Time Out's Big Night Out 24/4/2010.
by Nick the Bookman
Well, it's 24/4/2010 and I'm getting a rare opportunity to multitask. I'm going to ruck and rock today. Party like it's 2013 and we've all survived the (unlikely) End Of The World as mis-interpreted by Mayan conspiracy freaks. The Mayans are describing the end of a l-o-n-g passage of time which ends on
21/12/2012 - Winter Solstice. Thousands of years of the Long Cycle and the clock re-boots to start again. Doesn't have a lot to do with Biblical Armageddon and 20th/21st Century fears of Apocalypse, although there are justifiable anxieties about how the human race is screwing up the planet. That's before getting started on all sorts of solar, galactic and cosmic accidents waiting to happen. Anyway, I digress....
I'm starting this day at the Hong Kong Football Club where Hong Kong take on Korea in the (FREE!) first match of the
Asian Five Nations Championship. Japan, the reigning champions, are expected to retain their title and progress directly into the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Hong Kong are hoping to finish runners-up and go into two play-off matches to try and secure a place in the Finals. Our boys lost narrowly away to Korea last year (36-34?) after a dreadful start, but are hoping to get revenge in this match. Hong Kong start badly and are 0-8 down after 12 minutes. A penalty and unconverted try. And that's as good as it gets for Korea. The home team aren't helped by an incompetent referee and silent linesmen. It takes until just before half time before Hong Kong score and convert a try and add a penalty. 10-8 at half time and the supporters are cheering and happy.
The second half is one-way traffic and Hong Kong score 3 more tries, 2 conversions and another penalty for an emphatic 32-8 win. Two Koreans are stretchered off, although the game isn't a violent display. The crowd is well chuffed with the result. I leave the HKFC with a grin you could hide a watermelon behind. It's time to hit Grappa's for Part Two of today's entertainment. Time Out's Big Night Out with several of Hong Kong's best indie rock and electronic acts gathered in one place. A bargain for $200 plus a drink.
There's a smallish crowd outside Grappa's as I arrive about 1800 hours.
Chochukmo are sitting by the entrance and greet me fondly. I haven't seen them since their rip-it-up, rocking, balls-to-the-wall, crowd-pleasing performance at Clockenflap last year. Jan tells me they've done a short acoustic set and The Yours are now on stage. He adds that Chochukmo will be back later in the evening for a more full on show. By the time I get inside The Yours have finished their short set. Bugger! I've seen them a few times, notably at one of the late, lamented Rock-It Festivals in Victoria Park and I dig their quirky, punky appeal. DJ Sean (?) from Metal Postcard Records is banging out a less-than-seamless bonkers set, veering from LP's to CD's. But, sod seamless. The music is great. Meanwhile, The Sinister Left are setting up.
The Sinister Left are another hard-rocking quartet I haven't seen enough of over the years. Drummer Si lives on Lamma. He's a fluid, powerful skinmeister, almost reaching prog-punk levels of expertise at times. The rest of the quartet (Sorry guys, I've misplaced all your names, grabbed the wrong notebook) are equally awesome on bass, guitar and occasional keyboards. Plus vocals. There's a tight, rhythmic post-whatever flow to the tunes. A bit of Bauhaus here. A hint of The Horrors there. Some corrosive guitar playing mixed with a bit of swampydelic vibe. Plus huge bonging riffs now and then. Stand out tunes include "Her Garden" and "Juan the Vampire" with its bad trip keyboards augmenting the buzz. Another track "Timeless" is a bit techprog. Ringing the changes. Fast, fast, faster, slower, clicks and thrums over haunting keyboards. You get the idea. Always worth catching them in action.
I've got a good seat to the right of the stage looking across it. Not in front. The crowd is getting larger. There's a small mixing desk to my left, it belongs to Karmen and Chris from
Volt in Music. Karmen reminds me that we met at Clockenflap when they made their debut. Unfortunately, they were plagued by electronic gremlins causing most of their gear to malfunction, so their set was short and bitter-sweet. So, now's the time for a second first time show and here's hoping it works out. Volt in Music are the first of the electronic acts in action. They use keyboards, laptops, video screens and linked images, Plus a
Theremin.
(Do I get bonus points for being the first person to yell out what it is when asked by Karmen to identify said Theremin? It's one of the oldest electronic instruments, designed by Leon Theremin in the early 1930's. A staple of early Fifties sci-fi film soundtracks. Also used with a full orchestra in the late Forties. You evoke its melodies by waving your hands through an electronic field. There's no real wrong way to play a Theremin, although practise makes perfect).
The set and accompanying light-cum-video show is enthralling. The vibe is not cheery discotronix, but more dark/prog/ambient plus synthy burps and belches. A bit of Heaven 17 meets In The Nursery via the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. There's a broody beauty to some of the tracks and a hint of experimental dub. Apt soundscapes for a dark, distressed city. Parts of the show remind me a bit of old film of Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable gigs with the Velvet Underground in sonic toxic meltdown. My mind is getting suitably boggled and blown. I particularly enjoyed a tune called "Ghost" with its punky sprawl and clatter of beats and rhythms. The final song is "Derki Dook" which is big in Japan. It was used in a commercial. Their first EP was released recently as a fundraiser for victims of the recent Chinese earthquake. If I've piqued your interest, get in touch with Karmen and Chris at
info@honhim.com or Karmen at
modern60s@gmail.com. Happy astral travelling and mind those pulsing quasars.
The electronic entertainment continues with
Snoblind - pioneers and near veterans of the local scene. Regina and Vincent are always a pleasure for me. I first got into them at an old Underground Gig and saw them perform at both Clockenflap Festivals plus an early Ferry Pier party. They're digidelic laptop master magicians who also play some live instruments as well. Tonight's set is a louder, more polished repeat of Clockenflap 2009. About half an hour of moody, shifting electronics and twisting percussion with snippets of 60's psychedelic-pop layered into the mix. I really like their mashups of both "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield. "There's something happening here..." takes on a whole new level of meaning from Stephen Still's original jottings about the late 60's riot on Sunset Strip.
Snoblind do a continuous mix. incorporating wah-wah guitars, cascading streams of 'tronic bubbles and other found sounds, churchy organs, spacey interludes and hints of ambient trip-hop-folk. Some sections sound like woozy Acker Bilk (with Vincent on oboe or clarinet) or Tom Waits of a decade ago. Other parts are experimental Kraftwerk as re-worked by Amorphous Androgynous on a Dead head trip. Fascinating stuff and here's hoping I can make your next gig.
Sean provides me with an unexpected blast from the past by playing "African Reggae" by
Nina Hagen. What an extraordinary voice she has. She's the antithesis of Mariah Carey with a massive range from ululating squeaks to Germanic guttural growls and roars. If anyone knows how to get hold of a copy of her now-deleted LP/CD "NunSexMonkRock", please let me know. It's worth it for the 10 out of 10 overdubbed vocal gymnastics on "Dr. Rat" alone. Her voice comes at you from all angles and directions and tones. I used to clear dance floors at Traps disco with it in the late Eighties. But I never cared if people danced or not. As long as they were in the bar drinking and having fun. Basically, if you're dancing you're not drinking. The bar's not making money, I don't get paid. Any DJ who claims to have 100% audience dance participation is lying, unless said audience is a single person. However, thanks Sean for that pleasant blast from the past.
Meanwhile,
Choi Sai Ho is getting ready to perform. It's always a pleasure to find a brilliant new act. I've come late to his charms, but the man puts on what is possibly the most entertaining set of the night. He takes the best parts of Volt in Music and Snoblid and rams them through a hyper-speed blender. Despite being dressed like a meek and mild schoolkid/office worker in grey slacks/white shirt, his inner world is a lurid, lysergic, shape-shifting, melting world of colours as yet undiscovered and unnamed. Listening to his show, I feel I can see the full range of the visual spectrum, including infra-rad and ultraviolent.
Opening with an unhinged tour around the wilder shores of LFO and other dubtronic noise terrorists, Choi Sai Ho takes no prisoners and quickly has the audience on their feet. His set is part DJ set and part live action. Instruments are played and hammered. Serious knob-twiddling freakouts are going on. When the sounds are unfolding on their own, Sai Ho is standing at his keyboard playing the maddest airdrums it has been my demented privilege to witness. He's right on the beats too. Oh, hang on, now he's like an extreme cyber chef dicing vegetables in a blur of hand gestures. I could hide two watermelons behind my latest grin. He's like a one-man Chemical Brothers meets Portishead at points. One breathtaking tune called "Weird Mind" was a recent Time Out tune of the week, month, millennium, whatever... There's even some Laurie Anderson meets Ultravox inspired violin at one point over machines burbling away to each other in strange beepcodes . It sounds as if all of music is tangled, knotted, thrashed and beaten into submission during this frenzied set. What more can I say? Just go to
www.myspace.com/saihost or
www.youtube.com/choisaiho and suss him for yourselves. Bravo mate, Standing ovations all round.
That's the end of the 'tronic trios for tonight, It's back to the rockbands now. Hang on, some people have taken over the stage. A ferocious buzzsaw riff is cutting through the club and things are getting messy.
The Yours have returned for a one-song destructive cameo. One guitarist falls over in a sort of spaced stupor. Another one is ramming his guitar into the drum kit. Security staff are on the stage in seconds, cutting the music short and removing the band. The Iggy Moment Of The Show! No question. The Yours are escorted back outside and barred from re-admittance. Was it a prank? Were they pissed at not being able to play long enough. At least, I got to hear one of their songs. Things have calmed down. There's no real damage to the equipment.
A Roller Control are now in charge of the proceedings. The only member I recognise is Alok on bass. He's an electronic veteran of the local music scene. Three/four (I can't remember) bandmates man various keyboards and laptops. No real drums. The vibe is sort of dark goth punk except for one track which could be German beerhall music. The crowd is right up front for this show. The heavyweights are taking over. And a big hi to Kane from Goodfellas. We also met at Clockenflap where we sort of "interviewed" each other during a Sunday lull in the proceedings. A Roller Control are another excellent band. A snapshot sum up would be like a more electronic Joy Division/New Order in the pace and feel of the tunes. The songs are long and captivating, especially the remix of a song by The Yours. "It's dedicated to Jack, Not about me". Maybe The Yours can hear it from outside. Alok helped to produce their first CD release a few years ago. My notes are getting increasingly hard to read now. This story is getting a bit gonzo. The band play "Happy Birthday" to their German member, Peter Benz. The crowd sort of warbles along to this natal tribute which is one day late. This gig just keeps getting better and better. And it's coming up to DP time.
DP are Dave and Paul, the ex-drums and bass from The Academy. It's their second time back in Grappa's in just over a month. They performed a blistering opening set for Texan space/prog/rockers Secret Machines on 17/3/2010 (I still have to find time to write that review, but it's coming, guys. I promise I'll get it out faster than Guns N' fucking Roses did with "Chinese Democracy"!) and then trotted off to Austin, Texas for the SXSW Festival which was marred by the untimely death of Alex Chilton, leader of Big Star. Now, they're back flying their freak flag high and promoting their forthcoming new CD. According to the Time Out story/interview it's "an eight or nine track self-titled LP that's all but finished @ It will contain live favourites like "Supermegadon", "My Hyena" and "City of Zeros".
The band open the set with a video, possibly "Velvet Tiger"? And then, CRUNCH, it's a sonic assault that takes no prisoners. The songs are interspersed by Dave saying "Here's a new one" and "Here's another new song". I suppose the favourites got played as well. It's a brief, brutal punishing display of crunching beats and powerhouse drumming. Paul is a serious powerhouse drummer who whacks away at his four skins with evil intensity. My head is ringing and I'm starting to flag a little, having been on the go for 17 hours or so by now. Also, the munchies are setting in big time.
As their last ferocious notes fade into the silence, I realise I've got about 6 minutes to get the ferry. Sorry, I couldn't stay and chat guys. Sorry I missed
Chochukmo's headline appearance. There's always next time, right? Cheery bye to Hamish from Time Out who's farewell gig this was. Thanks to all the excellent bands. This has to go down as one of the best all local showcases that I have ever seen. I'm already saving for the next one, whenever...<HR>
P.S. Email from
Snoblind, after I sent them Nick's review above:
Thank you for forwarding me Nick's glowing review. We really appreciate it!!!
Don't worry about missing it, you can catch the whole thing at:
http://www.vimeo.com/11209482 or http://www.vimeo.com/11223604
Both are the same set but with different cameras.
For upcoming gigs, we'll have a show this Saturday at Kwun Tong's Hidden Agenda to support three left field electro-rock acts from the US.
Details can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=111571918883518&ref=ts
We'll also be performing at Backstage in Central in June 12, more details to follow!"
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