Loop Festival – Brighton, 11th-12th July 2009

This years Loop Festival didn’t get off to the best of starts. Early last week an email went around announcing that due to the downturn in weather the outside stage of the festival would be moved inside. On top of this the Friday night show by the Matthew Herbert Big Band was also cancelled. By the time TLOBF got to the Brighton Dome on Saturday however, through the gloom and drizzle, it was somewhat of a relief to be inside.

One band who were not going to let the inclement weather get the better of them were Norway’s Casiokids. Wielding all manner of percussive fruit and vegetables ( I am later told that the band has quite a collection, ranging from todays pineapple and cabbage, to a banana and even a ‘shakey avocado’) the band bound around the stage with childish glee. Having supported Of Montreal earlier this year it is clear that the band share a common ground, and a knack for writing catchy electo-pop tunes. By the end of their all too short set there are beach balls bouncing around the Dome, and smiles throughout the building. Smiles were somewhat lacking at the Corn Exchange when Sian Alice Group took to the stage, however. Performing in front of a video showing an endless journey down railway tracks, at times the band’s songs seemed to echo the eternal nature of the video, drums pounding like the chug chug chug of a steam train.

As well as all the musical entertainment on offer, Loop had also coupled with onedotzero to show a series of short films. Presumably by dint of releasing a record of David Lynch songs, Saturday afternoon saw a mercurial performance by Thomas Truax and his metal menagerie on the film stage. Accompanied by the mechanical Mother Superior (a drum machine made of a spoon, a bicycle wheel and an ear trumpet) Truax transfixed the audience with tales from his Wowtown home, as well as selections from his latest record, including a haunting version of ‘In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator)’, featuring the ‘stringlaling’. Halfway through the set Truax leapt from the stage to sing ‘Full Moon Over Wowtown”, using his resonator guitar to reflect the spotlight onto the roof to create a moon in the venue. It was just a little touch, but it served as further evidence of his genius as an entertainer. He then continued to roam, unplugged, throughout the venue, along a row of seats and out of the doors, only to return minutes later still singing. By the end of the set, Truax had the audience in the palm of his hand, getting them to bark and howl in unison into the ‘Hornicator’ (again a large ear trumpet, with strings and microphones attached).

After what seemed an age of sound-checking their numerous synths and laptops, hotly tipped Brighton four piece Mirrors took the stage with their eighties gloom-pop stylings. While dapper frontman James offered his finest Ian Curtis meets the Thin White Duke moves,at least one of his fellow synth players seemed to favour the dance styles of MC Hammer. There may be a recession and rising unemployment, but that is no excuse for bringing the ghosts of Tears for Fears and Ultravox back to life. Once again it fell to the Nordic countries to inject some light into the over serious proceedings, which is exactly what Datarock succeeded in doing. Clad in matching red tracksuits they hurled themselves around the stage, throwing rock star shapes,devil horns and ripping off Grease songs. They even indulged the crowd in a spot of mid set aerobics. It was dumb but it worked and got the whole room dancing.

Fearing (correctly as it turns out) that Squarepusher’s headline slot would be a slap bass fest, TLOBF opted to wait for Sweden’s Fever Ray. Famed for her live performances in the Knife there was a feeling of anticipation air as half of the hall was closed off to prepare the stage. As the minutes rolled by the crowd became more and more restless; incense and dry fill the air causing many in the front rows to have coughing fits. Suddenly a green laser shot out over the heads of the audience, creating a neon roof with the swirling smoke. Fever Ray took the stage clad in nightmarish costumes, front-woman Karin Dreijer Andersson draped in a monstrous troll costume. It would have been a sight to behold had it not been for the dense fog of incense meaning that the visibility for most of the audience was virtually nill. These elements combined with Andersson’s heavily treated vocals created a claustrophobic, unsettling and ultimately unique audio visual experience, if not necessarily a pleasant one.

Sunday was nominally the ‘folk’ day of Loop, and after the mind-bending experience of Fever Ray it was somewhat of a relief to witness Portico Quartet’s undulating double bass rhythms and hypnotic pan playing while stretched out on the handily positioned beanbags. Fanfarlo kept things rolling with their spirited folk tales channeling the Arcade Fire and Beirut and, with the addition of some NHS specs and a clarinet, a hint of Woody Allen for good measure. While Tunng’s whimsical folktronica was pleasant enough, they still seem to be struggling to replace the sweet vocal of former member Sam Genders in the harmony parts. That said, Mike Lindsay’s guitar heroics and heavy riffing on an acoustic guitar was enough to stir any mid-afternoon nappers. While they sing away in the background TLOBF enjoyed a spot of ‘Doodle-Earth’- a projected map of the city of Brighton on to a massive pad of paper with pens attached. It was still early, so there were no giant cocks in the sea. Unlike Saturday.

When Iceland’s múm take the stage they are a revelation. From the moment they hit the first note, they deliver a set brimming with passion; In a weekend dominated by the hi-hat hit, the building crescendos created by the drums and horn section was a powerful thing indeed. The two front-women seemed to be in competition as to who can have the best time on stage, beaming through out and skipping, jumping and jittering along with the micro-beats. By the time the band announce that “The next song is about dancing”, the audience are doing just that. Building a song on the foundation of Casio’s Disco 2 beat simply shouldn’t work, but somehow with the addition of kazoos, harmonicas and melodicas it does. The set comes to a close with the title track of new record Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know, which in a parallel universe could be a Eurovision winner, full of handclaps and creaking music boxes with lyrics involving wanting to eat you with a spoon. Like múm themselves it is completely mad but massively enjoyable.

Although with out a doubt the artists from the Nordic countries were Loop’s highlight, it fell to local boys Fujiya and Miyagi to close the festival with their whispered vocals and krautpop grooves. Any band that has a theme song is OK in TLOBF’s book, and Fujiya and Miyagi seem to have two, as well as some fantastically inventive animations using coloured dice. In combining video, electronics and a pop edge, the band seem to encapsulate Loop as a whole.