MUSIC Live review:Anything Goes Genre review: glitch pop Anna Kane, Online News Editor, looks at the Funk Band repopularised genre Scarlett Cracknell, Music Editor, reviews the recent performance by Anything Goes Funk Band (AGFB)
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N the 19th January, The Old Firehouse was packed with those anticipating AGFB's first performance of 2024. Many, including myself, were afraid to leave the crowd as the stage area was constantly filled with spectators and the bar area piled with those breaking their Dry January vows. Throughout the night, I overheard those around me saying they hadn't seen it this busy since summer. And I believe that's because this is what the band brought: a summer soundscape to a cold, and what otherwise would have been depressing, January evening. The sheer breadth of their setlist stretching from Thundercat to Chaka Khan meant that the band were able to maintain the interest of both students and residents alike. When speaking to the band's drummer and MD Max Kroon, I asked what the band's favourite song to perform had been, to which he responded, "I can't speak for others, but my favourite song to perform is 'Blossoming' by Yakul. There are so many sporadic time and key signature changes that it requires everyone to be really attentive to what the rest of the band is doing." I would argue, however, that their attentiveness to what each other are doing on stage stretches far past this song. All 10 members of the collective worked seamlessly together, so much so that you would almost forget so many of them were onstage. With Jon Cushen on trumpet, Ella Craik on saxophone, Hayden Fletcher on trombone, Fran Robinson on piano, Ben Pringle on guitar, Liam Bannister on bass, Max Kroon on drums and two lead vocalists, Grace Hitchen and Gwen Subuh-Symons, there is the potential to overwhelm. However, each instrument had an opportunity to show its individual brilliance; the skilled performers were able to work in perfect harmony. It would have been easy to assume AGFB had never been separate rather than being formed at university. They were able to captivate an entire audience for the duration of the show; the crowd did not dwindle once. Their
consistency and stamina as performers can only be owed to their weekly three hour practices that I'm sure anyone would love to sit in on.
EACH INSTRUMENT HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW ITS INDIVIDUAL BRILLIANCE Mid-performance, we were also treated to a guest performance by Gil Westley who temporarily joined Liam Bannister on second bass for Thundercat's 'Them Changes'. Having photographed for AGFB throughout the night, Westley looked comfrotable with the band and played with incredible skill , something we have learnt to expect from his performances with Parasitic Mind. Despite AGFB's clear investment in jazz, the band were able to successfully adapt to their audience in reworking popular hits like Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy'. Whilst their other reworkings were incredibly impressive, they ended with a bang in their own take on Sophie Ellis-Bexter's 'Murder on the Dancefloor' — a song that has recently regained popularity as a result of the incredibly popular Saltburn. The song was so well recieved that "one more song" was begged for relentlessly. As such, AGFB chose to end on Cheryl Lynn's 'Got to Be Real', my personal favourite track of the night. The band let loose in feeding off the audience's energy; their comfortability on stage and with each other showed both just how deeply practised and skilled these individuals are. I'm sure I am not the only one desperate to hear them perform again, and our next opportunity is sooner than I had anticipated. AGFB will be the opening act for University of Exeter Jazz Orchestra and Soul Orchestra at SOULJO: The Phoenix Rises on 12th February! It should be another night to remember if their Firehouse performance had anything to go by, so be sure to check it out via FIXR or pay on the door.
Image: Scarlett Cracknell
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ITH the dawn of technology came a new genre of music which is enjoyed around the globe. Electronic music (or ‘Electronica’) came about in full force in the early 1990s and remains one of the most appreciated music styles amongst youth culture today. Also known under the categories ‘ambient music’, ‘EDM’, and ‘noise music’, it is hard to distinguish the branches of electronic music from one another due to the music industry’s increasing reliance on digital instruments and technology. The genre, emerging in the UK around the time of jungle and trip-hop, was recognised as being distinct from both. ‘Glitch pop’ and ‘hyper pop’ have emerged as two of the most popular electronic music sub-genres, and their shared upbeat synthetic style makes it hard to tell the two apart. So, what exactly is glitch pop? Glitch is thought to have its conceptual and aesthetic origins in the movement and philosophy of futurism, a term coined by Italian painter Luigi Russolo in his 1913 manifesto The Art of Noises. Several of Russolo’s compositions were played by mechanical noise generators. Though other artists experimented with incorporating mechanical sounds into their music, glitch emerged as a distinct category in the 1990s in Germany and Japan with labels Mille Plateaux and artist Ryoji Ikeda exploring the genre. Where Glitch used to refer to music that em-
ployed distortions (such as skipping CDs and circuit bending), it’s now associated with the computerised splicing of samples from prior works merged with glitched beats and sounds that usually stand in for percussion. Crystal Castle and HEALTH’s 'Crimewave' gives you a good sense of the glitch scene. Hyper pop is a slightly more modern variation of glitch, coming into prominence in the UK in the early 2010s. Also known as “bubble gum pop”, it’s essentially an amplified version of typical pop music. The genre makes the most of synthesisers, pitch shifters and autotune to create “brainworm” pieces of music (think that soundbite from TikTok you can’t get out of your head!). Probably the most iconic hyper pop artist is Charli XCX — the first time I ever went to a concert (Taylor Swift, of course), Charli XCX came on as a support act and was very distinctly hyper pop! Another artist newer to the scene, PinkPantheress, and her Heaven Knows (2023), is a perfect example of the subgenre. Glitch and hyper pop are of huge importance to the British dance and rave scenes. Electronic music in general has had a groundbreaking effect on the music industry as you no longer need to have ability with traditional instruments to express yourself creatively.
Images: Flickr
Release radar: 'eat me alive' Maya Fernandes, Online Music Editor, reviews Alessi Rose's newest single 'eat me alive'
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ONDON-BASED indie pop singer, Alessi Rose and her coming-of-age anthem ‘hate this part’ released her latest single, “eat me alive” at gained her a significant following on social methe end of January. The tune expresses the dia last year. The 20-year-old performed her up-and-coming artist’s feelings in the first live shows supporting Ella Jane on midst of an all-consuming crush and her 2023 tour and it looks as though will leave fans of Gracie Abrams she is destined for a huge year in and Olivia Rodrigo very much 2024. Rose’s new single is set to satisfied. I first discovered Alessi feature on the Radio 1 ‘Future Pop’ Rose online when the marketing list and she has been announced campaign for her new single went on the lineup for her very first viral on TikTok for its associations festival, Latitude. Despite only putwith Euphoria and Saltburn star, Jacob ting out three songs on Spotify thus Image: Pickpik Elordi. However, upon further research, far, it looks like the songstress is one to the singer-songwriter perfectly encapsulates feelwatch in the coming months; hopefully there ings of teenage fantasy in her début 'say ur mine' will be plenty more music from her this year.
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