Islet w/ Gyratory System
Cafe Oto
11.11.10
Walking into Dalston’s Cafe Oto, it becomes quickly clear that there’s something a little different about tonight’s show. I’m not sure if it’s the fact everyone is sitting on chairs like a school assembly, or it could be the bizarre mixture of brass and electronics being created by avant-garde three piece Gyratory System, but something doesn’t fit right. The best policy seems to be to go with it, this is an ATP show after all, and there are few hands more capable of putting on something spectacular.
As Gyratory System finish, leaving me puzzled although undoubtedly entertained, the chairs are removed clearing the way for the mighty Islet to take the stage (or lack of a stage, as it turns out). Anyone lucky enough to have caught Islet already will know what to expect, which to put it quite simply, is perhaps the UK’s most entertaining live band. It’s their use of environment which is most fascinating, using the walls and ceilings as percussion and leaving no space in the room left undiscovered. Speaking of percussion, the band makes use of two, sometimes three drummers using all aspects of the instrument and drawing sounds from areas you’d never expect.
The set is comprised from recent EP releases ‘Wimmy’ and ‘Celebrate This Place’, which are at times fused together such as the hybrid created from tracks ‘Powys’ and ‘Holly’. Highlights come in the form of ‘Horse and Dogs’, said to be a song about police brutality, and ‘Jasmine’ with its successful blend of driving bass sounds and a tribal vocal. It’s nearly impossible to describe the impact of Islet’s performance, and I can only stress that you should catch them for yourselves before they implode in on themselves like all the best bands do.
Big Sleeks