The Unicorn Lives

Having a penchant for silly things like unicorns is more common than you might think. If memory serves, I think that’s how I discovered insane band Gay Against You long ago, whose song ‘Gay Unicorn’ brought me endless joy (and still does). Nowadays Joe Howe has moved away from the high-pitched exuberant glee of that band and is making some spacier, deeper, but still crazy songs in their own right. Joined by Bastian Hagedorn, Joe now creates clumsy, fun and unpredictable messy electronics by the name Ben Butler & Mousepad, splitting their time between Berlin and Edinburgh. I think they are resigned to the idea that “more is more”, as every part of their songs are filled with silly synth wobbles, patchy drum beats and shattering stabs of higher notes.

They have some darker, denser songs like ‘Electric Bamber Boo’, where moogs battle over dance beats with the persistent, unbridled energy of Disasteradio, but I prefer the typically more light-hearted fare like ‘Hum Ghar Sajan’ and the friendly, bendy ‘High Life’.

Their output is varied – ‘Supermotion’ manages to sound both retrospective and futuristic, with its gleaming synths and shuddering bassline, replete with decorative keyboard swipes. And the mutant collage that is ‘Formed For Fantasy’ reminds me of parts of Jonny Greenwood’s epic Bodysong.

BB&M’s multi-pronged songs feel like they’re piecing apart your brain and replacing old memories of sounds with new ones. They’ve worked on a synth opera, and released an EP that was recorded using only analog vintage synths. Their latest, debut album Formed For Fantasy, is available for pre-order from their Tumblr, and will be out on London’s LOAF records.

A Weird New World: Gudrun Gut

The good folk at Altmusic have some great things coming up as part of the Fringe Festival. In association with the Goethe-Institut, who are also very renowned in the international art scene, Altmusic present Gudrun Gut on March 4 with Disasteradio and Mr Hayday. An early member of Einstürzende Neubauten (a weirdo experimental/industrial group from Berlin), Gudrun Gut plays really cool, spacey indie/electronic laptop pop. An established experimental artist dabbling in new wave/techno/multimedia art/spoken word, Gut was a founding member of Malaria!, Mania D and Matador, and a member of Project Miasma. The Wire magazine described her as a “feminist agitator, festival organiser, entrepreneur. Plus of course musician, performance artist, DJ, radio presenter, club organiser, cultural ambassador and label owner…” I’m really excited to see Gut, who will seemingly fit in well with our own artistic entrepreneurs Disasteradio and Mr Hayday. I’m sure they will produce an intriguing and intelligent show at Cassette #9.

Gudrun Gut – Rock Bottom Riser: MP3

Gudrun Gut – Move Me: MP3

Gudrun Gut – Myspace

Disasteradio – Myspace

Mr Hayday – Myspace

Slowing Solace: Grouper

Also coming up is the Grouper and Pumice show at Whammy Bar on March 12. For those of you outside of Auckland they’re also playing at Happy in Wellington on March 14, St Lukes in Christchurch on March 19 and Chicks Hotel in Dunedin on March 21. Pumice fascinated me when I saw him years ago at the now-defunct Schooner bar, his simultaneous drum kit and guitar playing alone on stage had an eerie, isolated feel, but he was very charismatic in his shy and impersonal kind of way. Grouper is Elizabeth “Liz” Harris from Portland, USA. She plays stunning, simple, ethereal, cold-sounding haunting pop. Touring the states with Animal Collective in May, she’s also collaborated with Xiu Xiu, releasing Creepshow in 2007. Grouper has three albums out, the latest being the Type Records release Drag A Dead Deer Up A Hill. If you enjoy your music slightly surreal and hypnotic, and if you enjoyed the fascinating and lilting experimental bliss of High Places’ recent New Zealand shows, make sure you check out Grouper!