Keep It Simple

The small, dingy space of Faktory’s downstairs venue lent itself well to both the tranquil and the frenetic, as three varied electronic acts brought their own definitions of minimalism on Wednesday night.

Swedish transplant Mikael Lind took the quiet approach as he began the night with a set of ambient electronica that favoured harmony and mid-tempo rhythms. Lind’s digital piano effects and loops seamlessly melded with live violin and xylophone as he filled the room with melodies that alternated between melancholy and calming—so calming that half the crowd sat cross-legged on the floor in rapt attention at Lind’s feet.

Wielding only a laptop, Endíkú took the stage to a crowd ready to dance after Lind’s low-key beginning. While Endíkú laid a solid foundation with plenty of funk drums and layers of horns and strings, the energy soon fell out in favour of meandering noise. But perhaps that was a dupe, because just when Endíkú was losing the crowd, he threw the switch on a thundering techno beat that got their feet moving through a raucous finish.

Árni Vector picked up where Endíkú left off and proved that even if your goal is to establish atmosphere, it’s still okay to turn up the volume. Beneath a swirl of ambient space junk, Vector built in a steady, suffocating bass line that would push Faktory’s sound system to the limit from beginning to end. What the set lacked in dynamism, it made up for in volume, and no one on the dance floor had any complaints.