Pram

A glockenspiel soundchecking emergency holds up the start of Bad Timing’s sixth birthday gig, which is a bloody fine excuse for a late start and is a sterling reminder of exactly what a bizarrely beautiful phenomenon Bad Timing gigs are. So the neighbours have to put up with an extra half hour of odd-noise afficionados standing around outside the venue smoking, bitching about the cold and giggling about the absurdity of waiting for a glockenspiel before the audience can wander into the back room to get an earful of this troublesome instrument.

We have to wait a while, though, as first artist Man From Uranus doesn’t use a glockenspiel. He does, however, surround himself with such an impressive and intriguing bank of post-consumer electronic noisemaking devices that one doubts any kind of xylophone could be heard over them anyway. There’s even a very small TV in there, which spends the whole set with static dancing across its screen: periodically the volume is turned up and MFU weaves whatever he happens to pick up into his set (“But what’d you do if it was a Guns N Roses documentary or something?” “Play along, of course!”). The sounds start fairly sparse, then slowly creep out around the room until we realise we’ve been completely surrounded by a mixture of warbly immersive sounds, like a psychedelic trip in some strange soundtracked diving bell. Distorted chords are hammered out so fast the hands that play them blur; keyboard notes with a weird vocal effect merge into a fucked-up choir; one synth line sounds like a cat channeling the spirit of some dead jazz master has been let loose to jump around on the keyboard; and under it all are broken percussive lines which emphasise the tone of each beat just as much as they do the timing. Warped and wonderful alien noises.

Xylitol describes himself as “Viking beserker disco”, though I’m not sure the Vikings would’ve had anything to do with an instrument so fey as the aforementioned glockenspiel… I’d maybe go for Super Mario Berserker Disco instead: Xylitol’s sound couples the high pitched tuneful bleeps of a computer soundtrack with tinny repetitive drum beats, starting off with a clearly defined tune which is then washed over with noise to make a more complex and hyperactive sound. However, the original tune still always remains intact and audible under the oddity, making for a clear, tuneful and surprisingly song-based set played by a self-effacing chap who always remains incongruously calm compared to the highly wound noises he’s making. About half way through this contrast between singer and song is put to good effect when he starts adding vocal lines to the mix; the calm and distant vocals sound somewhat creepy in their detachment compared to the chiming, energetic sounds and add another layer of strangeness to the sound that’s misfitting in a very fitting way.

And finally to the headliners – and also to the most sedate act on tonight’s bill. They may have so many members that instrument swapping is fraught with dangers as the group try to negotiate a rather small stage packed with a rather large number of wires and bits of equipment, but Pram choose to merge the many different parts of their sound into something which, though immersive and widescreen, expresses these qualities in a manner which enscourages you to gently lie back into it rather than sweeping you forcefully off your feet. Jazzy, trippy layers of noise wash around the audience in a remarkably soothing way, providing a softly warming counterbalance to the freezing atmosphere outside and making things feel all summery and heatshimmery despite the fact that it’s entirely the wrong season for these sorts of sensations. And Pram somehow manage to maintain these qualities while simultaneously sounding like a slightly freaky soundtrack to some cult 70s TV show, complete with all the strange noises that this implies. It’s a neat trick, and maybe one which works in the same way as their knack of keeping enough space within their washes of sound to allow the listener to both be immersed in the sound and to hear all the different instruments quite clearly as they make their individual contributions to the whole: trombone, flute, melodica, theremin, bass, guitar and the clear and pure vocals all stand out clearly without ever overwhelming the other aspects of the sound – they all stand out at once. Fucking clever, that.