The Rapture, Factory Floor @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

House of crazy dancers

02/05/12

The Rapture

As a true fan of the authentic US punk/hardcore wave of the seventies and early eighties (don't even get me started on the protopunk explosion of the sixties...) I have looked at many of their more recent reincarnations with suspicion. Peculiarly so, New York's dance-punk wave, in the noughties, stroke a chord. Not that I find a deep purpose or meaning to it; but it does make me want to dance - with a twist.
Awaiting The Rapture, the big surprise came a bit early, in the form of Factory Floor. I caught them soundchecking and I pretty much thought they were a bomb; but I wasn't quite convinced till I witnessed their live show.
That threesome rules.
I was a bit too busy to notice the vocals, which I now discover on their recordings online (I funnily even wonder if they sang live at all...). My eyes were completely drawn by the wild drummer on the left front of the stage, rocking it under a dance attack of noisy electronics (which you couldn't miss, no matter how work-driven you were). From the Joy Division-oriented Francis Francis to their groovy latest video Two Different Ways (and all the remixes by the likes of New Order/Joy Division's Stephen Morris and Throbbing Gristle/Chris & Cosey's Chris Carter in between) Factory Floor are an amazing new-industrial number to get into. And I normally tend to distrust those too.
 Back to The Rapture, they were admittedly less captivating than their support band. Which didn't really make them bad at all.

Factory Floor were pretty edgy m***f****; which made the headliners more tame and accessible dance fashions sound a tad repetitive, in comparison. Funny thing, since it was precisely FF's dynamic industrial repetitiveness that made them so addictive.
But The Rapture standards, like House of Jealous Lovers and Echoes, always do it for me. Their recent third release In The Grace Of Your Love, on James Murphy's DFA, also came with melodic beats like How Deep Is Your Love. Which basically means that the guys belong in the present, as much as they did when they first broke the scene.
All in all, we shook it and swung it and had some pretty cool times. Factory Floor were the biggest discovery of talented support bands I've made since Other Lives (when they opened for Chapel Club last October). Naturally, it has a lot to do with the fact that both bands have accomplished a bit more than just support bigger names (where the hell have I been?!)...
And we expect a lot more.

Review by Danai Molocha, photography fished from the web.

Global Noise Attack (and a few other people) @ The Elecrtrowerkz

Sonic Attack

05/05/12

A rainy Saturday was ideal for a marathon electro-industrial night. Four bands alternated black eyeliner with menacing masks and quirky outfits, building up the energy for the coming Slimelight after-party. 

Ghost in the Static opened up theatrically, enhancing their electro-industrial mix with Goth looks inspired by The Crow.

 Solo Null White combined futuristic electronics with keyboards.  Luckily he wasn't deterred by persisting technical problems.

Bad sound tried to get in the way of Global Noise Attack's Goth extravaganza. But nothing could stop them..

Purposefully exhibitionist frontman Brian Stewart led the band through industrial GNA classics, like
Shapeshifter, Memories and Desperate Culture.
 The frontman wandered around, physically engaging the crowd in the performance, while the bass and the guitar kept up with the dynamic on-stage attack.

Suddenly, spirited Mexican music took over and a colorful Piñata – a papier-mâché donkey, full of sweets - got smashed over our heads. A spectacular close to the show.

Headliners Dreams Divide had a tough act to follow; and they were definitely less eye-catching. But their uplifting energy and melodic electro beats, like Complex and Faces, filled up the dance floor. 

 Review and photography of GNA by Danai Molocha for Live At Your Local, www.liveatyourlocal.org.uk

Ane Brun @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

Nordic pleasures

28/04/12

Ane Brun

 Let me get this straight... How does Ane Brun manage to transform from a dark exotic elf into a lyrical mammal singing carefree in the Nordic shores, sometimes within the same song? The deep musicality and outlandishness of her melodies make her work intriguing, for the most part; yet, at times, her seemingly innocent and naive lyricism (which I'm sure, behind the surface, it's not...) make it hard to listen to her at all.

Linnea Olsson

David Byrne played One (from 2011's It All Starts With One) on a loop on his online radio (http://www.davidbyrne.com/radio/player/index.html) - and deservingly so. A talented backing band (great timing on the quirky harmonies and melodic atmospheres), along with impeccable projections and lighting moods contributed to a show that was both beautiful to listen and to look at. I admire Ane in songs like To Let Myself Go (http://bit.ly/thjAK8). But, then, comes Do You Remember (http://bit.ly/o1jA6X); and though I love the video's style, it's way too peasant opera for my taste...
Dear Ane, excuse my meanness - I wouldn't even write down these lines if I thought you weren't worth it. (that's the best I can say...).

Gemma Ray

Opening act Linnea Olsson also(n) balanced dangerously between gifted and... allergy-inducing. More than once, I found her lyrics a bit simplistic, but her cello counted for quite a few interesting moments. Her debut album Ah! is out now (and here's the single of the same name http://bit.ly/swYrXB).
As for support No2 Gemma Ray, I had high expectations... 2010's It's A Shame About Gemma Ray held a bunch of sinister, sensually menacing covers of Shirley Bassey's Big Spender (http://bit.ly/Amf8lX), or Etta James' I'd Rather Go Blind (http://bit.ly/IM9Hq6) - and there was also some Gun Club and Sonic Youth in there; stuff that easily made me adore her. And none other than Monsieur Jimmy Page himself is a fan. Unfortunately, I'm under the impression that, in her new release Island Fire, her noir sensibilities (and the fire, for that matter), have subsided a little. I have yet to listen to the CD itself to have an honest opinion but, despite the smashing reviews, I was slightly let down.

Review by Danai Molocha - photography by the web talented and (consciously or not) generous artists.

The Puppini Sisters @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

Boogie Woogie Gals

20/04/12


With a bigger backing band than I've ever seen them before (and I have, a few times), the trio Puppini rocked it and swang it once more - though against a far more insipid audience. Yep, the people facing them were mostly... mature and passive, and if it weren't for a couple of crazy girls dancing wild at the back, you would've thought it was the band's fault. They might have chosen a few of their quietest songs for this set, but they were decidedly and categorically not the ones who were being boring (and bored).

First things first, it was music Casanova Earl Okin that warmed up the evening, with his ironically suave, sexy and humorous guitar ballads.

On to the Puppini clan, then... Three amazingly harmonized voices, which come with three equally beautiful, vivacious girls that play keyboards, accordion and violin, swept the stage with oldies and goldies like Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, to Beyonce's Crazy In Love - via Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (a personal favorite), Millionaire, Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano and I Will Survive.
The girls know how to swing it; they're spicy, funny; and real. They didn't play my top choice, Spooky (find at http://bit.ly/Ik0SXO), but I can't really hold it against them. They could do better - but they steadily respect music, their talent and their audience.


Review and misleading photography (from Puppini's previous gigs and NOT the O2 Empire) by Danai Molocha

Energy high (and then low again) @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

 Amadou & Mariam / Ebony Bones 13/04/12 The blind couple from Mali has its own dedicated following, and for good reason. Soulful, authentic ambassadors of African rhythm, they never fail to get their audience on their feet - with the help of an equally uplifting musical entourage and classics from Dimanche a Bamako (which translates to Sunday in Bamako, the city where they were born, and the name of their fourth, Manu Chao-produced album). Opening was eccentric music W.A.R.R.I.O.R. Ebony Bones - whoalso collaborated with the pair in their latest release. Performing in her usual wacky fashion paraphernalia, she launched herself into a series of sinister dance rock beats, wildly cavorting, as usual, on stage (check her out in this one http://bit.ly/I5yZFC). And we like her thinking too: "Knowing that the majority of music in the mainstream is about nothing - you know, there's a lot of shit going around, how do you, then, create music that looks like it's about nothing, but it's about something?". I hear ya...

Noah and The Whale 17/04/12 This band is among the indie folkies I was intrigued to check out back in 2009, when the press was raving about their album The First Days of Spring. Indeed, it had some good moments, like the luscious opening song of the same name - which, by the way, they luckily played live, opening their encore this time. Till then, their show restricted itself to mostly insipid tunes, like the unavoidably radio-friendly L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. and Tonight's The Kind of Night, from 2011's Last Night On Earth; songs which I don't necessarily find bad, but they do remind me that this band is mostly boring.

Bic Runga18/04/12 That peculiar (by name, at least) Runga was a welcome surprise. She's an exotic presence with an exotic, albeit chart-popular in New Zealand (where she comes from) pop sound. Going through a series of soft, unpretentious melodies with her small band, she never failed to prove she had character, with a romantic, jazz twist. It's not that she is anything wildly original, but somewhere in there, you realize, hides beauty; and you like it.

Review by Danai Molocha (photography from 
the web...)