Venetian Snares announce rare UK headline shows for autumn 2012

Venetian Snares

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Glitch, breakcore, drillstep, industrial, blitzstep, drum 'n' bass or any other derivative of low-end, high-pitched electronic have no doubt discovered a few or all the delights of Aaron Funk's back-catalogue, although they're unlikely to have heard any of his music being used in idents for BBC drama or Alan Titchmarsh's Jolly Gardening chat-show - he is a bit, 'niche'. Read 'niche' as imaginative, by the way.

A cursory scan of his album titles give little or no insight as to what lies beyond a record sleeve or CD case of his - 'Eat Sh*t and Die', his debut, merely hints at the Canadian producer's brain-tingling extremities, while 'Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972-2006' contains references to jungle, drum and bass and the sound of what could be chalk-quarries being blasted. Venetian Snares could flatten a town with some of his beats, suffice to say that Aaron does it loud and very heavy. Occasionally, he makes Aphex Twin's tougher moments sound like Miley Cyrus, but that's only when Aphex Twin isn't doing the same with Funk's lighter codas.

For the best part of a decade, Snares has released most of his catalogue on the forward-thinking Planet Mu label, none of which have crossed over and even if they had, you probably wouldn't be listening to one of his albums in the first place. His early experiments with ghetto-blasters and delay-pedals have progressed beyond merely pasting sound-chunks together and passing them through a blender - Funk's continued desire to make challenging music of no genre has kept him above (and apart) from other hopefuls. Take one listen to his latest EP 'Affectionate' and you'll hear just about every conceivable mainstream dance genre given a right royal shoe-ing - some of it's pretty, some of it's pug-ugly but all of it is rather emotional.

Venetian Snares will be hitting the UK during the autumn for a short string of shows that will include stops in Bristol on 18th September, Brighton on 24th and Manchester on the 25th. We have tickets available now, priced from £12.50 - a bargain for an unmissable master. Watch out for more shows when announced!

Paul Pledger