Saturday 5 December 2015

Various Artists-Crossovers(2xCD) / 0.5 Releases (B16)





Crossovers alt cover photo a3555364212_16_zpsyczz56ek.jpg
 
Anyone reading diligently almost two years ago today will be familiar with the name of Ivan Antunovic, as I reviewed Issue V of his impeccable, inspiring and highly informative fanzine “Small Doses” back in November 2013. As I mentioned then, his energies are not just confined to the printed page but also musical endeavours, too, both in the form of his 0.5 imprint, which currently has forty-two releases by a host of artists listed on its Discogs page, and as a shape and guise-shifting musician himself who has clocked up countless releases over the last six years or so under names such as I/II, Iv/An, Split Personalities, Dissident and The Fall Guy. The list seems set to grow further, no doubt, as the man’s enthusiasm, bank of ideas and work ethic seem to know no bounds.
 

This November, though, has seen the release of one of his most ambitious projects thus far, “Crossovers”, a twenty-one track international compilation spread across two discs, a diverse yet unified collection of artists who huddle together, some more loosely than others, under the electronic / experimental umbrella, with the timely themes of migration, borders, communication and collaboration being at the heart of its ethos, and hence the title. As with anything Ivan produces, style and substance of the very highest order go hand-in-hand and, in this respect, “Crossovers”, in its multi-coloured sleeve which folds out to form a kind of triptych, or a book that works in two directions, one for each disc, is an absolute triumph of both aesthetics and function.

 
 photo Crossovers 2_zps0mywtgnb.jpg       photo Crossovers 1_zpser0q5d9q.jpg
 
 
The whole package is helped along by Philipp Hanich’s oil painting “I Lost My Heart To Varvara(2012) gracing one of the faces of the booklet, an arrestingly simple yet optically stimulating image which, whilst directly referencing the 1920s sportswear designs of Varvara Stepanova, also brings to mind Giacomo Balla’s Futurist Suit and the cabaret costumes of Tristan Tzara, all of which are highly apposite for an international collection with avant-garde leanings, such as the one we have here. A hand-numbered insert, for this is available only in a small dose of seventy copies rather than an unlimited supply, also features another of his works, “Bruch”, a mixed media piece from 2012, which shares its title with the nom de guerre under which he releases his solo musical outings, for he, too, I believe, is a polymath, a shape-shifter and collaborator, perfectly suited to this particular environment. Then, finally, before we get on to the audio content, Michael Giebl has to be mentioned as occupying a central position in proceedings, much as he appears to hold a pivotal, hub position in the seemingly thriving Viennese underground electronic music scene derzeit, his witty, thought-provoking liner notes and, I understand, ideas and encouragement during its inception and production also stamping his identity across the finished release.
 
 

 photo I Lost My Heart to Varvara_zpsam3zkqnb.jpg        photo Bruch_zpsc02mx1tx.jpg
 
So, now to Disc 1, which begins rather atmospherically with “Guess Who Is Here” by Insane Eyes, which is a steadily advancing instrumental, previously released on a 2012 album originating from Serbia. Both stately and ominous in equal measure, the sound reminds me a little of the palette employed at times by Depeche Mode during the mid-eighties but augmented by some haunting, not quite comprehensible vocals, like a kind of irrepressible entity progressing determinedly through the night, an image and sound over which the opening credits of some mysterious, suspenseful film could convincingly roll. In this respect, Michael Giebl’s sleeve notes echo my own sentiments entirely, as he describes it as “an eerie, orchestrated tune of Murnauesque fright-quality, taking us back to the early days of the magical medium of cinematography.” It’s certainly a perfect attention-grabbing opener for what’s to follow.
 
Which begins with “Kaffeetrinkengehen” by The Vague Faith, effectively another instrumental piece, which now brings some highly infectious, gently building electronic jitter-funk to the table, over which fragmented, conversational mutters do battle with occasional whistles of electronic feedback, evoking impressions of the social activity after which it is titled. This is an otherwise unreleased solo offering by David-Kim-Hermsdorf who is from Hamburg, hence the reference to Holger Hiller and Felix Kubin meeting for coffee in a bygone era prior to electronic communication in Michael’s liner appraisal. My only criticism is that it is frustratingly short at just two minutes and forty seconds. I’m left wanting another cup.

 
By contrast, Bildplatte who come next with “Hollow Day” definitely mean business in the song stakes, their foot-tapping, slightly warmer than ice-cold wave, repetitively sequenced groove, which also comes served with what sounds like bass, guitar and real drumming, proving to be an infectiously addictive early highlight of the compilation. The group combine something of the electronic urgency of DAF and their ilk, with traces of an early recording by The Cure, over the top of which an intensely arresting vocal element is provided by guesting voice Violet Candide whose delivery brings to mind Yoko Ono in its disregard for convention and seeming desperation to let those feelings out. Unless my hearing is failing me, love is like a cactus. This is the first of the Vienna contingent whose presence is so strongly felt across both discs.
 
Next, though, we’re back in the realm of the atmospheric instrumental with Cornelius Berkowitz’s “Lichtspielmusik” which, for me, on a first listen, began with the invisible drones and sirens of approaching bombers and duelling fighter planes, flashing across searchlights in the blackness of night, this combining with the title to maybe suggest something redolent of Albert Speer and “Triumph of the Will”, too. However, a little short of the two minute mark, everything changes and a kind of restrained minimal surf track which won’t quite let rip cuts in, a little like the hybrid offspring of Die Haut and Young Marble Giants. This is only temporary, though, as progressively rising, spooky sublayers soon win out, combining powerfully with some quite heavy and, at times, discordant profundity at the piano, therein belying the piece’s true intent as an extract from a soundtrack to be performed live to Carl Dreyer’s 1932 film “Vampyr”. With this in mind, we’re then perfectly positioned in the terror zone, a poetic nightmare of classical proportions with piano, theremin, strings and guitar being just some of the startling ingredients which blow around in a beautifully unsettling maelstrom by the time the piece passes the four and a half minute mark. Combined with the aforementioned visual element, this must make for quite an amazing multi-sensory experience. I’ve managed to find a video clip of this very phenomena, filmed in Vienna, one year ago almost to the day, this being the city out of which Cornelius Berkowitz works, I believe. Here's the link.
 
 
 
“Nightmare Carpet”, which follows, appears to be both the title of the song and the name of the artist and originates from a self-released cassette, date of conception unknown, although geographically it, apparently, comes from the city of Belgrade. The medium here is minimal, repetitive and darkly atmospheric, suggesting a feeling of being in a dank, subterranean cellar, perhaps, yet also possessed of subtle arabesques which circle and coil out of the mix and combine with a simple, recurring and haunting melody to provide a certain exoticism to the track which, for me, is a little reminiscent of an early Cabaret Voltaire piece. I like how Michael Giebl sums it all up so I’ll quote him verbatim before moving on: “Music to play in the dark. When you’re alone. Lying on a medieval rug. This audio piece is woven out of a nightmare of some unknown dreamer.” 
 
Zastranienie also come from the Serbian capital and their contribution “Ritual” unleashes its energy with immediate force, such that any ambient abstractions left lingering from the previous two pieces are blown instantly off the field by a fierce whip crack of a beat, powerful sequenced electronics, which have something of the slightly off-kilter stridency of Liaisons Dangereuses, and a vocal element which makes me think that this would make an ideal soundtrack for a 21st century remake of “The Omen”. It’s apparently plucked from the sessions for an, as yet, unreleased album and, undoubtedly, has the makings of a floor filler at your local EBM discotheque any day soon.
 
My goodness, we switch territories most deliciously on this disc, as Kimekai whose “Sunland”, which follows, goes in for something a lot less intense, more light-infused and pop-inclined, the song’s title going a long way to describe the sonic components on offer. Synths shimmer and glisten and there’s a watery, natural element to it on which all the other ingredients, both dreamy and alert at once, seem to float downstream in a glow of absolute well-being. It has something of the positivity, hyper-magnification and brilliance I get from parts of Pyrolator’s “Wunderland” album, although sounding only slightly like it, whilst there is also something of the tranquil perfection of a Japanese zen garden to it, as well. Kimekai is the work of a twenty-two year old Croatian producer by the name of Marko Vuković, my research tells me.
 
With “Azinth” by Farbfelde, we’re back in the realms of the contemplative and abstract, again, the name of the artist going a long way towards describing what it represents, as increasingly intensifying tones of sound wash over and around one another or pulse repeatedly and reassuringly from a foundation depth, almost as though a painting by Mark Rothko or Barnett Newman has been temporarily granted a sonic dimension with which to express itself. Fans of people like Spectrum or Land Observations will find a lot to enjoy in this one and it is a very nice place, indeed, in which to find oneself located for just over four and a half minutes, a mandarine Traum. Their Soundcloud page describes them as Berlin School Kosmische Musik from Vienna, unsurprisingly.
 
Now comes the first of a small British contingent on the compilation, as “We’ll Kill Your Reason” by This is the Bridge, which originally appeared on a digital album called “Blood Runs Cold”, released earlier this year, is described as both a solo and collaborative project from Liverpool and London. It also marks the first sonic contribution on offer by Ivan Antunovic, too, as the track appears here in the form of a “Protest Mix” credited to Iv/An. In so doing, it makes me think of what Vice Versa might have sounded like were they still around today rather than changing direction so radically three and a half decades ago. The timbre is strictly electronic, metallically and acidically so, I would say, their combined intentions seemingly straddling both avant-garde leanings and a pop structure and sensibility. I love it, as it also takes me back a little to the livelier aspects of Fad Gadget’s “Under The Flag” album, both in the tones with which it is painted and the insistent groove which propels it along.
 
The first disc then closes with an old friend, Soft Riot, who appears here with a “First Version” of “You Never Know What Might Come Next” from the album of the same title, which I reviewed ever so recently below so I won’t say anything more about it here, except that it sits perfectly in this context and is another of the many highlights herein to be found.
 
Disc 2 kicks off with “Work and Velocity” by Crystal Soda Cream,  who are a trio, Philipp Forthuber, Theresa Adamski and Sebastian Ploier, and one of an impressive roster of artists clustered around the Totally Wired label in Vienna. They released their debut album proper in 2013, although this track is a remixed version of one which will appear on the follow-up, which is still forthcoming and, in it, although electronic elements feature, guitars dominate, sounding very familiar, as though from a dawn of the eighties Banshees album or the Cocteau Twins’ “Head Over Heals”. The vocals are male, though, and sound similar to Robert Smith to these ears, both in terms of the voice itself and the rhythm of the delivery. 
 
Next it’s the turn of Nöi Kabát with “Industry”, this being one of the sides of their debut and, to date, only vinyl release from a couple of years ago (see my entry from October 2013 for more details), although here it’s in the form of a subsequent “Sense and Understanding” remix by In Death It Ends. To this particular end, it’s been raved-up quite considerably and given that unmistakable Northern European sound which is both martial and commanding on the one-hand but achingly melancholy and cold on the other. Picture one of those old factories in Germany which get reappropriated as nightclubs for a while, until the authorities or real estate companies move in with a more bland, bourgeois agenda, blue and white lighting, swathes of dry ice, a metallic interior and several hundred revellers and you’ll probably get where I’m coming from. It’s brilliant! Rumour has it that this is an apéritif for something more substantial just round the corner, but I’m not one to gossip so shall say no more under these circumstances.
 
As we have come to expect from this compilation, “Kapusta” by Mo-Du then changes the mood most dramatically, back to something more serene and microscopic, after the gargantuan, stentorian statement which precedes it. This is the work of Jan Jiskra from Prague, who normally trades under the name of Moduretik and has been making music he describes as synthwave, minimal synth, darkwave and ambient since 2001. “Kapusta”, without a doubt, fits into the latter category and is described by Michael as an “otherworldly audio guide to outer space” and there is certainly a sense of floating freely or being propelled gently through something anti-gravitational when you listen to this one.
The gentle respite doesn’t last long, however, as Laker Herzog instantly reset the pace and intensity dials a few notches with their track “Driven To Silence”. Apparently, they use analogue equipment to make bedroom synthpop in Argentina, and sound very European in so doing, maybe because Iv/An is back at the mixing desk, having given this one a makeover in Zagreb prior to its inclusion here. As a consequence, it definitely would not sound out of place on one of those minimal / synth / wave compilations which have become increasingly popular over the years, and is rather typical of a genre which owes rather a lot to the likes of early Depeche Mode and their ilk. This is no bad thing, though, and I love it, especially the stinging beat, which sounds like electrowhips or gobbets of acid rain lashing against a window pane. Without a doubt, it’s one of the compilation’s poppier moments yet is still possessed of an uneasy tension which is a common, unifying thread running through many of the tracks on offer.
 
"Homage à F" by 1410, which follows, is another more atmospheric soundscape piece, an unreleased track by Mladen Đikić, who more normally records under the name NoName NoFame. He’s from Split in Croatia and the influence of his coastal location is possibly in evidence here, as there’s a sense of contemplating something quite expansive and unending when listening to this one. There’s not a beat to be heard, just bands of layered sound, some metallic and fizzling, others more expansive and filmic, like the soundtrack to some light-saturated, semi-abstract super 8 in which vague elements turn slowly in bright, glistening sunshine.
 
Microslav’s contribution, “Labin” occupies similar territory to 1410 and is, by far, the longest piece in the set at just over 10 minutes. In fact, even at that, it’s only a one-track recording excerpted from a longer live improvisation. His Soundcloud page describes him as a man with a computer and, in the liner notes for this compilation, Michael Giebl expands on this when describing the track as follows: “Modular analogue sequences from the synthesizer maniac of Zagreb who supposedly provides electronic equipment from his enormous collection to all the kids who fancy twisting some nobs.” I’m guessing that quite a number of prime examples from his arsenal got dusted down for this gently-building, multi-toned instrumental which has something miraculously evolutionary about it, whilst also putting me in mind of the intricate diligence going on inside a colony of insects. Like the toxic bite from just such a creature, it gets under your skin and gradually begins to seep into something hypnotic and slightly destabilising. I would guess that some people would describe it as noodling and, certainly, were the piece played on guitars I’m sure that it would be most revolting. However, here it works beautifully.
 
After a short intermission, sequenced rhythms, a succession of bleeps which pass by with the relentless rapidity of an express train, hissing beats and electric handclaps run amok in Position A’s “In Your House”. It’s squelchy and acidic and has a vocal element, too, slightly vacant and providing variations of phrases centred on the key concept of the title. Aside from this, Position A is a bit of a mystery. The track was recorded specially for the compilation and appears to be their only available output.
 
Next is the track which, for me, stands at the core of this compilation and as the greatest embodiment of its ethos of crossovers, collaboration and deliberately unstable identities, as “Panic Room, My Heart” is the product of the meeting of minds who are Ho/Pe + Iv/An. I’ve already said quite a lot about Ivan, who is here credited for synthetics and production, and anybody with a slightly more than vague appreciation for this kind of thing should be familiar with the name of Peter Hope, who provides vocals and lyrics, due to a back catalogue which stretches over three decades and is a seemingly endless pot-pourri of pseudonyms, collaborations and contributions to group projects, the most celebrated of which, I suppose, were post-Clock DVA almost pop stars The Box, as well as his intermittent crossovers with members of Cabaret Voltaire over the years. As Michael writes, “generations merge and energies multiply” and there is definitely a potency and intensity which results from this blend, as Ivan’s repetitively stabbing backing, with beats that sound like the clashing of swords, perfectly off-sets the vocal declarations about a suffocating, panic room and calls to “turn out my light, shut off my air”. I’m almost certain that this is a one-off joint venture but it would be nice to think that there are, at least, one or two other pieces from this association floating about for future consumption.
 
 
The polymorphism thread continues into the penultimate track, too, which is an untitled instrumental piece recorded specially for the compilation by Narg. This is the work of Florian Tremmel from Vienna whose solo outings are more normally released under the name Gran, unless he is collaborating with Philipp Hanich, of course, in which case it’s Bruchgran and, in so doing, he seems to be a figure seemingly at the centre of a lot of what goes on at Totally Wired Records. What’s on offer here is a highly purposeful, driving, electronic piece, possessed of much majesty and magnificence en route. It sounds a bit like a less chaotic variant of Add N to (X) and is another of the highlights of the compilation for me.
 
And so proceedings now end with “My Night Out Was Great Fun” by Dot Dash, which was written and produced specially for the compilation and is a title both valedictory and celebratory and, therefore, wholly appropriate to draw these proceedings to a close, as is the fact that this four piece feature both Florian Tremmel and Philipp Hanich amongst their line-up and so, therefore, it seems attitudinally suited to this role, too.  Although there is a garage-y feel here, with distorted vocals repeating the title and nothing else over and over and a slightly trashy guitars and drumming backing, I would say that this feels less ramshackle than much of their usual output and it takes me back a little to the wonderful days of the shamefully forgotten and underrated Echoboy who could be relied upon to come up trumps over and again, yet with such little reward. Unsurprisingly, Dot Dash are from Vienna and already have a couple of albums under their belt, released through Totally Wired. Here’ one of their videos with which to finish.
 
 

All that now remains to be said is that, provided you are a little possessed of a certain proclivity in the first place, there’s a bit of something for everybody here, and a whole lot more besides. I think you should get yourself a copy now, before you regret it. Es kostet 20 Euros, which is a snip for twenty-one tracks, two discs and the package itself, and it can be purchased from the web address below. Congratulations, by the way, to Ivan and all who sail with him.
 

Sunday 20 September 2015

Soft Riot-You Never Know What Might Come Next

 photo Soft Riot cover_zps66aazvyo.jpg
 
 
Soft Riot (a.k.a. JJD / a.k.a Jack Duckworth / Canadian born but living in the U.K.) last appeared on here about three years ago, when I reviewed his cassette album “Hyperbolic Masses” and, as predicted back in 2012, since then, things have come on apace. He’s released three more albums on an annual basis (well, one of these was essentially a reissue of the cassette and another also featured earlier outings), played out live with some degree of regularity and relocated to Sheffield, with its rich heritage of intelligent electronic journeying to which he now contributes. This month also sees the release of his new collection “You Never Know What Might Come Next”, which represents quite a momentous step forward, in my view, and is released as a vinyl album on the EXBTN label from France, a download and a strictly limited (50 copies) CD package, with four bonus tracks, available for the not-too-distant future from www.softriot.com. I received a version of the latter in the post recently and to say that I’m mightily impressed would be rather an understatement.
 
Before I offer any of my own observations, like last time, I’ll crib a little from the website and press release which accompanied the CD in order to set the tone:

“Soft Riot, coming from a more punk rock pedigree, often places more focus than the norm on his lyrical content, bringing in detailed pictures and sometimes even linear narrative storylines to subjects such as modern living, technology, surveillance, environment, overpopulation, enlightenment, life elsewhere, forewarning about catastrophic events, vain people in gyms, and not having enough time. The influences come less from other musical artists but more from written fiction and film – a future predicted by fiction.”

“You Never Know What Might Come Next”…further develops and fine-tunes Soft Riot’s evolving minimal, atmospheric sound that started gaining momentum on the 2013 full-length “Fiction Prediction.”
 
“The very title – “You Never Know What Might Come Next” is as threatening a warning, as it is a hint of a pleasant surprise; it raises questions, it makes you wonder, thus it’s succeeded in its mission to make you, the listener, a great part of it…”
 
Despite the disquieting uncertainty of the title and sleeve imagery - JJD on the front cover looking as though he’s standing atop a barren globe, a looming gaseous cloud behind him, his head full of skyscrapers, an over-crowded cityscape and densely populated space, all seen through his sculpted black hair, as well as an expression of not knowing where to turn next; the inlay booklet featuring him posed in a cheerlessly pensive gesture of irresolution before a table on which various instruments of divination rest impotently around the question of “What Might Come Next?” – this album, for me, stands out quite markedly from anything Soft Riot has released previously, due to it feeling a lot less claustrophobic and, to a large extent, lacking the menace and over-riding tension to be found on previous outings such as “Fiction Prediction” and “No Longer Stranger”, and that’s even with the inclusion of titles like “A Scene From A Dark Beach”, “You Are A Caged Dancer”, “We Are The Chopped” and “There Is Some Great Evil Out There”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from being laugh-along sunshine pop but there feels to be a bit more optimism and more of the wry amusement of a satirist at work than we’ve been accustomed to before. It’s also chock-full of often oblique and short-lived moments of catchy melody and, once listened to a handful of times (it’s been said before elsewhere that Jack’s music benefits from multiple plays to decode its initially baffling layers), infectious singalong qualities surface which I’d not previously encountered to such an extent on previous Soft Riot productions where the groove has seemed more like a pulse, the landscape been more bleakly filmic and the voice often a hesitant whisper (or absent altogether). All the familiar ingredients are still here, though, and you can never become too comfortable and relax into any one of the tracks’ direction or momentum; JJD is always on hand to cleverly upset expectations, subverting, collapsing and carefully rebuilding vaguely familiar pop structures throughout. As a consequence, “You Never Know What Might Come Next” has a magnetic quality I would maybe define as ‘perkily portentous’ and is, for me, somewhat reminiscent in this respect of our dear, departed Fad, particularly during his “Incontinent” days.
 
 photo Soft Riot inner sleeve_zps1w0t6dat.jpg
 
So, to some of the music which lies herein, every track a gem, I promise you. Proceedings start extremely well with “For Your Entertainment”, its title a nod maybe to another song from the Steel City of yesteryear and presenting a bemused and alienated glance across a landscape of anguished singers on TV, payday loans, erotic moans, mobile communication and, ultimately, tombstones, a world into which everybody can escape and is a potential participant, and the tone is instantly set for much of what follows. I mentioned a particular Fad Gadget album before and it’s with this track that songs like “Blind Eyes” and “Swallow It” would make particularly suitable bed fellows. Meanwhile, behind this imagery, the bass line plods and thuds along, stabs and sparks of synthetic sound pierce and spiral through proceedings, a melody builds steadily before repeatedly turning back in on itself and reforming and then, about a minute from the end, an instrumental passage, both triumphant and ominous, breaks forth and carries us towards track two in a style which encapsulates in a short musical space what the album is trying to achieve overall. It’s as infectious as anything and what our friends in Germany might refer to as an ear worm, boring itself into the long-term memory and refusing to be dislodged. Next comes the album’s title track which is equally bewitching in its appeal and mightily impressive in its neat complexity and, rather than write about it and seeing as Jack has made a video for it, I’ll let readers experience its merits for themselves. Keep watching after it finishes, by the way, for an advertisement for the collection as a whole and in which you’ll get a brief taster of all that I write about here. Sit back and enjoy the next few minutes: here, right now, for your entertainment!
 

 
Track three, “There Is Some Great Evil Out There”, has the pace and urgency of a car chase, cascading and twisting like an interminable, out-of-control fairground ride from which there’s no release. It’s one of the album’s more narrative pieces, like a short film of high intensity, in which the heroine races through oblivious zombie-like commuters and confusing signs, drawn towards the city centre where she confronts the personification of what’s implied in the title and, seemingly, at the core of modern living. It’s mysterious and inconclusive but, bleak and hopeless as it may sound, carries forth the ambiguous optimism which is woven through track after track on offer here, its chorus (of sorts) repeating the same message several times over, “When it brings you down, it’s tough to get up but you do it anyway,” before the brakes are slammed on suddenly and it’s time to move on.
 
Don’t worry, I’m not going to be so tedious as to describe all twelve tracks but I will draw your attention to another couple of highlights before packing up, although, as I have already said, each one is a jewel in its own right and worthy of attention. “Your Back To The Stone” offers a similar alternative of resilience over world-weariness to much of what’s gone before and, musically, reminds me of The Human League at their very best with its solid beat, rich, deep vocal timbre, clear verse-chorus structure, passages of arpeggio-driven dynamism and gorgeous hooks and underlying chords. If I had to pick a favourite this is a definite contender, alongside “There Is Some Great Evil Out There”, although really this accolade switches between one track and another with repeated listens to the collection as a whole, such as “You Are A Caged Dancer”, another of the album’s more lively components and coming on instantly a bit like DAF in their more plinking moments or cut from the same musical cloth which underlies much of Depeche Mode’s “Construction Time Again”. Despite its title and the environment of “streets so frightful and crowds unbearable”, it bounces along most pleasingly and, in my view, the lines which conclude its chorus – “Like a great romantic, an idyllic vision in miles of decay” – could stand as an epithet for the entire album and JJD’s current double-edged vision encapsulated.
JJD/Soft Riot’s singular talent, confidence and ambition continues to grow quite staggeringly and in “You Never Know What Might Come Next” he has produced an album I have listened to almost exclusively and repeatedly since it first arrived a fortnight ago and which, on each new play, throws up something new and unexpected as it also settles into the psyche like an old, familiar and much cherished friend. At the risk of sounding cheesy, in terms of planet Soft Riot, I can only see the big question mark which hangs over current proceedings being resolved by even greater things to come, as I’m sure this trajectory is far from spent yet.
Soft Riot will be playing as part of the annual Sensoria Festival in Sheffield on Saturday 3rd October, there’s talk of a small UK tour being planned for later in the autumn, hopefully on a bill shared with Hausfrau and Nöi Kabát, and there’s to be a foray into continental towards the close of the year, too, I believe. I had the pleasure of seeing Jack’s one man, multi-synth, lightshow extravaganza in Newcastle a year or so ago and it comes strongly recommended. I’ll leave you with a rather crap photograph I took on my rather unsophisticated telephone that night. Squint and you might work it out.
 photo Soft Riot Newcastle 240114 c_zpshgin78wb.jpg

Sunday 31 May 2015

Eric Random: 30th May 2015, Bede's World, Jarrow

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Eric Random played a rare and rather intimate live gig at the Bede's World Centre in Jarrow, near Newcastle, last night and, having missed the one he did last year at Manchester's Band on the Wall with Wrangler, I was keen to go along. He didn't disappoint in the slightest, either, as he was utterly superb.   

  photo Eric Random Jarrow Bedes World 300515 g_zpscwlfjol2.jpg 

Performing a lively, purely electronic and, for the most part, quite beaty and mainly instrumental set, with the addition of some vocoded and non-vocoded vocals in places, the key elements of the Random sound were still in evidence, the repetitive, circling electro-psychedelic layers and textures, magnetic and engaging, yet also slightly destabilising and unnerving, but given a thirty-five year update...and it sounded brilliant. 

  photo Eric Random Jarrow Bedes World 300515 f_zpslzrypd5l.jpg

He was joined for his final number, on the slightly raised circular stage, in a small, white rotunda area of the museum, by Jez Kerr of A Certain Ratio, who supplied some quite abstract slabs of bass guitar to what Mr. Ramsden was by this point conjuring forth from his various pieces of equipment. Apparently, it was their first live collaboration since the legendary Certain Random Cabaret performance at The Beach Club in Manchester in 1980.

  photo Eric Random and Jez Kerr Jarrow Bedes World 300515 b_zpseqti3qal.jpg

Despite the lack of bodies present, there was no shortage of photographs taken and here's a small selection of mine to add to the pile.

 photo Eric Random Jarrow Bedes World 300515 i_zpsrebuxhei.jpg


 photo Eric Random Jarrow Bedes World 300515 h_zps8sugotmn.jpg

I should also mention that "the crowd" were warmed-up by Quarterlight (a.k.a. Gary Chaplin) who performed a short but equally enjoyable electronic set, a departure from the norm for him, I'm told, which included a slightly smothered, subtle cover of Sheila B. Devotion's "Spacer". A little bird told me, too, that it was the first time he and Eric Random had been in the same room since an event nearly thirty eight years ago to the day, when the former was playing guitar with Penetration at the Electric Circus in Manchester, on a bill which was topped by Buzzcocks and also featured The Stiff Kittens, who changed their name to Warsaw on the night, I believe, before changing it again some time later to Joy Division, this being their debut public performance. 

  photo Gary Chaplin Quarterlight Jarrow Bedes World 300515 a_zps5t9uku69.jpg 

It was a fantastic, highly memorable and, even historic, night. Well done to those people who stuck their neck out and organised it, even though they probably ended up sorely out of pocket, as a consequence.