Singles that Mingle

With Captain Stavros

 

 

Orbital – Mother, Maiden and Crone

Nostalgic beats.

 

Pulled Apart By Horses - Great White Lies

Dopamine Hit Out February 12 Via Damage Records 

The kind of tune you put out when you're cutting class. 

 

Trentemøller - Your Love Walks Alone

Approachable tune, catchy too. Your love may walk alone, but you won't with this drop in tow. 

 

Kathleen Frances - Kitchen Sink

 Out Now Via state51

It's the kind of tune that makes you pause and listen to the lyrics. 

 

Sam Akpro - Gauzy

Gauzy Out Now Via Anti-

Loungey, chill. 

 

Everything But The Girl - Young and Dumb

Moody and broody. 

 

Current Joys - Halloween

Rosebud Out Now Via They Are Evil 

You may not celebrate Halloween, but good luck not taking joys in this one. 

 

Zohar & Adam - Demon

Osmosis Out Now Via Mack Avenue Records 

Jazz-rap freshness.

 

Blackwater Holylight - Spades

Not Here, Not Gone Out Now Via Suicide Squeeze 

For the Dropped D lovers

 

Mamalarky - Sad Songs

Hover Out February 12 Via Epitaph 

Keeps you locked in with the peculiar hooks

 

Tonight the Hartnolls took to the stage with a set-up that looked positively minimal when compared to the industrial-scale rigs of previous years. From the outset it was clear that the visual effects had not undergone similar reduction. Displays across the top and bottom of the stage created the illusion of a letterbox, through which the crowd could see the bobbing head-lights of ambient techno’s most accomplished duo.

Opening track, ‘Lush 3-1’ from 1993’s “brown” album, heralded a set that would remain primarily within the pair’s earlier works, but all reworked magnificently to sound as fresh and exciting as they did nearly 25 years ago. In some cases I had to wait for a good few bars before realising which tune was being played. For two hours, including encore, the set-list rarely ventured beyond 1996, keeping well away from the early 2000s and the much-maligned The Altogether. 

It was great to hear a couple of tracks from 2012’s Wonky, the title track off that album and particularly the encore-closing ‘Where Is It Going?’ Just to ensure the entire evening wasn’t a retrospective, two tunes had their live debuts; ‘Phuk’ and ‘Tiny Foldable Cities’, both proving that there is still plenty of cracking material in the locker. 

Given that the brothers have been producing the finest electronic dance music since 1987, their passion has not waned, even when playing classic tracks like ‘Belfast’, ‘Chime’ and ‘Halcyon’, which they could be forgiven for delivering by rote, but instead they give thumping renditions of these old favourites, bouncing around behind their kit as if they were playing a rave inside the M25, circa 1989.

 The stand-out performance of the night had to be a new mix of ‘Satan’, which was delivered with a face-melting intensity that had everyone in the place going mental. There are rumours of a tour next year and, on the strength of this latest outing I say, bring it on.