By: Mehek Seyid (@whatthemehek) –
SBTRKT. (Photo: Victoria Charko/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto)
As far as artist branding goes, Aaron Jerome, the primary mind behind SBTRKT, is fairly good at maintaining an anonymous and elusive spirit as the face of his electro alter ego. Propelled by the success of his self-titled debut album, the subsequent launch of collaborators Jessie Ware and Sampha’s careers, and a feature from Drake, SBTRKT became an in-demand producer. Instead of following the mainstream brick road, he focused on expanding his defining sonic range and produced a follow-up album, Wonder Where We Land, that is significantly more eclectic than SBTRKT’s initial offering.
In past performances, SBTRKT would let the music speak for itself by playing the tracks as-is with little changes, but last night’s show at The Danforth Music Hall indicated that his recent spells in experimentation and growth extend beyond the physical confines of a recording studio. The image was akin to a scientist in a lab; SBTRKT was in the center of his stage, surrounded by wires, switchboards, synth pads and other pieces of equipment at every possible angle. Two assistants flanked the UK-producer: a drummer to his right, and a percussionist-synth player to his left, readily available to elevate the byproducts of his various creations and collaborations.
The result of this set-up was an over hour-long, slow descent into electronic madness. While SBTRKT kept his conversation to a minimum, spending a few moments to either thank the Toronto audience or introduce a song, his creative genius was consistently present. It was fascinating to watch him mouth the words to crowd-favourites like “Never Never” and “Higher” as he mulled over his devices, and spun 180 degrees to each tool in order to play around with the finer production points and grabbed his second mike to manipulate his voice so that it reverberated throughout the venue. By doing this, the audience received a live showcase of his production artistry, especially when he chopped and screwed different pieces and extended the instrumentals into drawn-out atmospheric tunes, similar to the songs on his Transitions EPs released online earlier this year. Besides the technical demonstration, the Toronto audience also gained intimate insight into SBTRKT’s personality behind the decks.
While the animated background, foggy white lights and turquoise lasers all added to SBTRKT’s mysterious demeanor, neither the effects nor SBTRKT’s impressive skill set could prevent the first half of the set from feeling underwhelming. The immediate notes of songs such as “Hold On” and “New Dorp. New York” were well-received, but without Sampha and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig’s live vocals, they lacked the dynamic, genre-bending charm to hold the audience’s enthusiasm.
The evening completely turned around when SBTRKT dropped the Warpaint-assisted “War Drums” from Wonder Where We Land. The collective on stage took this opportunity to transform the performance into something vibrant and completely entrancing; the percussionists finally maximized their potential and created something truly multidimensional. Although SBTRKT consciously moved away from the club-like sounds that defined his first record, there is no doubt that those beats play out better than the others in a live-setting, which became apparent during the explosive concluding moments, a half an hour spent on the likes of “Wildfire”, “Right Thing To Do” and a surprising but sonically inviting remix of Radiohead’s “Lotus Flower” that made a few fans kick themselves for missing SBTRKT’s DJ set at The Hoxton on Friday night. SBTRKT embraced a rock-star quality with additional efforts to escape his pseudo-studio and actually engage the audience by singing Jessie Ware’s hook on “Right Thing To Do”, as he jumped around to hype up the crowd. For someone who heavily prioritizes collaboration, it was probably a difficult thing to do, but necessary without his artistic counterparts. If they actually did tour together, imagine where they would land.
Washington, DC-native Goldlink opened the final evening on the North American leg of the Wonder Where We Land tour with enough enthusiasm and humor to hold the attention of new fans. “We gon’ party in this cold ass city of yours,” he said amidst his twenty-minute set featuring performances from his 2014 album, The God Complex, which features Goldlink’s intersecting artistry between old school hip-hop, soulful R&B and a few doses of electronic-infused production. The fusion appealed to the Toronto crowd, especially when it manifested itself in Goldlink’s collaboration with Kaytranada, “On&On”.
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SBTRKT
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Goldlink
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