Emika at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (photos)

These were fantastic two weeks: we saw four of my favorite musicians live. Last was Emika, who recently released my pick of the best album in 2011. She is kind of the polar opposite to Grimes: both women use synthezisers and samplers to play their music solo on stage, but where Grimes is light-hearted, sunny, straight-forward and improvised, Emika's music is much darker, more intense and every frequency seems to be exactly where she wants it to be. 

She opened for Amon Tobin, who brought a truck-load full of equipment, including a battery of speakers, which benefitted her sound a lot: her signature bass was literally earth-shattering and when she deviated from her album for a Berlin-style piece of techno, you could feel the beat in your stomach.

After the show Elke and I enjoyed a chat with her. Emika, who currently lives in Berlin, speaks German very well and is a lovely and interesting person (just read one of the many interviews she gave during recent weeks). I hope she makes it to New York City again soon for an opportunity to play her full album in a more initimate setting.