Allan Mutuku-Kortbæk’s Picks:

1. Reptile & Retard (Junior Pavilion, Roskilde, June 26)
Reptile & Retard’s concert at Roskilde’s junior Pavilion takes the crown for the best concert of the year purely on account of the manner in which the audience were flung into a roller-coasting two hours of sheer mayhem that culminated in the lead singer clambering onto the pylons supporting the stage before hurling himself into the crowd below. It’s seldom one sees a concert of such proportions and if it’s anything to go by, Reptile & Retard are definitely a name to watch out for in 2012.

2. Yann Tiersen (Rust, May 29)
French artiste Yann Tiersen was at his best at his performance at Rust back in May. The concert featured an intriguing blend of instrumentation that saw him showcase his penchant for multi-instrumentation, leaving the audience in a state of star-struck euphoria as they were treated to a blend of his older work combined with tasty snippets off his latest album, Skyline, which hit the shelves towards the end of the year.

3. When Saints Go Machine (Store Vega, November 5)
WSGM’s catchy fusion of the chaotic and the dreamy was executed with perfection and panache at their concert in Vega in November. Lead singer Jonas Kenton had the crowd in the palm of his hand as his falsetto vocals connived synonymously with layer upon layer of decadent drumbeats and roaring riffs.

4. Charles Bradley (Odeon, Roskilde, July 1)
The 62-year-old ‘Screaming Eagle of Soul’ gave one of the best Roskilde performances of the year, a soulful journey that saw him leave the stage in tears of elation and raw emotion. Bradley’s life story, a rags to riches fairytale that’ll touch most people’s hearts forever, shines through at his gigs, and at Roskilde, this was no exception.

5. The Strokes (Orange Scene, Roskilde, July 2)
In a festival in which the Orange Scene was something of a stranger to the spotlight, Julian Cassablancas and company were one of the few acts that played at the venue to truly set it alight. Their fourth studio album, Angles, is a pearl in itself and featured quite prominently in the course of the concert, a show that stitched the old and the new seamlessly together.

Store Vega, Nov 2011: Rating 5 out of 6 stars

Roskilde festival 2010 Orange stage openers “When Saints Go Machine” showcased their latest studio album, “Konkylie,” at Store Vega on Saturday in front of a partisan sell-out crowd. The album is one of two studio works that have seen the Danish electro-pop quartet achieve quite the following domestically as well as abroad. Saturday’s concert in a nutshell was the unstoppable sound of a band that’s going places very quickly indeed.

“The Saints” got the ball rolling with the “Kelly,” a flagship number off their new album, Konkylie, a dreamy rendition that set the stage for what was to come by creating a sense of collective impatience enhanced by piercing flashes of green light rays slashing through the mist.

Three songs in and the misty, mysterious mood that the concert started with was all but gone, replaced instead by bombastic synth sounds overridden by lead singer Jonas Kenton’s poignant falsetto vocals alongside gnarling riffs and well-timed drumbeats. Jonas Kenton and drummer Silas Moldenhawer are in fact equally well-known for their outings with their side-project, “Kenton Slash Demon,” a rhythmic, more buoyant blend of electro fused with heavier drumbeats and less vocals.

It was this very influence that frequently interjected the more soulful sounds of the night, and with great effect.

From Dreamy to Chaotic

In fact, the switch between some of the band’s more dreamy sounds and their explosive, upbeat forays was what made the concert as endearing as it turned out to be. When Saints Go Machine sounded not too different to Baroque pop English band Anthony & The Johnson’s at times, whilst at others they were astoundingly akin to the edgy NU disco sounds of New York project Hercules and Love Affair.

Jonas Kenton looked delighted to be on stage as he pranced back and forth in the midst of his high-pitched , stooping over the lead keyboard to chip in with input of his own at times. This sense of playfulness peaked as the memorable “ Parix” tune was played towards the apex of the show, creating widespread smiles and hearty claps of approval amongst the audience.

If “Paris” set the stage, then “Fail Forever,” The band’s most well-known song set it alight, encapsulating everything that was good and grand about the evening.

Store Vega, October 2011 : Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Digital Havoc

Expectations were high right from the start as the Hamburg based electro-rock band, Digitalism took to the stage at Vega on Saturday. The duo, consisting of Jens “Jence” Moelle and İsmail “Isi” Tüfekçi first rocketed to popularity back in 2007 with their debut album, “Idealism,” a work that catapulted the then unknown musicians into the limelight. As emblematic an album as this may be, Saturday’s concert will no doubt be remembered by most for the tunes off Digitalism’s latest piece of studio genius, the recently released “I love You Dude EP.” The driven percussion fused with occasional high pitch vocal punctuations on the album blended seamlessly with their visual effects setup on the night. Jence and Isi looked confident, sharp and content behind their macbook pros and analogue gadgetry.

Digitalism were all smiles as they took to the stage and proceeded to set things alight with several scorching openers. As the show proceeded, the occasional vocal input from Moelle helped add depth to the performance even though his voice was frequently drowned by the overlying din of synth stabs and hefty percussive sequences.

Vega sounded like it was playing host to an orchestra of pipe-bangers that masterfully ravaged the darkness before them at times and at others the venue resembled your average rock concert. The fusion between rock and electro that’s made Digitalism as accessible a band as they are was abundantly evident throughout.

And whilst things were rowdy and gloriously shambolic at times, at others there seemed to be an awkward stillness lingering in the air, due no doubt in part to the fact that Vega was not nearly as packed as it could have been.

Midway through the proceedings, one felt as if Digitalism had lashed out all their grand-slam numbers as a more sombre and uninspiring mood became the order of the day. Whilst the poisonous synth burts and hissing hi-hats of marquee numbers, “Zdarlight” and the rollicking indie-esque “Pogo” towards the end did their bit to redeem things, ultimately one was left thirsting for some missing ingredient.

The best example of this came at the end of the show when the curtain dropped without warning, ending things in a rather unceremonious fashion. This notwithstanding, Saturday’s concert did indeed have its share of poignant moments which will no doubt be remembered for a while to come. 

Boundary-breaking? This is boundary shattering !
Few would dispute the assertion that when it comes to breaking down musical boundaries, Icelandic eclectic standout, Bjork is one of the best in the business. Her eighth studio album, Biophilia encapsulates this attestation better arguably better than all of her mysterious creations coupled together.

Biophilia is, according to Bjork, a  multimedia collection “encompassing music, Ipod applications, internet, installations, and live shows. The album took 3 years to make and features around ten separate IPAD apps all housed within one “mother” app.

Each of the smaller apps, coupled after song names / themes relate to a different track from the album, allowing people to explore and interact with the song’s theme or even make a completely new version of them. The Guardian has gone as far as calling the album the future of music, on account of the illimitable possibilities for user interaction and indeed the sheer scale and weight of the project.

In fact, even if the album were absolute tripe, the very concept itself is enough to ensure it still gets the praise it deserves. Unsurprisingly, the music matches the concept down to a T. Each song is a sensual journey into the world of specific themes, within which Bjork’s emphatic vocals and poetic lyricism are juxtaposed against all manner of poignant instrumental cacophonies, including several specially constructed instruments such as The Tesia.

Biophilia also features lofty renditions by wildlife commentator David Attenborough and a compelling essay by Nikki Dibben who both add dimension, flair and surprise to one of the most innovative albums of our time.

Back to the primordial

Store Vega 28th Aug 2011, 4 out of 6 stars

“Good evening Copenhagen !” “We’re Primal Scream and we’re going to kick your a**” These were the opening words from the enigmatic, controversial lead singer of Primal Scream, the legendary Bobby Gillespie, as he took to the stage at Vega yesterday. Two hours later, at the end of a sweaty, hefty concert and few present will deny that Primal Scream did just that. In fact, the London based alternative rockers were nothing less than brilliant on the evening, performing with energy and enthusiasm that could easily have filled and thrilled an entire Wembley.

The fact that Primal Scream were performing songs off their “Screamadelica” album, a collectors artifact that’s a good twenty years testifies as to just how timeless a musical creation it is. Screamadelica was an album that espoused the fusion of acid house and alternative rock with a perfection comparable to few other artists and bands of the immediate post acid house period of the early 90’s. Many will in fact argue that it is the album that best elucidates Primal Scream’s varied and eclectic musical genius, and hence it is little wonder that the band are at their unbeatable best when performing songs off it.

“High till the day I die”

Sunday’s concert started in subtle fashion, with a couple of tracks that warmed the crowd up before guest singer Denise Johnson stole the hearts of the audience with her performance of “Don’t fight it feel it.” Denise’s powerful lyrics juxtaposed alongside epic piano stabs and catchy, quick-fire beats set the tone for the rest of the evening, which built up progressively, layer upon layer. A particularly emblematic moment during the proceedings was “Loaded,” Primal Screams signature track, played towards the end of the concert, a tune that proved to be the instigator of quite the crowd frenzy as Bobby Gillespie’s rebellious chants of “we wanna be free to do what we wanna do” rang loud and crystal clear over pronounced electric guitar strings in the background. A cheery ovation from the audience at the end of it all, punctuated by chants of “high till the day that I die” summed up Primal Scream’s night out at Vega. Musical history was re-lived and recreated through the echoes of the second summer of love, a musical period that fueled the dance floor dreams of an entire generation.

Pic: Wiki commons