You’re doing all right for yourself when your new project’s first
release on a fledgling label becomes a defining track for the year.
You’re doing better when you’ve not only had the opportunity to
collaborate with a legend like Carl Craig, but are then
handpicked to be a resident on one of his tours. Given just those
bullet points, Monty Luke would seem privileged, but Luke’s
charmed musical existence goes even deeper.
Luke’s profile has risen in recent months with the release of
“Paranoid,” a dark, catchy techno collaboration with fellow San
Francisco scene veteran Tasho that’s defined by the repeated,
chopped, stretched, and filtered vocal, “I think I’m paranoid.” The
second release on Claude VonStroke‘s Mothership label, it’s
grown to be a hit even outside of techno circles.
Even before the attention for “Paranoid,” Luke was well known in the
Bay Area, where he’s been DJing for over a decade as part of the
collective DHP (Deep House Project) after helping found
California’s renowned Justice League Sound System while in
college. His status as an insider favorite eventually extended to Carl
Craig, who tapped Luke as a resident for his Demon Days tour, hardly
faint praise. It probably doesn’t hurt that Luke writes Bubble
Metropolis, XLR8R‘s techno column, keeping him awash in the
latest and greatest.
Résumé details aside, Luke has earned his Seattle
praise with his appearance at 2007’s Decibel Festival,
where he managed to get the crowd moving despite an early timeslot and
a still-sober, festival-weary audience.
***
It’s an interesting exercise to listen to the latest releases from
Autechre (playing Neumo’s Monday, April 7) and Meat Beat
Manifesto (ditto, but Wednesday, April 9) within a short duration.
Both artists have long legacies and dedicated fan bases, but while the
Autechre album is challenging enough to give a headache to the
uninitiated, an exercise in nuance and production intricacy, too much
of the new MBM can be dismissed thusly: “So, Jack Dangers likes
dubstep.” Autechre’s vision is immediately discernible, if not
comprehensible, while MBM are reserved almost to the point of
irrelevance.
Slipping under the radar in comparison to those high-profile artists
is Soot Records’ Maga Bo, playing Nectar on Tuesday, April 8.
Touring in support of his debut album, Archipelagoes, Maga Bo
draws from all points on the globe, but the result is hardly “world
music.” Instead it’s a world tour through low end, with Bo intuitively
collecting the tracks that inspire the urban masses to move on his
travels. As with labelmates DJ /rupture and Filastine,
it’s a fool’s errand to pin a genre on the resulting sonic
mélange, but Maga Bo’s studied approach maintains momentum even
when the beats accelerate into madness or dissolve into noise.
Monty Luke plays Thurs April 3 at the Baltic Room, 9 pm–2
am, $7, 21+.
Autechre play Mon April 7 at Neumo’s,
8 pm–2 am, $15
adv, 21+. With Massonix and Rob Hall.
Maga Bo plays Tues April 8 at Nectar Lounge, 9 pm–2 am, $7,
21+.
Meat Beat Manifesto play Wed April 9 at Neumo’s, 8 pm–2 am,
$15 adv, 21+.