Hard-Edged Industrial Sounds From Meat Beat Manifesto

Two compelling extremes of the techno music world--with two seemingly opposed visions--were showcased Friday at the Hollywood American Legion Hall. Headlining band Meat Beat Manifesto offered hard-edged industrial sounds with images of modern dystopian horrors, while opener Loop Guru presented trippy global fusion with a sunny, utopian one-world message.

Drums proved to be the link. On record, Meat Beat has over the course of a decade evolved from dark Anglo-hip-hop to the crafty sound manipulations of main man Jack Dangers, as heard on the new double CD “Subliminal Sandwich.� Live, though, the heart was the rich drumming of Lynn Farmer, ornamented by Dangers, guitar-sax player John Wilson and keyboardist Mike Powell with distorted, ghostly sounds--a challenging yet enticing performance.

With three of its five members playing percussion, colorful English group Loop Guru added new textures to the joyous collages of its recent album, “Amrita.� Islamic wails, Hindi chants and countless other cultural bits set to buoyant polyrhythms made a blend reminiscent of both Euro-hippie legends Gong and Can and contemporary world music eclecticists Dead Can Dance--a more immediate but no less impressive display.

Both acts brought the same reactions: nonstop dancing, maintained between acts by New York-based DJ Spooky. In this cultural realm, bleak paranoia and optimistic idealism are yin and yang, equally essential and equally embraced--as long as the beat’s strong.