Review: Sean Tyas & Simon Patterson – Night Vision at Exchange LA

Sean Tyas and Simon Patterson are known for their high BPM, supersaw intensive, monstrous floor-fillers. Their initiative? To resurrect the faded and forgotten notion of “rave” and throw down the trance tunes that are now long lost in the mix of the EDM new wave. Sound exploration and progression are still procured but there’s more so a staple toward the classic sound. It’s 11:30 P.M. on April 6th. It’s time to tear down the barricade of a house-infused warmup into something harder and stronger than metal. Tytanium perhaps? “Banshee.” Pitch down, decibels up and a high glow into the dark matter or pseudo-dance – garage. Raw leads, brash bass rifts and high tension draw into the chaotic, bouncy-house of the dance pit. The sounds are gritty, dark and are cupped with the shadows that barely remain in the scene. Old school meets new in which the crowd has craved for the lost memorizing touch that lingered off a few of years ago.

Flowing fingertip movements and a high decibel, bass-line oriented encounter represents Tyas’ edgy cadency. On this holiday, the crowd “reach[ed] out and touch[ed] faith” with their own “Personal Jesus.” Tyas then also “Kick[ed] Out This Epic Motherf**ker” and brang back the grime with infectious bass thumps. It’s skewered rough edged rim of a set only escalated further into a bassline fanatic presentation. Insomniac announced this event at LA Exchange only several days beforehand. It managed to draw a significant audience.

“[But the crowd] knows what is what. They don’t know what is what. They just strut, what the fuck?” A Tyas’ rework of Fatboy Slim versus Funkagenda that drove the few hundred followers mad. Electric sung string movements cocoon the path of destruction that Tyas laid out. “Believe” with Tyas in more than just the name but the act that a selective audience came to see but many admired.

Despite some tech problems to begin with, Patterson had no trouble continuing on Tyas’ session. He managed to “Level Up” rather quickly. That’s just the kind of awesome Patterson brings to his set. Patterson also brings in his notoriety with more cuts and bends a much softer sound. Melodic verses deceive many but the massive drops are still implemented into highly energetic breakdowns.

Later into the evening the crowd is overjoyed with the experience yet seem to lack momentum to dive in further. But the crowd is a group of champions – many of whom are at LA Exchange almost every Friday night for Insomniac’s trance events. So they “Hold Tight” onto Will Atkinson and say “So What” along with Patterson and continue with the high-paced emotion driven set. To keep everyone awake, Patterson “Smack[s]” them with the John Askew remix and makes them scream and shout with his absolutely immense “Latika.” His label Night Vision is surely represented here but it’s just the sound the people have come to hear and just go mental for. And when the night traveled toward 2:00 A.M. someone asked me, “Is it over yet?” I replied, “No. They’re playing back to back next.” Yes, indeed. They played another hour of raw, pulsing trance in which one could marvel at the privilege.

A majority of artists have changed with the scene and morphed their sound along with the waves. Tyas’ brought through screaming sirens of the nastiest proportions. Dropping basses out and bring new ones into high-strung subtleties of when psy-trance meets goa. Tyas and Patterson both spin to their own accolades and there comes a certain resonance that only this performance can allow. The two represent bold, raw and pulsing bass beats and progressive build-ups. Through their traditional sound, their respective labels (Tyas’ Tytanium Recordings and Patterson’s Night Vision) have created a loyal fan base that has helped orient their lasting career. So tuck away the commercial and input something of an illusive vibrancy that can’t be ignored. They don’t make them like this anymore.