Since 1995, Belgian sibling duo Soulwax, aka Stephen and David Dewaele, have been redefining what it means to be an electronic music group. While they also perform celebrated DJ sets as 2manydjs, the genre-defying, experimental project known as Soulwax has made an art of confounding expectations and defying genre-rules since they came into being in '95 with the 2nd Handsome Blues EP. The debut Leave the Story Untold album followed in '96, and they never looked back.
At Hollywood's Fonda Theatre on a warm evening in September, Soulwax performed two sets on consecutive nights, and we were there for the first. The first thing that jumped out was the elaborate set-up; the stage looked like a scene from Star Trek--a mass of giant boards with huge knobs and dials.
The next thing you couldn't help but notice was the trio of drummers suspended above them, which serves to beef up the sound while proving aesthetically spectacular.
Soulwax didn't perform anything from the first two albums, but we did get four tracks form 2004's beloved Any Minute Now, including "E Talking," and a manic "I Love Techno." "Do You Want to Get Into Trouble?" from 2017's From Deewee was a set highlight, though the pair leaned heavily on material from last year's All Systems are Lying.
The crowd, a mix of old ravers and young, curious electro-heads, lapped it all up. Because, honestly, there really is nothing like a Soulwax show.
