LOUDANDQUITE.COM follow us on twitter find us on facebook LOUD AND QUIET
LIVE REVIEW
UFFIE AT CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON
Uffie
Concorde 2
Brighton
24/04/10

It’s been a long time coming but electro songstress Uffie is now teetering on the edge that separates people from being an underground hipster icon and being a mainstream household name. The transition is almost certain, her debut album release is imminent and it features enough high profile collaborations to get tongues talking, but tonight’s performance may have left many of her early embracers in mourning. Though the music remains true to its original cultured electro backing and her distinctive off kilter vocal flow enough that recent accusations proclaiming her as being the person whom Ke$ha stole the majority of her act from are almost justified; the stumbling block is her stage demeanour. Where once it was wild and unpredictable, it has now been toned down to such a level that it feels like she has recently graduated from a school for wannabe pop sirens – it’s both clichéd and tame. Flanked by a DJ on one side and a keytar player on the other it feels like she is going through the motions, rolling out one traditional move after another; even the RnB staple of perching on a stool for the duration of a song is not off-limits. The once credible face of hipster pop is reaching out for the mainstream.

By Nathan Westley

———–

Originally published in issue 17 (vol 3) of Loud And Quiet. May 2010


HUDSON MOHAWKE AT XOYO
XOYO
Old Street, London
19/10/11

The best shows are most often those where artist and audience fall into a frenzied feedback loop of mutual appreciation.

AZARI & ILL AT WHITE HEAT, SOHO
White Heat
Soho, London
01/11/11

Some tech-savvy good Samaritan recently ripped and uploaded a BBC radio documentary about house music grandaddy Larry Levan.

GOTYE AT KCLSU
KCLSU
London
01/11/11

King’s College seems an odd venue for Australian singer-songwriter Gotye.

FLAMINGODS AT THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
The Shacklewell Arms
Dalston, London
19/10/11

Save for an old electronic keyboard and a delay pedal that makes singer Kamal’s vocals ping-pong out of the room, Flamingods don’t do instruments with wires.

PURE X AT THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
The Shacklewell Arms
Dalston, London
1/11/11

Drugs. They’re rife within popular music. Especially within the type that Texan trio Pure X make, courtesy of a Spiritualized habit they just can’t (or won’t) kick.

2:54 AT CORSICA STUDIOS, ELEPHANT AND CASTLE
Corsica Studios
Elephant & Castle, London
09/11/11

Sisters Hannah and Colette Thurlow famously named their bristly, glowering rock band after a favourite moment on a Melvins song, 2 minutes and 54 seconds in, to be precise.

DOOM & GHOSTFACE AT THE ROUNDHOUSE
The Roundhouse, Camden
London
05/11/11

The man formerly known as MF Doom returns to the Roundhouse for a sold-out show, barely a year after his debut European performance in the same venue.

CAGED ANIMALS AT THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
The Shacklewell Arms
Dalston, London
28/09/11

In the studio, Caged Animals (Soft Black’s Vincent Cacchione’s new baby) deal in a faintly cloying, suburban youth-channelling indie with a twist.

MILK MAID AT THE GREEN DOOR, BRIGHTON
The Green Door
Brighton
20/09/11

Despite the days of Union Jack plastered guitars and weather-worn parkas being a prerequisite of any northern based guitar band being long gone.

METRONOMY AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington
London
03/10/11

“It’s hard to believe that in this very room they used to have gladiators fighting to the death,” exclaims Metronomy main-man Joe Mount.