Scene Report: Cyberpunk Disko 13 at Azøth – 5.16.26
Cyberpunk Disko 13 – Presented by Heterodox Records
Venue: Azøth – a warm refuge from the mundane, situated directly before the altar of the Grotto in Portland, Oregon
Date: 5.16.26
I’ve had a heavy dose of brain fog either from personal turmoil or due to long COVID residue from that nasty February 2025 infection – or maybe it was both. This particular bout of depersonalization was heavy enough for me to leave a Barn Radio show shortly after Production Unit Xero‘s dynamite set last Thursday. Nothing has improved in any clean, measurable way since then. The fog remains. And since this country offers no such thing as therapy urgent care, like with a little crisis booth where someone holds your hand and tells you that this rotten empire is making everyone sick, I’m doing the next best thing: watching a bunch of an electronic musicians play in a fucking dark pit near Skidmore St in Portland, Oregon. A practical medical choice, really. It’s Cyberpunk Disko 13.
As soon as I walked into Azøth, I was immediately greeted by DJ Public Access Archeologist‘s (aka Soup Purse) eclectic mix of records while Blaix was explaining the deeply modern ordeal of removing his music from Spotify – a process that apparently required several hours of surreal dialogue with a DistroKid AI chatbot. That’s cyberpunk as fuck, but not quite as cyberpunk as Wet Mango‘s outfit, which was in their words kind of a “lower level exosphere metropolis settlement street cyberpunk” outfit. And that’s when Quemal‘s music kicked in.
Quemal is unmistakable right now. I dare you to find someone doing cleaner sonic work right now than Quemal. He killed it at Live in the Depths 96 and he killed it tonight. His sets definitely give off Alien Dance Music vibes. Lots of liquid drums and hard fucking beats that feel slightly extraterrestrial. The consistency is ridiculous at this poin and I already want to see him play again. Check out of some his set below and make sure you see him play any chance you get.
Wait, is that “Dreamin'” by Will to Power? I guess I underestimated Public Access Archeologist’s record pile – that won’t happen again. Next up was heavy Micro Genre Music contributor Hex Wolves. Somewhere between the last ten minutes of Quemal’s set and the first fifteen minutes of Hex Wolves’ opening stretch, I drifted onto one of those Azøth couches buried deep in the recesses of time and space where no more than a corpse light flickers behind you. In the midst of the brain fog, my mind gelled into a brief and strange little pocket of bliss. The hearty beats filled the room and seemed to enter my lungs, and for a few minutes I slipped outside the machinery of myself. And for that brief moment, I was just not there.
But then we needed some air and a little bit of chicken so I left for a few minutes. When I got back, I was greeted with, “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” by Cherrelle, which was a welcome surprise and felt gloriously strange in Azøth. Part of me also knew that occurian1 might have needed a few minutes to set up his elaborate light apparatus, the same laser ritual previously witnessed at Live in the Depths 86, so I had time to get into trouble. I should have mentioned earlier that this is the release party of his new album omenist (check out the review) and at 14 minutes it’s a little infuriating how short it was, but with this show we got a nice, long set to showcase the album.
occurian has been through a lot this last couple of years. We all have. I feel like that’s what a lot of us have been missing when we go to these shows – we’re all going through it. A lot of people in these rooms are carrying some version of that heavy, psychic weight. And if you just listen, the art around us is speaking volumes. occurian’s work right now is top notch and words won’t really do his set any justice which is why there’s a video below of it so you can get an idea of what it’s like to bask in the glow of doom. If you do anything this week, listen to occurian’s new album.
The dread is kicking back in right as Axel Foley’s theme plays. That’s right – Axel Foley. Todd had unilaterally decided, in his infinite wisdom, that Azøth needed to hear the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. Maybe it was the main theme or maybe it was that sequel variation, “Drive to Bogomil’s.” Hard to say. My god the dread is back full force, absurdly synchronized with 1980s synth bravado, which felt about right for the evening. I feel like the only thing that can save us right now is … heading to the stage right now. It’s the Sons of Aeythr, baby. From the depths of some hidden portal, where love and magic bind themselves in a trembling covenant, the Sons of Aeythr emerge from another world – at the stroke of midnight no less. Just nothing but love and shattered drums resurrected into coiling spirits sifting through the darkness and old world melodies flashing through the smoke like ghost-light over a forgotten yesterday and a spoiled future. What more can you expect from Production Unit Xero and Enzo Caselnova? What a great way to end the evening. Check out some of their set below. We look forward to their three hour triple disc LP that will no doubt be coming in the next two months. Right?
What’s great about these kind of shows is that you walk in carrying shitty static, dread, doom, private grief, whatever strange debris the week has thrown into your nervous system, and the music gives it all a bit of relief. Maybe that’s the value of a night like this. The brain fog isn’t really fixed, it just has a soundtrack.
Great show.
- So I’ve been saying “Occurian” instead of “occurian” for going on a year now and now I feel bad. So for future reference, the man who has never seen Blade 2 or Passenger 57 is occurian. ↩︎
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