Prolific, visionary, revered and innovator are words so often bantered around by the music industry today, that they seem to be of little worth. However, mention the name Audion or Matthew Dear and these words start to paint a picture of an internationally recognised pop music and techno artist who easily fits within these grand descriptions.
Matthew Dear is widely considered to be one of the great innovators of electronic music during the last 8 years and a look back on his releases under his many alias and one can see why. False (for M_NUS), Jabberjaw (Perlon) and, of course, his most famous of all techno alias, AUDION, has seen Dear effortlessly balance pop and techno while still receive accolades from both the rock and electronic music media.
Matthew Dear's darker alter ego, Audion, releases on the acclaimed dance-music label, Spectral Sound, which he founded in 2000. Arguably, Matthew Dear burst into true music industry spot-light with his release of his debut album, ASA-Breed, on Spectral Sound's sister imprint, Ghostly International in 2007. That release received wide acclaim from all corners of the globe and I have heard it described as electronica-pop, acid techno, minimal-folk however I personally believe low-fi pop as the best descriptor here.
Dark, quirky, minor and tonic sounds describe not only his releases under Dear but also his releases under Audion. Dear has a natural affiliation with rhythm and sound scapes with every release layered with detailed synthetic sounds. As any techno DJ can tell you dropping an Audion track mid-set can devastate dance-floors.
His track Mouth-To-Mouth released in 2006 was a club-anthem that infected DJ boxes the world over and is a perfect representation of his sound. Stripped back, gritty, insanely rhythmic with huge stabs of masterfully created synths that push the track on and on. In fact only last week I found my self going crazy to this club classic. Again. And loving every moment of it.
I beleive every respectable techno/house DJ will have their 'Dear' moment. Personally thinking back, Saturday night here in Sydney in this small little club with a massive sound-system, I dropped a rather subdued Audion track. Or so it seemed. Starting off with a pulsating drum, beating on the off beat, it layers and layers with pulsating synths that pan from left to right, until mayhem ensues. The dance floor loved it. Have a listen below as this probably one of Audions slightly over-looked tracks however I beg, dont skip through the track but listen all the way to the end.
In his live show Audion will be harnessing these elements of his productions to create new-interpretations on the fly. His techno tracks are naturally 'infectious' so, as you can imagine, this combined with his custom live set-up form quite the aural-visual experience.
Audion live in BerlinHecatomb is the name he has given to his live show. In ancient Greek the word means 'large-scale sacrifice' or 'slaughter'. In this context I believe one can assume we, the audience, will be the ones up for sacrifice. Dear ushers us into his 'world' with minimalist visuals that rotate, warp and transform. Dear always maintains a constant theme in his shows whether its in his dark minimalist techno or in his contrasting and defined visuals which were specially made for the show by his long-time album cover designer, Will Calcut, and renowned German visual artist Eno Henze.
The Audion live experience has always been thrilling, with Dear creating new interpretations of his material on the fly. In his new live show, Dear goes even deeper into the Audion world, further differentiating it from his more song-oriented Matthew Dear material as well as from the herd of live-laptop performers cluttering the electronic-music scene. By fusing man and machine into an indistinguishable unit, Audion controls his audiences’ collective consciousness in new, never-before-seen ways. At the center of the show is a custom video setup...
Will Calcut is the lead designer behind the Ghostly International label and his warm minimalist style perfectly suit the sound scapes of Matthew Dear. Eno Henze has created psychedelic visuals for the famous Cocoon club in Frankfurt as well as many gallery installations around the world.
ASA Breed Cover Art by Will Calcut
Eno Henze, Tscherenkows Traum, Live visual installationHaving already toured with his live show, Hecatomb, in select European clubs and festivals we our now lucky enough to experience it this Saturday in the refined intimacy of the The Civic Hotel.
Also on the line-up his revered French techno producer, Oxia, who will be performing a DJ set in the Civic Underground. Organisers of this event are combine efforts of Future Entertainment, Likes Of You and Reckless Republic.
Audion: Hecatomb from Audion on Vimeo.
Competition Details
The peeps at Future Entertainment were kind enough to give away TWO DOUBLE PASSES to the sydneylovestechno blog readers! YOU!
How it will work:
- Stay tuned to the blog as over the next 48 hours I will be posting up two trivia styled questions relating to each artist.
- First question will be about Matthew Dear
- Second question will be on Oxia
- First correct answer I receive at email address, syndeylovestechno@gmail.com, WINS!
(Feel free to spread word. Mouse-over the 'share button' below)
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