- It's near dawn on Saturday morning in the church. Dominic Fernow is dancing wildly at the front of the altar and shining a torch into the audience's eyes as demonic red laser lights strafe him from above. This is Vatican Shadow delivering a fizzing, phosphorescent blaze of industrial techno to close the night. Despite the heaviness, this is not the peak, but rather a finale to an incendiary night. Some would call it sacrilegious, to others it's just the L.E.V Festival.
The night started innocently enough in the theatre with Martin Messier's amplified sewing machines and Douglas Dare's piano and percussion-driven ballads. Canadian artist Herman Kolgen followed with the first of two pieces for the festival—a new one called "Seismik" that converts real magnetic and seismic data into an exceptional real-time audiovisual collage. The hyperdetailed graphics were the perfect foil to the rumbling, impenetrable ambience of the music. And then it all kicked off.
Back in the church, mythical Spanish group Esplendor Geométrico tapped into the buried menace of Kolgen's show and spewed out a set that resembled total war. Despite their advancing age, the duo delivered a truly fascinating and frightening performance, like Suicide at their peak. Their coruscating rhythms were dangerously intoxicating, and the ferocity of their sounds was unstoppable. It was nearly impossible to get the crowd into their seats for Robert Henke's equally brilliant Lumière afterwards, but the response was just as ecstatic, with the now-wild crowd celebrating the German artist's perfect integration of sound and vision with gusto. Henke could not wipe the smile from his face.
Later in the day, well over 1000 punters turned up to the Botanic Garden to enjoy the marvellous sun and a run of performances that began gently with folktronica from Huias. Throwing Snow delivered a splattering of melodic colour and timbral contrasts. Luke Abbot was a welcome surprise, playing determined techno in a forceful manner quite different from his recordings.
Martin Messier again kicked off the night's proceedings with an amplified projector piece that dovetailed perfectly with Kolgen's audiovisual adaption of Steve Reich's "Different Trains." Local duo LCC (Las Casicasiotone), who debuted at L.E.V. a few years ago, returned in a main slot to promote their forthcoming album on Editions Mego. Their mix of live instruments, electronics and choral singers ranged from ambient to IDM with an exceptional dub finish. Koreless, meanwhile, delivered a warm and diverse set that seemed miles away from the darkness of the night before.
Uwe Schmidt's new Atom TM show is a difficult beast to judge. While more accessible than some of his other work, and packing several killer electro tracks in its arsenal, its submission to Kraftwerk's tired imagery and anti-MTV rallying felt a bit shallow. The final stretch saw the excellent Rival Consoles dazzle with a battery of textural collages over elaborate beats. Aoki Takamasa's set was a minimal masterpiece that made you wonder why he isn't getting more acclaim. Finally, Vessel delivered a muscular and suave finale, a perfect embodiment of everything that is L.E.V: tough, uncompromising and refreshingly nonchalant.