Live Review: Tri-Angle Showcase with Balam Acab, oOoOO and Holy Other

Point Ephemère,  Paris – 10 / 02 / 2012

Balam Acab - Big Boy

Tri-Angle Records has charted a meteoric rise over the last year or so; from their beginnings with a few short EPs tentatively (or dismissively) described as ‘Witch House’ to their superb run of releases from late 2010-11, including efforts from White Noise favourites Balam Acab, Holy Other, How to Dress Well and Clam’s Casino. The label embodies a powerful and unique sound; ghostly and emotive, slow and dream-like, and even if you don’t love every release you’re unlikely to hear anything derivative or unoriginal. When I heard they were coming to Point FMR in Paris you can imagine that I bought my tickets straight away, and I wasn’t disappointed.

I’ve discussed before the difficulties of bringing heavily treated Electronic music to the stage; making a performance feel live while ensuring that it still sounds good and that the songs are at least recognisable. This is a tough task to get perfect, and the most important facet is to avoid the cardinal sin of just standing there pressing play on a laptop. These problems were thrown into sharp relief by the supremely lacklustre opening act (o F F Love, who actually sounds okay on record), who danced around embarrassingly to pre-recorded beats. The backing tracks themselves weren’t too bad, but his performance, in which he covered his face and inexplicably shrugged his jacket repeatedly off and back on his left shoulder, had no sense of immediacy or energy; the only live addition being his voice run through a series of different synthesisers. It was all rather ludicrous and not a particularly promising start to the night, but luckily the three following acts served as a comprehensive lesson on how to bring Electronic beats to life perfectly.

Balam Acab - Oh, Why

One of my very favourite artists, Balam Acab, was up first, and put on a fantastic show. The incredibly young-looking Alec Koone has clearly thought hard about how to bring his sounds to a live show and re-structured many of his songs to suit a gig, the most notable change being the introduction of a female vocalist to sing the ghostly samples in his recorded work. It was a great choice, mostly down to the beauty and strength of her voice, which brought a powerful energy to the opening run of Big Boy and See Birds (Sun). His synth-work lost some of its organic edge in being brought to the stage, sounding more treated and electronic, but Koone made this change work to his advantage, turning the aching melancholy of Await into a glittering dance affair with a surprising degree of success. It was a joy to actually be able to hear the lyrics to his tunes, especially when sung by such a spectacularly talented vocalist, but an element of Wander / Wonder’s darkness remained intact, particularly in the intense basslines of Expect which came next. His set was topped off with a mesmerising new song and a beautiful rendition of Oh, Why; one of a handful of songs where Koone added his own expressive voice to the mix. I’ve always thought the most important thing an artist can do in a live set is allow the spectators to lose themselves completely in the sound and forget everything else, and the only disappointment of Balam Acab’s set was how soon it was over. Thirty minutes just didn’t really feel like enough time given that he had top billing for the night.

oOoOO – Burnout Eyess

While waiting for the next act to come on there was the surprising treat of a genuinely good selection of music in between sets, I picked out How To Dress Well’s Ready For the World and Shlohmo’s remix of Burial’s Shell of Light while we were waiting. Before long oOoOO stepped up to the stage, with a big hood and his own female vocalist in tow. His set was very different from Balam Acab’s bright and wondrous sounds, forcing unusual noises from his machines and evoking emotions closer to disorientation and dread. A creepy black and white video ran behind the two as they worked silently through new material, moving fluidly from one song into the next. All oOoOO’s normal sounds were present; syrup-thick synths drenched in eerie reverb, sharp uneasy strings and ghostly female vocals swimming over the top. After a few new tracks including NoWayBack from his upcoming release, he returned to earlier material with his stunning debut EP highlight Burnout Eyess. For these more vocal-heavy tracks the singer came out from behind her synths and samplers to sing and dance in front of the crowd, but it didn’t really work for me. I thought music with such gravity and darkness as this would be better performed by artists who almost dislocate themselves from their sound, allowing the tunes to speak for themselves. Despite slightly distracting showmanship, the run through Hearts and Mumbai was great; dark bass stabs sounding magnificent on Point FMR’s soundsystem. After a couple of new tracks, including a very intriguing tune with a harsh Hip Hop vocal loop, the singer left the stage to leave oOoOO to close solo with Sedsumting. The final track really brought to the fore the darkened sensuality of his sound, and put a fantastic end to a powerful set.

Holy Other - Touch

The night was closed out by Holy Other, who entered masked and didn’t waste time with introductions. He immediately ran through a continuous and brilliant set of tunes ranging from dark, glitchy productions to brighter, more vocal-driven material. Unfortunately I’m not very familiar with his releases so can’t go into details on which songs he played, other than a surprisingly emotive performance of We Over and a mindblowingly sensuous rendition of Touch to close. In a way Holy Other was the most impressive artist on display, as he seemed to get everything about his performance right. His anonymity was enthralling and seemed very appropriate for his sound; as the last notes of Touch trailed off he turned and left the stage without so much as a nod. The trippy visuals behind him of rippling water and grainy manipulated footage of a hand subtly added to the experience rather than overstating any particular emotion or effect, and his set was absolutely breathtaking from start to finish. At the Tri-Angle showcase there was not one but three excellent gigs held back to back, and although the current European tour is over if you see them coming to a venue near you I could hardly recommend the night more highly.

Baths Live at Cargo Review - 3 May 2011

An artist who performs without any live instruments faces some obvious problems. In order for people to pay to see them in person, there has to be an immediacy and an energy to their performance. What is also required is a certain level of deviation from their recorded material during the set; the audience doesn't want to get the impression that they're watching an artist just pressing play on their laptop and perhaps occasionally moving the fader switch.

As soon as Baths started up his first track it became clear that this wouldn't be a problem. He opened with Apologetic Shoulderblades, the first track from his debut LP, Cerulean. And for the first thirty seconds or so the only instrument he used was his own voice. The melodic, straining vocals of his music can often play second fiddle to his hard, stuttering beats or any of the great effects and samples he implements on record, but throughout the performance his vocals really shone.

On a giant soundsystem and with a mid-sized but very energetic crowd his beats came hard and fast, throbbing through the smallish venue until a good half of the audience were dancing. (Some, however, only began to get their groove on after he took a time out to tell everyone “C'mon, I wanna see you dancing! Just get a little gay!”). He played through the majority of his only album, with crowd favourites being the expected best cuts Maximalist, Aminals (he asked us to get our claws out) and Hall.

Taking a cue from his excellent warm-up, Star Slinger, Baths added a lot of dancey layers and beats to his tracks, making the gig feel sometimes a little like an excellently DJ-ed club night. He also incorporated a fair amount of glitchy stutters and spine-tingling drops just to make sure everyone was moving by about halfway through the set.

A pleasant surprise was that a few of the tracks on the album that shone less brightly benefited enormously from this treatment, You're My Excuse to Travel being a real crowd pleaser as he bounced across the stage with infectious enthusiasm. In a recent interview he commented that although he was just one man, he liked to think he made the sound of a whole band, and he had more than enough presence to fill the stage.

He also played quite a lot of new material that was extremely different to his released tracks, with a much darker techno sound (A repeated line I managed to make out was “I won't let you bury your body in my graveyard”) that sounded like a promising direction for such a young talent to take. When he stepped off the stage at the end to chat to those left at the bar I asked him when he was planning a new release (after he gave me an enthusiastic, sweaty hug) and he said he was hoping to have something out by summer.

It was an energetic and thrilling gig that didn't once get boring, in fact there was an audible sound of disappointment from the crowd when he stopped- he could've gone on twice as long, and everyone would still be dancing.

A special mention should go out to Star Slinger, who was supporting but played for almost as long. His glitch-fueled beats and samples ranging from hip hop to 50s movies in true J Dilla style were completely enthralling, definitely one to watch out for and a superb performer.

5/5

Nicolas Jaar Live at Fabric Review – 30/03/2011

I've barely ever been in such an expectant crowd waiting for an artist. The dark, atmospheric room 1 of Fabric was visibly agitated by anticipation, and when Nicolas Jaar came on the room exploded with whistles and applause.

Jaar played a full length set without any interludes or pauses, it sounded more like a fully fledged DJ set and there was no clear indication where one song ended and the next began. The music itself was superb, but he didn't play that many recognisable tracks, the gig was more a wash of his sound stretched into an hour long piece that contorted and twisted back on itself with remarkable control. It was a little disappointing to not get more known material, but when he did slowly move into the glitchy beats of Variations, the dancey El Bandido or the fantastic encore of Space Is Only Noise If You Can See, the effect was powerful; crowd went wild and the new arrangements of the tracks were stellar.

Interestingly, Jaar chose to sit tweaking on his laptop whilst a live band played the majority of the music that he had arranged. A live band is not something frequently seen for an electronic artist, but it more than worked. The players were very skilled and each had their own moment to shine, the standout saxophonist receiving massive appreciation for his shrill, punctuating notes throughout the set.

For an artist who is at home DJing in clubs and has released a fair amount of more dancey tracks himself, the crowd was surprisingly and irritatingly static (at one point I was asked to stop swaying), and unfortunately this dampened the gig a fair amount as the music and atmosphere were begging to be moved to.

All in all, though, the music was never less than brilliant and there was a great air of being present at something unique and exciting. Jaar was happy to come down and chat with us after he'd finished packing up, and I'll definitely be looking out for him next time he's around. 

4/5

Sleigh Bells Live at Heaven Review – 14/2/2011

Stalking onstage to an ABBA track played at ear-splitting volume, Derek Miller doesn't look like he can possibly make as much sound as he does. He begins, firing out a hard, metal rhythm that isn't familiar, but just before it all gets too much Alexis Krauss swoops onto stage, yanks up the mic and starts singing the recognisable first melody to Treats' album opener Tell 'Em to a massive cheer. She looks sexy as hell and has an enormous stage presence, as Miller receded into the background she became the focal point for the whole gig.

Sleigh Bells music is pop that is distorted and played at terrifying volume, and it suited a live gig perfectly. The crowd were ready and willing to dance, all but the furthest back hurling themselves around in time to the music. They smashed through all the best cuts from their album, Run the Heart being especially fantastic with those drops at that volume, and Rill Rill providing glorious release from the intensity of the gig.

There was a vague question of how much of the music was actually being played onstage and how much was pre-recorded, but when you see them you realise that Krauss' voice and Miller's machine-gun guitar are Sleigh Bells' sound, and it's more than enough.

With a final rip round the glorious Crown On The Ground at ear-splitting volume Krauss launched herself into the crowd (I touched her arm!) before retreating back to the stage and bouncing off not long after they'd begun. The set was short and it would've been nice to hear some new material, but it was nevertheless fast, frenetic and satisfying, and that's exactly what you're looking for when you pay to see Sleigh Bells.

4/5

Primal Scream present Screamadelica live at the O2 Birmingham Review – 15/3/2011

Screamadelica is an album that defined a moment in time; the window in the early nineties where rave and acid house where coming into the mainstream (so mainstream, in fact, that they received the first ever Mercury Prize for this album, but they were too fucked to perform at the ceremony and lost the award on the way home). Primal Scream are not a particularly great band, but this album is phenomenal and has been a personal favourite of mine since I first heard it.

So when Bobby Gillespie finally leapt on stage looking like the junkie you'd always pictured him to be, just in a sharp suit, I went wild. He wasn't chatty and the band immediately launched into opener Movin' On Up and played through the whole album start to finish. The two Higher Than The Sun tracks on either side of the album were played as one symphonic stretch that was wonderful to behold, and the one-two punch of 'Loaded' and 'Come Together' had the whole crowd singing and dancing.

The sound had some issues; the percussion was turned up too loud and it drowned out the vocals on several of the more dancey tracks, and as everyone was dancing the slightly poor sequencing of so many slow songs in a row (as brilliant as Damaged and I'm Coming Down are) didn't make sense, the crowd just became a bit lost.

Added to this is the unfortunate factor of time. The band members aren't exactly young, and while there is still an energy to them, they didn't quite succeed in making their sound as fresh and subtle as it is on the album; partly the re-arrangement and partly the sound problems left some of the more interesting pieces musically such as Inner Flight and Slip Inside This House sounding too flat and rock-y.

Despite these problems, it was an energetic gig with an enthusiastic crowd and there were a few brilliant touches; the gospel singer came centre stage for her classic role on the great track Don't Fight It, Feel It and the visuals at the back were appropriately trippy, eyeballs morphing into spirals before our eyes. I went to this gig of course because I loved the music, but also to get a glimpse of a period of music history which has sadly now passed, and although it wasn't the best gig technically it was an absolutely unforgettable experience of a band who shaped part of music history.

3/5