The Gaslamp Killer. Murdering dance floors worldwide.
Ever since I discovered SoundCloud, much of the content for this site has been developed against a backdrop of down beats, electronica, ambient and other weird and wonderful music.
And it doesn’t get much more weird and wonderful than Los Angeles-based beatsmith and DJ, William Benjamin Bensussen a.k.a. the Gaslamp Killer, who plays the Escape Club next Saturday. Rarely has a DJ been attributed with so many adjectives – though many converge around ‘wild, dangerous and brilliant.’ His debut EP, appropriately titled My Troubled Mind, has been described as ‘haunted, cinematic music that unhinges the listener, approaching a surreal dissociation and restoration of the self’.
What is a cert is that the Gaslamp killer is murdering dance floors across the globe with a restless cocktail of dubstep, trip-hop, hip-hop, freak psychedelia, funk, jazz and everything in between. There is really nothing very conventional about this man. What really differentiates him from other DJs is an extensive knowledge of psychedelic rock, demonic bass-heavy Hip-Hop, Middle-Eastern/ Indian rare grooves, and ear-piercing helicopter breaks. The freak-out energy he generates through crowds has become a trade mark of his sets around the world.
Venue: the Escape Club in St. George’s bay. Doors open on Saturday at 10pm. Tickets at Euros 14 each can be reserved via email to pinkpube1@yahoo.com or just show up at the door. The evening includes sets from local DJs Danjeli (Live), Owen Jay, A.I. Big Dog Foundation, Synthact and Ezzy. Expect the Gaslamp Killer behind the decks around 1am.
And here is a taster of what you can expect next Saturday. Prepare to move out of your comfort zone.
The Gaslamp Killer, Live @ The Drake, Sept 13 2009. Toronto. from mymanhenri on Vimeo.