Optimo presents Espacio, Indian Summer, Victoria Park, 14-15 Jul
Successfully showcasing something of the Optimo musical manifesto
| 09 Aug 2007
After closing both days of last year's Fat Tuesday Tent at Indian Summer, Optimo's JD Twitch and JG Wilkes were invited to curate their very own area this time round. Saturday is angled toward the more straight-up, dance-orientated end of the Optimo spectrum, though things get started at a gentle pace courtesy of Alan 'Hushpuppy' Miller, resident at the Art School's Record Playerz, before local trio Foxface take over with their heartfelt, jagged-folk.
By late afternoon, Tim Sweeney from cult internet radio station Beats In Space is playing a tag-team DJ set with his fellow DFA-cohort, Tim Goldsworthy. Building through disco-flavoured sounds such as Sister Sledge and Moodymann, they gradually enter house-territory with an impressive mixture of new and old tracks, including a welcome airing of Daft Punk's remix of Ian Pooley's Chord Memory, as the sparsely filled Optimo tent at last begins to fill.
Next is Detroit husband and wife duo, Adult., though their electro-punk would possibly be better suited to a later time slot, rather than the early tea-time position they find themselves in. Twitch and Wilkes follow, making the first of the day's two appearances, with a set of finely cultivated sounds that joins the dots between house, techno, pop, rock and the odd musical curveball, in typical Optimo style.
Norwegian "psychedelic disco king" Prins Thomas takes over after their hour long slot. Having made two well-received Subculture appearances in the last year, expectations are obviously high, and he is soon playing to a packed tent. Disco and rock rub shoulders with more recent house and techno efforts to great effect, as Thomas gives another example of why he's become one the more popular bookings on the global DJ circuit.
By now, the crowd are suitably warmed-up for the aural onslaught from German pair, Modeselektor. Signed to Ellen Allien's Berlin label, B-Pitch, their frantic, cut-and paste mash-up of techno, electro, glitch and breakbeat blurs the live/DJ set boundaries, pummeling the dancefloor into sweaty submission. The Optimo boys round Saturday off; Twitch's closing volley of tracks containing snatches of Orbital's Chime and Generate Power by Photon Inc, helping to bring things to a suitably anthemic climax.
Sunday aims to "focus on the more out-there persona" of Optimo and indeed, proceedings get under way with less emphasis on the dancefloor than Saturday thanks to Death Disco-resident, Jill Mingo-Go's set which gradually eases a quiet, almost empty tent into another day of music. An appearance from The Parsonage choir, harmonies from its forty-strong members offering up sublime covers of Depeche Mode and Johnny Cash, is followed by a largely acoustic set by Michael Gira. Former lead-singer of New York experimental, post-industrial outfit, The Swans, he now helms Young Gods Records, the label responsible for the acclaimed Devandra Banhart. Challenging in both sound and lyrical content, Gira's performance is somewhat spoiled by sound bleeding from both the main and Radio 6 stage, but remains a mesmerising, back-to-basics proposition nonetheless.
Thanks to a double-cancellation, neither Berlin electro-dub duo Rhythm & Sound nor replacement dubstep artist, Skream appear which means the rest of the afternoon is taken up by sets from Twitch & Wilkes, who again display their broad ranging taste. Next to play live are Australian pair, The Presets. Their electro-pop-meets-punk brings the liveliest and largest crowd of the day to the Optimo tent and as many sing a long with lead singer Julian Hamilton, it's clear that they are probably going to be the day's biggest draw. Another appearance from Optimo afterwards, helps to emphasise that thanks to the two no-shows, Sunday is a bit light on acts.
German duo, Mouse On Mars later replace them on the stage to close the weekend, departing from their more experimental arrangements to provide an hour of jerky, rhythmic electronica which keep the beats to the fore. However, they seem to be fighting a losing battle keeping the crowd's attention thanks to the allure of The Flaming Lips' impressive pyrotechnics on the main stage.
Though the weekend successfully showcases something of the Optimo musical manifesto, a couple more acts could have spread the load, with Twitch and Wilkes best placed to take the closing slots they made such a success of last year.
By late afternoon, Tim Sweeney from cult internet radio station Beats In Space is playing a tag-team DJ set with his fellow DFA-cohort, Tim Goldsworthy. Building through disco-flavoured sounds such as Sister Sledge and Moodymann, they gradually enter house-territory with an impressive mixture of new and old tracks, including a welcome airing of Daft Punk's remix of Ian Pooley's Chord Memory, as the sparsely filled Optimo tent at last begins to fill.
Next is Detroit husband and wife duo, Adult., though their electro-punk would possibly be better suited to a later time slot, rather than the early tea-time position they find themselves in. Twitch and Wilkes follow, making the first of the day's two appearances, with a set of finely cultivated sounds that joins the dots between house, techno, pop, rock and the odd musical curveball, in typical Optimo style.
Norwegian "psychedelic disco king" Prins Thomas takes over after their hour long slot. Having made two well-received Subculture appearances in the last year, expectations are obviously high, and he is soon playing to a packed tent. Disco and rock rub shoulders with more recent house and techno efforts to great effect, as Thomas gives another example of why he's become one the more popular bookings on the global DJ circuit.
By now, the crowd are suitably warmed-up for the aural onslaught from German pair, Modeselektor. Signed to Ellen Allien's Berlin label, B-Pitch, their frantic, cut-and paste mash-up of techno, electro, glitch and breakbeat blurs the live/DJ set boundaries, pummeling the dancefloor into sweaty submission. The Optimo boys round Saturday off; Twitch's closing volley of tracks containing snatches of Orbital's Chime and Generate Power by Photon Inc, helping to bring things to a suitably anthemic climax.
Sunday aims to "focus on the more out-there persona" of Optimo and indeed, proceedings get under way with less emphasis on the dancefloor than Saturday thanks to Death Disco-resident, Jill Mingo-Go's set which gradually eases a quiet, almost empty tent into another day of music. An appearance from The Parsonage choir, harmonies from its forty-strong members offering up sublime covers of Depeche Mode and Johnny Cash, is followed by a largely acoustic set by Michael Gira. Former lead-singer of New York experimental, post-industrial outfit, The Swans, he now helms Young Gods Records, the label responsible for the acclaimed Devandra Banhart. Challenging in both sound and lyrical content, Gira's performance is somewhat spoiled by sound bleeding from both the main and Radio 6 stage, but remains a mesmerising, back-to-basics proposition nonetheless.
Thanks to a double-cancellation, neither Berlin electro-dub duo Rhythm & Sound nor replacement dubstep artist, Skream appear which means the rest of the afternoon is taken up by sets from Twitch & Wilkes, who again display their broad ranging taste. Next to play live are Australian pair, The Presets. Their electro-pop-meets-punk brings the liveliest and largest crowd of the day to the Optimo tent and as many sing a long with lead singer Julian Hamilton, it's clear that they are probably going to be the day's biggest draw. Another appearance from Optimo afterwards, helps to emphasise that thanks to the two no-shows, Sunday is a bit light on acts.
German duo, Mouse On Mars later replace them on the stage to close the weekend, departing from their more experimental arrangements to provide an hour of jerky, rhythmic electronica which keep the beats to the fore. However, they seem to be fighting a losing battle keeping the crowd's attention thanks to the allure of The Flaming Lips' impressive pyrotechnics on the main stage.
Though the weekend successfully showcases something of the Optimo musical manifesto, a couple more acts could have spread the load, with Twitch and Wilkes best placed to take the closing slots they made such a success of last year.