Monolake (German producer Robert Henke) was coinventor of Ableton Live software—meaning he birthed new tools for musicians to forge unprecedented sounds. That’s a level of genius most can only envisage in their geekiest fever dreams. As a live performer, Monolake translates his lab-generated ideas into cavernous, starkly kinetic tracks that make techno seem like a psychotropic, arctic wonderland. His set at last year’s Decibel Festival was a phenomenal exhibition of 360-degree audiovisual legerdemain. Expect more of the same, and then some. (Baltic Room, 1207 Pine St, 625-4444, 9 pm, $12 adv/$15 DOS, 21+)
Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when... More by Dave Segal