A few years ago, I went to see a performance by a guy on a laptop, a man whose name has sadly now been erased from my cranium, but who livened up a slightly dull set by jumping off stage and breakdancing on the sticky floor in front of us. Another way of injecting drama and visual skillz into an IDM set would be TO PLAY WITH A FRIGGING GAMELAN ORCHESTRA. Originally put together for the Ether Festival last year, this is another chance to see the Warp faves wreath their pastel shades around a big and bulbous collection of drones, donks and other lovely percussive noises, courtesy of the Southbank Gamelan Players. In the rather swish Arnolfini surroundings, it will be summer evening perfection.
Plaid & Southbank Gamelan Players
with Peverelist
Performing a new work they have created together with Indonesian composer Rahayu Supanggah, the electronica duo plan to weave a subtle soundscape around the Gamelan’s fluid rhythms, thickening the pounding of gongs with echo and delay, looping intricate xylophone patterns, and adding eerie dissonances to ancient harmonies.
Gamelan has been an influence on lots of western music from ecstatic rockers, to wall of sound hip-hop collages and electronic artists such as Aphex Twin and Kode9 but a collaboration such as this have never before shared the same stage, until now.
‘.. the effect is bewitching.. it’s illuminating to see artists from these two genres working together’ – Drowned in Sound
Plaid morph, twist and surprise with each new project, and have consistently produced some of the most adventurous electronic/dance music in the last 20 years. The duo of Andy Turner and Ed Handley are former members of seminal outfit The Black Dog and have used many other alias, such as Atypic (Andrew Turner) and Balil (Ed Handley) before settling on Plaid. They have collaborated with female singers Mara Carlyle, Nicolette and Björk, and have released records on the labels Clear, Peacefrog and most famously Warp Records.
The Southbank Gamelan Players, Ensemble in Residence at The Southbank Centre, was founded by Alec Roth in 1987. Most of the musicians have undertaken extensive study in Java and a number are tutors for the Royal Festival Hall Gamelan Programme. Working closely with dancers, puppeteers and composers from Indonesia, Europe and the USA, the group has established an international reputation both for its performances of traditional Javanese music and for its championing of new music for gamelan.
Peverelist is a pivotal Bristol based producer/DJ who constantly sneaks in behind the hype and delivers amazing sleek, emotive sets that can happily join the dots between obscure minimal Techno, tracks that carefully melt intricate jazzed up flourishes and’ the breakbeat, the thriving post-Garage scene and 2003-2006 era of classic Dubstep. Tonight he delivers a special bespoke set.
Commissioned by the Southbank Centre for Ether Festival 2009
“It’s a rare producer indeed who combines intricate rhythmic patterns, subtle melodies, and wriggling basslines in as evocative and idiosyncratic a manner as Peverelist” Dusted
