Fri 11 Sept: Kayo Dot at Cafe OTO

Kayo Dot

Gravid Hands presents:

Kayo Dot
Matthew Bourne (solo Memory Moog set)
Defibrillators

Their last album, Blue Lambency Downward, was released on the Los Angeles experimental heavy music label Hydra Head, and ironically does more than any of their previous output to transcend the often-applied ‘metal’ tag.

Myriad influences and multifarious instrumentation combine to produce a record of swirling, eerie majesty, full of startlingly original orchestration, poignant vocal harmonies and constantly challenging arrangements.

The constantly-shifting soundscapes take in elements of jazz and classical music and filter them through a Zorn-esque modern composition aesthetic, and a command of dynamic range which belies founder Toby Driver’s background in heavy music.

The resulting pieces are executed with such ease and erudition that any attempt to tease out the shreds of the band’s influences becomes futile and unnecessary as one becomes lost in the disturbing beauty and sheer wonder.

Expect an entrancing live rendition of tracks from Blue Lambency Downward, plus earlier releases on Holy Roar and John Zorn’s Tzadik label.

PERSONNEL:

Toby Driver – acoustic, electric, 12-string, baritone, and bass guitars, soprano clarinet, voice, piano, organ, gamelan instruments, analog synth, laptop mellotron

Mia Matsumiya – violin, voice, mellotron, synth bass
David Bodie – drumset
Daniel Means – woodwinds, guitar
Terran Olson – keyboards, woodwinds

THE WIRE “Utterly exquisite, utterly alive, utterly apocalyptic, this is an album with which you may well fall hopelessly in love.”

Friday 11 September at Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin Street Dalston E8 3DL

£10/£8 cheaplist available in advance; register names at gravidlist@gmail.com