FIXED assets Brooklyn gets Balearic with Barcelona's finest, John Talabot...
IT'S ONEof those exciting and steamy nights in Brooklyn, the kind that heralds the beginning of the summer to its thawing residents, as DJ Mag USA makes its way over to the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The nightlife luminaries FIXED have temporarily traded out their hedonistic late-night DIY aesthetic for the more traditional 550 person venue for the evening. The reason for this shift is to bring Barcelona electronic producer John Talabot and special guest Pional to their crossover crowd that's equal part ravers and gig-goers.
Warming up with a two hour DJ set are FIXED's JDH and Dave P, which starts the evening in an interesting topsy-turvy fashion by injecting a bit of peak-time club vibes ahead of two live acts. Thankfully, the duo are well-versed in playing music that can appeal to a variety of people, in no part due to their punk roots and a familiarity with other highly eclectic and influential nights like Trash and Optimo. By the time 10pm rolls around the room is steadily filling up with bobbing heads and swaying bodies, no small feat at an hour that's incredibly early for disco, house and electro.
Next up, local boys Lemonade blaze through an energetic set of R&B and indie flecked synth-pop. Their ability to appeal to a wide audience pairs nicely with the earlier portion of the evening, and we bet the band is often chosen by FIXED to open at their shows because of this. 'Perfect Blue', Lemonade's recent single, takes the penultimate spot and bears an enjoyable resemblance to M83, laden with piano hooks and arpeggios
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that are surely going to find their way onto mainstream radio and movie soundtracks. The trio finish with personal favorite 'Big Weekend', where punk-funk percussion collides with one of the raviest synth lines this side of the Ibiza.
We are treated to a few more records from JDH and Dave P until the lights dim and there's a sudden realization that the sold-out crowd is very much present and losing their shit as the two Spanish musicians take to the stage. Their impressive set-up of synthesizers, drum- machines, vocal effect processors and Latin percussion instruments rumbles to life with the brooding chords of 'Depak Ine' and the place is immediately swathed in thick curls of fog machine smoke and spliffs. By the time the main beat of the opener on Talabot's debut album 'ƒIN' kicks in, the sea of people become a collective dancefloor.
Although 'ƒIN' was released in 2012, Talabot and Pional have reinvented its contents for the live arena with more bass, percussion and aggressive synth stabs. The vocals are there, and sound great, but the indie and pop elements take a backseat as the disco-house aspect of Talabot's music comes to the forefront. This results in his back catalogue sounding far more fresh and exciting than it does on record, and translates to every walk of life present. Seasoned club-kids cut shapes next to people with questionable moves who often turn to their friends to exclaim that they “can't remember the last time I danced at a gig.” At one point we are
John Talabot
treated to a new song that Talabot admits hasn't been rehearsed yet, but it sounds as polished as ever and features a haunting vocal line that sounds right up Thom Yorke's street.
After riotous applause and an encore of 'ƒIN' single 'Destiny', one of the two tracks that Pional initially guested on, we become aware that it's only just gone midnight on a Tuesday evening. Surely we're in fact in the middle of the night at a Catalan nightclub near the beach! Everyone agrees that we've not been to a gig in ages with such a euphoric crowd. Part of this can attributed to FIXED, and the open-minded party people they draw, but the rest lies in the uber- accessible and refreshingly unpretentious talent of the headliners. Talabot and Pional strike a nerve with their brilliantly infectious sound to transcend scenes and subcultures in a way that very few pop and dance artists can.
Pional
Words: ZARA WLADAWSKY Pics: STEPHANIE KIMBERLY
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