****
Electronic musician Martin Rev changed the course of music history with his band Suicide - the aggressive, minimalist two-piece he formed with singer Alan Vega in early 1970s New York.
The pair rejected the instruments most associated with the rock band format in favour of primitive drum machines, stripped-down keyboard riffs and pure attitude.
Vega's heroic intensity put him in collision with the band’s early audiences, who hated them, but in these crucibles of punk performance Suicide burned so intensely that their influence can now be heard in artists ranging from Sonic Youth to LCD Soundsystem and Bruce Spingsteen. Their inspiration continues to pulse through electronic music today.
Active until the end, Vega died in July this year. But Rev has continued to perform, having produced a diverse and significant set of solo albums during Suicide’s intermittent career.
His Brighton show was filled with unexpected musical turns and samples, with a DJ-like sense of good times in NYC pervading a thread that ran from doo-wop to disco via Michael Jackson, salsa and heavy rock.
Mashing his keyboard with one hand while grasping the mic with the other, Rev punctuated the beats with waves of white noise as if he was scratching records with unapproachable cool.
Challenging even the negativity of their name, Suicide had a restless, life-affirming power that Rev, approaching 70, embodies to this day.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article