NEKO + ENSEMBLE 1 – THE HOPE & RUIN (DOWNSTAIRS BAR), BRIGHTON 30.3.23
It’s a busy night tonight for local promoters ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ as they are in essence taking over both floors of The Hope & Ruin pub on Queens Road in Brighton. Upstairs on the first floor they have Piglet, Gabriel A. Pentin, and Glasshouse Red Spider Mite on offer, whereas downstairs in the bar area at a separate event they have Neko plus support from Ensemble 1 on offer.
Having read the promo blurb, I rather fancied the sound of Neko, which read as thus:
“Bristol’s post-krautrock/electronica hybrid showcases their sprawling soundscapes and glistening melodies. The euphoric place where Mogwai and Air meet, a shimmering soundtrack”. To be perfectly honest all of these acts are new names to me, but that’s what ‘Love Thy’ Neighbour’ promoters have been doing over the past few years, and coming up with hidden gems, thus we took a punt and headed into town to give our ears a bashing….
We entered the joint on time and headed to the bar for some well-earned liquid refreshment, although the new £7 a pint of ‘Gamma Ray’ was a dent to the pocket…Hmmmmm. Before we knew it, however, Brighton based Ensemble 1 were about to start their set at 8pm.
Their Bandcamp page refers to them as:
“Ensemble 1 combine minimalist composition methods with speed, volume and intricate percussion techniques to create gargantuan soundscapes. Eschewing traditional narratives in favour of geometrical principles, rhythmic complexity and auditory hallucinations, a commitment to an otherworldly sonic experience is at the centre of the group”. So we are going to immediately find out if this is indeed the case!
Thus far, to our knowledge Joe Potts (guitar) and Tom Way (drums), who are Ensemble 1 have dropped two releases, ‘Drums & Delay Loops – Live’ which was their almost 20 minute set recorded at the Green Door Store on 2nd June 2019 and released on 7th December 2020; plus their 47 minute ‘Guitar, Bass & Drums’ album which came out on CD and download on 14th May 2021. I see a pattern forming here….”it does what it says on the tin!”.
This evening we were treated to a trio of unreleased tunes, which doesn’t actually sound much, but in fact their set lasted for 32 minutes from 7:59pm until 8:31pm. The layout was Tom on drums and Joe in control of the laptop on the floor as well as the Fender guitar which was linked to the Line 6 Helix LT Guitar Processor Pedal, which was also obviously on the floor. Note no vocals as their material are instrumentals.
The first thing that strikes us during their opener ‘Vortices’ is their depth of sound, which is quite incredible as there are only two of them. The next things we are drawn to is Joe’s unusual guitar playing style, whereby he more often than not has both hands on the neck of the instrument and runs his fingers in a striking bouncing style, this was most intriguing and as a result, if you were to close your eyes, you would hazard a guess that you are listening to a keyboard instead. Clearly there’s Line 6 Helix LT Guitar Processor Pedal technology afoot here!
Whilst this is all happening, Tom skilfully flits between one drum to another with ease, and thus the pair work in perfect harmony and are singing off the same song sheet as it were.
To my knowledge, you don’t very often hear this particular sound any more these days. Something that didn’t go amiss with our chum ‘two-pints Jules’, who during their second number ‘Helices’, observed the Robert Fripp influence, something that Tom admitted to us after their set had concluded via flagging up King Crimson as well as Battles. One could put the point forward that Ensemble 1 are a unit that is out of time, or conversely ahead of the game!
The Hope & Ruin’s blue, red and green small light segments that were bouncing off of the rear and side wall aided the overall atmosphere of the set. If push came to shove, then I would flag up this duo as being early 1970’s prog, whereby you simply close your eyes and absorb the depth of sound. Now where did I put my Rick Wakeman cape…..
Ensemble 1’s next Brighton gig is on Monday 17th April at The Brunswick Cellar Bar supporting Norwegian Prog Metallers YAWN with GAIA also on the bill. You can purchase your tickets HERE.
Ensemble 1 fans will no doubt be pleased to hear that their second full album is on its way. In the meantime check out their Bandcamp page HERE.
Ensemble 1:
Joe Potts – guitar/electronics
Tom Way – drums
Ensemble 1 setlist:
‘Vortices’
‘Helices’
‘Virtual Septet’
Find out more at www.ensemble1.net
The clock had rolled over to 9:01pm and it was the turn of this evening’s headliners Bristol based quartet Neko to show us what they have to offer across the next 38 minutes until 9:39pm. They have been a band for about two years and initially consisted of Mu on keys/electronics/vocals, Will on guitar and Andy on drums, and then bass player Harry joined in September 2021. Interestingly enough the band played their first ever live gig exactly a year ago this evening and so celebrations should be in order tonight at The Hope & Ruin. Tonight was their second Brighton concert having played here at the tail end of September last year.
Another interesting fact about Neko (which means ‘Cat’ in Japanese – thanks photographer Cherie), is that they were formed from members of a 5-a-side football team in Bristol, (which is a recurring theme this evening as you will shortly see) and that football team is still going. Also on the grapevine, I hear that the band have very recently recorded and just had the mastered tracks back and these new tunes will be released as an EP in the autumn.
The format for the quartet sees spokesperson Mu (of Japanese origin and hence the band’s name) on vocals plus Korg synth, as well as Elektron Octatrack MKII sampler, and also Elektron Analog Four Polyphonic Tabletop synth. Harry to the rear is on bass, Andy is sat behind the drumkit and Will is fighting with his guitar and amp.
The set commences with the instrumental ‘Division Below’ (no doubt a football reference) with its droning keys and guitarwork, which for a few seconds reminds me of ‘The Persuaders’ main theme (ask your parents!), before morphing into a mixture of Bauhaus meets psych. So far so good.
Tune two is ‘7-4’ which Mu informs us was named after their 5-a-side football game. We are not sure if this was a win or not! But musically this IS a win and has a more epic feel about it, despite this too being an instrumental number. From where I was standing, opposite guitarist Andy’s amp, his sound was at this point drowning out everyone else, and even Harry was second fiddle.
Song three Mu informs us is about his cat and it is called ‘9 Lives’. This was the first number to benefit from vocals and overall it definitely had a post-punk vibe going down, mixed in with elements of the band Moon Duo.
We are already at the halfway point of their set (half time to these lads) and the next number ‘No Subs’ was penned in reference to the fact of not having any subs allowed in 5-a-side football. This was their most melodic tune to date and possibly of the whole set. The occasional vocals added to this ditty as did Mu’s use of swirling synths, which I’m a sucker for. My thinking, during this number, was that if the mighty John Peel was still with us, that he would certainly be playing this tune on his show. This was the best track so far, but it was to be bettered….
The penultimate tune, ‘Ligament’, was written, we are told, about being injured during a 5-a-side football match. Although we are unclear which band member (if at all sustained the ligament damage). It’s here that I’m bemused as to why Neko isn’t a quintet as a majority of their music is written about their experiences during the 5-a-side matches. I ponder to myself, who has let them down by not joining the band, the goalie, or even Mu’s cat? Anyway, back with ‘Ligament’ (the tune) and this benefitted from metronomic drumming from Andy, but I could hear that Will’s guitar (or as it turned out amp) was becoming a problem. But on a positive note, There was some serious knob twiddling of the Korg synth going on that was most pleasing. This was a tune to shut your eyes to and be whisked away.
After an enforced delay of a minute or so, whilst Will ditched the temperamental amp in favour of going “DI” (direct input or direct inject) with his guitar, thus not being heard through the faulty amp, the sound was suddenly vastly improved and his guitar now perfectly blended in as opposed to dominating everything else.
This final number was titled ‘Comeback’ and I’m sure that you can guess what the subject matter was! Yep you’re correct! Will’s guitar was sounding like U2 and better for it. This was a relatively relaxing floaty number that simply grew and grew and the lads psyched out more than they have previously done on the handful of earlier tunes. Things got really metronomic, especially the drums, and this was indeed the best song on the set! What a ‘Comeback!’. It was well worth venturing out tonight solely to hear this track.
After tonight they will be heading to Nottingham to play the JT Soar venue tomorrow and then heading back home to Bristol where they will thrill the crowd at the Crofters Rights venue on Sunday along with Brighton’s very own Codex Serafini, and an outfit called Birdfeeder. Anyone that is interested can purchase their tickets HERE.
Neko are also on Bandcamp and you can find their work HERE.
Neko:
Mu – keys/electronics/vocals
Harry – bass
Will – guitar
Andy – drums
Neko setlist:
‘Division Below’
‘7-4’
‘9 Lives’
‘No Subs’
‘Ligament’
‘Comeback’
www.instagram.com/nekonekoband
