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Archive for the ‘Mark Broom’ Category

Autechre (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 26, 2025)

Posted in Autechre, Mark Broom, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, William Fields on October 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 26, 2025] Autechre

I have one Autechre album and I don’t really listen to it.  But when they announced this American tour (their first time playing here in ten years), I asked my friend Lar, who had seen them if I should go.  He told me an amusing story about how he liked the show but he took his significant other to the show and she almost broke up with him because of it.

But when I dove a little more deeply into the show it sounded like a unique experience that I’d like to try.

I arrived at the show knowing that this would be the case, but I loved seeing this in print on a flyer at the door:

autechre

will  perform in darkness.

For their set all lights in the venue will be off.

Please plan on being in one place for the performance and do not move unnecessarily until it has finished when the lights will come back on again.

Please do not shine any lights at the stage or ar0und the room during the performance unless you require assistance.

…

If you are uncomforatble with the idea of spending around 80 minutes in the dark while Autechre play, please see venue staff before the performance starts.

Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Sean Booth and Rob Brown, formed in 1987.  After the two openers did their set, the lights dimmed, with only red lights on the stage.  Some ambient music played for, frankly, longer than was necessary.  It was so long, that the music stopped and they had to start it again. (more…)

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Mark Broom (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 26, 2025) [AUTECHRE]

Posted in Autechre, Mark Broom, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, William Fields on October 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 26, 2025] Mark Broom

I have one Autechre album and I don’t really listen to it.  But when they announced this American tour (their first time playing here in ten years), I asked my friend Lar, who had seen them if I should go.  He told me an amusing story about how he liked the show but he took his significant other to the show and she almost broke up with him because of it.

But when I dove a little more deeply into the show it sounded like a unique experience that I’d like to try.

The opening act for the tour was Mark Broom. We also ha William Fields.  Fields was on the left side of the stage with his laptop and when he was done (after 30 minutes), Mark Broom who was on the right side of the stage with a laptop, started immediately (I appreciated the lack of pause).

I assumed that it would be more of the same because Autechre are also glitchy and noisy, but Broom had a different vibe.  His music was a bit more musical and a bit more dancey.  In the most basic way, it was more “enjoyable.”

I have no idea what he was doing up there (the lighting was very dim).  He had a laptop I know but he had some other gear too.  I could see him twisting knobs from time to time.  So I don’t know if he was making up the sounds on the fly or if they were existing songs that he was mixing around with.  As I said, it’s not my genre, but I found myself really getting into his stuff.

Broom has been DJing (and producing others) for a long time.  He is a veteran of the techno scene and evidently specializes in hardgroove with heavy percussion and tribal beats.

I assumed that he would get a 45 minute set, but he actually played for an hour.  Since I was planning to kick back and enjoy the night, I didn’t have a problem with him playing for an hour.  I felt like he mixed the tempos up and added interesting sounds and beats to make the hour pretty enjoyable.

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William Fields (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 26, 2025) [AUTECHRE]

Posted in Autechre, Mark Broom, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, William Fields on October 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 26, 2025] William Fields

I have one Autechre album and I don’t really listen to it.  But when they announced this American tour (their first time playing here in ten years), I asked my friend Lar, who had seen them if I should go.  He told me an amusing story about how he liked the show but he took his significant other to the show and she almost broke up with him because of it.

But when I dove a little more deeply into the show it sounded like a unique experience that I’d like to try.

There was an opening act listed, but we had two opening acts.  William Fields is a Philadelphia based DJ whose bio says

William Fields is an artist and musician from the Phildelphia area whose work explores the intersection of generative processes, improvisation, and audio-visual correspondence.

What does that mean?  Beats me.  But here’s some reviews

“Some of the most mind-blowing algorithmically generated music I’d ever heard”  — Richard Devine

“William Fields is at the absolute front of algorithmic music and this tremendous 24 hour collection is some of the wildest stuff out there… TOP NOTCH” — Telefon Tel Aviv

That still doesn’t quite explain it but this kind of does (more…)

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