BATHS, Leon Osborn, Catlips and Seams - The Bakery, Sunday 23/03/14
Buongiorno sweet people. On Sunday night I was lucky enough to attend a gig at the bakery and this is how it goes.
Upon some new and interesting releases, Leon Osborn created some beaut vibes with a lil bit of trap to warm up the tweenies, but maintained a future music sound throughout.
Electronic princess Katie Campbell aka CATLIPS delivered a pretty fun yet technically solid set. Never have any complaints with her sets as she does what she does well which is why she is slowly but surely developing a dedicated fan base. Wooshie was scheduled to play however due to some technical difficulties, sadly, his set did not eventuate. By the time the charismatic Baths had hit the stage, rock band Seams had geared the crowd up with some uplifting tracks. https://soundcloud.com/seamslikemusic
Many on le inter webs contend that Baths can change your perception of electronic music. There is an element of truth and verity in that statement. However, depending on your position on whiney and ‘emotional’ vocals, this may be a positive or negative change. Baths- instrumentally is by far one of the leaders in electronic production, as exemplified on Sunday night. Having an offsider/pal/nerdy cool dude helping him with the ableton, and organic instrumentalisations of his sound definitely worked in Will’s favour because it is extremely difficult to sing about your ‘feelings’ when you are turning knobs and pressing buttons. This allowed him to devote his energy wholeheartedly into well thought out vocals and playing around with the master controls and synth. Attempting to maintain this perfect harmony between the music and the vocals was executed perfectly, however I found that the often harsh yet hearfelt vocals became so overpowering it became painful at times.
The LA music-maker most definitely had stage presence throughout the show which is admirable. A big issue for me was his introduction of (potentially new) material that was very similar to Linkin Park circa 2003. This scream-O singing was a killjoy and detracted from the actual beauty of the electronic music. It didn't bode well with me, and it soon became exceedingly painful and difficult to rebuild a positive morale following those sporadic tracks. Perhaps I didn't understand the progressive vibe he was attempting to portray on stage. Personally, I preferred the more ambient and calm tracks. Overall, he pleased the youngish crowds.
2 emo, not enuf beatz, 3 star. Special mention to the running shorts.
-Sarah Marshman (photos by themfrom)
