In the Loop...

It's a long way to Shrewsbury by car from Darkest Cheshire, but armed with Marjorie the satnav, a splendid sunny morning, and Ned's Atomic Dustbin on Spotify (first two albums on shuffle and repeat, lovely), it was plain sailing right until I hit the outskirts of the town. Being an ancient market town built on a loop in the River Severn, access by car is limited to a single road down past the railway station. It took about half an hour to travel the final mile or so.

The event itself had been moved at short notice from Albert & Co, which has an intimate, friendly vibe, to Albert's Shed, which is a much larger venue by EMOM or any other standards. I estimate you could get 200+ people in there and still have space to dance. So, obviously, on a glorious Saturday afternoon when most people would be out and about, it was going to be a struggle to get an audience, but no matter! It's not how big it is, but what you do with it that counts.

First up was Torsk. His set had a chilled, downbeat electro dub vibe. Very cool, atmospheric and laid back, with great use of long, slow, deep flanges. Great for chill out rooms and festivals. 

Torsk with a chilled-out set.

 

Andrew Collins has a modular synth to die for. I wish I had a picture to show you. His main set consisted of long ambient beats slowed right down, reminiscent to me of whale song. In contrast, his final track was quite a surprise. An uptempo 90s trance stomper!

Andrew Collins began on ambient and ended on a banging high!

 

Our host, Nick gilling, set up next, but tragedy struck when a duff MIDI to CV module was found to be not working. He had to abandon his planned slot. 

David Lloyd provided us with I think the most challenging performance of the afternoon. Poised at a Moog modular system consisting of a Mother 32 and DFAM along with a MIDI loop sequencer, he produced what I believe may be called naive chiptune, but it was so far off my limited radar that I'm very happy to correct that assumption if he gets in touch. David put me in mind of the early work of Mr Oizo, specifically the tracks Blind Concerto and Smoking Tape from 1999's Analog Worms Attack. 

David Lloyd hard at work on his modular Moog system

Next to set up was Al Crow. A late addition to the afternoon due to a couple of dropouts, with an impressive modular rig. And a Theremin! This seemed to be proving troublesome at times. Al's style is rhythmic, ominous and with a touch of the electro-Aborigini induced by live drone work. He offered to play a final track and set off on an oddly danceable radiophonic extravaganza of random beeps which even to my tin ears made syncopated sense. 

Al Crow and his impressive modular rig featuring Theremin!

 

Mike Handland A.K.A Pempi came to the table next for a demonstration of classic DnB goodness. Very danceable and I can see him going down well at events like Bleep. 

DnB goodness courtesy of Pempi

 

Libby and I were up next. I asked if we could play loud, and Nick said it was OK. So, we blasted through our set. Some people who had taken up residence on the comfy seats in the window at the front of the bar came back to the stage to see what the racket was, which was nice.

And finally, Blue Leaf A.K.A Duncan Knowles. He played a longer set of DnB, breakcore and some slower half-speed takes on both. A powerful and considered sound. Very impactful. Judging by his attendant fan club, it was also insanely danceable! 

Blue Leaf bringing the afternoon home with a very professional set.

 And so it was time to leave again. This time, Marjorie guided me up the M6 to Holmes Chapel and past the iconic Jodrell Bank observatory. A truly stunning sight in the spring teatime sunshine.