Culture

State Of Mind subscribe to a different reality than the rest of us; a reality that involves ridiculously heavy bass, a ridiculously energetic full-noise set and, to top it all off, dancing spacemen. Yes, fucking spacemen. Dressed from head to toe in reflective black material, they sauntered up to the front of stage only to bounce lasers off their shining bodies back into the crowd as they wobbled to the bass. Don’t ask me what their names were or what planet they were from because I, like the majority of the small but committed and happily intoxicated crowd, were too busy either moshing or enjoying (read, tripping balls) the sight of these writhing laser men.
 These impressive forms reminded me a lot of State Of Mind actually, not for their costumes or dance styles but for their aesthetic and their style. Dunedin has been treated recently to a plethora of electronic talent, from Danny Byrd through to B-Complex and Skrillex. But State of Mind were on a different level of heaviness, another planet of sounds, expressing a different mode of set energy that hadn’t been heard since Cookie Monsta’s set with the Circus Records tour. Playing mainly their own hard-hitting material, the bass kicked and it didn’t really stop. I kept waiting for a reprieving breakdown, some dynamical contrast to the overpowering dominion of bass, but it never came. If you love and understand the delicacies of a well rendered and executed bass line, followed by another slightly different but equally awesome bass line (and repeat) then you, like I, will lose yourself for hours in a dirty mess of noise heaven. If you think drum and bass is a bit repetitive, then this would have been worse torture than Transformers 2.
Again, like throughout the Easter Weekender dates, Urban Factory was a great venue. Deep and dark, it has the atmosphere and the stage to accommodate top class acts and top class visuals. Although its merits as a general every night bar destination are still to be tested fully, keeping up amazing shows and acts like this will continue doing itself credit. MC Beau should also get a mention for his topnotch performance. While I remain sceptical of the whole MC idea for acts, often either having just awful rhythm and repetitive material or ruining drops, Beau has been pretty impressive throughout all the Urban Factory gigs, understated and acting as a supplement and not the main act, which is exactly what is required.
So the choice is easy. If you like heavy electronic music, buy the new album (Nil By Ear) and see them live wherever you can, because with their sound form and dancing alien men, they are one of the most impressive NZ acts I have ever seen or heard. If you don’t like it, well fine, I heard they didn’t even want to hang out with you anyway.