Aural Aggravation

Christopher Nosnibor

Checking out the latest album by Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders ahead of tonight’s show in York, I concluded that I would probably like it more if they all played in time and in the same key as one another. Heavy lids suddenly made sense as I found myself struggling to maintain focus or get into it. I concluded that I liked enough of the elements of their music, just not how they’re put together. Or not, if you catch my drift.

But I’m here first and foremost for the other acts, both of whom I feel somewhat embarrassed to have not seen previously. I have CDs by Astral Social Club, but the last time I saw Neil Campbell – described by Pitchfork as ‘one of the most important experimental musicians of the last 20 years’ – live was when Vibracathedral Orchestra played The Arches in Glasgow the Instal festival in November 2003, alongside Whitehouse, Merzbow, and The Boredoms. Meanwhile, NSC Sound Union is something of a York supergroup, featuring members of Soma Crew and Wharf Street Galaxy Band / Percy / Neuschlafen… sometimes if feels like there are more bands than there are musicians in York, although the same is true of Leeds, and no doubt the more underground aspects of the music scenes of most other cities. The more niche, the more tightly-knit the community, and while from some perspectives it might all seem a bit incestuous, you’ve only got a limited pool of musicians when it comes to stuff this niche.

Tonight, the artists are playing on the floor on front of the stage, which shrinks the space nicely for a more intimate vibe – and not for the first time, I’m reminded of The Brudenell circa 2005 before it really took off. Often, local acts in particular would play in front of the stage, and I have fond memories of seeing That Fucking Tank, and, I think, These Monsters play in front of the stage (not on the same bill), and Sly and the Family Drone playing across the entire room.

Astral Social Club bring a vast array of pedals. Stuttering, glitchy beats and ever-shifting tones start the set, which shifts and mutates gradually over the course of twenty-five minutes. At times, it’s quite Throbbing Gristle with the thudding beats and grinding synth. Heavily processed guitar sounds like chiming waves of synth. Layers build as the set progresses, and while the surface is comparatively tranquil, Neil is constantly on the move, always tweaking switches, performing pedal work, and there’s much busy fretwork. The analogy is that of a duck, I suppose, only we can see his feet pedalling frantically to stay afloat. At some point, the beats fade into a growing wall of shimmering, if disorientating, sound. Further on, throbbing bass ripples and swells into a black vortex. It’s a well-crafted and thoroughly immersive set, and I could have happily listened to it for a whole lot longer.

Astral Social Club

NSC Sound Union work in the domains of sample-soaked yawning dronescapes. At one pivotal point, the riff breaks into a sped-up take on ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’. It’s likely unintentional, but works well. During the third (?) track, singer / guitarist / keyboardist John Tuffen brings some Mark E Smith atonal synths blasts to the motorik throb. Jason Wilson finds a newfound level of restraint during this set, and manages to nail down some quite groovy foundations for their improvisational explorations, which are particularly robust and solid.

NSC Sound Union

Jeffrey Alexander and co seem to start the set while still setting up. A slow drone builds subtly, out if nothing. There’s electric violin through a mountain of pedals which creates a thick, droning wall of sound, but one quite different from that pushed forth by NSC Sound Union.

My first impression is that they’re better live than recorded, as the sounds all melt together into a liquid drift. There’s a strong sense of immersion, that this is droning psychedelic ambience you could be carried away upon. There’s still some wankery, like the flashy electronic thing on Jeffrey’s guitar that makes for some off-kilter synthy stuff. But there’s a lot happening, ad much to absorb. The celebrated Christina Carter spends the majority of the set off to the side, only venturing into the (limited) light occasionally to deliver her petrifying neo-classical / gothic wailings. The more subtle, atmospheric passages are, to my ears, the more successful, and certainly the more appealing. In contrast, some of the louder segments simply collapse into discord, Alexander’s guitar being the dominant outlier.

Jeffrey Alexander + the Heavy Lidders feat Christina Carter

Further in, things take freeform to another level, and everything seems to collapse into mayhem. A band whose members dwell across interstate and even international borders, they sound like they’re playing different songs and are oblivious to the rest of the players, or, indeed, the room. The last couple of songs of the set, which are lengthy, and a challenge – and not one all of the audience are willing to accept, as it thins out considerably. Can’t really blame them, either.