Live Review: Objekt, Lauren Halo

With a line-up from some of Perth's most respected techno selectors supporting two of the globe's most esteemed techno producers, one thing was for certain: the night was made for techno. Allstate and Craig Hollywood locked horns to the sounds of everything bassy and brooding, before Emerald Cabal and Reece Walker continued on a similar sort of vibe. Everyteen kept things ominous, but mixed things up a little with a few welcome house numbers of sorts.

Laurel Anne Chartow, more commonly known as Laurel Halo, takes influences from her early musical education as well as her place of origin. Hailing from the techno motherland, the Mid West of the USA, and having been trained in classical music from an early age, Laurel's sound comes together to form a unique amalgamation of impossibly intelligent, diverse and palatable sound. Almost hidden behind her mountain of hardware, Laurel twisted knobs and triggered drum machines to form what felt like one constantly evolving track. Textural percussion and bizarre but delectable synth lines crept in and out in a set that could be best described as pure otherworldly wonderment. Berlin based, British born Objekt has been at the forefront of the contemporary techno scene since early 2011 where he released the sporadically treacherous and innovative Objekt #1 EP. Shutting down premature opinions of an early peak, TJ Hertz followed this release with a tidy string of equally imposing singles, as well as a standout remix of SBTRKT's Wildfire.

Objekt began his performance by momentarily teasing the crowd with demonic drones and barely audible sub bass, before unleashing a set packed full of the relentless and ingenious techno that he has found himself so inseparable from. Scrimmaging through a lusty crate of vinyl, the crowd was served a goodie bag full of unreleased hard wax that have only seen the light of day through subpar YouTube rips, including the likes of Mosca and Randomer. Be ready for the highly anticipated Objekt #3 EP, which will be hitting shelves early next month.