Stereo Jealousy

The review for this show was already formulating in my mind as I journeyed to Chalk Farm. Desert blues band from western Africa wonderfully out of place in a venue steeped in British industrial heritage, at an event sponsored by one of the western world’s biggest brands. Culture clash anyone? Things didn’t quite turn out that way as I was about to find out.

Oi Va Voi were up first, and an enthusiastic crowd rose to their energetic performance, led by the engaging Bridgette Amofah. Whilst the frontwoman’s vocals ranged across the soul influenced end of the pop spectrum, the rest of the band mined a eclectic seam. There were the obvious Jewish klezmer influences (the band’s name roughly translates from the Yiddish for oh dear!), shot across by the Balkan folk strings from violinist Anna Phoebe, all revolving around a resolutely western European rhythm section. It struck me as slightly too busy, the highlight coming on the relatively laid back Photograph off the band’s recent Travelling The Face Of The Globe LP. Judging by the reaction of the crowd, who joined in clear favourite Refugee, they’d won a fair number of new fans.

Shortly afterwards an array of small amplifiers and acoustic guitars had lined the stage, and the seven members of Tinariwen appeared – clad, as always in traditional gear. As they began their set the band could seldom be heard amongst the hubbub of the more apathetic members of the crowd, sadly a trait that seems to be overcoming even the most expensive of London shows. Despite a quiet start the band quickly hit their stride, with vocal harmonies ringing across the stage. Percussive duties were filled by a single man and multiple hand claps, providing a playful rhythm around which multiple guitar lines wound.

In complete contrast to Oi Va Voi it was easy to place the sound of the band, not needing the colourful imagery of their homeland behind them to highlight its origin. However it was also in complete contrast to Amadou & Mariam, the Malian band I’d seen support Blur a few days earlier, despite sharing the same musical cues. This was undoubtedly the music of the desert, the wonderfully ceaseless and cyclical bass mimicking the never-ending dunes. And yet it fitted the venue perfectly. There was no jarring juxtaposition – Tinariwen deserve to playing venues like this to crowds this size and I doff my cap to iTunes for putting the band on an otherwise pretty conservative bill. A mesmeric performance by the former Touareg rebels.

Oi Va Voi – Photograph
Tinariwen – Imidiwan Afrik Tendam

Watch Tinariwen perform Amassakoul at Live 8 Eden

My date with the night came at the end of a very busy week of shows for me – in fact after the brilliance of Polly and John on the Monday (review to follow soon) I headed into this gig with a little sense of anti-climax. Goodness knows why, It’s Blitz! is a fantastic record, taking the trio’s sound into new and shiny areas. The Empire is packed by the time we get inside, having already missed Art Brut, much more so than the other two shows I’ve seen here over the last week. I guess this is the buzz ticket, the touts outside weren’t selling -  only buying. The anticipation on the floor is heady, people are jabbering, pushing and impatient to see exactly how the band would make the step up to the big league.

The eye from the Zero cover looms over the stage and in a blaze of colour, and not many words, the band appear. Karen is shrouded in fibre-optic style headgear as they immediately launch into Heads Will Roll, whipping the crowd into a massed frenzy. The next few tracks whizz by in showers of glitter cannon rounds and I’m struck just how slick the band has become – they’re putting on a real show. For most of the first half of the set I struggle with the notion in my head, I’m used to seeing the singer writhe around on the floor emitting either wild shrieks or guttural roars. As my companion pointed out it just all felt, well, too rehearsed. Part of what drew me to them as a live proposition was the thrill of the unexpected , the seemingly improvised guitar work.

Perhaps, I thought, it is a symptom of trying to recreate the new tracks and their synth lines in a live setting – it ties the band down to strict routine. Take Hysteric for example, lacking the pace and bounce of the rest of the set, being almost a facsimile of the album version. The feeling begins to dissipate with airing of some of their oldest material, Miles Away sounded as urgent and thrilling as it ever did and Pin equally chaotic. Towards the end of the main set they’re winning me around, the night seems to have picked up pace and they thunder through Zero and Y Control to finish all too quickly.

The encore began with a cloying list of thank yous seemingly longer than the setlist, before lulling into a neat version of Maps. Following that though was the big surprise, and possibly the show’s saving grace, an astonishing rendition of Art Star complete with attempted mic-swallowing, screams and cutesy “do-do-do’s”. It is an absolute blast, as is the closer Date With The Night. In a way, I’m not sure how to sum the gig up. Sure the songs sounded great, the crowd loved it – if the whole thing was a little short. However I couldn’t help coming away thinking that despite sounding great on wax, the new stuff had stripped away the best thing about the band’s live act – spontaneity.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Art Star
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero

Photo: Hidden Shine

There is a sign outside the venue that reads ‘Cornershop live tonight…yes, that Cornershop‘. It shows the abyss of public awareness that Tjinder Singh and his merry band have fallen into of late. After all, it’s been six years since Handcream For A Generation graced the album charts back in 2002. However, with the promise of a cracking support from London-based French duo John & Jehn, the trip was made to my original London stomping ground. The gig is a warm-up for their Wireless show the next day, and their first gig seemingly since a mini-tour in November last year.

The Amersham Arms is barely full when John & Jehn take to the stage, their first words enticing the crowd closer. They launch into a taut set, John throwing all kinds of angular shapes with guitar and body, Jehn starting out hunched over an organ but soon taking to bass. The tunes are an amalgam of Stereolab, Velvet Underground and The Raveonettes, all hatchet guitars, pysch-synths and loaded stares. Unlike the Raveonettes, the drum machine clanking away doesn’t detract or become repetitive. In fact, there is so much to enjoy in their all-too-short set that I’m left wanting more. Another debut album to track down.

It isn’t long before Cornershop make their way onto the cramped stage. Launching straight into Sleep On The Left Side, it becomes obvious that this South London pub is about to be treated to the very best that the band can offer. They follow the opening salvo with the bouncy Lesssons Learnt From Rocky I to Rocky III, one of the most bewilderingly unappreciated singles of the early 2000s. The set continues at that pace, drawing faux-Bollywood moves from the front row, and head-nodding from the less dance-inclined. There’s new songs premiered, single-to-be The Roll Off Characteristics Of History In The Making the most memorable. There are also a couple of choice covers, Norwegian Wood with live sitar is a sound to behold, and a cheeky take on The Mighty Quinn brings ear-to-ear smiles. A breezy run-through of Brimful of Asha is followed by the spectacular 6 a.m. Jullander Shere, perhaps the band’s best track. The band leave the stage one by one, with Singh unsurprisingly the first to go. Five minutes later, drummer and percussionist are still at it. A short set, obviously made for festivals, packed full of quality, fun and tunes. Wireless is in for a treat.

John & Jehn – 20 L 07
John & Jehn – You Far Away
Cornershop – Battle Of New Orleans (Peel Session)
Cornershop – Topknot (MIA Remix)
Cornershop – Hot Rocks

“Ive seen Mogwai 32 times” starts a conversation pre-set in The Roundhouse. The chap who said it then proudly displayed to me his Mogwai tattoo and we discussed the potential for this coming October’s ATP gig to be great. There is some sort of kudos that goes along with seeing Mogwai live, a renown for being loud…

The air of expectancy in the Roundhouse is palpable. This is after all, My Bloody Valentine’s first tour in so many years. Their first ‘proper’ gig that is, following the phony war of the previous week’s two ICA warm-up shows. There’s a generation gap in the audience, those old enough to remember the last time and those not. I’m firmly in the latter camp. There’s free earplugs on the door.

I decline. We miss Le Volume Courbe, one of Shields’ productees, and mingle into the audience about 15 minutes before the band come on. When they appear they utter not a word of greeting, not a shred of recognition towards the packed auditorium. There won’t be one word the entire performance. Not that anyone would have heard, for once the band start to whirl their twisted melodies you can’t hear the words in your own head, never mind those coming from the stage.

The music erupts from the stacks with a force and ferocity that completely belies the activity onstage, Shields and Butcher restrict themselves to about a metre square either side of the stage, whilst bassist Googe stands half-turned away from the crowd towards Ó Cíosóig’s kit. All seemingly completely oblivious to the waste they lay before them. Behind, psychedelic images and looped films play, transforming and shifting along with the music.

And all the time, the sonic maelstrom shifts and deepens, and inexplicably gets louder. The vocals are so low in the mix that I could only tell that they were being sung was by the movement of Shields’ lips. The noise seems to envelop the crowd, bouncing off the venue’s industrial walls. The physicality of the sound grows and grows, and by the time the instantly recognisable riff of Soon hurls into the room, it’s pushing me back onto my heels.

Photo: Dan’s Photos

I’ve never thought of sound on this level, sound you feel as well as hear. There’s people around me with not only earplugs, but fingers in their ears. Resisting the temptation to sully this sonic storm, I keep mine unbound, and gladly. Closer You Made Me Realise ratchets the intensity further, drowning us in a morass of feedback, glacially getting louder, heaping crescendo on crescendo until you feel the entire mound crash down. A tsunami of noise, shrieking, piercing, puncturing.

And then it finishes. No goodbyes, no encores. The crowd stands there, more through dumbstruck awe than expectancy. There’s a ringing in my ears that won’t disappear for a couple of days. I’m dazed but elegiac, unbelieving of what I’ve just experienced. I see the Mogwai fan again. “32 times” he says, “32 times and I’ve never heard anything like that.” I doubt we ever will.

Probable Setlist (thanks to www.mybloodyvalentine.net)
Only Shallow
When You Sleep
You Never Should
(When You Wake) You’re Still In A Dream
Lose My Breath
I Only Said
Come In Alone
Thorn
Nothing Much To Lose
To Here Knows When
Slow
Blown A Wish
Soon
Feed Me With Your Kiss
Sueisfine
You Made Me Realise

My Bloody Valentine – Soon

A full recording of the show is discussed here, I don’t have the bandwidth to host it!

Ladytron
London Astoria
May 15, 2008
Tonight is Ladytron’s first London date in some time, and a first time for the capital to hear tracks from he scintillating Velocifero live. The Liverpool-based foursome wase no time in airing Velocifero’s innards, they kick off with the trio of opener, Black Cat, first single Ghosts, and my highlight so far, Runaway. Warm yet distant, the new tracks exand Ladytron’s palette slightly, building on the more organic sound of 2005’s triumphant Witching Hour. A shame, then, that the sound in the Astoria is abysmal. Vocals drowned out by machine hum, bass lost amid a sea of mid-range. Biggest casualty is the opening of Black Cat, an intricate build to a delightful vocal break from Mira in her native tongue, bludgeoned by an unhelpful mixing desk.

The sound mess-up slowed the band’s momentum, as the opening triumvirate of newies segued well into older classics such as Seventeen, rendered tonight a breakneck speed. Live, the band have a strange sort of energy, almost mechanical. The new record certainly bears this out, a move towards their live sound. Older tracks are almost completely transformed, Blue Jeans moves towards the Stooges riff that drives at its heart. Something was clearly disrupting the band though, glances shot across at the mixing desk. And lo, roughly seven tracks in, clearly narked by the techical mishaps the band ceased. They only re-appeared to apologise and reassure that we’d see them again for a re-run. Somewhat ironically their last track before the fin was Soft Power…

Here is what the band had to say on their Myspaz: “Hey, so we just got pulled offstage halfway through our set at the Astoria because the stage power had failed, no mixing desk and monitors. At first we were hopeful they would have a backup or somehow sort it out, but they couldn’t. So besides being fucking annoyed that we didn’t get to play all the set, we’re upset for everyone who travelled to the show and only got half a gig. Again sorry, we were standing there waiting to go back on, only for them to tell us it wasn’t possible. Sellout show and we could only play half. So as far as we aware the show is going to be rescheduled in July with original tickets valid. Hopefully there will be electricity next time, we’re getting in Nikola Tesla to do the power.”

July can’t roll around fast enough, some ofVelocifero is just begging to be realised live. Particularly looking forward to Deep Blue and closer Versus. I left obviously disappointed, but also re-assured that the band had managed to engineer the new record’s sound into a live setting, whilst maintaining the precision and affected distance that originally made them so appealing.