Getting Down With The Cephalopods

Electric Tentacle: Two years old and going strong.

 

After last month's near miss, it was back to The Electric Tentacle on Thursday for Stoke EMOM's second birthday party, and a stela lineup! As usual, Andy and Colin had decked the place out and were all set up when we got there, including some very trippy visuals.

First up was Marcel Holdys, with his dark, heavy, industrial seemingly-improvised glitch beats. Despite this description, there's a fast and furious rhythm to his work that the audience appreciate. He always gets a great reception.

Tentacle favourite Marcel Holdys producing the goods

 

 Beech Drive Circular is a new name to me, and chatting to the duo in the bar, it seems they've only been going a few months, but their commercial blend of danceable beats - reminiscent to my ears of a funkier Massive Attack - is already an accomplished sound. I look forward to seeing them again.

New sound Beech Drive Circular. A new duo with an accomplished sound.

And then we were up. As usual, I don't really remember much about it other than it was loud, and the crowd were great and really up for our type of fast, theatrical, doom-laden cynicism. Our new song "Make War Not Sense" went down well. One minute, Libby was introducing us over the usual ominous introduction, and suddenly I was reaching for the top note in "Three Liars" and it was over; Libby was thanking everyone and signing off.

Now then. If it wasn't for Martin Christie, I doubt there'd be an EMOM movement, or the vibrant musical subculture it nurtures and grows. So, it was a pleasure not only to catch up with the man himself, but also to finally see him play live. As I've said before, his unique brand of poésie concrète encompasses loneliness, alienation, loss, and weariness, but with an underlying energy expressed with extreme vocal manipulation, and of course he gets physical with his equipment, holding it up to the audience and playing the buttons as the sequences whizz visually by. A kind of "Behold, the synthesizer!" moment. Lovely stuff.

The great Martin Christie, without whom maybe ther ewouldn't be an EMOM movement.

Analogue Electronic Whatever is another EMOM act I've been hoping to see for a while now. If you grew up listening to bands like Fad Gadget, you'll instantly hook into his sound. Fast, 80s, pre-house, pre-acid, pure electronic pop, but with a serious message. His new single, Bins, had the audience bouncing.

Analogue Electronic Whatever and his insanely good electronic pop with a message.

Unfortunately, we'd both like to have stayed much longer, but my lift and I only had time for one more act before we had to go: the mighty Steve Hardaker, of Hardaker and Zux. Steve's sound is a complex blend of beats sometimes complex, sometimes tribal, sometimes reminiscent of Underworld, overlaid with 303 acid lines, and complex shifting pads. All underpinned with a subtle euphoria that ties it all together.

Steve Hardaker with his sophisticated and satisfyingly danceable sound.

And then it was time to go, so I missed Anna Hapax's set. We chatted beforehand, and Anna said she was nervous because half her set was brand new. I'm sure it went well. Her debut gig at The Tentacle in December was very accomplished and gained a great audience reaction, and footage of her performances since then cement her as someone to seek out for her complex sets.

I also missed Breo, but couldn't find him to chat with before I had to leave. I did, however, catch up with Joe Zux, sporting this excellent t-shirt:

Joe in a great t-shirt!

Joe is currently planning a benefit gig at The Station in Ashton-Under-Lyne in August, and Jon And Libby will be playing a 40-minute set. If you're free on 10th August, in the words of Dave Walker, it'll be a hoot.

So, after not nearly enough goodbyes, it was time to hit the road for a 6:30 start on Friday, and a trip over to Colwyn Bay that evening to play the North Wales EMOM. A performance that would not go according to plan...