Post by markwj on May 24, 2010 19:52:11 GMT
Jesu, Dead Fader, Cloaks
Sound Control, Manchester
15/5/10
With my birthday falling on an uninspiring Monday I decided to scatter my celebrations and brain cells around the week. After creating some of our own noise with Merciless Savage in Wrexham on the Friday I rose from the dead to get the train over to this event in Manchester. It had been at least a couple of years since I’d seen Jesu and to be honest had lost interest somewhat in their increasingly mellow shoe-gaze ways, even if they might still seem relatively sonically crushing to those who the pop tones would appeal to. However this gig was on the doorstep-ish, and I had acquired accommodation courtesy of some fellow fans also getting hyped up about the imminent return of Justin Broadrick’s old band Godflesh at next month’s Hellfest. There was the added attraction of some more experimental music in support, as this gig was part of the annual weeklong Future Everything the city hosts showcasing all manner of alternative visions and sounds.
Early arrival via Oxford Road station gave good refreshment time in Grand Central before the equally short walk to the new venue, which it occurred to me had used to be the home of A1 Music shop, a place of occasional pilgrimage in formative band days. A loss there but the set up of the venue looked very good and will hopefully take up some of the slack with the other recent demise of Rockworld/Music Box across the road.
Very soon after getting in and getting drinks naturally reverberations form above signal something is afoot and once upstairs it is revealed to be the Cloaks. One man and his turntables, only has the briefest of sets to test the massive subs and our ears with some thumping bass and skittering beats. He produces his own stuff but I think this was more of a wider selection of harsh, aggressive grooves and a good opener
There’s a seamless blend to Dead Fader next, two guys now both working from their laptops /mixers, bobbing along behind the desk. Again, the ante is upped in terms of the thump and grind with the brutalised dub step variant they base themselves in. You can feel this music shaking your insides and that’s the way I like it! It doesn’t quite extend to white noise territory but each time a new bass combo punch kicks in there are broad smile all round.
Jesu remain rooted more in the conventional band even if that is only down to them having guitar and bass, but the connection and the transition for the evening is provided in the fact that they are masters of dragging those simple instruments back through massive strata layers of effects to burst forth in a wave of sonic lava. We are treated to a surprisingly heavy and (for them) old school set and though opener “Friends are Evil” is slightly disappointingly lacking in the mix the sound is certainly sorted by the time we get the huge build up riff of “Tired of Me”. It’s a minimalist performance from the two of them on the big empty stage, he remains a humble frontman, but there is excellent visual projection on the backdrop to complement the drifting tunes. The ending “Ruined” off their debut “Heartache” ep drops my jaw after the minutes it took me to cotton on it was actually being played, as it’s a monster I haven’t heard before, and contains some unabashed heaviness that would fit right into the Godflesh catalogue. So only four songs in something like an hour, quality over quantity as ever, and really looking forward to the intensity that will hopefully be unleashed in France now.
Sound Control, Manchester
15/5/10
With my birthday falling on an uninspiring Monday I decided to scatter my celebrations and brain cells around the week. After creating some of our own noise with Merciless Savage in Wrexham on the Friday I rose from the dead to get the train over to this event in Manchester. It had been at least a couple of years since I’d seen Jesu and to be honest had lost interest somewhat in their increasingly mellow shoe-gaze ways, even if they might still seem relatively sonically crushing to those who the pop tones would appeal to. However this gig was on the doorstep-ish, and I had acquired accommodation courtesy of some fellow fans also getting hyped up about the imminent return of Justin Broadrick’s old band Godflesh at next month’s Hellfest. There was the added attraction of some more experimental music in support, as this gig was part of the annual weeklong Future Everything the city hosts showcasing all manner of alternative visions and sounds.
Early arrival via Oxford Road station gave good refreshment time in Grand Central before the equally short walk to the new venue, which it occurred to me had used to be the home of A1 Music shop, a place of occasional pilgrimage in formative band days. A loss there but the set up of the venue looked very good and will hopefully take up some of the slack with the other recent demise of Rockworld/Music Box across the road.
Very soon after getting in and getting drinks naturally reverberations form above signal something is afoot and once upstairs it is revealed to be the Cloaks. One man and his turntables, only has the briefest of sets to test the massive subs and our ears with some thumping bass and skittering beats. He produces his own stuff but I think this was more of a wider selection of harsh, aggressive grooves and a good opener
There’s a seamless blend to Dead Fader next, two guys now both working from their laptops /mixers, bobbing along behind the desk. Again, the ante is upped in terms of the thump and grind with the brutalised dub step variant they base themselves in. You can feel this music shaking your insides and that’s the way I like it! It doesn’t quite extend to white noise territory but each time a new bass combo punch kicks in there are broad smile all round.
Jesu remain rooted more in the conventional band even if that is only down to them having guitar and bass, but the connection and the transition for the evening is provided in the fact that they are masters of dragging those simple instruments back through massive strata layers of effects to burst forth in a wave of sonic lava. We are treated to a surprisingly heavy and (for them) old school set and though opener “Friends are Evil” is slightly disappointingly lacking in the mix the sound is certainly sorted by the time we get the huge build up riff of “Tired of Me”. It’s a minimalist performance from the two of them on the big empty stage, he remains a humble frontman, but there is excellent visual projection on the backdrop to complement the drifting tunes. The ending “Ruined” off their debut “Heartache” ep drops my jaw after the minutes it took me to cotton on it was actually being played, as it’s a monster I haven’t heard before, and contains some unabashed heaviness that would fit right into the Godflesh catalogue. So only four songs in something like an hour, quality over quantity as ever, and really looking forward to the intensity that will hopefully be unleashed in France now.