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Fun Fun Fun fest review: (Expletive) Buttons
(Expletive) Buttons are an experimental electronic duo from Bristol, England. Their music alternates between aggressive, hellacious noise and more pastoral passages that suggest the contours of a drug trip. This is not all that surprising, given the famously druggy nature of their city and its scene (See also Massive Attack, Tricky, Flying Saucer Attack and all three seasons of the BBC series “Skins.”)
While both of their albums (“Street Horrrsing,” the new “Tarot Spot”) are excellent, the music works far, far better live than it has any right to. Of course, most of the time Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power look as if threy are checking their email while standing and vigorously dancing in place, the time-tested visual of electronic acts performing live.
But the music which concentrated on drones rather than abraisive textures, felt anthemic and lovely rather than irritating. (Peace to the often-stellar band Growing, who have a similar format and played earlier in the day, but 12:30 p.m. was a little early for their face-punching digital hiccups.)
These were misty mountain hops played for an appriciative field of flatlanders who were starting to looked bummed out by the weather. And not a lot goes well with steady, increasingly unpleasant rain; this stuff sure did.
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