and then when he comes to Toronto he plays a basement venue, that received no promotion for about 30 attendees. It blows my mind. In some ways, I feel privileged to have such a unique intimate experience with my favourite label artists but then it's also depressing how such amazing artists get very little acknowledgment in the art capital of Canada. Olaf Bender, Frank Bretschneider, and Carsten Nicolai all performed individually, and then closed the night collectively as Signal. Olaf Bender as Byetone started off the night by dishing out some microsonic pulses that slowly built into an explosion of some of the finest funkiest minimal techno. Frank Bretschneider created some beautiful digital grooving dub-techno sounds. Carsten Nicolai as Alva Noto gently looped digital glitch beats until they became low static hums layered under this heavy bass of slowly building noise. Signal closed off the night with their dynamic web of rhythmic clicks, crystalline static, and deep bass pulses. The whole night I kept on saying how they are the Kraftwerk of today with their futuristic sensibility and geometric imagery. Raster Noton shows should never be missed. Always Highly Recommended.

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Photographer, Yeondoo Jung recreates children drawings.

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