A night of great variety and value for the punter at the album launch for Kapil Seshasayee’s new release ‘Laal’ – whose set we will come to.
First of all, DJ Supermann On Da Beat got things going with some great mixing and performances by several young rappers. Supermann is a skilled collaborator and a bit like Steg G, seems to have an instinct for what will work with which vocalist, although a lot it seemed to be happening pretty much on the spot. BM understands Supermann is collaborating on a forthcoming track with the wonderful Empress, which should be one to watch out for…
Elisabeth Elektra has not, as far as BM can gather, performed in her hometown of Glasgow since before lockdown (at least one gig had to be cancelled back then) and she made up for this absence by giving us a thoroughly strident and explosive performance of her trademark techno-backed bangers. BM wasn’t too sure which tracks were off her previous album and which were new but it was a ramped-up exposition of just how good a writer and vocalist she is – comparisons with Roisin Murphy or even Grace Jones are not out of the question and BM hopes to see more of an artist who could appeal to a pretty wide audience if given the exposure.
Kapil tonight was accompanied by a female flautist (his wife!) and two drummers to supplement his driving and cutting guitar playing. BM understands that the album is about the dark side of Bollywood and the words were certainly angry. The combination of musicians made for a pretty unique sound, maybe even channelling a bit of the Fall’s period with two drummers, which is now back in the dim and distant. The majority of the tracks played were from ‘Laal’ but BM thinks there may have been a couple from his first album ‘A Sacred Bore’; maybe not.
A great night of music and Audio again proved itself a good venue, central to Glasgow with great sound system and bar service etc – respect due.