:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Friday, November 14, 2003 ::

What is the Meatrix?

:: Dan 14.11.03 [Arc]    ::
...

Gig Review: Shitmat, Big Joan, Bronnt Industries Kapital @ The Croft, Bristol, 08.11.03



Bronnt Industries Kapital

Bronnt Industries Kapital play some nice warm glitchy electronics with a very atmospheric filmic feel. Their set a little variable, a couple of the tracks not particularly impressive, but others pretty damn sweet. Their 7” on Silent Age/Clean Cut/Float one of the better examples, along with the darker sounding tracks which had a beautiful tension and quite a claustrophobic feel. One to look out for. Apparently Peely likes them too.

Big Joan

Big Joan claim to be a "Teutonic riot-funk, post-punk band". (Note: the phrase post-punk is only surpassed in its ability to annoy by post-rock) I like the phrase riot-funk though, that seems to sum up Big Joan quite nicely. The Bristol-based five piece (female vocals, guitar, bass, drums and percussion, yes percussion, they even had a dust-bin on stage, although not as good as Cop Shoot Cop and their Kitchen Sink but its getting there) have a huge amount of energy and quite a lot of aggression about them. They are very tight and put on a great show, despite technical problems and possible overuse of distorted vocals. The closest comparison I can draw to Big Joan is probably Skunk Anansie, only without the in-your-face political agenda. Great fun. ROCK!

Shitmat

"Two little boys had two little toys, each had a wooden house. Gaily they played...." Bang Bang Bang "Two little gays had two little boys..." Bang Bang Bang Bang.
What better way to start a set?
Shitmat crouches behind his lap-top wearing a rubber animal head mask (a bull?). He attacks a Kaoss pad from time to time and occasionally the lap-top too. He jumps around a lot. He pushes a mic up the throat of the mask and shouts obscenities in a fake Japanese accent, like one of the worst MCs you’ve ever heard. He plays mash-ups of everything from There Ain’t No Party Like an S-Club Party to Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (in the same track), the Steptoe and Son Theme to Living on a Prayer. He dances the deranged spazzy dancing you see at Squarepusher gigs. He picks up his lap-top and humps it. He gets down on all fours and headbutts the monitors. Sweat is visibility dripping from the inside of the rubber mask. He stops mid-track ‘cus he’s having trouble rolling a cig and playing. Volunteers have to fight for the honour of rolling the cig and he carries on with his sonic assault. We get a lecture about the Amen break. The mashed up gabba jungle continues. After an hour and a half the lights go up in the venue and he is forced to stop. It seems too soon. Everyone who hung around was loving it. Even the guy in the big red jacket who didn’t get it for the half hour and was shouting abuse was dancing like a bastard by the end. So too was his trendy looking girlfriend, although why either of them were there in the first place was anyone’s guess. Awesome night. Shitmat is recommended to anyone who gets the chance to see him. I do advise patients though. It took a while to really get going and for people to really start appreciating it, but it’s worth it!

:: Dan 13.11.03 [Arc]    ::
...

Kasparov is currently playing his annual match against the greatest Chess computer available, which at the moment is ChessBase's Fritz. According to the organisers this year’s event is the “first official world chess championship in total virtual reality”, by which they mean Kasparov is wearing some 3D glasses and looking at a virtual chess board, which sounds like a distraction tactic to me. You can follow the game from the link in this Wired article and see the game so far as a flash animation.

:: Dan 11.11.03 [Arc]    ::
...

A snippet some new Bit Meddler material here.

The history of Frankie’s Relax, and a selection of remixes/mashups.

:: Dan 10.11.03 [Arc]    ::
...