The greatest electronic music show of the year? Soundcrash present Flying Lotus, Martyn and Kutmah.
The Roundhouse isn’t the kind of venue we expect to host sonic experimentalist, Flying Lotus, so selling out the 5,000 capacity venue is even more unexpected. His glitch-laden hip hop fits well in the Warp Records stable where his first LP was released, and his recent album ‘Cosmogramma’ – released on his own Brainfeeder imprint – saw him taking flight into the galactic territory the title suggests.
Brainfeeder cohort Martyn opens the live section of the show to preview his ‘Ghost People’ release from last month. We were lucky enough to be at the album launch where he ripped the room to shreds. Martyn plays well here and the material is strong, yet the size of the venue combined with the lower respect the audience are giving the supporting slot means it doesn’t translate well. It’s a great shame as he deserves more.
To stem the anticipation for the headliner, Kutmah plays smoked-out hip hop with a whole lot of whomp. Upon Missy Elliott’s instruction to “flip it and reverse it” he rewinds the string sample of Busta Rhymes ‘Gimme Some More’ to place his own stamp on the classic track. The blend of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's ‘Are you Experienced’ into Pharcyde’s ‘Passin' Me By’ is seamless and gets the best reaction so far.
The growl of bass reverberates around the majestic dome as they run a system check, then the cheers rise as the ‘pièce de résistance’ is revealed, dressed in a huge white shirt that gives him the appearance of a pastor at a pulpit. Distorted strings spark lights projected onto screens behind the artist for AntiVJ’s visual element. Geometric lines resembling crystals frame a white screen, which plays with the projections to transport us through a galaxy of stars to rocky cosmic moons – it's a perfect accompaniment for the music.
Tessellating monochrome patterns accompany beatless track ‘Brainfeeder’ from Fling Lotus' first album, then he segues into ‘Computer Face / Being Pure’, instantly recognisable to the crowd who cheer the moment the beat hits. Worms transform into branches of trees whose shadows dance across a bright desert floor, which then disperses as we're once more transported to the stars. Bright spotlights dart across the faces of the audience, giving a strobing effect like a photograph flash, and leaving the audience with a mental snapshot of the sights before them. It's rather unnerving at first but is also enjoyably trippy.
Multicoloured lines run up the screen giving the impression we are falling down a well of neon during ‘Dance Of The Pseudo Nymph’. As the cranking ‘GNG BNG’ resounds we are thrust through the wall and journey along Kubrick’s stargate from 2001: A Space Odyssey – the sights you’d see were you inside a refracted rainbow.
This marks Flying Lotus’ exit from the stage for a brief spell – before he's enticed back to play ‘Tea Leaf Dancer’ and the cross-genre and highly infectious ‘Do The Astral Plane’. Once he’s finished he seems unable to leave the stage, hands covering his mouth and eyes gazing at the masses cheering for him. He closes by playing a track that influenced him and the sitar-like guitar line from ‘Paint It, Black’ by The Stones is heard. He jumps down into the press pit for handshakes and photos with the front few rows to show his appreciation, a beaming smile plastered across his face.
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