James Blake review – cyborg pop warmed by human touch

Roundhouse, London
Blake tests new material for his forthcoming album with each freshly unveiled song sounding totally different from the last

A radical spectacle is taking place at this James Blake gig. Abandoning his piano and unfolding his long limbs, he’s finishing his first UK show in over a year by standing at the front of the Roundhouse stage. His cracked falsetto sounds relaxed enough, but the physical requirements of being a frontman seem new; his only concession to them is a geriatric shuffle.

Tonight is a chance for Blake to test material expected to appear on his fourth album, some of which he has to restart as he falters with his loop pedal. Recalling his dubstep-influenced early EPs, Blake’s voice on new single If the Car Beside You Moves Ahead stutters like a malfunctioning droid – apparently the result of hours of studio manipulation – yet he recreates the effect live, leaving the audience perceptibly wowed. It’s uncanny and impressive; a cyborg pop concept warmed by human touch.

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by Chal Ravens via Electronic music | The Guardian

Hookworms: are they the most cursed band in pop?

Fraud, flood, the loss of their back catalogue and all their new songs … the Leeds band reveal how they bounced back from all this and more to make knockout new album Microshift

‘It was like being in a disaster movie.” That’s how Hookworms singer Matthew “MJ” Johnson remembers Boxing Day in 2015, when the river Aire burst its banks, engulfing the band’s studio and rehearsal space. He was having lunch at his parents’ house several miles away at the time. The moment he heard the emergency flood alert, Johnson abandoned the meal and drove through rising water to the studio, which was soon five feet under. “The electricity was off and there was an eerie calm,” he says. “It was genuinely scary. I’ve got strong legs through cycling but I kept getting knocked over.”

Because the building, in the Kirkstall area of Leeds, was on a flood plain, he’d been unable to get insurance (even though the last flood had occurred in 1866). By the time he went back two days later to assess the damage, the waters had taken his car, much of the band’s back catalogue, their new recordings and – since he ran the place as a commercial studio – his livelihood. “I looked around,” he says, “and there was nothing left.”

Related: Hookworms: Microshift review – vast leap forward into a psychedelic future

We were being ripped off. It's a steep learning curve

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by Dave Simpson via Electronic music | The Guardian

The month's best music: Jonghyun, Marmozets, Peggy Gou and more

Our monthly playlist has camp country by Kylie, freaky funk by George Clinton, a dub odyssey by Leslie Winer & Jay Glass Dubs and more. Subscribe to the playlist of all 50 and read about our 10 favourites below

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by Ben Beaumont-Thomas via Electronic music | The Guardian

Porches: The House review – jaded, romantic, intricate synthpop

(Domino)

Porches started out making bedroom-rock in 2010, but frontman Aaron Maine has since steered his project into sheeny synth territory. Their third album, The House, retains the polished introspection and cleansing water imagery of previous record Pool, but goes deeper into Maine’s exploration of tender emotions. This is while getting more stripped back and minimalist than ever, with an aimless, delicate immersiveness.

There’s a vulnerable lightness that pervades the record, in spite of fleeting moments of jarring dissonance and numerous spiky dance tracks. Simple lyrics such as “I have no idea who I see in the mirror” (on By My Side) sound isolated in the mix, displaying a rawness perhaps explained by Maine writing lyrics from his journal entries, and recording most songs the day they were conceived. The result is an immediacy that revels in its shortcomings and errors.

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by Tara Joshi via Electronic music | The Guardian

Dom Servini at Bussey Building on 17/03

Details

• Artist:
  Dom Servini
• Date:
  17/03/18
• Time:
  11:00pm
• Venue:
  Bussey Building
• City:
  Peckham, London
• Address:
  133 Rye Lane
• Venue phone:
  02077325275
• Country:
  United Kingdom
• Age restrictions:
  No Minors
• Notes:
  Dom and Scrimshire in the basement, plus Dom joining Boca45 in Room 1!
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

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