Smell, taste, touch, sight, sound and techno — to electronica gurus, the experiences created through electronically produced music formulate a sensation uncommon to the five senses. To them, techno is the sixth sense.
Whether it is trance, house, dubstep, chillwave or trip-hop, techno fanatics seem to understand something other music listeners just don’t. In fact, those electronica lovers have often been told it is contradictory to state that a natural sensation has grown from the marvel of synthetically created music.
This sixth sense phenomenon was in full swing last Friday at the Urban Lounge. There, the trip-hop producer, Emancipator, proved electronic vibrations have the ability to pulsate through one’s body and produce an awareness incomparable to any other.
Despite the deep connection made through the many forms of heavily synthesized music, Emancipator, aka Doug Appling, separates himself by truly understanding the notorious sensory effect by way of the soundboard. With the help of his partner in crime, electronic violinist Ilya Goldberg, Emancipator is capable of producing an orchestra of wave-like symphonic notes.
Emancipator’s sold-out show at the Urban Lounge demonstrated his unique noises can transfer into something more than music. From the boxed speakers on stage to the densely packed audience of men with mustaches and women in lace tops, the music bumped from the walls to the enthusiastic dancers in the crowd.
The majority of the music replicated throughout the show was from Emancipator’s most recent album, “Dusk to Dawn.” Following the path of his prior albums, Emancipator epitomizes the true sound of trip-hop music.
This Oregon native begins “Dusk to Dawn” with the title track, “Minor Cause,” which pulls from artistic ways of kicking out piano-like rhythms and changing tempos.
Though the music was made by way of plugging in pieces of geared equipment, the clatters pull in the vibrations of the outdoors. In fact, the “Minor Cause” music video seems to mimic the beauty of nature, which parallels techno as the sixth sense.
In any and every way, the “Minor Cause” music video echoes the interconnections between mankind and nature. Through the sound of wind blowing in the grass and then touching human skin, to the smell of salt water from the shores of the ocean, it is clear the video represents man’s significance to earth and the universe.
In Emancipator’s show, the electronic tremors of the ocean were personified through his performance. Although fans can’t get quite the same experience of Emancipator live, the senses can be excited through his new album, which is definitely something techno lovers should invest in.