New Yorkers are spoiled in terms of music; in a night where great parties run simultaneously, people must pick and choose which way their doldrums must go. In the end, the best way to go is with the anticipation of the vibe of the party that one goes to. With the Magical Properties tour (which features Jogger, Nosaj Thing and Daedelus), the sounds go between earthy, muddled, spastic and euphoric all at once. With a lineup that personifies audible contrast, the trio of acts would come to the art-deco-basement that is Le Poisson Rouge and provide a plethora of audible treats that ranged from IDM to dubstep all at once. Starting late into the early morning (quarter past midnight to be exact), openers Jogger came on and played a set that had its moments of unusually ethereal to downright weirdly trippy. Fiddling between MIDI controllers and guitar pedal boards, the duo found ways to include sweet melodies into near-WARP-like rhythms. While this was interesting, it certainly did not have a flow to its purpose. Jogger showed signs of musical curiosity but will need more to prove their weight in their tracks live. However, they did do their job in hyping the crowd up for what was to come; which was artistry through blinking lights and beat pads.
Nosaj Thing came on to a healthy dose of claps and woos, set up his MPD32 and did he what he does best; blow the roof off the place. The crowd went nuts with every changing beat pattern, every trick he had in his sleeve, and every time he fiddled with the knobs of his controller. The dancefloor shook with a definitive intensity that was powerful as much as it was passionate. Playing for almost 60 minutes, Nosaj Thing went between playing his own tracks and remixes while stopping by to France via a drop of Mr. Oizo’s “Z”, which got a screaming applause from a few particular audience members. Closing out subtly, the crowd applauded wildly while he gracefully bowed out to the final performance of the night, which would be provided by Victorian revivalist Daedelus.
The performance art that is a Daedelus live set is centered around the controller that is now famously know as the Monome, which provides custom control between sequencing, looping, editing and all other sorts of nerdy musical gigs. With the Monome facing the crowd, Daedelus let the audience savor in the artistry that took place live. Breaking bits of current dubstep tunes into crazy synth lines and vocal sample cut-ups, new songs were formed almost instantaneously, and with that a collective force of loud and aggressive crowd that seemed to have emanated from the ground up, starting with foot stomps and ending with fist pumps. Piecing together bits from tunes of artists such as Untold, James Blake and Joy Orbison, the craftiness of Daedelus showed that he was in charge of the night’s destiny, taking the souls standing on the dancefloor to an entirely new world of mashed-up euphoria. The result was a crowd full of smiles, excitement and longing for the next time these artists would come together to dominate a floor like they did on this night. One may never know, but one will remember the night’s peaks and valleys; from the occasional shouts of sample-heavy love to the knee-shattering bass wobbles, there will be no way to get the sounds, sights and sensations felt on this night out of anyone’s mind.
Be sure to check out our recent interview with Nosaj Thing and have a look at the rest of the night’s photos.
