Max Tundra @ The Middle East 5/8/09

If you could bring the Wacky Waving Incredible Arm Flailing Tube Man to life, he would probably be a lot like Max Tundra. The man looks like somebody's weird uncle mixed with David Cross, and acts pretty much the same except hopped up on some sort of hyperjuice. His instrument collection is a combination of hi-tech electronics and dollar store keyboard chatchkies, and he plays them all (at the same time). Max Tundra is 1 part The Books, 1 part Holy Fuck, and 3 parts speed.

Oh, and he's awesome.

On Friday night at the Middle East in Boston he warmed up the crowd like a savvy veteran, engaging in banter with the audience, bringing electronic music to the masses, and generally making a highly entertaining spectacle of himself. More than just a superficial gimmick, though, Tundra followed through with great music.

Highlighting the set was "Orphaned", a track off of his latest album Parallax Error Beheads You . On record the song struggles to find a cohesive structure, but in concert it killed. Also a highlight was "Which Song", a tune that Tundra stretched across a few minutes, showing off his timing and talent.

I was a fan but not an aficionado going into Friday's show. Now, I'll spend most of this week pouring through Max Tundra's back-catalog trying to capture the energy of his set.

Max Tundra - Orphaned (YSI) (filesavr)

Max Tundra - Which Song (YSI) (filesavr)

Architecture In Helsinki - Hold Music (Max Tundra Remix) (YSI) (filesavr)