Scratching the Surface

Drum-and-bass, more so than other genres of dance music, can swing like a pendulum from the melodic and ethereal to the absolutely dark, brutal and aggressive. Mark Caro, who operates under the name Technical Itch, has been pushing drum-and-bass toward the more menacing end of that spectrum since the mid-'90s. Working with the likes of Dieselboy, Decoder and Dylan as part of the Tech Itch Recordings label, Itch's aesthetic has more in common with metal than it does with the status-quo sounds produced by his drum-and-bass peers. His aggressive sonic blasts assault listeners rather than seducing them. Technical Itch will beat the faithful into submission this Thursday, December 23, in the basement of the Church.