Timed to coincide with the autumn equinox, Over The Moon also presents one of the last chances to enjoy the outdoor festival season, as the nights finally start drawing in. In the lineage of the original 60s/70s festival movement, the weekend mixes live music with talks on all things ecological and spiritual, with plenty of hands-on workshops and family events for all ages to get stuck into. Here’s our pick of the weekend’s sounds.
Carnival Collective
Quite simply the biggest band in Brighton, if you’re going by sheer number of musicians on stage at any rate (usually around 35, but sometimes more). Actually, Carnival Collective could stake a good claim for most popular too, such is the all-embracing joy of their ever mutating hybrid of funk, ska, drum’n’bass, samba and the kitchen sink. Mathematicians have proved that if you’ve not seen Carnival Collective live so far, it’s only because you’re in them.
Dub Pistols
Barry Ashworth’s Dub Pistols rose up in the 90s big beat rush, bringing a broad interest in dub, reggae and hip hop to their music. There’s still a geezerish swagger to a lot of Dub Pistols music (check their version of The Stranglers’ ‘Peaches’, with recurring collaborators Terry Hall and Rodney P), and they’ve remained a perennially popular live draw. This is bound to be an energetic one.
Eat Static/Zubzub
Linked by their roots in Somerset’s free festival spacerock survivors Ozric Tentacles, Eat Static and Zubzub both explore the zones between electronic dance and psychedelic music. Now down to founder member Merv Pepler and collaborators, Eat Static were synonymous with the 90s Club Dog scene, with over 20 years of diverse trance explorations to their name. Ex-Ozrics bassist Zia Geelani’s Zubzub ladle extra live instrumentation into their psychedelic soup.
H2dr0p
If you’ve ever been distracted from finishing the washing up by the liquid chimes of the pans in the bowl, you’ll know where this act is coming from. Developed by Portuguese percussionist Nuno Brito, H2dr0p explores the resonant properties of water in contact with pots, pans and bowls, using loops and digital processing to create blooping, gulping symphonies. You might want to make sure you’ve, um, ‘gone’ before you go though.
Los Albertos
The archetypal Brighton band, Los Albertos combine Two-Tone ska-punk with bursts of dub, funk and cheery, self-deprecating humour. Seemingly forever on the verge of jacking the whole thing in, Los Albertos keep on coming back for more, and for that we’re always pleased. If they ever do split, it’ll be like the ravens leaving the Tower. Oh, and they may like a drink. Resistance is futile.
Transformer
SOURCE have been supporters of electro punk-funk outfit Transformer for the past few years, from their early A Certain Ratio influenced party starting, through to the release of their excellent single ‘Cinema Car’ (which landed them in The Inbetweeners and currently soundtracks a new C4 comedy). The current, stripped back line up still kill it live, with a full set of irresistible electronic tracks in their arsenal.
