Caribou, Four Tet, Oscar &Martin @ Hi-fi Bar, Melbourne(16/02/2011)

Fri 18th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

They seem like a good team, the two of them. Apparently they live just down the road from each other – showing first drafts of each new musical effort as they go. Caribou did a wicked remix of one of Four Tet’s songs too, and you get a sense, just from hearing their music, that it would be a great, dynamic combination live. Blessed then, were we, that such a supernal double bill come to our shores. There’s one man to thank, and his name is Blink

Clearly happy to open such a great show, Oscar & Martin collected the initial crowd with honest vibes and warm feelings. Something is so close about their sparkling bright recordings,and a step back from those dry vocals in a live setting was a pleasant space. They were certainly fun to watch, and filled the place with their two personalities; proving gently effective openers to the show.

What kind of presence would you expect from either of these two to follow? Following each of their musics, sounds: sometimes weird, spectral, smooth and clear, always pulsing with energy. Unassuming presence may have been the theme for the night, but with these kinds of music, sound and its effect are clearly much more important live. On these fronts, they both delivered so well.

Four Tet was first with a set that pulsed with life. For a style of music about halfway between danceable and relaxable, there was remarkable energy to be found in each part of his performance. To each wave and ebb, there was a wonderful sense of response, steady-moving bodies to the steady, morphing beats. In other words, the vibe was fantastic, and the seamlessness of Mr. Hebden’s offerings kept that high. About halfway through, Angel Echoes blent into Love Cry, the most energy-driven peak in the set; that sure is one propulsive bassline. Cuts from his 2007 album Everything Ecstatic filtered through sometimes, but mostly it was There Is Love In You; certainly there was little to complain about though.While Hebden’s stage moves stayed at shoulder-bouncing and the odd slightly creepy glance into the crowd, it was just the music – keeping the venue on constant jagged bliss, and left us uplifted. A better opener could barely be imagined; offering plenty of excitement, yet not stealing anything away from what was coming next.

It was Caribou, on the waves of his most successful crossover album yet. Thanks a good deal to one extremely good bassline, Swim has a had a good run, and selling out two shows in the one night at the Hi-Fi can sure attest to that. It was a really physical show, too; indeed, something of a marathon. Kaili began things brightly, Leave House soon after – each of the new songs got a strong and happy response.

In the beginning, at least, it seemed like there was less energy in the crowd than there had been with Four Tet, but Dan Snaith and co. delivered a storming set to turn that right around. Jumping from keys to guitar to a secondary drum kit, he led the band in constant energy and, apart from some muddiness at the start, great sound. It was definitely consistent, but maybe a bit mercenary at times, the way they chugged through each song with little in-betweens. Nevertheless, as the set neared a close, it was clear they had won everyone over with unflagging efforts toward performing effectively those great songs. Melody Day was a good one for longer fans, while Jamelia, Odessa and Sun brought the set to a convincingly good end.

Both are creators of such good music, similar in some ways; sometimes ethereal, sometimes transcendental. Tonight, both performed with a determined sense of effort that won respect, and that brought that music to us, made it human and real. Such a relaxed lack of ego is an earthy good thing sometimes.