Funkhaus, Berlin

You should always jump at the chance of going to a show at Funkhaus Berlin. The hour-plus trek it takes to get there, in this case, in tundra temperatures and black ice skies, is briskly forgotten as you approach a building loaded with the same volume of intriguing history as it is state-of-the-art audio delicacies.

This was my first taste of this grand space. I gladly felt like an imposter whilst queuing at a bar seemingly lifted straight from the Overlook Hotel, but where the only demons on display are the prices for a glass of wine. All part of the experience though of course. One small beer, please.

Studio 1 was the setting for tonight’s show and it was hard not to be taken aback upon entering. A room meticulously designed by a committee of architects, acousticians and all-round sound boffins certainly seems fitting for the presentation of Alva Noto’s new LP and audiovisual show UNIEQAV. After all, Carsten Nicolai is a composer primarily known for his minimal compositions and ‘reducing electronic music to its mathematical fundamentals’, yet this new record had been teased as an exploration on to the dancefloor. The ‘sonic representation of an underwater dive’ – to use his own words. And thank god it was.

Supporting my personal theory that an opening act is selected on the basis that their own set will reflect very positively on the headliner, Stanley was the sonic representation of an underwater yawn. The combination of the warming room and Stanley’s turgid wades through audio balm had people’s heads lolloping up and down like passive chickens pecking at grey grain from the studio floor. The same set has been played a million times before and it felt like a total waste of the space.

It was up to Nicolai, then, to bring the room back to life, and you couldn’t blame everyone for fearing the worst when, after three minutes his audio cut out, shortly followed by the visuals. At last there was some tension in the room. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he did this on purpose at the start of each show to neutralise the atmosphere, making the ensuing sensorial experience even more thrilling.

Musically this was heavier than expected. Like a streamlined Emptyset juddering at you from all angles, it almost felt rude to be sat down, but to have stood up would have risked instant pillory from the pulsating strobes, shapes and shades. Though the graphics at points harked to the Windows Media Player, more often than not they sent you spiralling. Despite Nicolai’s minimalism, never has the phrase everything all at once rung truer. Sure, there was nothing subtle about this show, but my, what a sensorial feast it was.