Los Angeles avant-garde EDM DJ Shlohmo will be playing two shows next week in the Bay Area: Thursday night in San Francisco at The Fillmore and Friday night on UC Berkeley’s picturesque Memorial Glade as ASUC SUPERB’s closing act for their Spring 2015 lineup.
Henry Laufer, who in 2011 released his articulate and beautiful debut album Bad Vibes (Friends of Friends) as Shlohmo, returned to the scene with his sophomore record last month — Dark Red (WEDIDIT/True Panther). The second album contrasts greatly from the first, with larger, more expansive sound palates, and a more fleshed-out focus on development pieces. While Bad Vibes proves that melodic EDM could still be musically interesting and sonically coherent, Dark Red finds that a tasteful balance between minimalism and intimidatingly sprawling voices is possible, and even fruitful. Although it fails to say as much or be as groundbreaking as Bad Vibes, Shlohmo’s second album does not disappoint on any front. It breathes frantically, but with confidence, and it is certainly one of the more curious and exciting works in this impressive year of releases so far.
Expect him to play much of his new material, and intersperse the delicate, crisp pieces of Bad Vibes into whichever show you choose to attend. On top of that, Shlohmo’s light shows are supposed to be something else. We’ll catch you either way — at the hall or on the glade.
Article by Darius Kay