New Mount Kimbie Tune

  

Chloe: One in Other

Ears from both within and outside the hardcore electronic music scene have been pricking up since the mysterious Chloé came to prominence with The Waiting Room in 2007. Alex Lawson caught up with the DJ to discuss bringing her bedroom out to the watching world

It’s 4am in an aeroplane hangar of a building outside Barcelona and Chloé Thevenin is making a lot of people incredibly happy and dancing like they are nursing an ingrowing toe nail simultaneously at Sonar festival in the summer of 2008. She flicks up eyes up for a second from her precious vinyl, surveys a crowd dancing inside a giant igloo and blinded by the giant blue lights that accompany her triumphant set, allows herself a flicker of a smile and gets back to work.

Two years later these same eyes stare out from the cover of new record One in Other, a record hotly anticipated thanks to performances like the one in Catalonia and the underground success of her full debut, The Waiting Room. The French DJ’s passionate intensity is portrayed in the cover image captured by friend and photographer Bruno Staub and in there is a sense that Thevenin has stepped up a gear in the interim, upping the tempo of her electronica which falls somewhere in between the chasm separating Ulrich Schnauss and Clarke. So what’s changed? “Between the two albums, I started to play live. It was a new experience to me on the top of DJing and producing in the studio,

playing live meant bringing my studio in front of the crowd and get a direct feedback. It gave me a lot of new ideas like on how I wanted to record my next record, like recording my music live, to be quicker, more spontaneous.”  Thevinin first appeared on the scope of many minimal electronic producers and DJs with her first EP, Erosoft in 2002, but with no avenue to see her live it has been slow going for the undoubtedly talented noise inventor until signing to the ultra cool Kill the DJ records and playing out. Her new record, with its subtly humorous pun and flurry of heavy, teasing beats which bring the listener to the brink of frustrating such is there psiren-like promise, reflects this evolution into a fully fledged live entity. “I wanted to be the closest of the feelings I get from my DJ set during the weekend,” explains Thevenin. “I wanted to give back this great energy I receive but give it back on different tempos to build this new album, probably this is why you get this positive atmosphere.

“I build the track playing it live in my studio to keep something spontaneous. I use what I know to do as a DJ, I play with the dynamic, play with the music, the people, give or hold, I really like the idea of performance, as a DJ, in the studio or playing live, it's a good game which is very inspiring.”

Growing up on an aural diet of Parisian club and rave DJs, Thevenin has released material on labels like Karat, Gomma and Bpitch Control and her status as a minimal techno figurehead is growing. With a series of gigs lined up from September through to December culminating in a performance backing a contemporary dance show, Pandora Box by the tres chic Fabrice Ramalingum, there can be little doubt Chloé’s quirky material is turning heads. And those live performances, can we expect the same intensity? “When I DJ I play club music – I can equally produce an EP or a remix for clubs – for me it's the same mood, it's just not the same tempo.”

Come Get Felt Up: In Video Form

Wondering what this ShadowPlay hosted Come Get Felt Up Night night is all about? Get a taster here. It basically a monthly night at The Book Club in London where people craft to win prizes along to the sounds of great bands, good eh? More info at www.comegetfeltup.com

Field Day: A cracking time in the sack

It has been interesting to see Field Day evolve in its short history. Having attended each year since its inception four years ago, the small east London one-day festival has shown a certain amount of progression. Gone are the overflowing toilets and, for the most part, the giant queues for the bar. In their place, an army of amiable staff willing to have a laugh and who wince along with you when the painful booze bill looms into view. So, complete with sniffer dogs and, y’know, The Feds, but still with a craft tent and a mean tug of war, the fourth edition of the Victoria Park event got underway.

On a personal note, the day was a blur of bowling bacon (Frazzles up for grabs? Done), valiant sack races, silly dancing and a fervour to empty cans (10p each when returned, good to see an English festival finally follow Europe in working out a recycling method at festivals). Objectively, the line-up was not as strong was previous years. Pheonix do not have the cache of a Justice or Santogold, nor the talented Caribou (a Field Day stalwart) that of Les Savy Fav or Sleater-Kinney. But fuck it, the curators have taste. Thus the likes of Andrew Weatherall, Silver Apples, The Fall and Simian Mobile Disco stick their names on the bill.

In fact, the big names proved a little underwhelming, The Fall proved just as they have always been – stodgy ­– and Gruff Rhys vs Tony Da Gatorria sounded just that – a fight between two different styles which produced a cacophony so unbearable that the crowd quickly thinned despite the Power Ranger outfit. Among the highlights, and the reason Field Day has such a reputation for being on the mark, were The Golden Filter and Mount Kimbie. Both have been around for a little while but, in granting them early slots, they drew in the crowds (a tent bursting one in dubstep maestro Kimbie’s case) and proved beguiling. Aussies The Golden Filter are a hive of thrashing synchronised drums and inventive synth sounds which work perfectly to create fairly vicious pop; Mount Kimbie are an entirely different proposition drawing nodding heads and shuffling feet left, right and centre. Chilly Gonzalez also proves a popular delight, both defending his mix of jokey rap and classical piano (accompanied by duel drummers) and offering ‘stern words’ to those who doubted the combination, a genuine joy. Appearances from Hudson Mohawke, The Fact DJs and Gilles Peterson were cause for further salivation from any fingers attached to musical pulses.

What Field Day lacks in some of the logistical nous of making a one-day festival have the slick organisation of a larger, three to four day event, it makes up in passion for good, innovative music rarely seen in the often weary, lumbering cash cow genre that is British music festivals. 

Come Get Felt Up, Thursday 15 July

Our monthly crafty gig taking place at The Book Club this month features...

Lime-Headed Dog, Tom Whalley (BBC 6Music, DJ set)

From 8:00pm until 11:00pm

Entry: £1

Venue: The Book Club, 100 Leonard Street, London, EC2 4RH

Blue Peter meets Art Attack while Anne Robinson watches on. If you fancy crafting an aardvark from pipecleaners while listening to funny, fullsome folk then Come Get Felt Up at The Book Club. Nip for a game of ping pong between carving a terrifying mask or assembling a robot from leftover Lego. This month Lime-Headed Dog provide tales of Cockney wonder to alt punk styling to front the craft bonanza. Creativity for all abilities with glorious prizes, all for free. Materials and vats of Pritt Stick provided. See www.comegetfeltup.com for more information.

The Hand, Rachael Dadd and Itchi at The Union Chapel

Rachael Dadd storms on to the stage in a black leotard with red lightening insignias emblazoned upon her bejewelled thighs as she stands posing like She-Ra leaning on a Flying V…no, not really. In fact, Dadd acts as a host of this welcome sedate Saturday gig, part of a regular Daylight Music series at the hip place of worship in aid of the homeless and it’s actually her husband, Itchi, who makes an entrance more shocking than a sane person in a British lending library.

The little Japanese man lurches through the pews on a pair of homemade stilts, singing and ringing bells on his legs. Back on two feet, his set is a surreal half hour of astonishing rhythm with inventive ‘tunes’ largely involving Itchi singing in a high pitched voice through a manipulative fake moustache, deflating balloons and ending songs by bursting paper bags. But the most shocking thing – more so even than him filling a steel drum with water and swilling a golf ball round it – is that it’s actually good. In fact, when Itchi sings a couple of traditional Japanese songs with an instrument that looks like a saucepan welded to a bike lock, it’s beautiful. Apparently, he’s got an ‘experimental’ side project, the mind boggles…

Dadd flips the brains of the quite stunned audience shortly after Itchi has departed unsteadily on the stilts with her wholesome folk. Her wavering, Joni Mitchell-like voice finds a new level when backed by her accomplished piano-playing and belies the fact she has been touring and releasing records for almost a decade now. The Bristolian’s latest project is The Hand, in which she is joined by pianist and kora player Wig Smith, the driver on the tourist boat on which Dadd used to work, for the final set. The duo have palpable chemistry on stage and as Dadd’s vocal ebbs and flows over Smith’s steady shore of a singing voice, it is clear that the thoughtful lyricist is perfectly at home in such a reverential location.  

Yunioshi - CTRL

Yunioshi - CTRL from Nathan Crawley on Vimeo.

With their latest effort CTRL, Yunioshi have affirmed what many in the glamour-ridden, cultural hive of the East Midlands (really!) that Nottingham's finest popstars really do come in perfectly offbeat forms. Check out this video for the EP, which sees keyboard culprit Anna Suzuki Yunioshi rather spooked out...

Stoke Newington Literary Festival: Stewart Lee and John Hegley

The problem with things that sound pretentious is, well, they’re actually fun. Justifying going to a literary fest to others is a difficult one, like convincing a doubter to climb aboard an errant camel to enjoy the view from the top. But we wouldn’t commit pretentious acts – going to see foreign language films we know will be slow and depressing, attending twee folk gigs where you have to sit on the floor – if it didn’t have an element of raw fun in there somewhere now would we?

The inaugural Stoke Newington lit fest has already garnered an impressive line-up, swelled by the likes of Tony Benn, Jeremy Hardy and incredible author/ShadowPlay contributor Toby Litt, at this early stage. The north London suburb is typified by its poor transport links, slightly yuppyish but charming streets and hoards of goods pubs and eateries.

My experience of the event centred upon two acts, Stewart Lee and John Hegley. Tucked away in a back street, the Stoke Newington International Airport is an instantly engaging venue. Essentially a garage filled with trinkets and mismatched chairs, Lee takes to the stage backed by a haunting painting of horses with a plane overhead and a kitchen dresser any house proud mum would desire. Lee, a Stoke Newington resident, is typically downbeat and modest and the comedian apologises for not being funny today, despite being just that. He proceeds to read a short story, N, by  Arthur Machen fluently and deadpan. Mackan’s tale is fit for this very occasion, a winding tome about visitors to Stoke Newington and perception of the village and its mythical park just four miles from central London. He’s an author for whom there is clearly much love and his gothic, accessible and eloquent 1930s tales are something deserving of further investigation. The heavens open outside as Lee reads, it seems entirely apt, they stop shortly before the end, not sure how much the organisers paid for that one.

Another local, John Hegley offers an entirely different prospect. Backed by double bassist Keith Moore (who also whips out a euphonium – an instrument which he can draw with some speed and skill – during the set), Hegley reads poems, letters and simple quips without breaking stride or hearing a lull in the laughter. The beautiful Assembly Rooms at the top of Church Street have clearly hosted the making and breaking of a hundred hearts over the decades but tonight the glitter ball merely reflected the positive. Urging the crowd to sing, translate French and even throw their glasses in the air, Hegley leads his audience through sidling songs of guillemots, Anglo-French romance and, ahem, hamsters. As the crowd file out, many clutching copies of Hegley’s book (which comes with lots of free space to draw pictures, nice) signed in pastels the smiles are as bright as the volunteer’s pink t-shirts. Stoke Newington, as an outsider, a comparative southerner, I salute you. 

Campaign against BBC cuts gathers pace

So I'm guessing you have all heard about the proposed cuts to vital parts of the BBC's radio offering. I received this update on the campaign to stop the cuts, do donate if you can spare the cash.

"The consultation on cuts to BBC services like 6 Music and Asian Network ends in less than a month. We need to make these last few weeks count. So we're going to put these massive billboard adverts right outside BBC buildings.
So far thousands of us chipping in has raised £13,000 to put these adverts up. That's enough for billboard campaigns around the BBC buildings in Manchester, London, Glasgow, Cardiff and Birmingham. If we reach £20,000 by Monday, we'll be able to reach other cities too including Edinburgh, Leeds, Bristol and Leicester, and also print thousands of flyers to distribute at concerts. Can you help by chipping in?
The more billboards we have, the more pressure we put on the BBC to protect services like Asian Network and 6 Music. Please donate now: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/fight-the-cuts
The billboards are going up on May 10th. BBC bosses pushing the cuts had been hoping our protest would fizzle out as the consultation drew to a close. But these billboards will make sure the pressure just keeps building. The more cities we can put them in, the more people we'll reach and the more powerful the message we'll send.
Together, we're proving that the public wants to save these valued BBC services. Over 35,000 of us have signed the petition, and over 20,000 have emailed the BBC Trust. We've persuaded more than 300 election candidates to pledge to oppose the cuts if they're elected. There are real signs that our pressure is starting to shift the BBC position. Now let's make sure in these final few weeks, our protests reach a real crescendo.

Thanks for getting involved,
The 38 Degrees Team"

Son of Dave: Shake a Bone (Kartel)

Son of Dave has represented an odd entity for some time and this latest outing, produced by the legendary Steve ‘is that a grating sound I can hearing beneath that noise?’ Albini, is no exception. The follow up to 2008’s ‘03’, this is arguably Benjamin Darvill’s most classically blues album yet. Full of slow rhythm, like an ex-con dragging a ball and chain down a Roman road, tracks such as Guilty prove Darvill has the ability to gently cast his harmonica over the top of a beat and enrapture in the process.

He’s warped more into Tom Waits than ever before too. Hell, he even looks like the innocent dreaming stubbly legend on the cover, adorned in a fetching hat and with an earnest stare. The (real) r’n’b blues riffs here, the relative simplicity of the lyrics and the extremely danceable structure to the tunes make it an easily recognisable and accessible record from the anomaly of a modern artist. Highlights include the full on rock out of Revolution Town and the blistering title track which affirms all you ever thought about the wiseness of wearing snakeskin shoes and dancing in the desert. A well-paced record of perfect length, pick it up.
And that’s not to say anything of its published accompaniment. A new book published by those Junko Partners the Stool Pigeon. Two books to commemorate the glorious oversized music paper’s 5th anniversary were released in Islington last month and I was lucky enough to attend the launch. Alongside of a series of incisive and hilarious interviews, Son of Dave’s columns from the paper were released in the form of a new volume entitled We Need You Lazzaro, You Lazy, Greasy Bastard’ – doubtless a hit with the kids section at Waterstones. Funny and fascinating in equal measure, tales of celebrity burials and great music adorn its pages. Quite a character then, and a great musician to boot.