Prynhawn Da Bragdy Conwy!

Conwy Brewery, all set up and ready to play. Just add acts...

 

A couple of weeks ago, we braved the Sunday drivers on the North Wales Expressway to pay a return visit Modulate TV's North Wales EMOM at Conwy Brewery, just south of Colwyn Bay. This time, I believed Marjorie the sat nav when she directed me down an unassuming single track lane, and we arrived in time and without a hitch for a diverse afternoon and early evening of live electronic music.

First up, we had Jaques N' Their Box. Layers of soundscapes, industrialia, drones, chanting choirs, live sources from a small mic used percussively, and existential angst courtesy of live vocals.

Etchasketch is an established EMOM performer and was also acting as host for the night. His rig consists of what looks like an IXO One controller feeding into an insanely complex modular rig with lots of live tweaking possibilities. I'm not a modular synthesist, so any modular setup looks insanely complex to me! His sound has a distinctly flowing trance/house vibe. One for the festivals!

I last saw Blueprintz the last time we played Conwy Brewery, and he blew me away with his OG Junglist and DnB vibes. From chilled vibes with long sweeping pads to super-fast bouncers, he covers a lot of very enjoyable ground.

If I remember correctly, 4th Eden was playing his first EMOM gig and by the sound of things, it won't be his last. From the Kraftwerk/New Order-inspired opener, it was clear he has a very specific 80's synthpop sound. Poppy, emotional and ending on a harder, industrial-inspired piece, I look forward to hearing what he comes up with in the future. 

Dave Wager is a new name on me, but another one I think I'll be seeing more of. With a table strewn with, I think., three tablets playing virtual instruments as well as MIDI controllers, a mixer and even what looked like an early Sega Game Gear console, his sound is wide-ranging, from the chilled opener, to deep house and into post-acid squelchiness.

Another guy with an insanely complex modular rig is our cameraman for the day, The Mycelium Frequency. Doom-laden, ominous, ambient, even vaguely threatening, his sound is complex, deep, cavernous and dark. It put me in mind of an imagined soundtrack to a film like Alien, for some reason.

I'm happy to report that I correctly guessed that DJ Cyanosis would serve up a slab of pure 80s acid joy at the point I realised he was deciding which bucket hat to wear! All the classic boxes were on display here and being used expertly to produce that authentic low-pH second summer off love vibe.

I've seen AM Frequencies several times over the past year now, and I freely admit that when I first heard him up at Dave Walker's superb Todmorden night, I realised I needed several sittings to get into it. I'm glad I did. This is a complex, dark, cavernous sound. His modular looks even more complex than when BT opens one of those boxes in the road, and you see the tangle of spaghetti wiring inside. Mr Frequencies also has immense fun playing his set, bopping about and really getting into the beat. Check him out.

And so, it was time for Libby and I to rattle the windows. Unlike last time, when I forgot to plug in the laptop, and it wet into battery saving mode, this time our set went off without a hitch. When Libby announced the next song would be "Monday Can Wait" I distinctly heard someone say "Yes!". It's definitely becoming an audience favourite.

And so, finally, onto Martin Modulate, and a slab of authentic early 90s rave, complete with whiplash 303 sounds to bring the afternoon to a satisfying close. Full of energy and bounce, with loads of ideas hitting the speakers, he deserved the enthusiastic response at the end of his set.

It was time to say goodbyes, load up the car and set off again through twilight and torrential rain back to Darkest Cheshire. The journey was enlivened by the Expressway, being reduced to a single lane after a 4x4 managed to rear end something and block the other two. "It'll End In Tears" by this Mortal Coil was perhaps not the best choice of listening as we inched forward.