From The Kites of San Quentin @ Eagle Inn, Salford, 19 June
Since emerging within Manchester well over half decade ago, From The Kites of San Quentin have consistently pulled apart the seams of electronica and filled the resulting space with an incredibly individualist strain of head-melting drone and glitch-led contortions, only to by and large fall through the cracks. Too unconcerned with rigid structures and simple pay-offs to make a dent in the club scene, too downright weird to fit on most live bills, people don't know what to do with them; artists will make a big deal about doing their own thing, but in an age where the overwhelming gluttony of choice conversely pushes people towards safety, it's those genuinely going it alone who'll often sink.
That's why tonight feels so important for 'Kites, as they preview all new material and visuals. Performed with the intensity of a group fighting in the manner of this being a last throw of the dice, the trio blow previous comparisons with trip-hop luminaries like Massive Attack to bits, the glints of sunlight that peeped through previous recordings extinguished. They've always felt more aligned to freeform and progressive jazz and hip-hop influences, but here they push them into darker territory, Alison Carney's vocal is pulled down in tandem with live samplist Phil Bretnall and guitarist Luke Bhatia's de-linear matrix, one track in particular blowing the senses as it reverberates around a gargantuan low-end pulse, throbbing like the final death throes of a supernova. Later on they'll explore a kind of warped anthemia, all linked together with visuals that mix between cerebrum-dislodging pattern shifts with confrontational images of the planet's demise. It's stunning, the only question remaining is who'll give them a chance. [Simon Jay Catling]