Golau Glau presents: Libraries & Vinyl / Saturday 12th November, 2.30pm @ Test Space, Leeds.

My favourite silver pop duo/project Golau Glau are running an exhibition at the Test Space in Leeds from 10th-13th November 2011. They’re an interesting one, an anonymous collective that caught my ear a while back so much so we at SR caught up with them and gave away an EP earlier in the year. So when they ask for me to head down the road with some records I’m more than willing...

In their words the Exhibition will feature...

‘A new sound and photography work about the closure of public libraries, ‘Public Interest’, and a selection of other sound works, videos and photographs by Golau Glau. There will be a programme/zine to accompany the exhibition, and it’s free to get in’.

As well as that they’ve put together a killer opening line-up featuring some serious local talent: Hookworms are doing their thing live so expect a psyched-out dream-like stare rock vibe from them. Runners are turning in a DJ set, so it sounds like we’re in for a mad one there. Plus Ewan Jamieson from the ace local photo site A Negative Narrative touches down with a set of his own. You know its all people Golau Glau like...

EXHIBITION LAUNCH: Thursday 10th November, 7.30pm, FREE ENTRY

All well and good you say, but here comes the (other) good bit...

‘James Balf from Sonic Router will be playing a laid-back vinyl-only DJ set and Lauren Smith from Voices for the Library is doing a talk on public library closures’

Yeah I’ll be spinning a 90-odd min selection for Golau Glau right after the talk from Lauren. I’ve never played after a lass talking about library closures before so it should be a nice change of pace. Plus this is one of the reason I love Golau Glau they keep it outside the box and get some interesting ideas rolling. I figure they feel the passion and energy people have for the two subjects make for an interesting juxtaposition. One that’ll make for an event that’ll reach a different audience than it usually would.

Head down Thursday for some bands, I’m hoping to make it. Then reach on Saturday where I’ll be playing a laid back selection of oddities, slow motion house, synth explorations, plenty of bass and anything else I can fit in my record bag.

Test Space are event producers, promoters, artists and curators. Test Space is also currently a physical space in the centre of Leeds, hosting exhibitions, gigs, live performance, theatre, pop up restaurants and club nights.

Test Space, Unit 2-4 Melbourne Street, Leeds LS2 7PS

http://golauglau.wordpress.com/
http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk
http://www.sonicrouter.com/
www.testspaceleeds.com

Live: Deerhunter / The Fresh & Onlys @ The Cockpit, Leeds. 5th May 2010

Deerhunter are personal favourites of mine, Cryptograms and Microcastle are never to far from my stereo, so when they swing through town it’s a must. This time they come to The Cockpit a venue I’ve not ventured into for a gig for around four years, maybe more. As venues go it’s not really my bag and Deerhunter have always gone down a treat at probably my favourite venue for bands in Leeds, The Brudenell Social Club. But they’ll bring me out on a muggy night midweek whatever... They’re doing a quick tour as warm-up for their slot at the ATP festival and slipping in the odd new song into their sets, which should wet your appetite if like me your hoping they whip out an album at some point this year, fingers crossed.

Support comes in the form of The Fresh & Onlys from San Francisco, a band I’d only stumbled upon a few days before when wondering about who else was playing. They sound a bit countrified in a blue grass meets noisy garage rock or psychedelic punk kind of way on myspace, and in the flesh that was toned down a bit and sounded more like straight up US bar room rock: A spaced out, pretty melodic yet raw set of tracks. They left me intrigued but not overly excited.

Deerhunter came out loud and in full effect, oceans of noise, layers of atmosphere. Really living up to the ambient-punk tag, I’ve seen them chat about, more than ever. The crowd either seemed detached or tired due to the midweek slot or the massive sounds the band created, meaning the band and crowd found it hard to connect. This didn’t stop it from sounding awesome though, they just did things a little more laid back, prolonged and spaced out, in almost Krautrock jam-like freakouts. This really stood out on ‘Nothing Ever Happened’ and the encore, which culminated in some serious noise, and looping feedback after a brilliant sample/speech from god knows who. The rest is a haze of feedback, bopping, Bradford’s English accent impression and talk of the election…

oh yeah and more music, echoes of ‘Helicopters’ a new track you can hear online now via the Marc Riley show on 6music... A Patti Smith cover or mention of one, maybe not? They just said something about her on stage. A post-punk funked-up dubbed-out INXS meets Jay-Z’s ‘99 Problems’ version of ‘Rainwater Cassette Exchange’, you bet. Some of these may have only happened in my head… Like the one that I thought sounded a bit like ‘Under The Sea’ from The Little Mermaid film minus steel drums and comedy Lobster. It really did have a washed out aquatic vibe going on though, ummm. New track, probably ‘Fountain Stairs’ if forums are correct and the appearance of an old track from Turn It Up Faggot, ‘Adorno’, I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard any of that era’s material live until now so that was a bonus. ‘Little Kids’ and ‘Cryptograms’ sounded as fresh as ever as did the beautifully catchy ‘Cover Me (Slowly)/Agoraphobia’. All in all Deerhunter brought it and brightened up my Wednesday night with some ambient-punk bliss, they remain one of the leading lights in my indie world.

Leeds set list/picture thanks to Lewis, check out the cool story behind it here.
Intro / Cryptograms / Never Stops / Fountain Stairs / Little Kids / Rainwater Cassette Exchange /
Cover Me (Slowly) / Agoraphobia / Operation / Hazel St / Nothing Ever Happens / Helicopter / Vox Celeste / Adorno / Encores: Dr Glass / Calvary Scars

…Before I go, grab some Deerhunter goodies over at their blog, Micromix 26 a selection of killer tracks from Chris Bell to Sun Ra. And the too good to pass up: Carve your Initials Into The Walls Of The Night, an early limited CD-R which just features Moses and Bradford playing with tapes as an early incarnation of the band in 2005.

Download: Deerhunter – Micromix 26

Download – Deerhunter – Carve Your Initials Into The Walls Of The Night

http://www.myspace.com/thefreshonlys
http://www.myspace.com/deerhunter
http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/

Live: Anna Rose Carter / Worriedaboutsatan / Her Name Is Calla @ Holy Trinity Church, Leeds. 29th March 2010

Every time I drive to Leeds its raining and tonight was no exception. But this time it wasn’t to go to the sub bass deep end that is Exodus but a Church in the centre of town to see some post-rock in the shape of Worriedaboutsatan and Her Name Is Calla two bands I’ve been wanting to catch live for some time. Worriedaboutsatan because they’re a certified Sonic Minefield favourite after what must be years of listening to their demos and assorted releases such as the wonderful ‘Arrivals’ and the remixes that followed. And Her Name Is Calla as after the Worrier recommended them I kind of fell for the epic restrained emotion of their music. Plus tonight we get a bonus act in the shape of pianist Anna Rose Carter, who I’m unfortunate to say we only caught the end of due to traffic and rain, the little we heard was just beautiful in the church setting and it set the tone for the rest…



Worriedaboutsatan opened with their latest single ‘Heart Monitor’, which you grab from them over the course of their tour and on their website when they come back and if they have any left. The gentle guitar loops and pulsing electronics really become huge mesmerising pieces in the live setting. Plus the vocal, ‘give me your heavy heart’ becomes an emotional mantra that cuts through the loops. Feeling the twisted electronic grooves of their music come alive in such a setting is a real experience too, the beats punch through the epic hall while percussive clicks bubble in all directions. When the bass really drops on ‘Arrivals’ under the slow-mo house kick and bowed-guitar lines it really hits you and has a visceral emotional impact. Hypnotic and beautiful all at once, Worriedabotsatan make the electronics sound like a human pulse while reaching deep into your soul with some seriously moving soundscapes.



Her Name Is Calla played as a seven piece and where the organic counterbalance to the electronics of …satan, utalising guitar, bass and drums along with cello, violin, flute, trombone and keys as well as bits I probably missed. They have a very restrained sound and love the slow reveal. They go from soft, stripped back and touching to grand full crescendos. They played their forthcoming album, ‘The Quiet Lamb’ in its entirety and it was a journey to behold. Each track was so epic and emotive, taking in hushed, intimate moments such as the wonderful single ‘Long Grass’ to pure post-rock crescendos. Their music reminds me of a quite walk in the woods, they have a very natural, organic sound like they’ve carved it lovingly out of fallen trees. In this setting the songs where like a meditative calm and a cathartic workout all at once.



All the artists made the Holy Trinity Church their home tonight, they all connect the dots between each other’s music somehow. With the gentle solo piano of Anna Rose Carter linking with the organic epics of Her Name is Calla who in turn play off the post-rock meets minimal techno/electronica of Worriedaboutsatan. It made for a wonderful bill and a brilliant gig that’s left me with a Zen like calm. Be sure to catch them on the rest of the tour, which is winding its way around the UK and Europe over the coming months.

http://www.myspace.com/annarosecarter
http://www.myspace.com/worriedaboutsatan
http://www.myspace.com/hernameiscalla
http://www.hernameiscalla.co.uk/
http://worriedaboutsatan.co.uk/

N-Type, Silkie & Quest, Iration Steppas, Gentleman’s Dub Club, Exodus @ Exodus Croatia Launch Party, Faversham Leeds. 9th June 2009

This was like a mini Sub Dub Vs. Exodus but not in the setting of the West Indian Centre and with a much smaller sound system, but at least they had a sound system as The Fav has always sounded so bad for every other gig / club night I’ve been to, the bass crew know where its at though and bring their own rigs. This was the launch party for Exodus Croatia the dubstep / dub festival that’s been going strong for a couple of years now and by the way this went off Croatia is going to be something else, quite literally as well I mean you just don’t get the sun / sand and boat parties in Leeds.

Spinning dub early on in the main room was Exodus, just playing some deep dubbed out vibes to a meandering crowd, it was sounding good. In the conservatory was another big rig playing those jungelist sounds, then right next to the main room was The Gimp aka a little freaky room playing some hardcore heavy artillery, chainsaw and laser guided gun finger dubstep; all of this combined made the windows of The Fav shake hard.

Gentleman’s Dub Club hit the stage in suits as a full on live dub band with MC, drums, horns and bass a plenty. I’ve heard about these guys before but never seen them, they really killed it and drew a big skank happy crowd. Plus they did full band live rewinds just like the DJ’s do; it really got the tension going for those meaty drops.

Into The Gimp for some face melters while Iration set up, and fuck me who ever was playing in there was reaching for the big guns: Dark’n’grimey full of wobble. The Kutz & Benga ‘I’ll Kut Ya’ was probably the only track I could ID to be honest, but what a track.

Iration Steppas in the main room were warming things up very nicely in their usually dub in the year 3000 style. The rig may be smaller than I’m use to hearing them on so there was no STUPIDLY HUGE push you over and leave you for dead bass pummelling, but it was defiantly big enough for a Tuesday night. Special after special via dubplate and special again got played, vibes built and bass dropped. I wish I knew what these tracks were they get me every time, the final track he played that got three wheels was something else. An almost four to the floor deep and loose beat built into an all mighty drop that got the crowd pogoing for the first time in the night.

Silkie & Quest hit the decks not long after and brought the boogie, skipping drums, soulful breakdowns and full on colourful funk fuelled bass really turned the night into a dance party. Playing a set of pretty much all their own productions as far as I could tell apart from one Joker & Ginz track, ‘Purple City’. This stuff sounded so effortlessly warm and danceable and in such contrast to the lil room playing hardcore ravestep it was brilliant. Pretty much everything I could have wished to hear was played and loads more I couldn’t quite place, ‘Purple Love’, ‘Headbut Da Deck’, ‘Test’, Silkie’s boogie drenched remix of Skream’s ‘Filth’ and Mr Larger’s vocal anthem ‘Tell Me’, ‘Edan’ which finished the set and jeeeeez it sounds HUGE. Silkie & Quest may well be some of my favourite producers around in dubstep at the moment and without a doubt they can do it in the dance.

After the relentless space funk of Silkie and Quest, they didn’t do a single rewind, all rollers all the way… N-Type came on and started to build things up with filthy bangers in his usual style. We had to roll not long after mind, it was getting late and it’s a long drive back. Killer night, quality music all round and easily one of the best nights I’ve had at The Faversham. I wish them all well in Croatia I bet it’s going to go off in epic style.

Deerhunter @ The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds. 24th May 2009

Yet again Deerhunter hit The Brudenell and yet again they kill it. The place was full and hot as hell; they brought a little Atlanta to Leeds tonight. Playing a set full of Cyrptograms, Florecsent Grey and Microcastles, in-fact it was maybe more waited towards C-grams thinking about it. To kick off they played brand new title track of the new EP Rainwater Cassete Exchange, which they were also selling on ye olde tape which I happened to pick up and put in my top pocket for the rest of the night, I’ve never felt so indie before. The band were tight under the heat and the epic noise-scapes of Cryptograms was really something else, the drums’n’bass get me every time in the Deerhunter live experience they really drive things forward.

The good shit just kept coming with Like New and Octet melting into each other with a brutal blast of sound in the middle. I’m pretty sure either Never Stops or Nothing Ever Happens came next but who knows, to be honest I zoned out and got lost in the sound. Things were chilled out a little in the middle which was well needed because of the heat, the wedges of fuzzed out sound Deerhunter bring really sit well with the hot hot atmosphere though it kind of gave it another edge somehow a clammy heavy edge.

After a few more hits, Bradford called to the audience for requests and they covered a track by someone I can’t think of right now, but I’ll edit it when my brain wakes up, it was the same one they did at ATP the week before apparently… [EDIT] it was Bragging Party by The Amp's!... It was a wicked 60’s infused punky number that suited their sound to a tea. By the time the encore came around Bradford was working the crowd with impressions, voices and general weirdness. Then the Deerhunter jukebox began as the crowed were asked to choose the final three tracks of the night. After some back’n’forth the fantastic Spring Hall Convert was chosen, which delighted me as I really wanted to hear it last time they came to town but alas it wasn’t to be so this was a bit special, it’s always been one of my favourites. I’m struggling to remember the middle track in the encore but it was fuckin’ brilliant and followed by Fluorescent Grey, which built and built before showering us in sound.

Then shit got weird as Bradford came back on to thank us in many strange ways before having some banter with the sound guy, before calling his mum over the soundsystem. Unfortunatly she wasn’t in so it went right to answer phone a nice message was left and things petered out. It’s probably the maddest ending to a gig I’ve seen for a while Bradford cracked me up throughout the night as well as really playing a quality gig, Deerhunter I salute you keep doing your thing.

http://www.myspace.com/deerhunter

http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/

http://www.brudenellsocialclub.co.uk/

Flaying Lotus, The Mother Fucking Gaslamp Killer, P45, Kid K & Laura J @ Leeds University. 27th April 2009

Parts of LA came to Leeds to night the Brainfeeder and Low End Theory and fuck me they delivered. But on with that in a moment, the night was warmed up nicely buy some locals the first thing I heard was Caspa’s abusive cockney-step anthem where’s my money! Which was well abusive for such an early hour but soon enough after a quick dose of Rustie’s Zigzag P45 came on and played a wicked set of bleeped out electronica and plenty of bits from The Bug. The only mishaps on being the complete fuckin’ bell end on the door that wouldn’t let anyone out and if you did leave you had to buy another ticket to get in. Ridicules rules, and he was a complete fucker, so some sweet talking was done with another door staffer and he was well up for the re-entry, bonus.

Then The Mother Fuckin’ Gaslamp Killer came on the scene and tore the shit out of the place playing a mad set full of big time dubstep wobblers all the way to sublime wonk from the likes of Bullion and Computer Jay, even some Terkish funk from 1969 and Ethiopian shit as he called it made an appearance. The majority of his set was fucked up wobblers like 16 Bits’s Chainsaw Calligraphy and really insane electro tinged off-killter hip-hop. The guy can mix as tight as hell and is a real party starting live wire. Getting on the mic and hyping the crowed like a mad man possessed and throwing together some real big bangers. The bas was big and the vibe was right, tracks from Harmonic 313 and Heralds of Change killed it, and there was far to much stuff I didn’t know the name of that really got the floor moving. By the end of the hyper set even Gaslamp looked tired until he turned all evil on us and dropped Aphex Twin’s Come To Daddy and shot the crowd down with gun fingers.

The main even was upon us and FlyLo took the stage easing us in with sublime beat after beat chopped in clashed into each other in a collage of percussion, made up of so many familiar tracks from his album and beyond. The sound of these tracks on a big system is something else, the bass is HUGE and the beats are like liquid. Shit really started to kick off when he dropped his refix of A Milli, it went down well and from then on he went from beat of his own to the odd inclusion of beats from all over. He took the mood down mellow for the smokers before really fuckin’ it up with his mix of Mr Ozio that really got everyone going. It got pitched up into more electro and I thought I riot was going to ensue at one point. He can flip the mood in an instant mind, and mellow passages melted into full throttle funk and dance floor bombs.

Just some of the tracks I remember him playing are: Kode 9’s killer smudged funky track Black Sun, Burial done FlyLo style, Martyn, Joker’s incredible Re-Up, A little Zomby, a mad wonky re-interpretation of Aphex Twin’s Windowlicker by FlyLo again. He even dropped some new material from a forthcoming album, which is wicked news. Some other highlights were the epic sublime builds that dropped into some of the most liquid funk fuled bass and feet moving beats I’ve heard, I have no idea what the hell the track I’m thinkin’ of is called but it killed it. FlyLo spun it back a few time and raised his hands in the air ready for the drop each time, which sounded like angels singin before a filthy funked up drop. He finished with some roots wobbler style dubstep before dropping some mad bleep-core hyper rave beats as his encore that morfed into what sounded like a Kode 9 FlyLo collaboration with warped synths hip-hop beats and huge bass but I could be really wrong about that.

Everyone killed if the Brainfeeder / Low End Theory crew know how to do things and fuck me their shit is tight! Go see Fling Lotus, go see The Mother Fucking Gaslamp Killer at any chance you get.

Holy State / Pulled Apart By Horses / Rolo Tomassi @ The Faversham, Leeds. 19th April 2009

This is a big line up for a gig on a Sunday night Holy State’s EP on Holy Roar is a cracker (See my review here), Pulled Apart By Horses are a force to be reckoned with in the live setting they just rock the fuck out like new skool grunge legends or something. Then there is the always intense and mesmerising stop start free-jazz-spazz-hardcore of Sheffield’s young guns Rolo Tomassi. I for one was pretty excited.

Holy State took the stage to a really dead and spares crowd unfortunately this put a bit of a damper on things but they still played their harts out. They tore out tracks from their debut EP in a short live wire set with riffs, screaming and the all important quality tracks. I’d love to see them play a livelier gig as the crowed was proper lame.

Pulled Apart By Horses are local hero’s / loons in Leeds they play everywhere and anytime it seems, I think I’ve caught them accidentally as much as I have on purpose as they crop up as support quite a bit. The band were having troubles this time mind as not only had the crowd only slightly grown and still felt dead out (I blame Sundays) but member James Brown injured himself somehow previously and wasn’t playing. He was apparently having his leg taken off and replaced with a horses, which will defiantly give them an extra kick when he rejoins the tour soon in Glasgow. They played some wicked stuff though, my highlights have to be the anthem Swan Dive High Five and E=MC Hammer they really shredded it up.

Now for the main event Rolo Tomassi took the stage with M83 setting the scene as intro music before doing their thing. Again the crowd was a little fuller but still dead, which was a really shame as I thought this would be a hype gig for Leeds on this tour. The sound was a bit muddy and muddled as well which didn’t help too much, this has been the case for all Faversham gigs I’ve been to mind so I wasn’t really surprised. Rolo played a set full of album material and only included one or two from the first EP this kind of gave the gig a really samey vibe, I’ve seen them mix it up a lot more and kill it. Highlights included the epic Gary Numan meats Hardcore ‘Nine’ and the brilliant ‘Digital History’ from the one sided 7” on Holy Roar, I’m pretty sure they played ‘Film Noir’ as well which always gets the gameboy-scream-core crew going.

All in all it was a nice gig but I kind of expected a bit more energy in the room, I wouldn’t blame the bands for that mind I blame the sleepy Sunday vibes and sound quality. Go and catch the rest of the tour where Grammatics also feature it will probably rock loads more.

http://www.myspace.com/holystate

http://www.myspace.com/pulledapartbyhorses

http://www.myspace.com/rolotomassi

Sub Dub Presents: Exodus / DMZ

I'm heading down for this today, I can't wait!

HEALTH @ Brudenell Social Club Leeds, 4th May 2008

HEALTH weren’t the headliner for reasons unknown, but they where the stand out act by a long long way. Before I gush about them the other acts where: Randomnumber, the opener which was a guy playing a laptop set of pure noise. He was quite enjoyable in a nose bleeding sonic assault kind of way. My favourite moment was when the static and white noise was playing full whack and old guy wondered in with a walking stick and ignored everything, headed right for the toilet. Two Minute Noodles where up next, they sounded a bit like half of Battles and Half of Fulborn Teversham joining forces and playing sea-side organ tunes. I was half expecting rocking versions of Thomas The Tank Engine. Joking aside though, they weren’t bad at all. The drummers rock antics of pointing to the crowd with drumsticks where priceless. Next on were HEALTH, but I will get back to them very soon. So I come to the headliner act for tonight Zombie Zombie, they hail from Paris and make some kraut rock style synth rock. They had a really touch job of following HEALTH, as Zombie Zombies music was passive in comparison. They would have been at home if they played before them, yet shit happens so lets move on. Zombie Zombie played some good tunes that some times sounded like old RPG computer game music with dance-rock drums. My sources tell me one tune was a version of a tune on Final Fantasy VIII. There was much yelping and echo drenched vocals in a French drawl. To be fair it was nice to chill out after the intense HEALTH.

Now onto my main event of the night HEALTH: Where to start with this brilliant LA band, which comes from The Smell. I’m sure you know what that is by now no? Well maybe I will explain later, lets just say No Age and The Mae-Shi also come from there for now. HEALTH jumps into action and take everyone by surprise with the first of many beastly beats. I saw people actually jump out of their skin, amazing scenes. The tribal drums are something else live I was in awe of the drummer. The intensity was only matched by the creativity and pure power. It’s hard to put HEALTH into words they are that good and out there. They produced there record live perfectly, everything they do they do live, each sound you hear is made in front of your very eyes. The band jump from instrument to FX peddle to drums and guitar, everything was used to full effect. I loved the use of ramming microphones into speakers and drums to make insane hums of sound. Half the time half of HEALTH where on their hands and knees smacking out some serious noise on instruments unknown. It was a joy to watch and the best live experience I have seen in a long time. Those drums, hell its like a beast is coming at you, a thought we were under attack from Dinosaurs. They even treated us to at least one new song, which was amazing to say the least. It featured some dance synth that got the crowd moving, and a screaming vocal effect that sent shivers down your spine. It featured a ascending noise shooting quickly right after a vocal scream, that merged into some beastly beats, wow! HEALTH as you may have noticed impressed me a whole lot go and see them live ASAP, get their records and T-shirts too. I was feeling ill as hell and HEALTH was a perfect cure.

YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER YOU WILL LOVE EACH OTHER