I arrive at the Academy pretty generically to electronica club nights: there’s DJs, dancing and beats. Associated with 4/4 purveyors Slide, slamming electro gets the floor moving at heaving capacity. A black curtain is removed to unveil Simian Mobile Disco’s master contraption: two keyboards and a mass of effects units. Applause showers down as SMD take position. I’m ready to sample their danceability.
SMD, in the stadium-grandiosity stakes, make Tiesto sound like new generation Basil Brush: overtly politically correct; out of time. Hyping the crowd, raising their hands, SMD fidget around the machinery, rocking horizontally and vertically, dripping with sweat. Think two bedroom DJs mixing at a peak of concentration and enjoyment.
Seamlessly blending tracks from “Temporary Pleasure”, alongside more electro stompers, SMD’s stage setup is slightly disengaged from view. Paradoxically this centres the focus on the music and SMD equally. Meddling with the FX to crank up the bass, filter and phasers, SMD stick to a highly rational template, where breakdowns, and tempo shifts are bars of candy for the punters.
When SMD’s conservatism risks losing me, it’s rectified by pure adrenalin. Trainspotting welcomes fresh sounds (the majority) and familiar. Take “Cruel Intentions’”: female vox not to give the lover the wrong idea, whereas the Daft Punk-cum-Landscape stylings of “Audacity Of Huge” at 45 minutes of 90, gives great ideas. The euphoria feels like three mini-festivals rolled into one, and all from producers of hackeneyed bands like Arctic Monkeys.
To non-discerning media, dance music is a sterile commodity, being regurgitated in kitsch lengths of 4-7 minutes, needing to be sifted through by those with taste. What SMD lack is the dynamics of live performance. Unlike 2ManyDJs and James Zabiela, who loop, remix on the fly, and flag spontaneity, the set is like a journey on a single track road with no junctions. Considering one of the duo has his back to the room, it reads “programmed” / “pre-planned” in neon lettering. Nevertheless, SMD came, saw, and conquered. And I, for one, would like to go back for seconds.
Simian Mobile Disco: website
Download: "Temporary Pleasure" on eMusic
Simian Mobile Disco: MySpace
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