18 Bido Lito! <strong>June</strong> <strong>2013</strong> Jazzhands Egyptian Hip Hop Outfit Saturday is an electric affair. The Garage, The Kazimier and the Liverpool Academy Of Arts host a wide range of electronic acts, and one of the first to tip this balance are Mancunians EGyPTIAN HIP HOP. There has been a definite buzz around the band for a while now, and the success of their debut album Good Don’t Sleep last year draws an impressively large crowd to the makeshift venue. As the band make their way through the set, the consistently complex basslines, psych guitars and disco beats of songs such as Tobago all combine to create the right kind of atmosphere for a joyous Saturday night, but kimono-clad Alexander Hewett (Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard) seems to be on a completely different wavelength. Across the square at The Garage, and pulling no punches, is electronic pugilist Paul Fleming and his BALTIC FLEET. Shimmering guitars climb upon animatronic ladders for Hunting Witches and new single The Wilds, escalating them towards the stratosphere where they meet a cinematic constellation of menacing synths, before they land, like a lead balloon, firmly planted back on the terra firma. “It’s great to be back in Liverpool playing Sound City; it’s an honour and a pleasure,” effuses Fleming. No, no, the pleasure is all ours. Wolstenholme Square is once again the pounding, beating heart of Sound City, and the Double Denim showcase at The Kazimier is one of those critical mass focal points. London’s BROLIN takes to the stage sporting a gold mask, and goes on to exhibit an audacity that vastly juxtaposes his delicate and fragile take on R&B. AMATEUR BEST’s Joe Flory has had a good year: his debut record No Thrills came out last month to acclaim both sides of the Atlantic, but, though there are some great songs fighting to get out here, like the bubbling Ready for the Good Life, it all falls a little flat. Rounding off this Double Denim showcase, OUTFIT open with the brooding Performance, which suffuses The Kazimier in a sinister atmosphere of syncopated percussion and dissonant chord changes. New songs House On Fire and Nothing Big finally give the audience a beat to work with, but it’s one of their old ones that provides the send-off: Two Islands is a fitting finale for any set, its snarly and straightforward funk-fusion leaving us in that perfect middle ground between life-affirming dancefloor euphoria and introverted headphone bliss. In between bouts of Taiwanese reggae at The Attic (MATzKA) Gig Guide and Ticket Shop live at www.bidolito.co.uk and electrified indie dance stabs from Poland (KAMP! at MelloMello), the ravenous packs of Saturday revellers have plenty to gorge on. Back in the Duke Street Garage, DARKSTAR’s Aiden Whalley is hunkered over a smorgasbord of futuristic equipment that is somewhat akin to the Millennium Falcon’s control room. The London-based production duo have accelerated far beyond the velocity of light speed, honing their sound down to an intergalactic amalgam of vocalistled dream pop and delicate electronica. If this performance is anything to go by, they’re in for one hell of a bumpy ride. Screenadelica is once again a thriving hub of depravity, led by the effervescence of JAzzHANDS. Fresh from their exploits at the John Peel World Cup, and largely still in full kit, the bonkers six-piece group of noise rock exponents set the tempo for the venue’s anything-goes attitude. BO NINGEN bring things full circle when they cap off festivities late on, bringing a swell of thrill-seekers to Screenadelica for one final tilt at the festival high. It proves to be a worthwhile wait, as the quartet unleash a tirade of punk thrashing that is mirrored by an eager crowd. How could anyone sleep through that?... Thank the Sound City gods for Olympics soundtrack providers DELPHIC, who launch into the slick pop of Baiya and illuminate the grey concrete of the Liverpool Academy of Arts for the finale of the Red Bull Studios Official Closing Party stage. As Saturday turns into Sunday, the room pulses with light and life as the band breeze through a set of feel-good alternative rave. In closing track Acolyte, Delphic succeed in creating that special feeling you only ever get at festivals. It’s no surprise that the biggest crowd seen yet at Sound City has amassed in the inner sanctum of the Duke Street Garage, for the imminent arrival of MOUNT KIMBIE. The duo have fleshed out the jittery, sinewy textures of their seminal debut LP Crooks And Lovers, so that they now transcend the post-everything electronic musicology in their reformed agenda as dancefloor protagonists. So, with beers swilling and hands clasped, Liverpool Sound City bows out on a euphoric high note, soaked to the marrow with the gloss of Mount Kimbie’s sonic atmospherics. Go to bidolito.co.uk for further photo galleries and our live sessions from Parr Street Studio during Sound City <strong>2013</strong> liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk Baltic Fleet Dexy’s Laura J Martin
Al Al Al Al o o o o sered sered sered handpls! handpls! handpls! handpls! A BEER BARREL MUSICAL BUNKER SOLD OUT
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