Amidst a storm of hype surrounding the strength of his live
performances and numerous awards from the previous year Nicolas Jaar came and
made his Manchester debut. Sold out weeks before Sound Control was mobbed by a
sea of would be attendees who waited outside frantically looking for a ticket
to gain access to the nights ahead whilst swathes of punters waited patiently
to get inside.
Once inside, the full -capacity former record shop had an
electric sense of anticipation coursing through its 3 floors. The night started
off strongly with a innovative and well selected track by the Zutekh DJs who on a lesser night would have stolen
the show with their pumping brand of constant techno. Interesting effects, drum
codes and melodies were scattered around the basement by Manchester illustrious
residents (who have a good small night of their own in the city) and got the
crowd suitably jacked up in anticipation of what was going to come after.
Then came Nicolas Jaar on the top floor, treating the people
who managed to get into the stage housing top tier to his own distinct brand of
electronica which has been so widely celebrated in recent months. The Chilean
born New York native almost caused a stampede as those in attendance flocked to
see him but were left slightly bewildered by the slowly ambient starting nature
of his performance.
Jaar’s more down tempo songs calmed and soothed the energetically
hyped crowd before gently picking up the pace much in the same way his
acclaimed Space Is Only Noise LP also seems to take its listener on a journey.
Jaar’s talent is obvious and should serve as a motif to any other young
enterprising act who wants to innovate rather than imitate. His sound is hard to initially decipher and
even more difficult to catergorise and such is the variety in its
influences. Elements of blues,
traditional global folk, modern classical music and minimal techno can all be
gleaned by an astute listener and it is his unique blend of them all that had
his audience compelled. Expounding his inventive and unpredictable sonic
palette it the human element that gives his performance such poignancy.
Smatterings of background chatter, coupled with fragments
of spoken word lend haunting effects to Jaar's own baritone vocals that in the
city that spawned Ian Curtis did not go unnoticed.
After breaking the enigmatic Chilean’s hypnotic spell I
headed back to the basement to catch rising star and chief supporting act
Scuba. Sensing the gravitas of Jaar’s performance before him Scuba too started
a little slower than one might expect as he sought to readjust the crowd to the
pounding sounds that would bring the night to a close. Classic vocal tracks
were strewn across Scuba’s time in the booth alongside some of his own
illustrious unreleased productions. The night kept building until the end Scuba
was playing the sort of set you’d expect in a Berlin rather than Manchester
basement. Relentless drum hits filled the room and thought of Nicolas Jaar’s
contrasting sound seemed a million miles away as the crowd partied hard until
the clubs close. An inspired set of bookings with the headliner going on to
play London’s much, much larger capacity Roundhouse shortly after, this really
was a special night in one of Manchester’s most underated venues.