Reviews: Florist – Phenomena EP (All Caps); Phran – 3000 Modes EP (Klasse Wrecks)

Florist – Phenomena EP (All Caps)

What’s been pleasing about the sheer number of Glasgow labels over the last few years is that although they appear to have arrived mobbed handed, they never seem to tread on each others toes. It goes some way to fostering a sense of an actual and diverse musical community rather than a bunch of imprints slavishly following the trends. All Caps has come up on the QT with a number of well-regarded EPs that somehow never got enough of the words they should have. That’s been changing.

Vancouver artist and Moodhut affiliate Florist is the latest in the ongoing connection between the two cities to make his mark over here. Florist delivers a stand up record in Phenomena which holds to some of the deep mood his Canadian contemporaries are known for whilst using it to clad colder, grainier sentiments which, although never pushing the music into anything resembling darkness, are willing to introduce an important feel of introspection to the proceedings. The four pieces clamber over swirling dubby vibes, cracking the thick atmosphere here and there with tribal overtones and little kinks of almost ravey colour and riffs of classic house. In particular Final Bounce’s wistful dubwise skank, which couples surprisingly pacey drums with hazy and hypnotic textures, feels like new age house finally living up to its promise. In actual fact, that’s something you could say for the whole of Phenomena. Properly deep, complex and emotionally charged, It’s a record that could well win over some of the doubters amongst us.

Phran – 3000 Modes EP (Klasse Wrecks)

Berlin label Klasse Wrecks are slowly getting a name for themselves as purveyors of crunchy, roughed up techno that is joyously at odds with the slick by-the-number sounds which seem to define their city of origin these days. Venezuelan artist Phran fits well into the ethos with his second EP for the label, and while 3000 Modes may not be quite as wonderfully grimy as last years Bad Format EP, there is more than enough here to keep you bouncing.

Straddling the dirty ground between loose machine funk and something altogether warmer and more measured, 3000 Modes is a clatter of dirty beats and little whooshes of melody that holds the line with a grin. From the opener, Basical’s, deep, tribally, yet under-the-waves house which rolls with dusky glimmer to Alberca’s fractured breakbeat and bubbling melody 3000 Modes has the feel of a record rich with the sort of exploratory invention where the grooves erupt from unexpected angles. Interestingly, the only track where this doesn’t tend to happen, Baba Stilts and Samo DJ’s mix of Basical is also the weakest; a long slab of late night house. It’s not a bad track, but it’s one which feels that too much has been straightened out, and the necessary kinks that allow the original to work its charms have been lost in the translation.

My stand out here is Ayoo, a swampy and bass heavy dirty faced urchin that kicks the machine funk down a gear until it’s becomes a wobbling, loose little thing that goes on its merry little way until, out of nowhere, it’s washed over by a little tide of 80’s stadium synths. Understated and lost in its own moment, not unlike the whole EP perhaps, and all the better for it.

Friday Night Tune: CVO – Party Time

As I’m sure everyone has noticed the 2014 Commonwealth Games have kicked off here in Glasgow this week for ten days of running, jumping and grunting. Regardless of whether there is any place in contemporary society for what is really a celebration of Empire, or whether Westminster and Holyrood are using the games to pump voters up ahead of September’s referendum on Scottish Independence, the reality is that it’s all kicked off in the best possible way – 30c temperatures and endless blue skies; weird, slightly See-you-Jimmy opening ceremony and the Scotland team kicking ass in a quiet and unassuming way.

To say that Glasgow has got behind the games is to put it mildly. It might be a cliché but no less true to say that Glasgow loves a party. Any excuse to get jaked is leapt upon with a wild-eyed hunger that cannot be put down to a simple love of the booze. It has probably something to do with the city’s history being so thick with industry. The Exhaustion of backbreaking work (mostly in the shipyards here) is lessened by a good bender of a Friday and Saturday night. And although the shipyards and the rest of the industry are all but gone now, the need for your average Glaswegian to go off on one is still very much alive.

I think it’s this that partly explains Glasgow’s love of House and Techno, and the deeper, groovier elements of both. it’s also good to remember that it’s a hard, working class city but it is also a city of music, of art and of literature. These influences are echoed in the clubs, from Club 69 way out in Paisley (not Glasgow as the natives there will tell you,) to Optimo to whatever is happening at the art school tonight and tomorrow. It’s in the labels too. Numbers may well be as much of London now, but it’s DNA was encoded in Glasgow and Paisley and the vibe of the city is writ large in everything they do as it is with others like All Caps and Clan Destine.

I’ve chosen tonight’s tunes because its seems to sum up Glasgow for me in a myriad of ways. This would have been equally true if I chose something by Underground Resistance or E-Dancer or one of a thousand other tunes from the two big US cities that had such a profound influence on Glasgows music.

I’ve always loved Party Time. I love the whole EP, in fact. It’s Glenn Underground at his best and even though its is now almost twenty years old it still burns with a fierce passion and energy that comes from the pounding tom heavy rhythm and the downward mood of the chords which gives the feel of smiling through tears. It’s tight and potent, as Glasgow a tune as I can think of, and my unofficial theme for the blue skies, the dreadful attire and the games themselves.

PS. I’m going away camping next week, and swimming in the Atlantic, so there probably won’t be any updates. Kind of difficult to get a Wi-Fi signal from the edge of nowhere.