We first encountered Werkha’s Tom Leah as one half of Bug & Leaf, an ambient electronic duo in the Mount Kimbie mould formed with his fellow University of Salford music student Rick Hartley, who now performs under the moniker of (murmur). But his first real taste of musical recognition arrived when Gilles Peterson picked up Cube & Puzzle, Leah's debut EP as Werkha, to play two of its exquisite tracks on his BBC Radio 6Music show towards the end of 2012.
Machinedrum is one of those rare, sickeningly talented musicians who seem to be able to effortlessly churn out great work in any manner they see fit, which is fantastic for bass music fans. On 4th February it proved most beneficial to those attending Hit & Run, Manchester's long-standing stalwart of bass-heavy beats, where Machinedrum (aka Travis Stewart) came to town for a rare live set.
I travelled through incredibly torrential rain to reach the steps down to NQ Live. As can often be the case with cutting edge Manchester nights (and it pains me to say this), it was a bit of a disappointing turn-out – although I would bet they could have doubled the attendance had the heavens stayed closed. Fortunately enough, everyone in attendance was very much up for a dance.
I walked into the final funked-out tunes of Brunks and Naked Swing – these guys have been pushing boundaries with their night Heavy Rain and have big things planned for future months. Next up was Jonny Dub, Lord of Hoya:Hoya and arguably the most versatile DJ in Manchester – this man could make waves in a vacuum! He packed a full trip round the houses into his hour set, keeping a high level of energy throughout and with heavy hip hop beats lurking round every corner. Top, top stuff.
Before the main man was to step up it was the turn of Now Wave to take control. Manchester's boundary pushing gig promoters, as it transpired, aren't too shabby on the decks either; hammering it right from the start with the Mak & Pasteman remix of Disclosure's ‘What’s in your head’ and taking an 808 house-y slant to their set, with splashes of Swamp and a drizzle of Dusky.
By the time Machinedrum gets started the crowd is fevered and clustered around the barriers. It has to be noted that even if Hit & Run sell a night to 50 per cent capacity, you'll always find them crammed into the front 10 per cent of the venue. 808 kicks rang heavy on the Neuron Soundsystem in an attempt to force them back but the exhilaration was too much. Machinedrum's set piqued their excitement and had the floor bouncing. Playing out on an Akai MPC sampler and a midi keyboard, all linked up to Ableton, it allowed a seamless presentation of his music, from selections of his album Room(s) through to his more recent JETS collaboration with Jimmy Edgar. It’s always refreshing to see a producer whose ‘live performance’ is a little more than hunching over his laptop and appearing to check emails for an hour, and this ticked the right boxes; full of energy and interaction with the crowd.
I left sweaty and satisfied with what I had seen, Machinedrum has definitely been one of the top shows in recent months of Hit & Run, although they have much more to come in future months; including shows with Cyril Hahn. I'm definitely glad I braved the storms to get down.
Words & photography: Gary Brown, GB Multimedia.
Thanks to Sounds From The Other City (review to appear very soon) and a subsequent hectic week, another preview has missed a large bite out of the month. But no longer must you wait!
This evening (Monday 9th) Post War Years stride the Deaf Institute stage with earnest indie pop, then tomorrow (Tuesday 10th) PVT make a prompt return to this city with support from From The Kites Of San Quentin and The Narrows (see penultimate and final paragraphs).
In the ‘plenty more besides’ column, the Handmade fair at Victoria Baths on Saturday 14th is a standout. It includes a fanzine convention organised by Shrieking Violet, Antony Hall’s physical oscillators and Fablab workshops. You’re better browsing the official website for more info on the whole four days...
The deadline for your Manchester Art Crawl submissions is Sunday 15th, so keep that one in mind. It’s a Manchester International Festival fringe event and is welcoming of “all visual, audio, digital and time based artists of all career stages. All non artists wishing to deliver ideas in a contemporary art context (information available via website),” so say the organisers, who’ll consider shows proposed to be staged from 2nd to 16th July.
Bandcamp is proving more and more popular in cutting out the bloodsucking major label middle man and a couple of local tips on that bandwidth are The Narrows, whose single went live last month, the Well Weapon Records alt-indie compilation (and art fanzine) and Broken Bubble, who’ve been prolifically been distributing more than their fair share of high-quality ambient glitch-tronica; most recently with Macka’s bittersweet twinkly callousness Piano Works.
And finally, recent interviewees From The Kites Of San Quentin have challenged laptop remixers to rehash their upcoming single ‘Stoopid’.
The internet, of course, is just the latest in a long line of double-edged swords to have directly resulted in a physical music sales dip and subsequent major label accusations of ‘killing music’ (take a bow, cassette ‘home taping’, CD ‘burning’, et al). It’s a recent history which Kites’ laptop mix-maestro and beat merchant Phil Bretnall, aka Blood Boy, spends little time mourning. “As far as the major label industry goes... good fucking riddance. At the end of the day, they are just a glorified bank so, as much as they can give you exposure, now they just want to get their hands on things that are rightfully the artist's, such as a percentage of live show fees and merchandise. So, we would never rule out a bigger indie, but I think in this day and age being as self-sufficient as possible is the way forward.”
To add that up, the summation of FTKOSQ’s ‘Chet Beaverbrooke’ and Borland’s ‘Clockmen’ (plus mutual remixes) equals output that’ll be rewarding; not only for both bands, but also for folks who may be familiar with one but not so familiar with the other, suggests Bretnall: “It's our first proper release and we just wanted people to hear what we are capable of, which was why the full track and remix format really appealed. Plus it means peeps into Borland will check us out and vice versa. We love the Borland track and the remix they did for us is just awesome.”
A recent gig at Kraak Gallery, supporting Trojan Horse’s album launch show, sees Bretnall’s dystopian samples, wobbly FlyLo glitchstep and shifting synths align with his fellow Kites in their labyrinthine progressions. Turgid lilts from the belly of guitarist Luke Bhatia’s substantial FX soundboard set-up duel with warped, drowning vocals effusively transmitted through the added depth of Alison Carney’s dual mic dynamism. The former an oneiric harness to the latter’s jolting immediacy. Theirs is often a maze with Kubrickian looming threat; trip-hop amidst the streets of a Hunter S Thompson deranged urbanism. While there may be the vague hint of Tom Vek’s ‘Nothing But Green Lights’ trailing in the Kites’ slipstream, the gears quickly change; pedal floored in a blurry night drive through reds, while distorted inhuman voices hazily plume the flight away.
Such a mentality perhaps fires Bretnall’s bluntness regarding the appeal of independence as an artist: “complete control and generally making things more exclusive.” You could lump it, but the chances are you’ll like it; the slow builds of ‘Chet Beaverbrooke’; the escapist harmony overwhelmed by discord around the midpoint; the glistening sonic polish of studio practise (Phil: “Our track on the split was mixed and mastered by our old friend Andy Giblin. At the time, we just weren't that great at getting a good final mix, so he helped us out”).
Borland as a live act are on a hiatus, which makes it all the better that Gregg’s time is freed up to continue their presence with the Gulf venture. And FTKOSQ themselves are no strangers to side projects, promoting and podcasting regularly under the This City Is Ours (TCIO) guise. Bretnall is quick to express him appreciation of his Manchester electronica promoter brethren. “Hoya:Hoya. Full stop, man. Best clubnight in the country, hands down, and we’re lucky enough that it's on our front doorstep. Probably the most forward thinking bunch of people in the UK right now with a residents crew to die for. Also, Mind On Fire. They have been at it for ages now and we have done fair bit together. We did a party with those guys at Islington Mill last year as This City is On Fire – we were turning people away at midnight.” He goes on to champion Drumclinic, Hot Milk, Norvun Sundays and Hit&Run, along with another freshly sprouted record label, Broken Bubble.
On arrival, the queue into Mint Lounge is like a bank vault giveaway with the masses scrambling to get in. The madness outside the club is no mask for inside where the place is packed as Submotion Orchestra are just getting into their set (yes, I missed the start thanks to the carnage outside).
Self-described as “progressive live dubstep,” they wow a student-heavy crowd with Ruby Wood’s exquisite lyrical tones backed up by sharp synchronicity from drums, guitar, keyboards, percussion and trumpet. The band’s enjoyment radiates out to a crowd crammed into the club and literally hanging from the walls for a view. In particular, new single ‘All Yours’ (released last week through Exceptional) and the piercing, yet enchanting, vocals of ‘Finest Hour’ go down a storm. All of which is too much for one punter to contain, turning as he does to the nearest life form, which happens to be your humble narrator, and exclaiming his disbelief at the high quality on show.
In part due to the selection of songs played, the dancefloor just doesn’t stop moving, which is something drummer Tommy Evans alludes to after the gig. He tells Now Then Manchester that they were expecting an audience more suited to uptempo drum’n’bass due to the Hit&Run modus operandi, so were wary of keeping it lively. Visibly pleased with the reception from the crowd, Evans is already looking forward to returning to Manchester with the current Ranking Records roster's other live act Gentleman’s Dub Club, who are touring the UK throughout May.
For now, Submotion have finished their UK tour, but I urge you to track them down at one of their yet to be announced summer festival dates. High praise from Gilles Peterson, and myself, is not dished out to any old rabble and this lot are of the highest calibre.
Friday 11th’s evening seems as good a place to start as any, being as it is the starting point for Continue, a new post-dubstep, IDM styled affair at Sankeys. Hotflush Recordings label boss Paul Rose headlines in the split musicality of dark electronic sub-bassman Scuba and tech-fuelled alter-ego SCB, while the likes of Dark Sky and Mind On Fire compilation favourite XXXY fill other slots across the night.
Oliver Stone’s recent documentary, South of the Border, is free to waltz into on Monday 14th at the university's Open Media society. Fill your head with thoughts on the various propagandising of a North/South American divide before emptying it again amidst the mellowing tones of Submotion Orchestra, who top a Hit&Run bill at Mint Lounge. Keep an eye out for their forthcoming single ‘All Yours’; released later this month on Thursday 24th.
Shifting marginally across the jazz plateau, highly recommended 2005 Mercury Music Prize nominees Polar Bear are Hear Here’s next offering on Wednesday 16th. They’ll be joined onstage at Sound Control by Portuguese rapper Jyager, and in support by former Now Then Manchester gig-closing soundwall merchants, King Capisce.