Review and 📸 by Kev Grosvenor 

Minus RF * kicks off proceedings with some tasty melodic techno hooks , easing us into the evening before Mentat appears behind a sea of modular wires to crank things up a notch with some edgy Orbitalesque electronica. 

Mentufacturer takes the stage next, and at first it all sounds a bit like generic techno, but within a few short minutes the sound warms up, with playful joyous hooks weaving among the beats. Plenty of heads (mine included) are nodding along in approval to this. It’s an addictive brew that refuses to be pigeonholed in any particular genre. I’ll call it uplifting Electro.

Daniel MacPhee is already something of a legend on the indie Electronica scene, having performed alongside Matt Black of Coldcut fame, and he delivers a confident set of belting Electronica which really does seem to come to an end all too quickly.

Next up is noisesmith FFRWD who has travelled from Wales to perform tonight. Having seen him perform on several previous occasions at the Newport emom, I knew what to expect. Camden didn’t!

At first the wall of seemingly random noises is jarring, then as if by magic beats start to form, exciting rhythmic patterns emerge from the chaos, and it all starts to make sense. Just a quick glance around the now growing audience reveals mostly a sea of smiling faces , along with a few looks of total astonishment, unsure of what exactly they are witnessing. Unfortunately, as is often the emom way, technical gremlins rear their ugly head halfway through the set, forcing a reboot of the electronics, but despite his initial panic , FFRWD deals with it with good humour and it certainly doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.

Cheryl Holland is next up , an artist new to me and a bit of an undiscovered gem. She obviously has a great knack of writing songs and singing about the mundane things we all go through everyday , even somehow turning darker subjects like grief into a positive and uplifting slice of 90’s infused EDM.

There are, quite rightly, no headliners at an emom. All egos are checked in at the door, and every performer receives the same warm welcome, attention and respect of the crowd, whether it’s their first ever time on stage, or their 50th show. But it has to be said that some people are natural headliner material , and MHO demonstrates this perfectly. Stepping behind a rig that looks like a control console ripped straight from the starship Enterprise, a dayglo Dave delivers a spectacular set of gorgeous uplifting Electronica anthems. A 15 minute emom slot can’t really do MHO’s music full justice, and he’s unfortunately beamed up just as the audience were wanting more. Much more!

Hungarian singer / songwriter / producer Nòwnøis is next , her haunting vocals the perfect accompaniment to the sparse trip hop tinged beats and Electronica. She reveals this is her first time on stage in nearly 5 years after stepping away from performing to be a mum. You’d never know, her performance is confident and sounds fantastic.

Buck Theorem, king of the SOMA Pipe returns to the Camden stage and we can’t get enough of his performance. As animated as ever, wearing his now trademark unique Batman shirt made by his Mum (everyone now wants one of these ! ) ,Gary delivers a stomping set of loop pedal beat box vocals twisted by the cult Russian electronic pipe instrument , mixed with some catchy songwriting. “You are all invited” he sings. Invitation accepted !

A potential red flag is raised as Mote takes the stage, his weapons of choice the most un-emom of things …… Guitars ! I needn’t have worried too much though. Those rock guitar riffs are backed by some absolutely thunderous drum n’ bass and jungle beats. Absolutely awesome stuff, and the bouncing Dublin Castle crowd agree wholeheartedly.

Stars Electronica makes an unscheduled stop on stage, performing some slightly more chilled trip hoppy flavoured tunes rather than her usual full on EDM driven bangers. This is in total contrast to Mote’s previous sonic onslaught, and Star’s lush vocals are a welcome respite ……

Until the Drum n’ Bass and jungle shenanigans kick off again , this time courtesy of Palmer Eldridge. The bass and beats are again huge, but things reach a new level when he is joined on stage by singer Angie, her smooth soulful vocal slicing through the wall of breakbeats like a hot knife through butter. The two compliment each other perfectly.

Make Noise’s ‘Use Hearing Protection’ shirt should have warned us what was coming next ! Loud beat-driven techno infused Electronica of the highest quality. The crowd were still lapping this up, as indeed was I , although I have to confess my energy was starting to wane a little. I turned to my wife Melissa and said “I’m too old and too fat for this s**t !” “Yes dear, you say that every time” she reminded me.

Penultimate act of the night BifMode’s set was bouncy and full of energy. Really reminded me of the great Mike Paradinas (u-ziq) in places, which is obviously no bad thing. I was reinvigorated! Some very desirable Elektron kit seemed to be doing the heavy lifting, but the guy could really play keyboards too, with the set marking the night’s only appearance of a Nord Lead.

The final artist of the night Bartholemew Benezar brought things to a close with some truly cinematic Electronica soundscapes. The set wore it’s John Carpenter and 80’s horror soundtrack influences proudly on it’s sleeve, but this wasn’t just an attempt to try and recreate those old movie scores. Instead it felt more like taking brushes of sound and creating a fresh new sonic artwork atop an old audio canvas. Loud, addictive, and a great way to end an absolutely amazing evening of eclectic electronic music. 

Special mention and thanks must go out to organiser / host Darren (Lucida Records / Leg Puppy 2.0) and co-host Mark (aka Riigs) , who were the glue that held the evening together, with their insightful artist interviews and fun banter with the audience , along with the venue’s sound engineer and the guy who worked on the visuals , both their names escaping me as I write this (sorry).

In the late 70’s an unknown ska band called Madness took to the Dublin Castle stage. 40 odd years later and the madness and fun of the electronic open mic movement has taken over this iconic venue’s music room. As Darren asked, grassroots music nights like this, or a £500 + Oasis ticket ? No contest. I’ll take the emom all day long.

See the posts below for pictures from the evening  ⬇️ 

How many times have you been promised that an album will take you on a musical journey, only for it to underdeliver when you settle down and listen? Read on and we’ll find out how Life Rite fares in the audio transportation stakes. 

Opener ‘Ego Death’ is a slow starter, feeling a little like the airport terminal track of the album …… we’re excited , but we just want to get underway. Our journey proper begins with ‘Nonagon’ - an uptempo slice of Electronica awash with lashings of beautiful atmospheric ethereal vocals . If ‘Chrysalid’ is very reminiscent of the songs on Will’s last album ‘Foley Age’, then ‘Let A Hundred Flowers Bloom’ really pushes the Bloom’s Taxonomy sound forward , full of fantastic vocals, synths, strings and gorgeous melodies …… which then all get twisted up with key and timing changes long before any part of the song can outstay it’s welcome. 

Tracks like Big Reference and A Fridge In Brixton are already big tunes, and I can only imagine how huge these will sound played live, alongside Will’s light show projections, with volume up to the Max. This is the beating heart of uplifting anthemic Electronica .

By the time we reach the end of title track Life Rite , I can safely say on this occasion I really did feel I had been whisked away to some sun kissed magical place, and totally enjoyed the ride, my Bandcamp bucks well spent …. and all this before we even get to the 13 minute ambient epic Highland Mist - where we pack our headphones and another brand new audio adventure beckons! / Kev

Homebrew Rating 9/10 Favourite Track Big Reference 

You’ll enjoy this if you like - Moby, Jarre, Boards Of Canada 

Life Rite is available on streaming services or as a Bandcamp download.

I‘ve decided to concentrate more on artist interviews for the website and will leave album reviews to others in future, but here’s a couple of re-posts from the old ‘review’ section, just incase anyone missed these great albums. 🙂 

SONGS, DELAYED - COBBLER 

When he sings that he’s “Turning up to the knife fight, with a gun and a shit load of dynamite” , it’s clear on this, his third long player, that Cobbler intends to put the boot in early !
Trip Hop flavoured opener ‘Time To Wake Up’ is a stark reminder that we could all so easily end up sleep walking into all sorts of political and environmental grief if we’re not careful. The message isn’t exactly subtle, but with such a strong melody, and with production this lush, we’ll forgive the fact we’ve just been grabbed by the collar, given a good shake and told we need to open our eyes the f**k up !

When we get to the second track , there is a slight worry that the album may have peaked far too soon. ‘Stuck’ is absolutely the best slice of anthemic beat driven indie rock/pop that I’ve heard in a long while. This uplifting banger, about mustering up enough self belief and grit to drag yourself up out of a rut, is ear wormage of the highest order and has to be a ……cough , ‘shoe-in’, for tune of the year.

Fortunately though, even after such a powerful opening salvo of tracks , there’s still plenty to love here. The low-fi infused ‘Summer’ is simply glorious, inspired by working as a teacher during the last week of Summer Term. Reality tv show inspired ‘There Are People On The Outside’ just proves what a fantastic ear Jim has for a catchy melody, as does the melancholy soaked ‘As Cold As December’. While that latter track leans heavily on the auto-tune , it’s worth noting that it’s used here mostly for effect only. Jim can certainly hold a note, and in fact over the course of the whole album Cobbler’s vocal delivery is solid and confident.

‘Songs Delayed’ builds on Cobbler’s already impressive output, and proves that even without the help of his posse of poet friends, he’s capable of delivering a stunning set of songs that are destined to be played on repeat ……. with the volume up, and that damn knob ripped clean off ! / Kev

Homebrew Electronica Rating 9/10
Favourite Track – ‘Stuck’

Summer is here, and the independent music scene is thriving and is hotter and ever, with a whole stack of live events and great new releases to look forward to. The plan is to get my arse into gear and update this companion website more frequently ! Sorry if it’s felt a bit abandoned. 

In the meantime, the 75th show is coming up on 7th August , and as always I’m super excited about the great music we’re gonna get to hear. Keep your eyes peeled for full details of that 75th show coming very soon 👀 

/ Kev