Hailing from deep within the Canadian wilderness, Aaron Funk, aka Venetian Snares, occupies a similarly unique artistic habitat as an icon of musical ferocity and experimentalism. For those less familiar with this end of the musical spectrum, Funk is an exponent of breakcore, an outsider genre devoted to exploring the outermost limits of conventional rhythmic structures. Its protagonists borrow influence from jungle, gabber, hardcore, and techno to produce impenetrably complex and unpredictable soundscapes.
Without need for gentle introductions, the night was instantly plunged into a cacophony of violent syncopation around a backbone of roided-up breakbeats that even Lance Armstrong would be proud of. For the following hour, no let-up was forthcoming as recent gabber-leaning eccentricities of My So-Called Life collided with the immortal neo-classical compositions of Rossz csillag alatt született.
Picking apart the individual components and ideas of Venetian Snare’s live output doesn’t do much justice to the overriding sense of aggression, power and fervor conjured up. The level of the second-to-second unpredictability is rarely found in other musician’s performance palettes and it seems unlikely that many could manage it anyway.
A perennial fine line between genius and insanity is precariously balanced as the performance delves into perpetually harder and faster territories, yet the atmosphere whipped up in doing so certainly gives credence to the idea that this man possesses something pretty exceptional.
It goes without saying that Venetian Snares isn’t for everyone, but for those who take an interest in his unique brand of sound experiments the man unquestionably pulled it out the bag for the umpteenth time. Whether you want to marvel at intricate programming or become enveloped within the sheer sonic muscle on show, there are few that can do what Aaron Funk does and once more did.
