Eskmo, one of Ninja Tunes’ coolest new producers, is unpredictable in many senses. As well as producing a live set of chaotic renditions and a full audio-visual show, on this hot, busy evening in Concorde 2, he’s producing all manner of improvised instruments from beneath the table.
Bashing a crate with a drumstick, jangling bells, ripping paper, crushing ice between two plastic glasses and cracking open cans of Red Stripe, Eskmo’s stage set is peppered with live samples which give an organic, fresh feel. Vocals are also recorded live, and the sight of the young American wailing into a microphone, surrounded by props and equipment, and before a fast-paced visual show of oscillating triangles and stars is captivating. His music is an eclectic, heady combination prone to near-constant genre-hopping, flitting between dubstep, techno and trance without stopping to breathe.
The constant switching of styles and tempos could seem frenetic to a casual observer, but to the true fans in the audience this set contained all the best of his hits over a decade of production, ranging from ‘Agnus Dei,’ a heavy dubstep single overlaid with metal snares and hard synths, to ‘Cloudlight,’ the floaty, glitchy stand-out single of his eponymous 2010 album on Ninja Tune. The visuals are also controlled live, and the swirling vortexes, racing stars and pulsing shapes add to the sense of unpredictability.
Pausing after a deconstructed, broken-down version of ‘Gold & Stone,’ he enthusiastically promised the crowd with the promise of another fifteen minutes of music, taking his set to a full 90 minutes of boundless enthusiasm. Playing to a crowd that was partly Brighton producers and promoters, and mostly an entire sixth form, Eskmo raised a full spectrum of reactions, from blasé respect to foot-stamping, whooping joy. Note to the boy in sunglasses: not a good look.
When the ticket price of a gig is slashed from ten pounds to free, you can’t help but question why. Following the gig, the audience were still wondering.
ESKMO at CONCORDE 2
WEDNESDAY 13th JULY
PHOTO BY JOSH BAND
