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Concert Mon Apr 14 2008
Manifest Density
From the sound of it, Meat Beat Manifesto has fallen in love with bass all over again.
As pioneering veterans of the industrial music scene of the early '90s, Meat Beat Manifesto has stayed prolifically active over the years. New albums have consistently appeared every few years, with frontman and maestro Jack Dangers also tirelessly issuing work via a plethora of solo- and sideline aliases in the off seasons. (Some of them quite serious, others not-so.) While MBM have never strayed too far from the initial dark, dystopic, and paranoid demeanor of their industrial origins, their work of the past decade or so has found them venturing further afield into more abstract and experimental terrain. Chalk it all up to Dangers's workaholic craftsmanship and attention to sonic detail, his encyclopedic knowledge of electronic music, and his obsessive gearhounding of analog sound equipment; but MBM albums have continued to surprise or engage listeners over the years.
But even standby formulas and methods, however successful, need a re-animating tweak now and again. With MBM's newly released ninth LP, Autoimmune, the refurb comes by way of the underground UK, post-grime phenomenon known as dubstep. From dubstep, Dangers & company have rediscovered the benefits of hunkering down the deepest depths of the low-frequency spectrum -- of bass's potential for providing the heaviest and most stable of sonic bedrocks. During Autoimmune's best moments, everything borders on chaos and collapse; with the tracks worked up into a tempest of breakbeats and samples that threaten to unhinge themselves and spin out of orbit from the centripetal force of the tracks' rhythmic moorings. Yet the massive, writhing bass lines -- looming through the mix with juggernaut heft -- that keep everything tethered together. In the end, it all makes for a dizzying orchestration of tempos and tensions.
Meat Beat Manifest will perform at The Abbey this Saturday night. On the opening bill is NYC dub misfit Badawi -- a.k.a. producer and composer Raz Mesinai. WLUW's Abstract Science DJs Chris Widing and Luke Stokes will open and spin between sets. Doors open at 9pm, show starts at 10. Tickets are $20 in advance and at the door. Ages 18 and up show. 3420 W. Grace, at Elston.
[mp3]: Meat Beat Manifesto – "Guns N Lovers"
[article]: Jack Dangers - interview (via Wired)
