Add N to X, The Social, Nottingham, Wed 9th Oct 2001

It's like an analogue museum in the Nottingham Social tonight. It can only mean one thing, that Add N to X have taken their sonic mean machine set up to the Midlands for a pre-Albert Hall session. I felt like a techno geek who had just ascended into monophonic heaven, but then a glance around revealed that the crowd were less than angelic. Add N to X appear to attract a combination of rockers, ravers and downright delinquents who could be into Gary Numan or Napalm Death, or some kind of sick hybrid.

Then the band appeared and made their way onto the electronically packed stage, having to climb over the amps and backline. There they were, Add N to X, the four avant-garde pioneers of British Electro-Core....or something like that!
The band itself is a strange cross section of society. There is a Jean Michel Jarre lookalike in a black shirt and white jacket, with my mums neck scarf draped around his throat. Then there is Ann, the amazing Ann, aaaahhh..... in her usual sports casual outfit. The Moog Rogue is manned by Add N to X's animal rights activist look-alike. The drummer is shielded from view behind the plethora of gadgets and gizmos.

Any preconceptions you may have of Add N to X are soon eliminated, as though a bass hungry sniper had picked them off in one perfect shot of decay. The raw bass and sine waves of the synths tear through the compact air space of the social venue. The only way I can adequately put across the atmosphere on the printed page is to quote the words that came into my head after the first few tracks:

"This could be the coolest band in the world!"

Add N to X could be Air's arrogant and irritated brother. They have all the charisma of their French counterparts, but they also have a bull dog spirit to their music that the French could probably never understand.

The set contains their darker & seedier tracks, mainly taken from their "Add Insult to Injury" album. "Brothel Charge" beats into your skull, "Poke 'Er 'Ole" makes your synapses tingle & "Kingdom of Shades" grabs you by the ears and smashes your head into a frenzy. The level of high end self indulgence and theramin tainted wavering is legendary....and for added 'mmmm' throw in some vocoder and lots of multi speed bleeping.

By the time the "Black Regent" is resurrected the audience is well and truly united, completely devoted to one thought:

N+X = "forget the world outside, lets jump around baby..."

Truly amazing....but then it is all over, and they have only been on for 45 minutes. Encore denied!

Oh well, they say that the best food may taste good, but it generally comes in small portions....off for a kebab a little earlier than expected I suppose.

Lee Fewkes