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Jack and Ed at Koko
digitalism @ field day, sydney Jens and Isi: no Field Day
Clubland’s fiercest live shows
n It’s hard to get annoyed with anything when the weather at a festival is pushing 30 degrees. Indeed, the ice-cool drinks and even cooler swathes of boys in Ray Bans and girls in cropped denim skirts are having the time of their life. With over 20,000 people in attendance, everyone at Field Day has either cracked on from NYE or is nursing a hangover the size of Darling Harbour. Come sundown, it’s German electrobods Digitalism who everyone is holding out for. But alas, where Daft Punk’s pyramid was a big spectacle to create a wow factor, sadly Digitalism are still searching for their USP. Although wirey vocalist/ programmer Jens does his best to ramp up the energy behind banks of keyboards, to his left, Isi merely bangs a small drum kit. Alas, they’re mainly out of sync and fail to be heard over the pre-programmed drum crescendos of hits‘I Have An Idea’ and ‘Fire In Cairo’. Their live show is a damp squib, at best. Ralph Moore
Ed tickles his ivories
unkle and the heritage orchestra
friendly fires @ koko, london
Fire it up
Unkle: orchestral manoeuvres
n Wearing what resembles the old school uniform he’s long grown out of and sweating like he’s late for maths, Friendly Fires vocalist Ed Macfarlane thrusts his elastic hips at the keyboard. A backdrop studded with twinkling lights creates silhouettes round bandmates Jack Savage (drums) and Edd Gibson (guitar), who wear similar clobber. Having released their debut album in September to rave reviews, toured Europe and performed in the USA and Japan, the co-cover stars of our November issue had a burning 2008. The distinctive discoey bleeps and rumbling bass of their cover of Frankie Knuckles’ house classic ‘Your Love’, the single that catapulted these electro-
livebites It’s never too early to start planning your summer festival excursions and the announcement of the Friday (June 12) lineup might well sway you
[[1L]] february 2009
pop hybrids into the consciousness of every nu-raver, raise whoops from a crowd dancing itself senseless. “That must be the biggest disco ball in Europe!” Macfarlane shouts, pointing up at Koko’s massive globe. It begins to shower transparent diamonds, and the soaring synths of ‘Jump In The Pool’ wash over an elated crowd. Ed convulses like a wasp’s flown into his ear, laying vocals over drum crescendos and guitar bursts. The threesome’s transition from heady pop to the urgent electronica of ‘Lovesick’ is almost seamless, except for an unnecessary warning: “You’ll have to bear with us – this is the first time we’ve played this one live!” It’s their biggest hit to date, ‘Paris’ that sends all arms
towards this year’s Isle of Wight Festival. The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Pendulum and The Ting Tings will all be doing their live thing. Keep an eye
on www. isleofwightfestival.com for further developments ... A Critical Mass AKA house producers Âme, Dixon and Henrik Schwarz make their live
upward as a single entity. Canons blast glittering confetti into the white neon light as Ed sings, “We’ll watch the stars.” In a world of penny-pinching reality and in the sub-zero climate of Camden, Friendly Fires concoct a microcosm of starry idealism. Their mix of catchy, murmuring vocals, crazed falsettos and cowbell pop with a raver attutude sets them apart from their post-Klaxons counterparts. Although Edd and Jack cede centre stage to Ed’s quivering limbs, their grins and sweat-soaked shirts suggest equal excitement about the ride they’re on. And with gigs stretching well into 2009, it doesn’t look like these Fires are going to burn out any time soon. Natalie Odell
UK debut at secretsundaze at The Coronet, London on April 9 ... Petit electro-popster and Mixmag fave Little Boots is on the road around the UK between
February 26 and April 4, hitting venues from Inverness and the way down to Southampton. So get on www.myspace. com/littlebootsmusic and find a date and venue near you.
n There’s something unique in the air. The warm, dynamic sound of Unkle is redefined by the string, bow and baton of the Heritage Orchestra. In aid of the Margins Homeless Project, tonight sees the climax of James Lavelle’s collaboration with composer Philip Sheppard. Building on Unkle’s ‘End Titles: Redux’ and previous live work with the orchestra, this invitation from the Union Chapel to perform a full orchestral show is most timely. The results, like the venue itself, are spellbinding. Seated underneath versatubes – mesmeric and fully programmable strip lights – listeners pack the pews as the thirty strong outfit of musicians and Unkle regulars merge synths with strings and beats with brass, horns belting from the stalls above. Classic Unkle tracks, whether the epic, cinematic ‘Troubles In Paradise’, the sinister piano manoeuvres of ‘In A State’ or the spine-tingling fearlessness of ‘Reign’, are redelivered in a way a remix album could never achieve. It’s a hell of a reason to go to church. Phil Dudman
www.mixmag.net
davide bozzetti, gus stewart
Indie-electro trio set Koko alight