en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal The Last.fm journal for citrusmantis. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/10/09/27nxs7_max_tundra_%40_lso_st_luke%27s%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_051008 Thu, 9 Oct 2008 17:50:10 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/10/09/27nxs7_max_tundra_%40_lso_st_luke%27s%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_051008 Sun 5 Oct – Domino Crystal Anniversary

I've now seen Ben Jacobs aka Max Tundra live 3 times and DJing once. He's really good. On Saturday he was the first act on in the odd St Lukes venue - a converted church filled with misty dry ice and bathed in the multicoloured glow of many, many spotlights. It reminded me a little bit of what Ministry of Sound looked like when I went to see Steve Bug play there...

Max's new album is called Parallax Error Beheads You and Sunday's set featured many of the new songs, although there were a few oldies. He kicked off with Fuerte from Mastered By Guy At The Exchange before launching into an array of hits, including new single Will Get Fooled Again, the stupidly catchy Which Song (including the line: 'this jumper was bought for 20p, the trousers and shirt were thrown in free') and also an impossibly fast rendition of Lights.

There were a couple of covers and some AMAZING dancing, at which points it seemed the music was emanating not from the banks of machines and instruments surrounding Max, but from his ACTUAL BODY ITSELF. He also had a kitten t-shirt which got some loving care and attention halfway through a track. Max is an amazing performer.

The finale was Until We Die, introduced with the line: 'I only have time for one more...luckily for you it's 11 minutes long!' And yes, lucky, because it's one of the best 11 minutes of music you're ever likely to hear. Stunning drum fills, Prince-like come-ons (although obviously filtered through Max's special brand of charm), apocalyptic imagery, manic time signatures and joyous lines about rubik's cubes, fake tan, Pale Saints and more.

Parallax Error Beheads You is out on 20th October in the UK and later in the US. Get it!

Juana Molina came on afterwards and really surprised me with a wonderful set of looped guitar, vocals, live drums and really unusual time signatures. I hadn't really listened to her on CD much, but live her performance was totally bewitching. I'd like to hear her new album Un Día for sure.

Finally, if you do see something on at St Luke's that you think looks good then I highly recommend it as a venue - it felt like a real occasion rather than just a sit-down-and-stew kind of event. Nice place.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/10/06/27gyaq_prosumer_%40_s%C3%BCd_electronic%27s_8th_birthday%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_041008 Mon, 6 Oct 2008 16:35:46 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/10/06/27gyaq_prosumer_%40_s%C3%BCd_electronic%27s_8th_birthday%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_041008 Sat 4 Oct – Süd Electronic's 8th Birthday With Prosumer & Scott Ferguson

What can I say about Prosumer? This is the third time I've seen him (read about the first two here and here) and I'm still as baffled as ever at how good he is. I place him and Ricardo Villalobos on a different plane from everyone else. They have everything.

When we arrived last night Scott Ferguson was playing something really quite terrifying, making the entrance doors to the venue rattle in their frames and generally freaking me out. We'd had a long journey to get there and I was a bit apprehensive. Luckily the venue - a room at the back of BG's pub - was lovely, with ceiling fans (AMAZING!), cloud cut-outs, projections, a garden and, best of all, a well set-up Funktion One system.

Prosumer came on at 4am and I spent the next 2 hours dancing, only stopping every now and then to stare in disbelief at the speakers or to talk rabidly at whoever was around me about how great he is. I complimented a man on his jacket, I shook the tiredness out of my legs, I danced danced danced danced... I think I recognised about two tracks but I want all of the records he played. Every single one.

He's constantly surprising, always in control, rough then smooth then sexy...he plays full body music, for your ankles, shoulders, hips, head, heart...I'm going to stop trying to describe it, just go and see him whenever you can. If you're in London, the next chance will be an extra-special one when he plays live in November. Watching him sing along to records last night was just amazing...seeing him sing his OWN records will be...yeah.

(PS I convinced myself last night that at one point he mixed in a recording of an airraid siren just, you know, because he could. Was anyone there who can tell me I was imagining it? Because if I wasn't then it literally blows my mind.)]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/10/05/27e31z_sancho_panza_%40_the_moon_ship%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_041008 Sun, 5 Oct 2008 12:30:30 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/10/05/27e31z_sancho_panza_%40_the_moon_ship%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_041008 Sat 4 Oct – The Moon Ship

Sancho Panza had by far the best tent at this year's Glade Festival, decked out with fish stencils and seaweed and playing some of the best aquatech going.

This party was on a boat.

6 hours on a boat probably sounds like a long time and, in the event, it was a little bit too long. We went from Tower Pier to Westminster to a laptop set of disco and funk, before heading back far, far East - past the Thames barrier and beyond. We split our time between the dancefloor downstairs, the chill-out area on the first floor and the chilly-outside area on deck. It was fun for the most part and Jimmy K-Tel (I think it was him) played some great tunes including Everybody's Talkin'. He's really my favourite, focussing on satisfying basslines, a bit of old school jack and plenty of momentum.

Unfortunately the last DJ (who I didn't actually clap eyes on because by that point the dancefloor was overcrowded) played some really dodgy electro-y things which offended my ears a bit. Shame, but then again it was only one part of the evening. It was odd being one of the youngest people there, but actually quite refreshing. I was glad to get off the boat in the end, though, as the indie/dance thing took over and my patience waned (like the moon! hah!)

Thanks to Sancho Panza for a good party - on a BOAT! - but it wasn't really a patch on the amazing tent at Glade.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/10/05/27dzns_soundstream_%40_east_village%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_031008 Sun, 5 Oct 2008 11:42:47 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/10/05/27dzns_soundstream_%40_east_village%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_031008 Fri 3 Oct – Soundstream

The last time I went out was to see Soundstream supporting Âme and Dixon at Fabric. I've written about that here - the main gist of which is that Soundstream was by far the best thing going that night, his hour-long liveset really sounding fun and unique.

On Friday night he played a similar set, only this time it was coming through a seriously overdriven soundsystem at East Village. I've enjoyed the sound there before, but this time it was FAR TOO LOUD and even with earplugs I thought my ears would be fucked. It was actually the first time I've tried wearing earplugs properly on a night out, prompted by advice from Ewan Pearson and also the general level of complaint from my ears following recent misadventures under railway arches. Of course cheap earplugs do filter out a lot of the definition of higher frequencies, but frankly I really don't mind if it means I'm not already completely deaf by 2am on a Friday night. Next time, East Village/Soundstream, please TURN IT DOWN.

As Soundstream played the room got less and less busy and it was only when they turned it down for the residents afterwards that the room filled up again. I enjoyed what Stuart Patterson was playing, but by 3.30am it was getting late and an executive decision was made to go home: we may have had the small matter of a few more parties to attend this weekend...]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/09/03/259r6t_kelley_polar_%40_ica%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_020908 Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:17:33 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/09/03/259r6t_kelley_polar_%40_ica%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_020908 Tue 2 Sep – Kelley Polar, Grovesnor, Glockenspiel

Grovesnor was one man with a guitar and a keyboard, playing with another man wearing braces and playing synths/bass. Great sounds - especially the *phat* beats (almost made me wish some of the tracks really would turn into mnml epics) - and some really great songs too. I'll be listening to more of his stuff on his myspace.

Glockenspiel were alright, but I wonder why on earth they were booked in the middle of Grovesnor and Polar. Grails/Slint-like drum patterns and walls of guitar noise are fine (in fact I quite like them) but not in a night of 80s-style bombast...

Kelley Polar is responsible for, in my opinion, one of the best albums ever. Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens, released on Morgan Geist's Environ label in 2005, towers (quietly) over albums you might try and compare it with. Junior Boys, Justus Köhncke and now Geist himself have nothing on the cosmic disco found on Polar's debut (I'm referring to Geist's new album, by the way, although I think Polar's album is better even than Geist's excursion as Metro Area, which Polar arranged the strings for).

His 2008 album I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling is also pretty good, but for me it's all a bit too proper, losing some of the swing of the debut. Live, I was expecting a bit of both sides - some disco and some chamber music. I got neither, really, as Polar and his all-star band (Dan Snaith aka Manitoba, the drummer from Escort, and a Har Mar Superstar lookalike on bass) turned his crafty songs into pretty heavy Depeche Mode-like hits. The ICA has a good soundsystem but it seemed to struggle with some of the lower laptop notes, especially on Here in the Night, which just sounded awful.

Other tracks faired a lot better: Rosenband proved a highlight - as it does on the album - and I could really feel the bass on Black Hole in my stomach. Unfortunately, the subtleties of Chrysanthemum got lost in its amped-up arrangement, likewise for My Beauty in the Moon.

Entropy Reigns (in the Celestial City) should by rights be top of the charts, and tonight it sounded pretty good - although no matter how good Snaith is on the vocoder, the song loses something without a female lead. The second half delivered the best bit of the show, though, as the 'over and over' refrain led into a seriously industrial take on the song's closing section. That's the kind of thing Matthew Dear was really getting good at last time I saw him, and it's something I wanted more of tonight.

Still, the band ended their main set on a high note, turning a cover of Metro Area's Atmosphrique into Polar's own In Time. A bit more experimentation like that and maybe a few softer moments would have made for a magical show. I think opening with Cosmological Constancy would be the perfect choice - I'd love to hear it anyway.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/25/24qy0r_luciano_%40_fabric%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_230808 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:48:04 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/25/24qy0r_luciano_%40_fabric%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_230808 Sat 23 Aug – fabric

This was our second time seeing Luciano in Room 1 this year. Last time we’d arrived after 5am and managed 2 hours of dancing before having to leave again - through no reason other than our own fatigued feet. This time I was determined to make a better go of it, but things seemed to be conspiring against us. We’d gone out for drinks, returned to the flat for a brief listening party (finally, using G’s borrowed pre-amp, I could listen to some actual records at a reasonable volume) and then made our way to T Bar. Yes, we were about 2 hours late for the guestlist, but we didn’t expect to be treated quite so rudely at the door. With a perfunctory “WE’RE CLOSED” the doorman managed in the space of 2 seconds to put me in a pretty bad mood. We hung around for another 45 minutes or so, having a ‘Pizza Bite’ round the corner, before trying again. “WE’RE CLOSED.” So much for that then. Seth Troxler will have to be kept for another, less confrontational occasion.

We walked a very long way round to Fabric (I’m still not entirely sure where it is…I should mark it with an ‘X’ on my A to Z) and got there around quarter past 3. There was no queue, which we took (rightly) as a bad sign of what was to come. The place was totally rammed, drinks had been spilled all over the floor, Room 2 was fucking terrifying and the sunglasses-at-night crowd were out in force. Craig Richards was playing all sorts of stuff, some fun some less so, and I waited for 20 minutes at the bar before giving up, going to another bar, getting served immediately but being charged £4 for the privelege of a Stella. I’m sure they’re not normally that expensive. Nevermind, I thought, Luciano was on at 5am and he’s ace yeah. It’ll all be fine.

Room 1 was not fun. It was like being at Waterloo in rush hour after the trains have broken down. All the people round me were wearing sunglasses and looking intimidating, there were several “look at me i’m pushing through the crowd at random” idiots and I couldn’t dance at all. I navigated my way to the middle of the Room (E&G having deserted me for the great outdoors/smoking area) and just about managed to make some space for myself. Luciano got into his groove pretty quickly, dropped Alex Picone’s awesome floppy, then the STILL-GETTING-BETTER Orbitalife with what sounded like the call to prayer over the top. This track apparently refuses to die even though some people obviously wish it would. For me I get lost in it more every time I hear it and last night the whole room visibly lifted as it came on. Brilliant, I think.

People criticise Luciano for always playing the same stuff. Last night I recognised a few tracks from last time, but overall the feel was a bit different and did seem quite novel. A lot of vocals and a lot of trumpets, sure, but there seemed to be a bit more beef to the bass. ‘Standing’ made two appearances.

Also, this was the first time I thought M83’s In Church really worked. I got shivers even though I was really fucking tired (this was around 7.30am and I’d had one beer…) - by this point Room 1 had really emptied out (thank god) and we’d set up shop under the laser in the corner. Bodysonic floor, room to swing a cat and Luciano playing some choons. Sometimes he does a bit too many wooshy-wooshy transitions for me, but that’s a minor gripe. This was what we’d paid for. It’d taken a hell of a lot of hassle earlier in the night, but I reckon it was worth it in the end.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/11/23zblt_steve_bug_%40_ministry_of_sound%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_100808 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:13:40 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/11/23zblt_steve_bug_%40_ministry_of_sound%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_100808 Steve Bug @ Secretsundaze

We were in good enough shape after Fabric to drag ourselves along to the secretsundaze party at Ministry of Sound. The sky had been perfectly blue when we returned from Fabric at 8am, but by 5pm it was decidedly grey. Once we arrived at the MoS courtyard it’d begun tipping it down. So much for fun in the sunshine, but it turns out that the main part of MoS is actually really very beautiful. The lights in the main room were all pink and blue, in soft focus and swirling happily around the - admittedly tacky - central discoball-logo. The sound was warm, kinda comfy and had a lot of depth. Giles Smith and James Priestly played some absolutely relaxing house music, with a bit of punching techno in between, and we shuffled around in an obviously contented crowd of Sunday ravers. I’d heard bad things about the atmosphere at MoS - and surely the extortionate drinks prices can’t help people’s general mood - but today there were smiles all round, between the DJs, between the dancers…lovely.

Aside from being rather attractive (in a slightly cadaverous way), Steve Bug also played some pretty good tunes. He came on at 7pm, by which point I had started thinking it might be time to go home. He sorted me out pretty quickly, starting off with some deep, housey stuff and then moving through to more energetic but still light-as-a-feather minimal, bringing in the odd vocal, the odd drum break, but all artfully constructed into a long, satisfying flow. Beat Bravo (on Oslo) was one of only a couple of tracks I recognised - but why do I even mention it when recognising things is such a miniscule part of the experience? Mr. Bug looked like he was enjoying himself, we certainly were, and the lights and lasers illuminated a room full of people having fun - on a Sunday! I’m glad that there are people out there who party on a Sunday afternoon, and to have the oppportunity to have that party soundtracked by a top-class DJ is one I’m very thankful for.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/11/23zbf4_radio_slave_%40_fabric%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_090808 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:10:26 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/11/23zbf4_radio_slave_%40_fabric%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_090808 Radio Slave @ Fabric

Already crippled by ‘festival legs’ (it should be a recognised condition!) from Field Day, we were determined to soldier on, so after a quick pitstop to eat and air our aching feet, we were off again to Fabric for a long night’s dancing.

Now, this was my only my 6th time there, but it was probably the first true Fabric experience. The first 5 times now seem like rammed, messy, shovey affairs compared to the PARTY that took place last night. I got worried by the apparently huge queue waiting outside, but this bore no relationship to the number of people inside; that is, the perfect number of people. Enough room to dance, air everywhere, no shoving, no shoulder-battles with the person behind you, no shouting/whistling idiots. I felt like I was at a disco with all my friends, with Sebo K playing what to me sounded like pure pop music (this is a compliment!) - these were yummy sweets in musical form, easy to gorge on but, magically, without the threat of becoming sickly. I realised at about 3am that I was experiencing Fabric in a totally different way - what a difference a bit of space on the dancefloor can make!

Andrew Weatherall was on in Room 2 from 4am, and here again I had a bit of a revelation. After being pretty uncomplimentary about this room in the past, here it was transformed by having just a bit more space to move around in. For the first time I could actually appreciate the lights, the disco ball, and the wonderful lasers. Weatherall played Gabriel Ananda’s Mahatma Regatta (baby elephant noises!) amongst other partymusic, and by this point I was beginning to wonder how on earth the Fabric folk had managed to get just the right number of people in the club. Even going back to Room 1 for Radio Slave was far less scarier than I thought it would be, because there was so much room on the bodysonic floor and everyone in there seemed to be having a jolly good time.

Matt Edwards was - there’s no other word for it - relentless, and I really enjoyed it for about 2 hours. He opened with the really quite mental Grindhouse (Dubfire Terror Planet Remix) and then ploughed a destructive path through any number of his own originals/remixes, all united by that juggernaut-like chug and peals of thunderous noise over the top. By just after 7 I felt truly demolished and couldn’t really carry on. I’d love to hear him play a house set at some point, but I’m glad I’ve experienced him in full-on techno mode. I imagine if it’d been really busy in there I’d have given up a lot sooner.

So that’s my defence of Fabric as a fun, party club, for now. The nights I’d been to before were, of course, enjoyable, although that enjoyment had been moderated to a certain degree by various annoyances. Last night, there weren’t any annoyances. It was brilliant.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/11/23zb2p_field_day_%40_victoria_park%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_090808 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:04:05 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/11/23zb2p_field_day_%40_victoria_park%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_090808 Field Day 2008

Saturday was Field Day festival in Victoria Park, East London. We went to this last year and had a good time, in spite of the dreadful organisation which led to 30 minute+ queues for the sparse bars and toilets. The organisers had promised higher quantities of both this year, but they got it wrong again: more bars, but still not enough toilets. G commented that this was almost worse than before, and I kind of agree.

Also bad was the sound. We started off with Modeselektor in the Bugged Out tent, but the bass was totally overdriven and the system was clipping. The pair themselves complained about the sound (although they seemed to think the bass wasn’t high enough - to me it just sounded like the levels were all wrong) and quit with about 15 minutes left to go. Bad start.

We headed over to the main stage for of Montreal, but the sound there was even worse. I could barely recognise the songs (’it sounds like it’s being broadcast from the septic tank, and we’re sitting on the toilet’) and it became painfully apparent at that point that the toilet queues had reached the 30-minute wait mark. So we did the best thing we could do - had a sit down, a chat, chilled for a bit, and steeled ourselves for James Holden in the dance tent. The sound had definitely improved, but it was pretty packed in there and dancing proved difficult. Still, we set up shop down by the front-right stack and enjoyed some standard Border Community fare.

Richie Hawtin was pretty much the only thing that had drawn us to the festival in the first place, so we were hoping he could make up for all the other shortcomings. To be honest, I found his set quite frustrating at times. Often he can get as fickle as Magda, and just when you want a groove to keep going he whisks it away. The set was only 2 hours so I guess he wanted to fit a lot in, and his current DJ-ing style is very clip-focussed, but yes I was hoping for some more consistent, danceable stuff than what we got. Still, there were a lot of grin/pain-filled moments of the sort that defined his wonderful set at The End last autumn, and gwenan even clocked a track: Polder’s Caretaker, albeit only the first few bars. The visuals were also entertaining, especially these cute little minus signs that kept bouncing into each other (yes I’m a slave to the brand…)

I doubt I'll be going back next year though - who really wants to spend that much money only to find ridiculous toilet queues and very shoddy sound?]]> http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/03/23l28y_daniel_bell_%40_fabric%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_020808 Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:42:28 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/citrusmantis/journal/2008/08/03/23l28y_daniel_bell_%40_fabric%2C_london_%5Buk%5D%2C_020808 Sat 2 Aug – fabric

Things - in chronological order - that were good on my trip to Fabric:

- When I arrived, the lady in charge of the guestlist was incredibly helpful in sorting out the fact that my +1(s) were not coming along til later - in my experience, guestlist people are really horrible, so this was a very nice surprise

- The VIP area is amazingly airy and roomy compared to the main club, allowing me not only to avoid the cattle-market toilets downstairs, but also to acquire a beer within a minute of approaching the bar

- I also received a lovely ‘DISCO’ stamp on the inside of my arm, which is pretty awesome

- Inxec - whose remix of Stefan Tretau’s ‘Ellis Perry’ I put in a mix almost a year ago (god summer’s almost over!) - played some really great, loopy, elastic techno, making the most of Room 1’s plosive soundsystem. I’d like to hear more from him, and he also joined the dancefloor after his set which was nice to see

- Matt Tolfrey, head of Leftroom, was a bit heavier, playing the kind of stuff I was expecting of Jay Haze later on. I enjoyed it for an hour or so but then went off to find something a bit less bludgeoning in Room 3

- I really like Room 3, far more than Room 2 (which I pretty much avoid flat out, now - too smoky, too harsh on the ears, too stuffy…) Room 3 is spacey, has a real party vibe, is very friendly and still packs a real punch through the speakers. Rick Wade and Mike Huckaby were playing some seriously good music. I clocked a Kerri Chandler track amongst some much heavier cuts, but really it was all about the quick flow and free dancing. From their demeanour behind the decks - and from the stuff on their myspaces - Rick and Mike seem like top class people as well as top class DJs. I’ll check them out again when the chance next presents itself.

- Seeing Daniel Bell arrive in Room 3 to say hello to Rick and Mike, and have a relaxed chat with various people behind the decks - as well as seeing someone hand over a CD-R and getting a chat too

- Realising it was time to go back to Room 1 when Bell disappeared, doing so, and being treated to some fun tracks from Tolfrey (although still a bit too bash-round-the-head for me)

Things - in chronological order - that were incredible about Daniel Bell:

- Watching him waiting patiently at the side of the stage (his setup was on the back stage, where Gaiser had performed live in March, but this was a REAL setup, with racks of machines and a mic!) before, without fanfare, bringing in his first beat of the show

- Realising that a liveset done with actual machines - sequencers, keyboards, microphones - is a wholly different kettle of fish to a laptop set

- Realising that Daniel Bell is a true performer, totally in control of himself and the audience, able to elicit a reaction just by twisting a few knobs and whispering a few sweet nothings into the microphone

- Hearing Baby Judy squirming out of the speakers, Bell dominating the microphone and setting firecrackers off under our feet

- Getting totally mesmerised by the set as it developed, trying desperately to understand what it is that means some people can control a crowd that tightly - the all-elusive starpower that they try and fail and find on reality TV shows?

- Wondering why music like Daniel Bell’s liveset isn’t top of the charts

- Being utterly charmed when, at the end of his set, Bell cut the music and thanked everyone ‘for their patience’, as he received a huge ovation from the crowd

Jay Haze was DJing next, and he opened with one of my firm favourites - May I? (Quarion Remix), but it was 5am, I’d only had three beers, and my legs were on their way out. Better to cut my losses than to cripple myself before Field Day/Radio Slave/Steve Bug next week…]]>