16/7 @ BANG BANG CLUB: SILK FLOWERS (US) + BEN BUTLER AND MOUSEPAD (UK/D)

SILK FLOWERS have forged an hallucinatory blend of synths and deep, slurred vocals that sound like Ian Curtis on cough syrup. Hailing from New York the band feature vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Aviram Cohen and keyboardist Peter Schuette from Soiled Mattress & the Springs, and Ethan Swan of Car Clutch, BARR, Emergency, and Corpse Kisser. Their sound sort of borders the line of Kraftwerk on a four-track meets "Cough/Cool" era Misfits... we know that sounds insane, and it is! Silk Flowers have toured with No Age, Tickley Feather and Sightings over the last two years and this time on the road has helped them define a totem of dark synth-pop in thrall to the likes of Joy Division, Depeche Mode and John Carpenter. Much like Cold Cave, Black Dice or Former Ghosts, Silk Flowers could be considered the dark heart of hypnagogic pop's undead body twitching to a brand new beat. (ppm/upset the rhythm)

their debut was out on post present medium (liars, abe vigoda, no age, wavves) last year. their latest release is a 12'' on captured tracks (gary war, blank dogs). 


quotes:

"somewhere between minimal synth and early punk" silk flowers

"Silk Flowers' real talent lies in their ability to carve hummable, head-bobbing moments out of decidedly downtrodden elements. " pitchfork



Ben Butler & Mousepad is the brain child of Joe Howe (Gay Against You, Germlin, Joemus), exectuted with friend and co-conspirator, Bastian Hagedorn (GTUK). They both live and work in Berlin. Taking as much inspiration from Progressive Rock's excesses as from the clean, crisp "whoomp" of the Scandinavian club scene, BB&MP is an electronic mess, teetering on the edge of disaster, reigned in quickly by a persistent pummelling beat or lightning-fast arpeggio. When things slow down, there is room for more consideration - analog wobble and warmth, weird chords and byzantine structures, all shot through with enthuisiasm and clumsy energy. Like their previous projects, BB&MP is an unpredictable, fun and musically dense project, both live and on record. BB&MP feature in Vic Galloway (BBC Radio 1)'s 50 Scottish bands for 2010. A split 7" single with Sprutbass on Oslo's DODPOP label s out now, and an E.P and an album are imminent on London's LOAF label. (self)


quotes:

"a bristling and expansive melodic madness inherited from the baroque experiments of 1970s studio megalomaniacs such as Vangelis, Alan Parsons, Triumvirat or even ELO, devoured, digested, sent back in time and thrown up over some bizarrely funky rhythmic backdrops that one would perhaps define as nerdxploitation" 20jazzfunkgreats


SNAKEFINGER (8mm/ bassy/ program) on decks.


 date: friday july 16th
venue: bang bang club, under the train bridge, s-hackescher markt
entry: we try to make it little



links: on our myspace.