The Green Door Store, below Brighton Station, has surely delivered a memorable music night that will be remembered fondly for many years to come!
On the bill tonight (Tuesday 24th October 2017) were three local really decent electronic music acts that are well ahead of the game in their respective fields – AK/DK, Battery Operated Orchestra and Japanese Sweets.
First up tonight was the instrumental/modular/ambient/experimental Japanese Sweets, which is the solo project of young Owen Thomas. This evening, Owen sedately performed continuous synth sounds made up of several pieces of music linked together like a megamix. His sound is described on his Soundcloud page as thus ‘Analog oscillators and electronics are used to create undulating, disembodied compositions redolent of past experimentalists such as Suzanne Ciani and Cluster’ and I for one wouldn’t argue with that description.
For more info on Japanese Sweets, visit here: https://www.facebook.com/nipponkyandi/ and here: https://soundcloud.com/japanese-sweets
Next up were Brigitte Rose and Chris Black aka the Battery Operated Orchestra known to their fans as BOO – as in Halloween ghosts! Chris is originally from Scotland and Brigitte hails from the far-off exotic island of Tasmania and now their home pad is based just outside Brighton. The guys have got it on musically and in their personal lives as they are a married couple.
BOO crackle, zap, throb and pulse to create classic pop songs from the future. Each BOO release has been meticulously designed and hand-made by the band. They also make all their own videos. BOO’s live shows are crafted with much care and often feature video backing and various light installations which are all expertly crafted by Chris and Brigitte. I thought that their merch stand was awesome – ‘BOO-tique’ indeed.
Tonight, alas there was not the available stage space for video backing or even the guys themselves due to AK/DK’s set already in place and thus allowing a fast turnaround in between acts, which is exactly what the totally sold out Green Door Store crowd wanted.
So BOO joined the crowd at their level and this intimacy surely worked as they performed a terrific set mainly culled from their recent ‘Radiation’ album. Tracks included ‘The Sea’, ‘Diamond Feelings’, ‘Fairy Tale’ and (my current fave of theirs) the title track ‘Radiation’. They also gave an outing to ‘Unjustifiable Transfer’ from their 2013 mini-album ‘TSK!?’, which also includes the brilliant ‘Canyon Of Heroes’, which alas they didn’t play tonight. But having said that, the electronic fans present, including fellow synth couple the Vile Electrodes (who were standing right at the very front in order to lap up the synth sounds) really enjoyed the BOO set. I can’t wait to see them play live again, but I hear that I might have to wait some time as they are already working on their next album – oooh exciting times!
For more info on the Battery Operated Orchestra (BOO), visit here: http://batteryoperatedorchestra.com/ and here: https://www.facebook.com/batteryoperatedorchestra/
It was now time for the headline act, local lads Ed and Gee of AK/DK to launch into their first set of the UK tour in support of their brand new CD album (and collectible limited edition white vinyl) ‘Patterns/Harmonics’ out via Little Miss Echo Recordings.
I have to say that I had not seen AK/DK perform live before, but for me it surely was a match made in heaven! This is because I have always had a soft spot for Burundi-style two drummer bands such as The Glitter Band, Adam & The Ants, Sigue Sigue Sputnik and the multi drummers of Boredoms, as well as really loving synth bands. It’s fair to say that AK/DK are a perfect kaleidoscopic blend of high energy synths and structural drums and there’s just the two of them multi-tasking their way through a joyful barrage of distorted drums and rhythms interwoven with simmering electronics – perfect!
Tonight the lucky punters that managed to grab a ticket were treated to AK/DK’s relentless disco-punk crushing robotic/motorik drums accompanied with layers of fizzing Carpenter-esque arpeggios. Clearly this is an act that plays with passion combined with inventiveness and thrives from live performances as indeed the more they got into their thing, the more the crowd were absorbed into their mesmerising aural world.
Whilst watching and listening to them perform, I noted that there were snippets of other bands in there that I could refer to, (such as Moon Duo, Underworld, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Suicide) but in all honesty AK/DK are an act unto themselves, as there’s no-one out there really, that I am currently aware of, that are doing the same thing on the same level.
After finishing this article I am going to put on my new ‘Patterns / Harmonics’ album and once again escape into their mind-bending morphological world.
AK/DK’s next local gig is with Monzen Nakacho (no doubt named after the Tokyo subway station) and the totally out-there Noisferatu at the terrific Synthesize Me event inside the dramatic St. Paul’s Church, Chapel Road, Worthing on 10th November from 7:30pm to midnight. It surely would be a crime to miss this gig! I’m going are you?
The AK/DK setlist tonight was as follows: ‘Lagom’, ‘Lorem Ipsum’, ‘Kosmiche Improv in C’, ‘Modulate to Accumulate’, ‘Deep Modular Improv in A’, ‘Atomic DNA’, ‘Maxwell’s Waves’, the brilliant ‘Battersea’, with ‘Morphology’ as the awesome encore track.
Seriously awesome band (duo) almost had one of my emotional moments, it takes a really good act to have this effect on me, you have to see these guys if you get the chance !
Glad you had an awesome time Dave 🙂