Council Meeting Memo #072 — ALM Busy Circuits

Sat in the cosy surround-sound confines of Spiritland were well-dressed, affable millennials (or so I’d like to think) quaffing slightly overpriced drinks and food. Only for their evening to be ruined by a bunch of ever-so-less-well-dressed blokes turning up and trying to get in. And of course the natural reaction from the over-bearing staff was “No”. But after some dithering, they eventually did let us in.

And the attraction? Well Torquay-based modular synth manufacturer decided to setup a pop-up shop at Coal Drops Yard in London’s Kings Cross and were running a series of free performances in-store during their week long occupancy.

Personally, don’t quite understand modular synths but I know I want one. Have no idea why. Actually, I probably do know why I want one, for the same reasons most others do. Anyway, I’m a responsible adult with no musical skill whatsoever so therefore won’t be spunking what limited funds I have on any of their gear. However, I’m more than happy to have other talented people show off what I ‘could’ be doing with it.

So after a brief DJ set from Dungeon Acid (more on him later) who managed to make me happy by playing the KLF. It was Zach Guyette manning his blinky, wiry setup up first. Looks complex but the output was relatively simple; a pleasant blend of acid house and acid house. Timeless sounds from new sources.

EVOL describe their music as ‘Computer music for hooligans’ which is perfectly apt. And tonight, the wonderfully named Roc (yes, his real name) offered a DJ set of unreleased offerings. If you’ve never endured, sorry, experienced their music before then some would describe it as a violent, headache-inducing maelstrom of repetition. Others would say it’s just plain annoying. And judging by the pained expressions of those who had booked tables for a nice time, it looked like the latter. Personally I found it thrilling, the highlight of the whole evening. A relentless barrage of rave stabs, pitch-bend tones and time-stretched timbres all set to marching rhythms. Mentasmic.

Dungeon Acid then eased off the extreme with an impressive masterclass in rhythm and tone. Constantly altering the pace and mood throughout his short set.

And to end, we have Russell Haswell ‘DJing’. I put that in quotes ‘cos if you’ve ever seen him perform then you’ll know what I mean. His motto clearly being “Have a good time….all the time.”