Tri Angle Records and Ellesmere Port producer Evian Christ finally makes his Liverpool debut, Getintothis’ Laurie Cheeseman joins in the crowd surfing.
Bank Holiday Sunday, the best time of the year to see two of Britain’s most exciting producers, non?
Fresh from lending production support to Yeezus and already signed up to work on Kanye‘s next album, Ellesmere Port’s Evian Christ has released what has to be one of 2014’s crowning achievements in Waterfall and mssingNo released one of 2013’s with his debut EP. And did we mention that this is their first time playing Liverpool? Tonight deserves the hype.
Before Liverpool is indulged, the Hold is treated to our very own GhostChant after an exceptional set from the Abandon Silence residents. Opening up with ethereal cracklings, GhostChant seems more liquid than normal; less 2-step, more downtempo. Heads down, music up; business as usual. But what business it is, it’s rather rare for (more-or-less) entirely instrumental music to grab an entire audience’s attention for a whole set, it’s just a shame collaborator Antony Kastelanides doesn’t join him on stage.
Liverpool has been looking forward to this next chap for some time; mssingNo‘s hip-hop infused, melodic take on grime has been gripping people for some time now with productions for Casisdead and his own cuts causing waves. Rarely does electronic music pack such an emotional punch – XE2 in particular has developed a notoriety for bringing people to tears.
An idiosyncratic sense of dark euphoria pervades his trap-heavy set, peaking with his breakout cuts Brandy Flip and the aforementioned XE2. Why idiosyncratic? Well, the three minute sit-down, stand-up routine during XE2 will certainly go down as one of the most enjoyable/bizarre moments witnessed at Abandon Silence. The veils of good taste may wear dangerously thin at times, but a bit of knowingly cheesy, chipmunk vocals, rapid-fire snares and twinkling synths slathered with trap low end will forever be one of Getintothis favourite things to really kick a night off.
As previously noted, Evian’s time in the States has clearly affected him; gone is the atmospheric hip-hop that got him the gig with Ye in first place. What he has become is a far more exciting prospect, something more akin to a migraine during a dancehall set in a trap-house.
And for once, it’s quite pleasant that the night wasn’t a complete sell out, especially as it in no way detracted from the electric atmosphere. Plus, the Hold gets sweaty at the best of times so it’s quite nice to have room to dance/breathe/dance some more.
What’s more, Evian’s time Stateside hasn’t brought with it a huge ego, given he was wandering around the audience before his set and chatting to punters in the toilets. And did we mention the crowd-surfing?
Oh yes, Evian Christ crowd-surfed. Quite a lot of it too – all told, it is one of the most enjoyable nights of 2014 so far. It’s refreshing when a night lives up to the hype and no one leaves disappointed.
Further reading on Getintothis
Liverpool Sound City 2014: Review round up and top 10 bands of the festival.
Liverpool Sound City 2014: Picture gallery from all three days of the festival.
Liverpool Sound City 2014 – all the bands reviewed from the three days.
Daedelus: The Kazimier, Liverpool.
GIT Award 2014: Artist nominee profile – Evian Christ.
Getintothis reviews Evian Christ, Travis Scott, Lil Silva: The Oval Space, London.
Liverpool music’s ones to watch in 2014 – the new breed to listen out for on Merseyside feat. Evian Christ
Evian Christ: Waterfall
Evian Christ: Salt Carousel
Evian Christ drops vast Soviet audio weapon mixtape
