Pan Sonic has spent more than a decade reducing techno to its barest form, an austere landscape erupting with gut-rumbling beats and lacerating tones. On most of their early records Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen hijacked the bass-heavy thuds of old-school electro and the low-rent electronic squall of Suicide (even collaborating with Alan Vega on a pair of albums under the name VVV) and drove them deep into the red. But on their last release, 2004’s sprawling four-CD Kesto (Blast First/Mute), the duo largely strayed from dance structures and focused instead on creating a harrowing, amorphous sound world. The first two discs are more visceral and abrasive, while the final half has a starker, more drifting ambience, with brutal industrial overtones. The music is precise but never sterile–no one zeros in on the elusive grime and ghostly humanity in digitalia like Vainio and Vaisanen. This is Pan Sonic’s first Chicago gig since 1999. White/Light and Personal Trainer open. Wed 9/13, 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, 773-276-3600 or 866-468-3401, $12.
