The KVB – Of Desire

Desire! Angel or Devil, it sets you on Fire. Some say Desire is the source of all Evil, and they look for Nirvana. Other say there are good and bad Desires…are the bad ones really Desires? Desires are not shadows, Desires are engines, sails and steps. Desire is the wings this new KVB‘s album has got, perfectly crafted and wide.
If there was anything goth in what Nicholas and Kat have been doing in the past, it’s gone. Not that these songs are not dark, there are plenty of deep synthesizers here, but how could you be not wanting to experiment with synths when you have at your disposal all equipment in Geoff Barrow’s studio? I’m pretty sure they had lots of fun with the toys’ arsenal! And yes the sounds are heavy, “V11939″ is steel industrial machines, it reminds of Depeche Mode’s “Master and Servant”, but instrumental. There are layers and layers of electronics merging with dreamy vocals on other tracks, but it feels safe into them, it feels calm and relaxating, like the darkness of a mother’s womb filled with water and love, it’s The Year We Make Contact and the big-eyed foetus looking at the world brand new. It’s the five notes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, it’s Cupid and Psyche loving each other in the dark, it’s a Truth and it’s Faith which do not need a science testing, ’cause they do not rely on the past to write the future. Like a guy and girl from filthy and boring Southampton who moved to Berlin to imagine their own world of sounds and visuals with dedication and passion, for you and me and us and everyone to dive into it.
“Of Desire” was released on March 11th by Invada Records (UK) and Metropolis Records (Americas), as digital download, CD and vinyl.

Fuzz Club Festival – The Kids Are Allright

We’re in the heart of East London, just by London Fields, one of the places where tourists will head in the future, as one of cult symbols of the city‘s in this second decade of the new millennium.
Maybe they will also take a tour of London Fields Brewery, the space where the first Fuzz Club Festival was held. Why not? In the end all the people here made something, starting from nothing but passion, ideas, and friendship.
Yes, friendship is an important word for this bunch, and it made me realise why it was worth to travel all over from Italy for these two days. Not that I am the only one, I can see familiar faces from Ireland, France, even Finland and Spain! And the greetings and the hugs and the smiles are genuine and warm-hearted. Many of the bands playing on these stages are just very talented friends playing together, sharing a love for sounds which are mind-cleaning beauty.
Let’s take Throw Down Bones and The KVB.  I can still remember an
evening at the Victoria, a pub close to MileEnd. It was 2010, Klaus and Kat were playing with their first band Suicide Party, Dave and Frankie were there as Piatcions, it was I think their second Uk tour. The sound engineer was a complete asshole, totally messed up the bands sounds. There was a kind of riot from the stage against him, and he was fired on the spot by the venue’s owner!
Now, late 2015, The KVB play a mint, programmatically cold but intense set tonight. They’re pure and charming and their electronic vibes unfold bittersweet melodies. They’re ready for even bigger things, with the new album due out early next year on Portishead’s Invada Records.

And Throw Down Bones, Frankie and Dave’s new project, is the perfect opener for the Fest. It’s a controlled spaceship flying up and down on kaleidoscopic waves to incessantly explore a new universe. Or perhaps the snowy peaks of the beautiful Alps where they come from. It’s a pulsating beat of an heart well trained for a long marathon. This time they’ll take what’s theirs, they can be the new Chemical Brothers, if you can remember when Chemical Brothers were actually cool.
10.000 Russos are different from when I saw them at Reverence in Valada. That stage was sooo big! They were even a bit scared of playing on such a big stage, but it worked well, it was kraut and danceable. Maybe tonight they feel more at ease on this normal-sized stage, I would say the sound is less steel and more wood, more guitars and less samples, at least this is how it can be heard from the audience. Damn good anyway.
Camera are on the other stage, it’s not first time I see them. They’re elaborated and experimental, broken edges, curves, sudden pitfalls. It’s late when they play, probably a fresher mind would have helped to focus with the due attention on their set.

Photo by Ollie Thomas

And The Telescopes...  WTF? I mean I know Stephen from the very far away 2003 (yes it’s long ago!) when I brought them to Italy booking a tour for them the very first time. I think I have seen so many incarnations of The Telescopes – including a brief experience as experimental duo – that’s even hard to remember. But tonight they take the “music and friendship” thing to extreme consequences, with a stage (and a floor) where all the people around here who have played with Stephen Lawrie once at least in their life join the banquet. Nick, Dan and Byron from One Unique Signal, Frankie from Thrown Down Bones, Dave from The Koolaid Electric Company…there is a song list on the floor but it’s not so trustable. It’s just about pushing the buttons to start the plane’s engine and take it as far as it can go, through downdrafts, crashes, death rolls, near-collisions. Sometimes you feel they’re doing this mostly for themselves, to prove how much adrenaline their blood can produce through noises. But somewhat it works. Something unique happened, and – as usual – it was unexpected.

What the night brings we know it so well. Just a quick check on our facebook timeline, and from this oasis of goodness we’re trashed mercilessly in the hell of Bataclan.
Ice bucket.

The day after both Dead Rabbits and 10.000 Russos have to deal with cancellation for their due gigs in Paris, but they’re more worried about their friends there and the madness going on than about anything else. André from 10.000 Russos tells me they wouldn’t have go there anyway, for safety reasons. Sad but reasonable. And Wall of Death decided to not travel. Sad but understandable.
There are more talks today, some gigs I have missed them, or seen them in very small doses.
Dead Rabbits start the day, with their abrasive but melodic moods, their easily recognisable hooks and melodies, their stage presence a bit indie and nerd, down to earth but remarkable. With a good and proper production this band could have one hit after the other: radio friendly, British rock at its best and with the most noble accents. I sincerely hope they’ll make it.
The Janitors and Lola Colt are of another breed, the true rock’n’roll cave where women are sexy creatures wearing black lace and men have grease in their hair. They take us on a ride in a black Chevrolet and offer us a pack of Red Marlboro and a glass of gin.
The Orange Revival fill the stage with a chilled out Scandinavian recipe of real psychedelic introspection.
The Myrrors, maybe the most awaited act of the weekend, their first time in Europe after the reunion of 2102, take things to a completely different field, where the delicate threads of strings play amongst a solid ground of drones. It’s landscape music, music for big and empty spaces and intimate thoughts. My boots are not made for walking- not even for standing too long – and sitting quietly on the floor on one side of the room seems to be the best way to appreciate with eyes closed this mesmerising journey.
I’m ashamed to reveal I completely missed Mugstar while looking for food in the surroundings. But there are not enough words of enthusiasm I could spend for The Cult of Dom Keller, who I find very different and grown up from last time I saw them – not far from here at The Waiting Room in Stokey – last Spring. The air in the smaller room is getting hot, and their arsenal of keyboards, synths and guitars is loaded for dancing. It’s like Thee Hypnotics with the groove of Primal Scream, Vanishing Point – era. So damn heavy and trancey. The new album is on the way. They’ll have to play big festivals next summer, for everyone’s delight.
The trippy beats of Radar Men from the Moon are a proper way to end this marathon. You don’t have to pay attention, it’s just ok to let your body be filled by rhythms and unchain your mind to wander free over their endless circles of chords.
Everything’s allright. We’re all in this together – again – sharing a spirit of collaboration, mutual respect, true care.
May this circle remain unbroken, may it become bigger and larger, and may stay as a circle of friends, good and like-minded people as it was, and still it is.