LIVE REVIEW: Disclosure @ O2 Academy Bristol 16/11/2013

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/live-disclosure-o2-academy-bristol-17112013

The Disclosure brothers, Guy and Howard Lawrence kicked off their eight-date UK tour at Bristol’s O2 Academy on Saturday night. The pop/house duo have been extremely busy since the release of their debut album Settle (which reached number one in the UK back in June) and their smattering of top 10 singles including ‘Latch’, ‘You And Me’ and ‘F For You’. The pair also played just about every summer festival going, and have just finished off a string of US and European dates.

Support came from Aussie music whizz- kid producer Flume, could there have been a better warm-up? Flume set the tone of the evening with his experimental and avant-garde beats, and took it beyond a gig, coupled with the fact is was a Saturday night, his tracks ‘Sleepless’, ‘Insane’, ‘Holdin On’ and ‘On Top’ went off in a huge way.

Disclosure’s sound was crisp, their set flawless, yet there was noticeably a certain lack of atmosphere. The boys didn’t really talk much between tracks, and it felt as if they were hammering through their set in the same fashion a check-out operator might idly scan through someone’s grocery shopping. It lacked a certain something, and although a joy to hear all of their summer infused tracks in succession, it felt as if you may as well be hearing them in some club played out by the resident DJ.

The highlight of their set was on last track ‘Latch’, which debuted at number one in the UK back in spring. Vocalist Sam Smith came to join them on-stage and his silky smooth vocals echoed around the room. The Disclosure album seemed to divide opinions, some found it amazing, some even stated it the best thing to happen to current dance music, others found it monotonous and sterile. This difference in opinion may well be true of their live shows too, but coming from a huge fan of the album, it was overall rather disappointing.

MIXTAPE REVIEW: Bloc Party Tapes - Kele Okereke

Originally published at Gigwise: http://www.gigwise.com/reviews/85054/bloc-party-tapes---remixed-by-kele-okereke-ik7

In June, Bloc Party claimed they were on an ‘indefinite hiatus’, yet fans haven’t been left feeling too starved of the London foursome after the unexpected release of EP, The Nextwave Sessions back in August. Before we knew it, news of another project was already on the cards in the guise of Bloc Party Tapes, an eclectic mixtape produced by frontman Kele Okereke.

The release is part of Berlin based record label’s !k7’s tape series, which has previously featured mixtapes from the likes of Foals, the Rapture and The Big Pink. The mixtape will also be available in a limited-edition cassette format.

This incredibly fresh sounding collection of tracks is a real treat for fans of Bloc Party, and lovers of the more left-field side of dance in general. It’s no secret that Okereke is a bit of a ‘dance head’, the mixtape takes us through his intriguing mind, his love for beats and appreciation of post-rock, Afrobeat, dance, electro, house, and ambient.

The mixtape features a Sticky remix of Wiley’s ‘Numbers in Action’, French producer French Fries’ ‘Space Alarm’ and an offering of Bloc Party’s very own track ‘Obscene’, one of the ‘slow ones’ from The Nextwave Sessions mixed by Okereke himself.

We can rest assured and relax in the knowledge that this second solo venture of his isn’t the end for Bloc Party, but very much the opposite. When describing what it felt like to make the tape he compared it to, “having an affair”, and promised that it was for the, “betterment of Bloc Party”, who have always cited dance as their main influence from the very beginning.