Harmonic 313 & Kode 9 at KOKO

June 11, Soundcrash at KOKO in Camden.


Managed to get there just for the last 2 hours, so only saw Harmonic 313 and Kode 9. Didn't mind not seeing Alex Nut, as I've seen him a few times. Would have loved to have seen King Midas Sound, his live at Bloc was one of my favorites! And Dorian Concept, would have been a first...

Got there when Harmonic 313 was on. Such an amazing set! He kept switching styles, from bass to dancehall, so effortlessly! Then Kode 9, also really nice set. Played really really well. Such a shame it took me so long to write about this gig and don't remember details... I think the only dissappointng moment, if I remember well, was the track Kode 9 chose to close his set and the night, which now escapes my mind... 

Battles at Heaven

On June 8, I saw the Battles at Heaven. Before listening to the new album a couple of days before the gig, I was really looking forward to the gig... Once I listened to the album for the first time I was a little disappointed, it wasn't as good as I expected. Anyway, I was still really up for going to the gig, I had seen the Battles play live twice before in London in the last 9 years and was really curious to see how they would perform missing one of their members.

The gig was amazing! The vibe was good and the tracks sounded so much better live than on the CD. I really liked what they did with the guest vocalists, having them projected in the background.

More of Athens walls

Nick Craddock mix

Listening to this mix that Nick Craddock; a London based techno/house DJ, prepared to put us in the mood for the next Plex party at Corsica Studios on July 2, where he will be playing. Deep and melodic summer sound!

Nick Craddock - Preplexing by plexlondon

Death Grips

I recently discovered Death Grips; a pretty hard hip hop / rap project. It's quite brutal and old school, not necesserily what I personally think is needed in the music scene at the moment, but there is definitely still an audience for this kind of stuff; and I include myself in this audience... I wouldn't necesserily play it first thing in the morning, although it was the first thing I played this morning quite loud while writing this blog. Not sure if my neighbours appreciated, but they should be at work anyway! I've been trying to find out more about the project, but there doesn't seem to be a lot out there, except Zach Hill's name that seems to be popping up a lot. Hill; an American drummer, is known to play noise, rock, experimental. I think Death Grips is his latest (or one of his latest) projects.



You can download the Exmilitary Mixtape and two tracks; Full Moon (Death Classic) and Face Melter (How to do impossible things).

Bela Lugosi's Dead...

Watched Ed Wood (again...) a couple of nights ago and was reminded of this!..

Joy Orbison at Black Atlantic

Saturday 28 May... A warehouse in Hackney... Black Atlantic presenting... Moodymann and Joy Orbison.

I got there just after 2am, no queue outside, we literally just walked in and inside it wasn't packed either. Moodymann played until about 3.30am and then Joy Orbison until the end, about 5.30am. Moodymann was good, some tracks I liked some I didn't, but overall it was ok; he was full of energy mixing tracks you would never think of mixing and the crowd seemed to enjoy the set quite a lot. I can never really say for sure whether I actually like him or not... He played at times more funky, then more jazzy... At times there seemed to be some issues with the sound... and from what I was told, before I arrived there were massive issues with the sound... Far from ideal situation...

There were also some issues at the bar, which didn't help... I think one of the bar staff decided to quit on the night leaving the bar short staffed and there was soon a big crowd gathering around the bar area. And then... they run out of beer!... Pretty frustrating situation, though in reality I couldn't care less! I didn't really want anything from the bar and Joy Orbison was on! Really nice set, we were dancing non stop! He also played a few of his 'hits'... like Hyph Mngo, which I quite like. Wasn't crazy about the track he chose to close his set, though I can't remember which one it was. I do remember though it was really slow and atmospheric, I'm sure others really liked it, but personally to close the party I would prefer something louder, more dynamic.

Technical Drawings

"Technical Drawings is a hyper-modified percussion duo consisting of Melissa St. Pierre (prepared piano) and Jesse Stiles (computer). St. Pierre and Stiles’ performances and recordings embody a diverse set of influences including neoclassicism, rock, gamelan, and electronica. Using interventions both physical (rusted bolts, pencil erasers, melted coins) and digital (custom software, hacked electronic devices), Technical Drawings radically untames two of modern society’s most “civilized” devices, the piano and computer, allowing the audience to viscerally experience these instruments with fresh ears and a new, highly warped perspective."

In March Technical Drawings released their latest LP The Ruined Map on Gagarin Records. The album consists of 8 tracks which can be streamed here. I really like the sound of the band, haven't heard of anything quite like them, I've also haven't listened to anything else of theirs other than this album, but I'll definitely be looking into this a bit more. For now I think my favorite track is the one featuring vocalist/rapper/poet Todd Jones, I love his deep chanting voice and how the track is evolving becoming more and more dramatic.