Live Review: Magnetic Man, The Trinity, Bristol

There are numerous examples of artists who have truly transcended their genre. No-one thinks of Massive Attack as just trip hop or the Chemical Brothers as big beat. They bridge the gap between their original genre and the mainstream to breakthrough to a new and much larger audience. As yet no-one has managed this in the genre of dubstep. Despite being one of the most influential sounds of the last decade its dark, bass driven sounds are some way from a guest appearance on Later with Jools Holland.

Without any shadow of a doubt, the act that are most likely to make this crossover are Magnetic Man. Essentially a supergroup of major dubstep producers, Benga, Artwork and Skream have united to create an album which has an ear on both the dancefloor and on home listening. When tickets for their UK tour went on sale back in the spring I knew it would be a hot ticket and snapped some up - this week their debut tour hit Bristol where I caught them.

Immediately upon arrival at the Trinity (a converted church) it was clear that this wasn't a typical dubstep crowd. There were teenagers through to fiftysomethings in attendance and I spotted AC DC and My Chemical Romance T-shirts as well as the regulation hoodie. What was most apparent was the large proportion of women - dubstep is widely regarded as blokes music but at least 40 per cent of the people here were female which I think bodes well for any assault on the charts.

The early evening DJs ripped up the usual selection of bass driven drum n bass and dubstep monsters. It was particularly good to hear Benga's classic Night getting an early airing.  Support act Katy B played more of a PA than a set - limited to just a handful of tunes. What she lacked in vocal force she made up for in sheer charisma, her melting pot of crustie dub, afrobeat, dancehall and rolling bass lines were all brought together nicely with strong pop hooks and she was thoroughly enjoyed by the crowd. Katy On a Mission was arguably the most enthusiastically received song of the whole night (not surprising when you realise over 6 million people have viewed it on Youtube) - expect her to kill it at the festivals next summer.

Magnetic Man hit the stage at about 10 and it soon became apparent to me that this is an act with a real dilemma. How do you maintain underground credibility while clearly seeking to reach a wider demographic? This proposition made for an hour of both strengths and weaknesses. The combination of slow burning bass monsters being punctuated with euphoric rave anthems and 'real songs' means that the band (collective?) are able to better pace the set than a DJ simply playing a series of one dimensional basslines, but, and its a big but, you can't help but wonder if they all actually believe in all the music they are playing. Earlier in the set in particular things feel a little disjointed - just as the crowd begins to dig the bass groove they find themselves faced with japanese style instrumentation - very nice at home but it leads to a lack of pace for an enthusiastic throng in Britain's bassline capital.

Things pick up in the second half of the set. I need air, a cheesy house number on record, certainly works better live with the audience shouting back the chorus with aplomb and the reintroduction of Katy B at the end of the set for Perfect Stranger is undoubtedly the highlight as she and Benga trade vocal and MC duties respectively. Katy is without question the star of the night and one wonders that if MM had used more vocalists (they used a fairly standard MC) the set might have been better balanced rather than be focused around one guest who takes all the glory (not that they seem to mind).

I suspect the Magnetic Man concept might not be around too long. All of its members are well respected producers in their own right and I wonder whether there is enough songwriting depth (which is needed if they are to progress to the next level) to sustain a longer career. Having said that a few hundred people left the Trinity last might having thoroughly enjoyed an evening of light and shade and for them at least that's enough.  For me, I think I'll find my dubstep kicks primarily elsewhere.

Album review: Crooks and Lovers - Mount Kimbie (Hotflush)

There has been speculation for some time as to which dubstep album will fully cross over and do a 'Goldie' or a 'Roni Size' as each of these artists did during the drum n bass years. Burial was the early contender, his off kilter beats and dancehall vocal samples playing well with the coffee tables of north London and beyond. Next came Benga - by putting monster single Night on his Diary of an Afro Warrier album he was guaranteed an audience and in my opinion this has been the best long playing articulation yet of the dubstep sound.

Benga has a finger in the pie of one of 2010's main contenders - his Magnetic Man project with Skream and Artwork is likely to take dubstep to the masses, a universties tour is planned for the autumn and if the reaction they got at Benecassim is anything to go by (and given that they've already had a top ten hit) they are likely to be huge. In the meantime however we have the debut album from Mount Kimbie, subtler than Magnetic Man for sure but the London duo of Kai Campos and Dom Maker are generating lots of interest following their recent excellent Maybe's EP.

Like the also much feted James Blake, they take a more mellow appraisal of the dubstep sound and weave in lush synthesiation and ambient textures to create the feel of a sound that washes over you in many places. Crooks and Lovers continues this journey, albeit only for 35 minutes.

What soon becomes apparant is that this isn't solely a dubstep album. Rather it is a culmination of the sounds that have dominated the UK underground dance scene in the last decade. drum n bass, garage, two-step and dubstep are all in the mix to create something that might just be something new.

The other notable point of interest is Mount Kimbie's ability to combine an urban electronic sound with a more humane dimension. Snatches of voices, instrumentation and hand claps are built into the mix to create a real warmth. The album actually starts with accoustic guitar and there are a number of interludes throughout which sounds as though the guys are just playing about in the studio. While not similar in sound to say Boards of Canada, they share a similar understanding of the need to bring warmth to digital experimentation.

A few tracks (Carbonated, Before I Move Off) make use of loops of fragmented human vocal to create the sense of a vocal and yet no words are ever heard. Before I move off has a slightly eastern vibe at the front end yet ends up as a fairly conventional garage tune while Carbonated somehow manages to sound both fast and slow at the same time. It has a lovely gentle feel to it and is typical of the sense of invention throughout.

Other tracks create a wide range of moods and feels. Ode to Bear is mournful in feel and you can almost imagine a guy with a dustcart cleaning the grimy city streets at 4am. Mayor meanwhile is definately one for the dancefloor -it manages to use organic sounds to create a loopy rural garage vibe if such a thing exists. Blind Night Errand features a heavy sub woofer bass and is much more in Drum n Bass teritory and only on Ruby do you get the sense of what might be regarded as a conventional dubstep tune - its clicking beats and atmospheric synths typical of the dominating sound of the last few years.

As a whole the album is diverse and features a dizzying array of styles and yet at no time does it feel over complex or cluttered. I'm fairly sure it won't cross-over in a big way, the hooks aren't strong enough for the mainstream but one can't help but be impressed with the sense of adventure and the clear love of the protagonists for clubland culture. This is an excellent release and a suitable starting point for those who want to hear what is going on in electronic music right now. Repeated listens will be rewarded as the subtleties contained within reveal themselves.

Album review: Cosmogramma - Flying Lotus (Warp)

Every so often a record comes out that completely changes the rules, confounding expectations of what is possible. Think about the first time you heard 3 Feet High and Rising or Odelay or Entroducing. Albums so fundamentally fresh that they actually redefine what modern music is and create genres in their wake. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we might just have another…Cosmogramma is Los Angeles producer Steve Ellison’s third album as Flying Lotus following his debut 1983(which actually came out in 2006)and the excellent Los Angeles which came out two years later. It’s fair to say that it is his most realised record to date, bringing together a dizzying array of styles into a sound which, at first listen, is off kilter and confusing, but with time creates a rewarding tapestry which takes the listener on a drug induced trip into dubstep, free jazz, baroque soul techno and J-Dilla style hip hop.

The sound that Ellison and others bring to the party has, in fact, been emerging for a while now. Influenced by the UK dubstep movement the slow bassy dynamic has been taken into a new realm by producers such as Glasgow’s Hudson Mohawke, the excentric Gaslamp Killer and Lotus himself. These protagonists have moved on from the smooth electronic sounds of dubstep to create something more off-kilter or ‘wonky’ as the genre has become known in some circles. His other key influence is undoubtedly jazz, perhaps unsurprising when you consider that he is the nephew of Alice Coltrane(his cousin Ravi Coltrane plays tenor sax on the album).

The start of the record is suitably erratic - harp riffs give way to double bass all underpinned with heavy, jagged beats. Its five tracks in on Zodiac Shit that the hard beats give way to a mellow soundtracky vibe and the album shifts into a druggy dreamstate which is maintained throughout. If you are the sort of person who likes a good tune, this album is not for you. This is all about pushing boundaries, taking music onto the next level to create something truly new. That isn't to say it is necessarily difficult. There are a number of moments of beauty and even, in some sort of concession to commerciality, a number of guest vocalists including Thom Yorke and Thundercat. Its fair to say though that their vocals are used to drift in and out of the tapestry rather than to lead the charge. The Yorke track And the world laughs starts off as electro funk before giving way to the Radiohead man's claustrophobic vocal then heading off in a joyful direction at its close. This is sypmtomatic of the album as a whole - a range of emotions conveyed in quick succession - the sheer ambition of what Flying Lotus attempts here is astounding with just snatches of influences identified here and there (The Stepney-esque intro to Mmmmmm for example or the odd snippet of free jazz). The resulting take out is of one elongated piece of music which takes the listener on an otherworldly journey rather than individual songs .

Time will tell if this record is as significant as it sounds. We're only 5 months into a new decade but like Aphex Twin before him you can't help think that Ellison will spawn a host of imitaters who will spend the rest of the decade playing catch up while he leaps forward again to a new sound. If you want to know where music's future lies I suggest you buy this record. Patience will be required for it to reveal its depths but once identified this is a sonic adventure which will reward time and time again.