September 2016
Green Door Store
Henry Collins – Rummaging
Henry Collins was set up on the floor on one of the oil drum tables with two concrete blocks on top. One supported an expanded polystyrene box from the fruit market big and bassy full of rubble, the other a metal tray, the treble arm of the rummaging body. The mics were stuffed right down into the tray, Henry had cut his hand the night before so was protected by some heavy duty gloves. He starts with an introduction to his philosophy of rummaging, then fairly gently gets into it, pausing briefly to take a pace back before stepping up and getting stuck right in with the almost inevitable climax of the table going over churning the contents of the rummaging boxes onto the stone floor.
Wild Anima
The rest of the evening was run in conjunction with Blue tapes and X-Ray records who have strong local ties although having artists from all over, starting with Wild Anima from France. She began her set with field recordings and loops ending with fragile more orthodox songs. The first song had loops of rain and water with her vocals echoed back through extra long delays. It wanders through several sections before evolving some nice ticks that turn into a near beat to round off the piece. The second piece works her vocals around a pretty hefty bass drone, with electric piano coming about halfway through and layered up vocals on the backing track. The last song was pretty straightforward after that.
Map71
Map71 were third up, and continuing their recent run of form – on fire. Their set was about 50% new to me, the new stuff all really good, strong electronic backing tracks and drumming from Andy and Lisa Jayne’s diminutive figure commanding the stage. And the older pieces well chosen. A really strong set well delivered. Sometimes you see someone who really seem to have hit their moment and Map71 seem to be in this position right now. Lisa Jayne ends the set with the book of words behind her back and a small smile.
Benjamin Finger
Benjamin Finger rounded the evening off, another European this time from Norway. It’s a pretty epic set and really feels like he could have settled in and continued playing till around 2am. It starts with thick, thick washes of synths with shudders and bells smeared over it. Scatterings of percussion come and go without doing much more than indicating at a rhythm. Things naturally seem to chunk up into songs based around sounds or sets of samples, but the timbres seem pretty steady all the way through. There are hints of ambience or dark basses from more recent genres. Yeah good, great LP for sale, too.
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