Electronic maestros like Goth Trad aren't just spinning records
Live electronic performance can involve laptops, MIDI controllers, drum machines, samplers, sequencers, turntables and effects units in various combinations. DJs like Richie Hawtin use drum machines and effects to alter the sound of records on turntables, while others like Beijing's Dead J, Liman, Sulumi and Meng Qi spread out a robot chopshop and create their musical production on the fly.

Surrounded by stacks of futuristic equipment, many electronic performers (especially those using laptops) have been disparaged for their supposed failure to convey emotion, which leads many to believe they're just checking their email. Which isn't true. They're actually checking out the latest Edison Chen pics.

April 11 at White Rabbit will see the performance of Japanese producer Goth Trad, one of the rising stars embraced by the dubstep music scene, a type of music blending elements of dub, techno, jungle and UK Garage. Neither particularly gothic or traditional in his music or appearance, Goth Trad will be performing “live” with a wide range of electronic devices, including a few invented by the man himself. According to music critic Blackdown on Pitchfork media's website “Goth-Trad might be based in Japan, but his sound resonates with the UK sinodub and grime experiments of Jammer, Kode 9, and Horsepower.”

Goth-Trad burst out of the Tokyo underground in 2001, since releasing three albums of bass driven sounds, gaining airplay on BBC Radio 1 and receiving wide acclaim. ATM magazine claims Goth Trad “is one of the most interesting artists and producers we've seen or heard in a long time. He has a bright future ahead of him.” Collaborations with vocalists such as Ari Up from The Slits and reggae vocalist Max Romeo show his sound isn't easily pigeonholed.

So how does a performance like Goth Trad's differ from that of a DJ? A DJ is limited to manipulating and mixing the records he has on hand, but with a live performance the artist recreates the sounds of their productions in front of your eyes, layering, adding and removing elements of the music in ways that DJs can only dream about and with a range of instruments and sounds a live band would struggle to replicate.

Dan Stephenson