Saturday
The day started strong with Brighton’s Mindofalion. The early start didn’t affect the live show one bit as brothers Archie and Jack Brewis-Laweson on guitar/vocals and drums, and friend Sam Evans on bass produced a gripping set. Their alternative rock had the audience captivated by their raw thumping beat. With clever guitar melodies created with a looping pedal, there is a lot to like about this three piece who are they definitely worth checking out, especially if you are looking for a more melodic At The Drive-In or a softer 30 Seconds To Mars. Le Galaxie held the headline slot at Sticky Mikes Frog Bar and brought their electro pop stomping beats from Dublin. The four-piece put together simple classic house beats with a simple bass line, simple piano stabs and simple sing along vocals that had the whole room moving. Their fantastic energetic performance had them running from left to right, even bringing a drum in front of the dancing crowd which unnecessarily had two of them playing. For all the cheers and applause, I could not see the appeal of their set, having been mostly just a drum kit and samples throughout.
Over to The Old Market to see one of Brighton’s best emerging acts, Written In Waters, play their alternative “post rock/prog/jazz”. Their completely absorbing and unique sound was enthralling – interesting drums, bold bass, compelling keys, twinkley rock guitar and then lead singer Beth Cannon’s otherworldly vocals created an exhausting epic of a set. Think of a mix of Kate Bush, Evenesence and Florence And The Machine all in one voice, and one that holds incredible power and a truly mind-blowing range. Another must see Brighton band.
Saturday’s music finished at the astounding All Saints Church, with Abi Wade starting the proceedings. The Brightonian songstress has her voice and a cello as the mainstay of her songs, but not necessarily as you may think. Having not played Brighton in a while, this was the first time we were able to hear her new material off her upcoming album and I can safely say that it is one to keep an eye out for. The first song saw Abi simultaneously sing and play an electronic kick drum, pick her cello and also hit a beat on the cello’s body – impressive to say the least. Although still not as impressive as the quaint overall compositions of her tracks, mixing electronic sounds from her keyboard and the classic sounds of her cello and Eliza Jaye’s violin.
My headliner of the day was Josh T Pearson. Arriving in the limelight after releasing the John Peel favourite The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads (2001), the one and only album by the short-lived Life To Experience, Josh released a phenomenal debut (Last Of The Country Gentlemen) under his own moniker in 2011 which gave him the universal acclaim he now enjoys. The now full church was brimming with anticipation for his incredibly emotional and truthful songs, filling this perfect setting. With a bit of a pause before he started playing, Josh hilariously entertained the crowd before saying, “I’m going to play some songs which will make you weep and if not, then I’m not doing my job”. When playing, you could see the pain and the struggle he has when singing these deeply personal tales, pausing at awkward moments and almost barely being able to finish a song. However, the second half of his set was slightly more uplifting, bringing on fellow Texan Calvin LeBaron to sing old gospel songs as The Two Witnesses. The humour the pair brought matched the exquisite guitar playing and their heavenly duets, with Josh singing triumphant backing vocals over Calvin’s softer rhythm vocals that filled the room with bliss. Sunday
My Sunday started at The Hope & Ruin with the electronic wizardry of Dan Friel. The New York based musical scientist created a screeching distortion fuelled madness that would suddenly form into moments of glorious brilliance. His set up consists of a truly spectacular assortment of pedals and effects connected to a small 21 key keyboard that were all sitting on what looks to be a bit of ply wood which was covered in fairy lights – a DIY set up maybe, but it created an almighty sound that shook the floor. Having last played Brighton over five years ago, his obvious strong following has now become even stronger.
Being a big fan of his latest album Mister Divine, Naytronix was one of my must see acts of the Mutations Festival. With another impressive keyboard and electronic effects set up, the one man show of Nate Brenner added an effect ridden bass guitar and calming vocals to his alternative trip-hop esque sound. As the one half of tUnE-yArDs, Nate brings luscious live sounds with electronica experimentalism into a super smooth groove that’s infectious and impossible not to get pulled into. If the music wasn’t doing it for you, which I’m sure it did, then the trippy visuals that reacted to the music would have surely done the trick.
As one half of experimental electronic duo Fuck Buttons, Benjamin John Power’s Blanck Mass project was one of the main attractions of the Mutations Festival. It was incredibly crammed at The Haunt, stayed in the dark with only the light from his electronic gizmos and the live visual projection illuminating the venue. The progressive electronic beats took you away from the 17:00-18:00 slot and into the dark and slightly twisted realms of a four in the morning set. Disturbing images and jittering colours transformed with the blaring industrial/sci-fi tinted techno to create a foreboding vibe that was far from the norm – it was great!
One of Brighton’s best talents, DJ/producer, as well as a member of the much loved Physics House Band, Samuel Organ performed in Patterns as his solo project Mount Bank. Having already released one of my favourite EP’s of the year, Island Life, on Brighton’s Donky Pinch imprint, his relatively minimal electronica with spacey synths, heavy bass and disjointed beats enthralled a receptive crowd who are sure to remember the name.
Next was Jane Weaver’s cosmic psychedelic space rock. Having come up with perhaps the most overlooked album of 2014, Jane’s galactic-art-kraut-pop only came to light with the release of the deluxe edition of The Silver Globe (which also featured The Amber Light LP). Thankfully with extraordinary singles like ‘Don’t Take My Soul’ and ‘Mission Desire’ there was no chance she was being overlooked and has consequently received the acclaim she rightly deserves. On the final date of their tour, we were treated to a hypnotic galaxy tripping performance of propulsive beats and Jane’s otherworldly vocals.
Over to the Concorde 2 where the last of the Mutations Festival’s bands were playing, starting with the formidable noise punk rockers Blacklisters. Having gained a reputation for intense, confrontational and aggressive performances, you could sense that expectations were already pretty high in the room. However, even after just one track you could tell that there is more to these Leeds lads than just stage presence. From start to finish, more and more people were taking up the front spot before the stage to fully apply themselves into the chaos of head banging. Though not my kind of thing, there was no doubting that the audience loved it and it wouldn’t surprise me if they aren’t too far away from national notoriety.
My headliner for Sunday were the legendary Lightning Bolt. Legendary may be chucked around all too often these days, but these guys are the real deal holding an incredible amount of stories to their name. Where would they set up their kit or would they be on the move? Unfortunately, none of that – only a massive speaker rig on stage with a bucket of drumsticks. Having formed in 1994 in Rhode Island as a trio, then now duo has released seven albums and consists of Brian Gibson on bass guitar and Brian Chippendale on drums whilst singing through a household telephone receiver built onto his mask. Vicious, ferocious, dark – needless to say it was awesome! With parts of the crowd aggressively moshing to the mental drum and guitar solos, two “bad guys” who were getting soloed out by an anti-mosher found themselves on stage with the band and even got to bang Chippendale’s drum for the final song. The initial disappointment over the band not fulfilling their usual guerrilla-style live set up was quickly forgotten as Lightning Bolt put together what was a truly unforgettable show. Iain Lauder
Saturday
Widows Peak proves to be the perfect way to ease the weekend in. Battling the wind and rain to reach the Hope and Ruin, their dreamy and psychedelic take on alt-country is just what’s needed to put a bit of warmth back in our bones. The lightness of their sound means sometimes it doesn’t leave much of an impression, but luckily their guitarist is on hand with his wild and virtuosic playing to give them more of an impact. Say what you like about Willis Earl Beal’s music but one thing it isn’t is easily forgettable. I haven’t followed Beal’s music since the primitive blues of his debut Acousmatic Sorcery, and his sounds evolved into washes of atmospheric synths. What hasn’t changed is his empathetic blues rasp or his eccentric stage persona. Dressed in an eye mask and a large flag with his logo draped over his shoulders like a cape, he looks every part the vigilante. At one point ranting with what seems genuine sincerity that his songs and his life are nothing but clichés, before apparently dropping out of character (or perhaps just moving into a new one) and apologising, blaming his outburst on having drunk too much coffee. The crowd is enraptured and he even gets an encore performed acappella, giving us more opportunity to bask in the emotive power of his voice.
It’s a long pilgrimage to the Old Market after we leave The Hope. Because of its small line up and sporadically placed venues, Mutations feels lest like a festival, more like a kind of gig trail. Once a show has ended, there’s a mass migration to the next venue, instead of the chance to casually drop in and out of venues like in The Great Escape. We arrive in time to catch an impressive performance of Chastity’s technically complex, hard-core punk. Their lead singer makes the most of the big hall. Descending into the crowd, who form a semi-circle around him, he prowls around like a one-man mosh-pit. But really this stage feels too big for Chastity and a tiny audience only serves to make this more obvious.
Chelsea Wolfe comes through with what is without a doubt the highlight of the first day. A sound that’s equal parts Industrial noise, atmospheric electronics, gothic rock and slow, doomy metal. In her stark black and white make up, she’s a dramatic presence that compliments the dark, brooding grandiosity of her sound. In a suitably theatrical gesture, she gifts roses to members of the front row before drifting off stage.
Christopher Owens is working with essentially the same materials for his show, just his voice and an acoustic guitar but the two artists couldn’t be further apart. Whilst Pearson is larger than life, Owens is quiet and unassuming, playing his songs sitting down and eyes fixed on the marble floor. A number of solo tracks and songs from his previous band Girls get a look in. ‘Say I love You’ sounds particularly pretty, but he plays for too long. Stripped of any other instrumentation, there’s only so many songs about heartbreak and unrequited love with conventional chords you can listen to before they all begin to merge into one big mushy blur. He ends with a cover of Don Macleans classic “American Pie”, mainly just to see if he can remember all of the verses (he can’t, by the way). It’s enough to muster a bit of life out of an already waning crowd, who sing along to the chorus. Sunday
We’re down early to catch Kagoule play the Green Door Store. Urth was one of the most varied and assured débuts of 2015, and the band are slowly amassing the same confidence in their live shows. Every time I've seen them they’re a tighter unit. Bassist Lucy Hatter is practically buoyant with energy. Front-man Cai Burn’s voice is still a bit weak, when you start getting drowned out by your backing singer its probably time to get to grips with how to project your voice. A rare site over the weekend, it’s a packed room. Proof if there was any need, that Kagoule deserves to be way further up the bill then they are.
Case in point: why they were billed below Atlas Wynd is beyond me. Despite having a strong on-stage chemistry, the two-piece offer up fairly disposable garage rock, the only point of note being a more than passing resemblance to Alex Turners vocals. Best Friends are equally inoffensive with an added surfy twang but fail to make any lasting impression.
Good thing Canadian band Ought are on hand to offer up something that feels fresh. The Fall are clearly a big influence for Ought, from the dissonant chord stabs on the keyboard to the stream of conscious and ramblingly impressionistic lyrics. Despite over 3,000 miles and the Atlantic Ocean separating them, Ought’s vocalist Tim Darcy shares much in his delivery and vocal inflection with Mark E. Smith. At the same time he also shares the rakish intensity of a young David Byrne. ‘Beautiful Blue Sky’ is the sets neurotic, agitated centrepiece, exploring an acceptance of mortality at the same time as it does the banality of small talk. “This is actually the last music festival ever, there will be know more music after this”, Darcy informs the crowd in a deadpan. And you know, there’s probably worse acts you could go out on than Ought.
Meanwhile Sea Bastard is busy dismantling the very building foundations of The Haunt with their monolithic doom metal. The drumming moves at a glacial pace and the ominous guitar tones seem to extend for a decade.
OM combines stoner metal and an oriental sonic palette, with lyrics full of spiritual and religious imagery to create an atmosphere both awe-inspiring and otherworldly. Much of the set is quiet and meditative. Bassist and singer AL Cisneros quietly chants and softly picks at his bass strings, while the ride cymbal rings out with the clarity and presence of church bells. It feels less like a gig, more like one long prayer or mantra. Their cyclical and repetitive sound slowly moving you into a transcendental state.
It’s hard to see anything topping the sheer insanity of Lightening Bolt but Metz more than hold their own when it come to heaviness. Their sophomore effort II came out earlier this year and was something of a disappointment by failing to differentiate itself from its predecessor. But tonight the old proverb ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is in full effect when it comes to their brutalising and blisteringly raw take on noise punk. Some would probably be put off by Mutations because of its small, and fairly specialist line up. But really this is where the festivals strength lies. There’s no agonising over clashes or having to quickly rush between venues. And most importantly no cues. You’re putting your faith in the festivals carefully curated selection of artists. Most of the time it doesn’t disappoint
Louis Ormesher
Photos: Callum Hurst