Snow Strippers – Village Underground, Thursday November 7th
Topics heard outside the Village Underground included: Is Nettspend cringe? Why did the Drain Gang leave Year0001? Do they check IDs? Detroit duo Snow Strippers have a Gen Z loyalist, which was well represented on Thursday night. Some likened the buzzy duo's EDM-pop and heady trance to a perpetual, numbing climax, and when Tatiana Schwaninger and Graham Perez hit the stage for “Just Your Doll,” it seemed unlikely they'd keep up that frenzied energy for long. . But what followed was a mesmerizing hour of frozen, full of swirling synths, relentless strobes and bouncing phone screens. When the 8-bit synth of “It's A Dream”—whose 2023 remix features Lil Uzi Vert—was first heard, it received such a feverish response that I had to check that Uzi hadn't actually come out.
Laraaji – ICA, Friday 8 November
Laraaji began his set with a guided relaxation, urging us to relax our bodies from our toes to our scalps. In front of him lay a selection of instruments, which he proceeded to pick up with the calm intention of pruning a rose garden. The hum of cicadas and the swell of an articulated synth created a riveting backdrop as he tapped, drummed and released his signature syrup. Soon there was the unmistakable glint of a kalimba, the instrument featured prominently on the rediscovered recordings released last year, Segue To Infinity. A well-known practitioner of “laughter meditation,” Laraaji did his set with laughter as he guided us through this slow river of sound, taking us nowhere in particular but urging us to be fully present.
