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14
Feb 12

Roots Manuva live at the Roundhouse

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Standard Saturday night on the Northern line. A boozy bloke sat opposite me strikes up a conversation: “Do they ever have sniffer dogs at Chalk Farm station?”. He has a gnarley set of teeth, scraggy long hair tucked into his cap and a poorly concealed tinny on the go.

I tell him I’ve never seen dogs there and change the subject to Roots Manuva, who I’m on my way to see at the Roundhouse. “Yeah mate, I’m heading there too, s’posed to be on stage with them in fifteen”, he slurs. “Sure you are” I think to myself. We get to the stop and part ways. It’s snowing and I drop into the Enterprise for a cheeky pint and a jager for some pre-gig cockle warming.

Once in the upmarket surroundings of the Roundhouse I start to question its suitability for hosting the UK’s most revered grimey hip hop act. However when Rodney Smith bursts onto stage sporting a bowler hat, bow tie, cape and cane, I realise this is a different breed of hip hop artist. He is accompanied by a full band of synths, drums, bass, DJ and backup MCs, including… a man with scraggy long hair tucked into a cap. Trampy man is in fact Big Daddy Kope, one of Rodney’s latest collaborators.

Roots’ latest album ‘4everevolution’ is an absolute banger, bursting with genre defying tunes that are so phat they would give Rik Waller a very slow run for his money. The show kicks off with some of the album’s highlights, gradually warming up the frostbitten crowd, before slipping into a mix of all the old winners. And by the time we get to the inevitable inclusion of Witness, the audience is in full party mode and the venue is transformed.

Thoroughly boozed up and danced out, the contents of the Roundhouse spills out into a snowy Camden Town for the obligatory snowball fight.

Roots Manuva are a surprisingly excellent live act with some very tight musical performances from the band. I highly recommend catching them at one of their shows, or at the very least go and buy their latest record immediately. You won’t regret it.

Photobucket Words: Dickon Drury

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13
Feb 12

Tribes open new night at Purple Turtle

Fresh from a whirlwind tour of the US, Camden treasures Tribes came back to their roots on Monday evening to headline a spankin’ new night at the freshly refurbished Purple Turtle in Mornington Crescent, just ahead of their nationwide NME tour.

The night itself marked the launch of ‘Tins on Toast’, a collaboration between Abolish Confusion & Club Bandangos, featuring DJ’s such as Steve Harris from XFM. Support came in the form of NME and Q favourites Dexters, who recently headlined Club NME at London’s KOKO with rave reviews.

There is quite obviously a lot of love for the Camden four-piece, as the place was packed out with fans both old and new. A huge roar came up from the bulging crowd as three of the lads came on stage to play a short acoustic set comprising of songs from their debut album, ‘Baby’. The band opened with Coming of Age which, even with the absence of drums, sounded as great as ever. The sing-alongs continued from the audience as they powered through favourites including Sappho, Corner of an English Field and Nightdriver, ending on the ever popular We Were Children.

Only time will tell for the Tins on Toast team whether this new venture will take off, but it certainly goes to show that bringing in big names like Tribes will draw a welcome crowd. I for one hope that each week can better the last, because it’s the most fun I’ve had on a Monday night in a long time!

Photobucket Words: Ceri Dixon

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9
Jan 12

Bear Driver at the Wheelbarrow 5/1/12

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I make no secret and offer no excuses in relation to my absolute adoration of Bear Driver, having first seen them at a Best of Myspace gig at The Bull & Gate about a year ago. Since then they’ve slimmed down by one member (losing Cassie to her solo work), played to great critical reviews at both SXSW and the Camden Crawl, and supported The Joy Formidable at Koko.

Their back catalogue is still impressive beyond belief, the debut album is imminent and tonight, despite my aching familiarity with this band and its music, I am blown away by their ability to write and perform what I can only describe as inspirationally bloody good songs.

Guitarist and sometime-singer Harry Dean finds more ways to fall off stages, disconnect cables, break guitars and cause ear-shattering feedback than anyone I’ve seen. Tonight however, he’s restrained; he doesn’t fall off-stage. Since last summer’s back-breaking crash at Dingwalls, Harry has sworn never to repeat this particular trick. Tonight he succeeds, just… but only just. Sharing guitar and vocal duties, Oli Deakin has the sort of voice that both melts concrete and then woos the driver of the concrete mixer into bed. He’s the perfect calm to Harry’s destructive enthusiasm and it works brilliantly.

While I still think that Enemy was the song of 2011… well, I’ve nothing left to say about it – it may yet become my song of 2012 too. It’s a perfect piece of pop and just the right antidote to ensure that tonight’s frozen bones are frozen no more (repeated airtime on BBC 6 Music means you don’t just have to take my word for it).

The wonderful attraction and explanation to Bear Driver is that you love them but can’t find the words for why. You listen to them but can’t explain the reason for it. You smile, but only because laughing seems out of place. They are a mind-filling, brain-freezing, spectacular way to bring in the New Year and now, more than ever, they deserve the critical acclaim that will surely flood their way this year. Prove me right. Their time is now.

Words and pictures: Dan Aitch

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21
Dec 11

Death In Vegas – Electric Ballroom, 15/12/11

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Fusing minimal techno, electronica, psychedelia and noise rock may sound like a recipe for self-consciously cool vacuity, or worse an unlistenable mess. But it’s a line that Richard Fearless under his Death In Vegas guise has bestrode with critical success since emerging as a satisfying counterpoint to the big beat and Britpop of the mid nineties. Always operating outside of the mainstream, but with commercial success as a result of 1999’s ‘Contino Sessions’ and 2001’s ‘Scorpio Rising’, this is a man with an impressive CV. On Thursday night the Don of dark disco invited us all into his dungeon – aka the Electric Ballroom.

Having put Death In Vegas on extended hiatus in 2004 until the release of ‘Trans-Love Energies’ earlier this year, there was a sense of occasion around the return of Fearless and co. A mixed crowd of hipsters and ageing, beery 90s ravers rubbed along happily together in a state of expectation, with the venue absolutely packed.

Fearless did not disappoint. Taking on vocal duties for the first time, he produced a pulsating and hypnotic set. Storming versions of old favourites such as ‘Dirge’, ‘Death Threat’ and ‘Aisha’ sounded re-energised by the full live band on stage, comprising members of his side project Black Acid. Set closer ‘Hands Around My Throat’, perhaps DIV’s biggest anthem, was similarly reinvented and had the obligatory set closing effect of causing the biggest crowd surge of the night.

But it was in many ways the new material which stood out, with the garage rock stomp of ‘Black Hole’ and ‘Moe Tucker’ showing a new side of Fearless’ song writing. Recent single ‘Your Loft, My Acid’ was more familiar DIV territory, with killer synths and the looped vocals of Austra’s Katie Stelmanis showing that Fearless can still do Berlin style techno bangers with the best of them.

Therein lays the almost unique value of Death in Vegas when measured against their late 90s peers. They have always evolved and always sounded fresh, and even after so long away this has not changed. It may not be the late 90s anymore, even in Camden, but Richard Fearless is still going strong and on Thursday night he proved that he remains a singular and compulsive voice in the UK underground dance scene.

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15
Dec 11

Dexters play Camden’s Koko

A couple of weeks ago I found myself at Camden’s indie den, KOKO. There was a slight murmur from the few people sporadically dotted about, but nothing to write home about.

I was waiting for Dexters, a five-piece guitar band born and raised in North London, that are causing quite a stir on the current live music scene.

Within the past week they had been chosen as one of NME’s “On Repeat” artists and Q magazine’s track of the day with the ridiculously catchy ‘Start To Run’, so you could say that I was curious, bordering on excited, to see the lads in action.

Whilst the support acts bashed their way through some mediocre sets, and Dexters’ explosion on to the stage came ever closer, the room rapidly began to fill to capacity, and the slight murmur from the audience transformed into a hive of anticipation…

As the curtain rose and the band blasted into their first song the crowd’s reaction was incredible. The band clearly already had a large following, and based on the guitar-fused melodies that followed, I sensed I could soon be joining them.

Dexters’ lab has cooked up a genius mix of lyrically perfect songs with clear influences from musical heavyweights such as Oasis and The Clash. I reckon they have a perfect storm brewing around them, so watch out – Dexters are coming.

Dexters – Start To Run (Demo) by dextersband

Words: Ceri Dixon.

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