- The Waiting Room was quieter than usual for midnight on a Friday, with only a small knot of dancers getting down to Alex Egan's post-punk and cold wave jams at the latest edition of London party Left Alone. My first thought was that this could have something to do with the abrasive nature of headliner Beau Wanzer's recordings. Perhaps music this confrontational doesn't draw a big crowd in the capital?
I was wrong—the night filled up with three hours to spare. Egan, head of new label Utter, slowly brought the dance floor to a boil with a skilful warm-up set. Playing all vinyl, his selections traded in huge, bone-crushing basslines and glittering synths, like those on Section 25's proto-electro classic "Looking From A Hilltop." With less than 30 minutes to go, Egan pitched up Tolouse Low Trax's tribal banger "Rushing Into Water" to a dizzying speed, segueing neatly into a cut of metallic techno.
Egan's punky cuts laid the groundwork for Wanzer, whose music is indebted to industrial, drone and horror movies. But even so, the remorseless assault of Wanzer’s live set came as a shock. He came onstage at 2 AM to fine-tune a knotted array of synths and effects machines. Almost all of Wanzer's releases on labels like L.I.E.S. and Russian Torrent Versions were recorded live in a single take, so it wasn't surprising to see his table laden with machines.
Wanzer conjured up a series of bone-dry drum patterns, mutating from techno into slinkier electro rhythms. He layered these with a disorientating volley of melodies, often adding his own vocals over the top, crushed into a satanic snarl. Wanzer pushed things harder and harder over the course of the performance, introducing scarred acid lines and unhinged basslines until all the audience could do was laugh.
The alienating defiance of Wanzer's set was thrilling, but something was missing. His set didn't feel dynamic enough. Other than brief interludes of ominous ambience between tracks, there was little respite from the onslaught. His self-released albums are full of slow, moody passages that would have switched up the pace nicely, lending the relentless rhythms more power by contrast. But that aside, there was something special about watching Wanzer churn out lunatic arrangements to the boisterous crowd. Here was an artist wholly devoted to his unique vision.