I really don't like arena gigs.
Soo, with Nine Inch Nails being in my bad books at the moment (Shock Horror!) I have been trying to fill that Trent Reznor void in my life.
I went to see Alec Empire at Satan's Hollow on Saturday.
What a hero!
His stage presence is huge. He launched himself into the crowd, encouraged everyone to shout, scream, and hurl abuse...he climbed up the pillars. It was LOUD, apocalyptic, and there were liberal amounts of strobe flashing. I fell in love.
For anyone who doesn't know about Mr Empire...(taken from Wiki)
Alec Empire's body of work spans a range of electronic styles. His earlier releases for Force Inc. were influenced by the rave scene in his native Berlin, and included Acid house, Techno, Hardcore, Punk and Breakbeat. On creating DHR his solo recordings for that label consisted largely of the digital hardcore staples of breakcore and later experimental noise, while his work during the same period for Mille Plateaux saw him experimenting with minimal techno (Pulse Code), ambient (Low on Ice) and musique concrete (Les Étoiles des Filles Mortes).
He's most well know for his output with band Atari Teenage Riot...
After the demise of Atari Teenage Riot, Empire's major releases for DHR sought to continue in the guitar-based, punk-influenced vein of the band. Intelligence and Sacrifice utilised live guitars, breakbeats, noise, sampled cinematic dialogue and Empire's trademark spoken/shouted English vocals, while Futurist saw a more obvious return to his punk roots and consequently sounds as if it were largely recorded using all live instrumentation, even though it was electronically produced. The creation of the Eat Your Heart Out label saw a move to a much more electronic-sounding approach with comparatively subdued vocals over synthesized sounds and beats.
His latest album 'The Golden Foretaste of Heaven' is great.
It's a departure from the breakcore/industrial rock stuff he's known for. It's a bit more synth driven, but never lacks power. Take a listen.
Alec Empire - Ice
Alec Empire - New Man
And this one is a fave of mine - a collaboration between Mr Empire and Handsome Boy Modeling School (Prince Paul & Dan the Automator), ft El-P
Handsome Boy Modeling School - Megaton B-Boy 2000
...Oh yeah, and while i'm bumming Alec Empire i shall now harp on about his mate Patrick Wolf!
I think Patrick now has four albums under his belt at the tender age of 25...i have no idea why, but I only just realised his genius about 2 weeks ago.
To be free of any record company shackles he's managed to set up a bandstocks account so that he can fund his musical explorations via donations made by fans. Investors get all kinds of perks including invited to private shows and freebies.
If you want to invest, go here
His latest album 'The Batchelor' features the nob-twiddling talents of Mr Alec Empire, and is a wonderful blend of acoustic and electronic music - violins and dirty drum machines sit side by side and the result is, well, ace. I'm not really very good at describing this kind of thing. Just listen and decide for yourself. I just love it - if this is what pop music sounds like in 2009 then i'm really rather impressed.
This video really reminds me of 'Sin' era Nine Inch Nails...it's an acquired taste, for sure - but this track sounds like an amalgamation of NIN, Soft Cell and Depeche Mode. And I love all three of them.
Here's another of my faves from 'The Bachelor'
Patrick Wolf - Hard Times
So then, Trent. It's time to sort yourself out. You've got competition.
