Unsound's Return to Adelaide Was a Shining (and Blinding) Success

The Thebarton Theatre is in darkness. The only light comes from frantic formations of primary colours as patterns are lasered from the back of the venue. These are synchronised to sonic screams, buzzes, and waves. Blasts rumble through the floor and your body sending chatters up into your teeth. Australian A/V master Robin Fox welcomes us to Unsound with the world premiere of his show 'Euclidean Drone'.

After four widely acclaimed editions within the framework of the Adelaide Festival, this year Unsound operated as a stand alone event that continued to celebrate some of the best electronic music from noise, abrasive beats, and mutated techno.

Margaret Chardiet, aka Pharmakon, is legitimately terrifying. Her barrage of vocals and hardcore noise freezes the audience. The only movement comes from those readjusting earplugs when the volume becomes too painful. Jumping a barricade, Chardiet charges and passes through us, wrapping her mic cord around bystanders legs and yanking it out from underneath. It's a performance that is raw, piercing and unfiltered.

Additional highlights were the deeply evil collaborative performance by Berlin duo Amnesia Scanner and PAN label boss Bill Kouligas, Holly Herndon alongside Mat Dryhurst and Colin Self and the abrupt and gloriously ludicrous performance by Norwegian and Spanish experimental duo N.M.O.

During the club nights, Melbourne’s Corin stood out among the international heavyweights and at the very top was the technically and creatively profound Errorsmith who performed a heart chasing and wondrously bizarre live set mostly made of tracks from his latest game changing release Superlative Fatigue.

Photographer Sam Whiteside captured the sights of Unsound’s return to the Adelaide festival scene.