Live At Low End Theory

Album Review

Although Daedelus certainly relies on a lot of computer wizardly when he crafts his albums, the producer proves that he's just as capable of putting on an energetic and dynamic live show as anyone else, be they electronica artists or not. Taken from his July 2007 performance at Low End Theory, a weekly event held at the Airliner that showcases some of L.A.'s finest avant-garde talent, Daedelus' 45-minute set is full of all the musical twists and turns that make live music exciting. While he certainly draws from his studio material, especially his 2006 instrumental album Denies the Day's Demise, Live at Low End Theory finds Daedelus tailoring his songs for the show: there's much more bass here than on his other work, and the drums and keyboard riffs drive the pieces into near house, or tech-house territory at times. The beat, the percussion, is always present, even if muted or hard to find, which means that even the slower, more reflective pieces — the ones in which mellow keys and soft guitar play a major part — that he incorporates here fit in well and add to the completeness of the concert. Dozens and dozens of instrument samples are used, added, and then released, notes buzz and bass crunches, voices will make themselves heard, but it all flows together seamlessly, flawlessly, perfectly, everything controlled by the fingertips of the maestro, synching his laptop and monome, drawing in bits of his songs and looping them around, speeding them up (like what he does on "Samba Grandly," a quicker take of "Samba Legrande"), the whole thing a pastiche of his past and present work and the environment around him, and very exciting indeed.