The View from the Bar – CURL #2 w/ Bianca Scout, Suitman Jungle & Brother May

“Saturday Night!! Even though it’s Sunday”

I was already buzzing about this before the show. I’d heard the soundcheck from the week before and it sounded class. Plus it’s not every Sunday Micachu is on sound desk duties.

Bianca Scout played first but it was still happy hour so I got a little distracted making cocktails for a lot of her set. What I did get was a kind of Dean Blunt/Hype Williams kind of vibe. Lots of dreamy beatscapes, looping dizziness with these breathy and fragile vocals kind of submerged beneath the big depth of bass she was getting out of the soundsystem. It was haunting and comforting in equal measure for me, like a dream about someone you know who died.

By the time Suitman Jungle had arranged his kit the cocktails were over and it was easier to focus on what was going on between pouring pints. Once he had finished setting up it was clear it was a ronseal sort of affair – here was a man in a suit and he’d come to play jungle.

What a mad show. It begins with this spacey, choral, atmospheric fuzz before he launches that opening rant from Human Traffic, and with: ‘The Milkybars Are On Me!!” he’s launching himself into these mad hectic jungle tracks. It’s good as well, not just a gimmick at all. Along the way the Suitman shtick becomes clear, poking fun at the banality of our urban rat-race while laying waste to the room with burst-fire attacks on his kit. Everyone keeps catching each other’s eyes and smiling in disbelief and at one point Henry (also behind the bar) turns around and says: “this is the best thing I’ve ever seen, it’s like watching Miles Davis” - although he could've been talking about Miles Davies, designer of quality posters - such was the breadth of skill on show.

After his set’s over and everyone’s calmed down a bit, Brother May has the unenviable job of following him. No need to worry though as within seconds of starting he’s got everyone going. The set’s heavy on tracks from the May & Meeks E.P released earlier this year. It’s full of these really affirming sentiments and between the murky, viscous beats and May’s exuberant delivery it manages to be more than the sum of its parts somehow. The small space and the way he’s always talking to his DJ and Sound Tech through the mic gives it super personal feel too.

One of the best gigs I’ve been to in ages.

@theokotz

Curl part 3 is this Sunday from 6pm onwards. Klein, Blue Shit, Kwake Bass, Raisa K & Relax Kevin all inside Rye Wax. Free entry.