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[ HOMELESS:
COMPOST 100 TOUR, WESTPORT BAR AND
ON AIR EAST, DUNDEE ]
21st July 2001
What a year it has been for the
Munich-based record company. Set up in 1993, the collective has reached its 100th
release, appropriately named Compost 100 and featuring the stars of the innovative
label. Their particular blend of heady jazz and deep groovin' beats has seen
the popularity of its artists continue to rise. Artists such as Jazzanova,
Rainer Truby and his Trio and Edinburgh's own vocalist, musician and DJ
Joseph Malik have shown how much the label is willing to experiment with the
public's tastes and produce consistently excellent music.
Tonight's offering is a treat not only for the people of Dundee, but also for
the country as a whole, as the label has only scheduled three dates for this tour:
Fabric in London and a night in Dublin. We are in exclusive company and it is
credit to Homeless that they can draw such esteemed guests to Dundee:
previous visitors include James Lavelle and the Psychonaughts, TY and
Biznizz, the Scratch Perverts and Gilles Peterson. Quite a selection, you'll
agree.
Before it all kicks off in the club, we are treated to a set from the Ninja
Tune artist Neotropic in an unusual venue akin to a slightly seedy seaside
pub, with its regulars downstairs but with squiggly electronica being played
upstairs. Neotropic has released her own acid-electronica on the NTone label
and we got a taste of what that sounded like: good.
So, onwards to the de-consecrated church that is On Air East and to the
audible buzz that this night has generated. Jazzanova, Les Gammas, Compost
founder Michael Reinboth and Fauna Flash are about to assault our ears and it
seems somewhat appropriate that big bunches of camouflage netting hang above
our heads as we enter. First up Fauna Flash. As two-thirds of the Rainer
Truby Trio, and occasional collaborators with Peter Kruder (of Kruder and
Dorfmeister fame), they have been hailed as the brightest stars on the
Compost roster. They impress with trademark Compost drum and double bass.
Up next is the man largely responsible for the label and who regularly plays
out with his label mates. By this time the floor is filling and it is a
reassuring sight to see people here dancing and enjoying music like this that
sometimes goes a bit off-kilter and refuses to conform to your standard four
to the floor beats. It's jazz, Jim, but not as we know it.
Nothing prepares you for a live set from Les Gammas though. They make funky,
bassy, jazzy music to dance like a demon to, but where is the drummer? Oh, it
appears to be a machine, under the instruction of singer, DJ and
trumpet-noise-impersonator Mark Frank who soulfully warbles into the
microphone. They left such an impression on me, that I went out and bought
everything I could find by them the next day. Check out 'Exercises des
Styles' and 'Outre-Vida' on the Compost 100 collection. Unusually brilliant.
And so to the main event. Jazzanova are a Berlin based collective who are on
the edge of releasing their debut album proper, after last year's superb
'Remixes', and look set to take us by storm. They run a successful night in
Berlin called Kaleidoskop and it is a testament to their afro-latin, beaty
breaks and wandering basslines that the club is packed from week to week. By
this time, the On Air East crowd have lost all inhibitions and are gyrating
their collective toosh on the floor. 4 Hero's upcoming remix of 'Les Fleur'
sends the punters into an apoplectic frenzy and the boys from Berlin let us
in on a couple of exclusive new album tracks before we are packed off back to
our guesthouses to await the first train out of Dundee.
A genuinely fantastic night and if this doesn't send a message to promoters
everywhere that there is a large group of people who want to listen and dance
to interesting and, dare I say, intelligently different music then I don't
know what will. Take every opportunity you get to see any of these artists;
you really won't be disappointed.
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