Incoming
Dam Mantle / Detachments / Gallops
Dam Mantle
Detachments
Gallops
Real Name: Based: For fans of: Check out: Website:
Members: Mark Huckridge (guitar/keyboards), Paul Maurice (sequencer), Dave Morait (drums), Brad Whyte (guitar). Formation: Wrexham, North Wales, 2007. For Fans Of: Aphex Twin, Battles, Errors. Check Out: The EP Gallops is out now via Blood and Biscuits/Holy Roar. Weblink: www.myspace.com/thegallopsband
Real Name: Based: For Fans Of: Check Out: Website:
Tom Marshallsay. Glasgow. Gold Panda, Hudson Mohawke, Rudi Zygadlo. Purple Arrow EP, out September 13 on Growing Records. www.dammantle.com
Kent native Tom Marshallsay chose well when he decided to study fine art in Glasgow. Over the last couple of years the city has established itself as a hotbed of forward-looking, bass-heavy electronic music – think Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Rudi Zygadlo and Irishman Mike Slott, names that cordon off a space of their own where dubstep, funk, electronica and hip-hop jockey for attention. Now the name Dam Mantle is now being added to such lists, and with good reason. With the Grey EP and a tour supporting Gold Panda already under his belt, Marshallsay is ready to unveil his second release, the mightily impressive Purple Arrow EP. Like his Glasgow peers, Dam Mantle is not easily categorisable – a product both of his production and compositional talent and a love of all kinds of music. In a recent interview he referenced Classic FM, the late hip-hop visionary J Dilla and Indonesian gamelan music in the same breath, while elsewhere he has professed a love for Battles and Animal Collective. And while the Dam Mantle sound is based on swinging beats, chest-rattling bass and sci-fi synths, it’s when he branches out that things get really interesting. Witness the brooding ‘Purple Arrow’, which expertly swerves from a ghostly, Liars-esque opening to a creepy dubstep groove, complete with spooked vocals and shuffling percussion. Welcome to the top table, Mr Mantle. Chris Jones —22 issue 68—
Bastien Marshal. London. The Faint, Fischerspooner, Cabaret Voltaire. Debut album Detachments, out on October 4 on ThisIsNotAnExit. www.myspace.com/detachments
From the ashes of dark noise outfit R3mote, rise Detachments. Or Bastien, as he’s possibly known to his mum. For it is the singular vision and sheer willpower of this ‘creative visionary’ that has carried Detachments to the brink of releasing their splendid debut album. With slightly ludicrous, but endearingly pretentious claims like “We have no past” and declaring their influences “secret” (if Joy Division and early Human League can be called “secret”), Detachments’ image of aloof ennui is as finely honed as their music. Having already caught the attention of the likes of Peter Hook and Andrew Weatherall, Detachments drafted in the services of producer James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco, Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons) for the debut, and he has refined their rich synth sound, at once nostalgic and forward-looking. In another of his outrageously sweeping statements, Marshal described Detachments as an electronic manifesto of isolation in the big city. “The hardfaced, ruthless bleakness of London is the source of the energy – the sprawling, monstrous mass of a work-hive. The vast dehumanising work machine. A disconnected, passively hostile behemoth city of eight million strangers.”
Wrexham-based Gallops have a lot going on in their music. The four members’ – whose favourite childhood albums range from Michael Jackson’s Bad to Metallica’s …And Justice For All – excellent debut EP is a Brownian motion of noise, as Mark Huckridge explains. “There is a lot going on in there. Bits of electronica, sci-fi soundtrack elements, prog noodlings and heavy rawk! That makes us sound awful doesn’t it? We all played a lot of Sega and Nintendo as kids; I think that shows in some of our tracks too.” Although the North Wales town may not seem like a musical hotbed, Wrexham seems to have served Gallops well. “The music scene is really good and it is getting better and better,” Mark says. “There are a handful of good nights that go on too that showcase bands from all over. Wrexham is a small place in the grand scheme of things but there is a great sense of togetherness in the community which is very comforting.”
Their self-titled EP is part-released by the tastemaking label Holy Roar, and perfectly encapsulates Gallops as fresh-faced students of math rock, along the lines of Battles and PVT. Mark concurs, “It’s been recorded for a while but we struggled for a bit trying to get someone to release it. I think it’s a good blend of But don’t be discouraged by that; Orwellian alienation our immediate catchy side and the more experimental has seldom sounded so alluring. Detachments will have elements of our sound.” Lose yourself in the noise. you dancing like it’s 1984. Joe Nawaz John Freeman