Big Black, Hammersmith Clarendon, July 1987 Part 2

As we piled into the Clarendon, which was upstairs if I remember correctly we were greeted by the cacophony of either Head of David or A.C. Temple. I believe it was the latter. These British bands were on the Mute Records sub-label Blast First, which released Big Black and Sonic Youth material in the UK. I don’t remember much of the opening band’s set but I do remember them finishing up and the stage being completely quiet and the venue being full of seriously rowdy British skater punks who were roaring abuse at the empty stage in the hope that Big Black would magically appear and start playing right away. Next thing a small, skinny dude, wearing torn jeans, spiky hair, John Lennon glasses and a Die Kreuzen t shirt, stepped onto the stage, walked up to the mic, politely (very politely actually) asked everyone to quiet down and said that the band would be out in a minute. The crowd went ballistic, for this was Steve Albini, Steve Albini playing some of Big Black's last shows, because the band had already decided to break up and this London show was part of their final tour.

He looked like he should have been playing in The Feelies, but looks can be deceptive as we all know. He tinkered with the drum machine a bit, which sounded extremely loud, and left the stage again. Now the crowd was fit to be tied or corralled for that matter, and stage diving and people throwing ensued. Albini stepped onstage once more, made polite overtures that were greeted by abuse, swearing and roaring which all had a very British accent (in all senses of the word) to them. This time, while courteously assuring the crowd that the show was about to begin, he strapped on his guitar, not over his shoulder, but around his waist. This looked pretty odd and was an omen of what was to come. Next thing bassist Dave Riley (who started out as an assistant audio engineer for Parliament and Funkadelic in his native Detroit) and guitarist Santiago Durango came on, and attached their instruments in the same fashion.

Albini stepped up to the mic again, and I can’t remember if he made any more civil overtures, but I do remember him shouting “one two, fuck you!” into the mic and a barrage of driving, hard, but melodic noise emanating from the stage. The crowd went crazy, and I was as gobsmacked as I’ve ever been by music in my life. In fact I felt like that guy (Peter Murphy from Bauhaus) in the old Maxell ads from the ‘80s, with his hair and tie blowing back from the sound. I think the first song was “Passing Complexion” (see the youtube clip on the previous Big Black post) and Big Black followed with over an hour of pile driving, deranged machine rock, tinged with the brutal funk of Riley’s bass playing.

Albini opened every song with “One two fuck you,” and they ploughed through “Jordan Minnesota,” “Kerosene,” “Bad Penny,” “Cables,” and more. And after completely laying waste to the crowd — and my psyche — they finished with a cover version of Wire’s “Heartbeat,” and were joined onstage by Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis of Wire, Gilbert on guitar and I think Lewis was on keyboards, which were rolled in especially for this song. This was the final gobsmacking to top all gobsmackings and at the end of the song as everyone left the stage Albini said "...and tonight we walked with giants..." It certainly felt that way to me, and walking back out into the warm London night my buddy Keith asked me, “what didya think of that Orr?” No words were necessary, memories — a little foggy now — of that night are etched on my brain forever.

Orr

Big Black, Hammersmith Clarendon, July 1987. Part 1

In 1987 I went to London, in the summer, like the kid in The Smiths song, except that I wasn’t from the north of England (I was living in the north of Ireland) and I knew that I’d go back home at some point (to finish school) though I was broke as a joke. That was the reason I went over there, not to find myself — I already knew where I was, I started at the end of my fingers and finished at my feet and head, easy — but to get some money together to go into my third and last year of school. Invariably that meant working on the building sites of the great, late ‘80s English building boom. So be it, but there would be clubs and shows and trips to the Rough Trade shop on Talbot Rd. off Portobello, and various indie dance stores to fidget through empty shrink wrapped sleeves with names like Phuture, Lidell Townsell, Denise Motto and Dynamix II scrawled on them and a dj knocking out some kick ass mixes over a stellar sound system. Oh yes.

However, it was one of the shows that really stood out that summer, defined it, if you will. A bunch of us who knew each other from going to school and hanging out in Galway (a cute city on the Irish west coast) were squatting in South London, in Camberwell, not far from the green and close to the North Peckham Estate. This was the worst housing project in Western Europe at the time, and wasn't just comprised of a few blocks, but rather a huge, sprawling maze of two storey flats, all connected by bridges. At its centre an intense drug war was being conducted between local and African immigrant gangs. Nice. But, there was still the art college, some dope kebab places around the green,  great pubs and some nice weather.

But back to the show, one evening while I was hanging out with my buddy Keith at his squat on Vicarage Grove, he played me a John Peel session of an American punk band called Big Black. I had heard of them, but not heard ‘em as there were plenty of American exchange students in Galway and they would pass me tapes of some of the new hardcore that was coming out on labels like SST and Homestead Records: Hüsker Dü, Phantom Tollbooth and Black Flag. Plus buddies of mine would go out to Boston or California for the summer and come back with Minor Threat, Fugazi, Sonic Youth and Bad Brains records. And you'd get hipped to bands like Meat Puppets, Salem 66, Naked Raygun, Butthole Surfers and Dinosaur Jr. It was a good time and good music, but I hadn’t heard Big Black. So when Keith played me their hard, funk-infused, and drum machine driven punk rock and told they were playing at the Hammersmith Clarendon in two weeks I had to see them live.

July 24th 1987 was a Friday and we  jumped on the bus or maybe the tube at Elephant and Castle (I can’t remember which mode of transport) and we piled into the Clarendon sometime in the late evening. The venue also housed a psychobilly night called The Klub Foot (a legendary psychobilly club) so there were a gang of heads mulling around the venue, mostly outside, with insane mohawks on insane heads. I also spotted Wayne Hussey from The Sisters of Mercy and The Mission.

To be continued….

Orr

Lilofee at Elbo Room

Lilofee played last night at Elbo Room on a bill with synth poppers Electric Valentine and Freezepop. I found the latter two outfits endearing for a while but I must confess that I lost interest after a few songs. Freezepop member Sean T remarked that the group formed as a reaction to the dire state of music at the end of the ‘90s. A valid point, no doubt, but almost ten years later the super hooky electro and synth pop that emerged in that era is sounding a little dated. Both bands write infectious and involving electro pop but sometimes depth and substance are what’s needed.

Lilofee write songs with both of these qualities and can deliver them live. “Lock and Key, ““We Belong Apart” and set closer, “Destroy Me,” are great studio songs that retain their vitality in a live setting because the lyrics are smart but not overwrought, the hooks pull you in and the band’s music is a heady amalgam of electro, indie pop and shoegaze. It doesn’t do any harm that Lilofee look pretty impressive too, as the imposing front women Kimi Record is backed by the debonair gentlemen, Rob Easson, Dan Aquino and Cyrus Etemad

The quartet will be playing on Saturday, September 20th at DNA Lounge on the roster of the new monthly shindig Superego. Make a point of being there.

Orr

The Emperor Machine - What's In The Box

I’ve seen this one in the stores for a week or so but its official release date is today. Those of you who are familiar with new electronic dance music will no doubt have stumbled across The Emperor Machine, a side project of Chicken Lips and the brainchild of Andy Meecham. This four track EP is a heady mixture of squelchy, analog synth sounds, funk bass lines and cracking beats. All the tracks are instrumental, with side one featuring the mid-tempo “What’s In The Box?” and “Box Dub,” while on the flip there are the more umptempo, hectic and funk fuelled “Non-Functioning Apeman,” and “Functioning Apewoman.” These tracks will fit in well with tunes by the likes of Lindstrom, Prins Thomas or with classic numbers in the garage, disco, Cosmic and Italo veins.

Meecham started out in the late ‘80s with Chicken Lips co-hort Dean Meredith as Bizarre Inc. They released a mini album and some singles of Chicago house, NY garage and Detroit techno flavored club tracks on the Blue Chip label out of Stafford, England. This was also home to techno outfit Nexus 21, which became the ravetastic Altern 8. Bizarre Inc. scored a huge early ‘90s club hit with “Playing With Knives” (which will undoubtedly be rolled out again when the irony brigade tires of ‘80s re-runs and decides to inflict a ‘90s inflected tsunami on us, minus all the good music of course). Meecham and Meredith recorded much of their material on the now defunct British label, Vinyl Solution, which was based above the London record store of the same name and which released music by Eon and Depth Charge (aka J Saul Kane).

This project evolved into Chicken Lips in the late part of the last decade, as Meecham and Meredith — with the help of Steve Kotey — explored classic disco, electro funk (or boogie, which is currently fetishized from Bologna to Bognor Regis and beyond), post punk and Italo, all with a definite dub inflection, a la Larry Levan on cuts such as “Seventh Heaven” by Gwen Guthrie, and evidenced on their excellent debut album, Echoman, which is replete with stunning dj tools for the discerning deck technician. As this decade wore on the long time partners decided to explore solo efforts too. Meredith branched off into White Light Circus, while Meecham explored the darker side of the dance floor with The Emperor Machine. Both projects are on the DC Recordings label, which is run by J Saul Kane from above the Vinyl Solution store, old connections don’t die easy. And both fuse elements of funk, with moody soundtrack touches and analog synth stylings. Padded Cell also release their brand of pensive dance music on this imprint too.

So if you haven’t checked The Emperor Machine or any of the other artists on the DC Recordings stable please do so now. I’m off to make a nice cup of tea and listen to Goblin, perfect tea drinking music fo shure.

Orr

Egyptian Lover birthday bash at Loaded tonight!!!

As if Modeselektor and Ellen Alien at Mighty weren’t enough, those facilitators of fevered, frantic and facetious festivities, Loaded, are throwing a do over at the Rickshaw Stop tonight, featuring Egyptian Lover live with Jamie Jupiter, while support comes in the shape of the turntable stylings of Baby Ryan and Commodore 69. It’s Egyptian Lover’s birthday bash, so it’s gonna be a blasht I’m sure. The music will be loud, the floor will be packed, the pyramids will be oh so shiny, the women here will be oh so cute and everyone will be cutting a rug to the beats that Egyptian Lover deftly computes. And because Mighty goes til 4AM you can check out both shows. Prepare to energize indeed!

Orr

Ellen Alien, Modeselektor, Blasthaus, yaaaaayy!!!!!!!

If you’re out and about in San Francisco tonight, you might want to get yourself to Mighty for the Modeselektor and Ellen Alien show. What can I say about these artists that hasn’t already been said? They’re German, I believe, and they craft forward looking and extremely well produced electronic music that you can dance to. The Shindig is being thrown by the ever reliable Blasthaus, doors open at 9PM, it will go after hours and will probably be a zoo, as both artists will rock the holy living shit outta the place and you will leave there drenched and filled with an innate sense of well being. Hokely dokely?

Orr

They won't lie low, even for a fee!

Lilofee is one of the freshest acts I’ve heard to come of San Francisco in a minute. And if you live in SF I’m sure you’ve heard the group in the last month or so because it has been playing out quite a bit. The quartet started up in late 2007 as a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Rob Easson and vocalist Kimi Recor, the amazonian chanteuse who also fronted Invisibles, a San Fran electro outfit, which released material on DJ Hell’s label International Deejay Gigolos. As a live act, Lilofee becomes a four piece as the duo is joined by Dan Aquino, aka dmap! of SF rockers Every Move a Picture, and Cyrus Etemad, who, with significant other Rini Merdjanova, throws the long running and popular shindig Loaded at the Rickshaw Stop.

Thus there’s plenty of music — and merry making — experience between these four players. This is evidenced in some sterling live performances at Mezzanine and Popscene and in their repertoire of songs, like my personal fave “Lock and Key,” and the lurching and deliciously atmospheric “She Breathes Electric.” Essenitally Lilofee is fusing a pop sensibility derived from ‘60s girl bands with darker electro and industrial influences. The sound comes across as an evolution of the electro from the early part of this decade (before it got immersed in endless irony and became a parody of itself) and would sit nicely beside the likes of Miss Kittin and the Hacker and classic '80s new wave acts like Experimental Products. However, Lilofee's penchant for hooks makes its music all the more seductive and accessible.

This quartet is playing at Elbo Room next Monday night, the 8th of September. Be there and check ‘em out!

Orr