65daysofstatic at Funkhaus / Saturday, 27.10.2018

This artistically unwavering, ever-evolving, fifteen year-old touring machine shows no signs of creative brain-fade; with seven studio albums under its belt, live contemporary dance collaborations, film scores, site-specific A/V installations, and the critically acclaimed soundtrack to the video game ‘No Man’s Sky’, the next instalment takes the form of major new work, ‘Decomposition Theory’.

Inspired by the “show us your screens” attitude of live coders, their Decomposition Theory A/V show uses generative visuals to reveal the inner workings of 65dayofstatic’s musical algorithms. The code flashes by, logging every musical event as the band curate and sculpt the generative output in realtime. The musical process, not the band, is placed front and centre.

‘Decomposition Theory’ is 65’s effort to imagine a space where music no longer has to take the shapes it is so often coerced into taking. In their own words: “Why are we doing this? No doubt, 65 are a long way from the frontline in any kind of struggle against capitalism and the abyss of a future it’s driving us toward. But perhaps there’s a minor supporting role in trying to imagine better futures. We are not railing against recorded music or albums or regular live shows, or what it can mean to be a band.

However, these are all commodified forms. Almost all the ways anyone can relate to music these days are mediated through capital. Because we exist in relation to capital. We’re all drowning in it. It’s almost impossible to think outside of it. And so ‘Decomposition Theory’ is some small effort to imagine a space where music is no longer shaped in commodity forms, and a live show doesn’t emphasise the ritual of performance. We are un-songing our songs and un-performing on stage.”

This is ambitious, utopian thinking from a band at the top of their game.

Support comes from Calum Gunn, a Scottish, Berlin-based artist working with live coding software TidalCycles to create intricate patterns of rave-damaged electronic music.