BECKY BECKY + NEUMATIC + RASHAMON – THE ROSSI BAR, BRIGHTON 26.10.24
It’s been an astounding 3143 days since I last witnessed the terrific Becky Becky performing live in concert! The previous encounter was here in Brighton at The Verdict up Edward Street, when the duo of Gemma L Williams (ex-Woodpecker Wooliams, GhostPoet) and Peter J D Mason (ex-Fence Collective) were performing a unique one-off performance of their take on the ‘Silent Shout’ album by Scandinavian synth legends The Knife. Watch three and a half minutes of pure joy HERE and check out my review at the time at the foot of this article. It appears that The Verdict concert was one of their last live outings and was only followed by some last minute support slot shows in 2017.
When it was announced that Becky Becky were to be performing this evening at The Rossi Bar on Queens Road as part of a special ‘Halloween Electronic Party’ bash for this year’s final ‘Midnight Salad’ event (next one on 31st January 2025, line-up TBC), then we certainly were not going to miss this! It was a busy evening as it also featured live sets from Rashamon, Neumatic, Fruity Water, Dayglow Exploding Super Infinite, and Frog Child. Although we unfortunately only caught three of the sets on the night for one reason or another.
What we had to remember though was that this evening was billed as a ‘party’ and thus people have fun at parties and talk to each other, which sadly many did throughout the trio of sets that we witnessed. Ordinarily I would have got annoyed with this, but this evening I just went with the flow, especially as every song was rewarded with claps and cheers after each conclusion. But I do wish that there was more ventilation available in this basement venue as it was literally like being in a sauna. My friend’s wife became so hot that she simply left and went home and one of our party was on the verge of fainting and thus well called it a night!
Becky Becky are back this evening having dropped their latest ‘Human / Animal’ album (stylized as ‘human / animal’) back in May and at that time were interviewed by Battery Operated Orchestra on their ‘BOO Cast’ on 6th May (Watch HERE). ‘Human / Animal’ followed on from their ‘Maraca’ long-player from 2021. Their tribute to The Knife ‘In Honour Of ‘Silent Shout’’ album was launched on the tenth anniversary of the original in 2016 and the debut ‘Good Morning, Midnight – Live’ Becky Becky album came out in 2015.
It’s great to see that the event organisers have made an effort this evening by decorating the venue in a style accustomed to that Halloween vibe. The stage area is compact, but then the whole room is, and yet they still have red and green lazers on the go! Some of the punters are in fancy dress and others have turned up in normal gear, but it wasn’t a proviso of entry this evening as everyone (that could it in) was welcome!
The Becky Becky set was a selection of ten songs and Gemma was solely on vocals, whereas Peter was taking care of the electronic drumpads, Elektron Digitone 8-Voice Digital Synthesizer, Elektron Digitakt II 16-Voice Digital Drum Machine and Sampler, and another small unit in between. The duo had made an effort and took to the stage by wearing matching pumpkin outfits, but not only that, as their opening number was ‘Round The Twist’ which was the theme song from an Australian 90s ‘spooky’ kids TV show of the same name. It was sung by Tamsin West on the opening and closing credits of all 4 series which was produced by Andrew Duffield.
Tune two was the first from their excellent 2015 ‘Good Morning, Midnight’ album, this being ‘Fire And Wings’ which perfectly blends Gemma’s out there Björk style vocal delivery with Peter’s electronic bleeps – a set highlight! The expressive vocal delivery continued on the dance heavy boomin’ ‘Maraca’ from the 2021 album of the same name. After this the pumpkin outfits are discarded for comfort, but then Gemma turns her back to us and dons a bald skull cap along with a moustache, which gets the desired laugh. The sub one-minute ‘Black Tongue’, the opener from ‘Human/Animal’ album is up next and immediately followed by ‘Ride The Bronco!’ which is found on the ‘Maraca’ album and has a shuffly skippy samba beat with the drum pads sounding like steel drums.
They then got funky with their take on that viral internet video tune ‘PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)’ which was a hit in 2016 for Pikotaro, who was actually a fictional singer-songwriter created and portrayed by Japanese comedian Daimaou Kosaka. The single itself reached No.1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart and at the time of its release, with a duration of a mere 45 seconds, it became the shortest single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, a record that was later broken by Kid Cudi’s 37 second ‘Beautiful Trip’.
The circa one minute ‘Learning Being Loved’ slow beat instrumental from ‘Human/Animal’ came next and this allowed Gemma the time to costume change again. This time around it was into a rainbow skirt and white sleeves. After this the mood became quiet and tender with the arrival of ‘Chemicals’ with its musical box sound backbeat with Gemma’s vocals atop. ‘Chemicals’ is also from ‘Human / Animal’ and is their version of a lost song by Peter and Gemma’s late friend Frances Donnelly and it can be found on Becky Becky’s Bandcamp page. This track, despite being different from others in the set, went down very well indeed.
Their second selection from 2015’s ‘Good Morning, Midnight’ album arrived as their penultimate selection, this being the bouncy beats of ‘House Of The Black Madonna’ which benefit from resplendent vocals cries and warbling from Gemma which is accompanied by further expressive movements – my pick of their set! They signed off with ‘Symmetry’ from ‘Maraca’, which starts melodically and almost trance like as in you’re in Ibiza at 5am and watching the sun coming up. Then the dance beat kicks in and this too becomes another decent tune and is rewarded with a rapturous applause. By now Peter had already briefly left the room and Gemma followed and on their return to the stage the punters were baying “one more song, one more song” but sadly that was our lot and at 10:03pm we went upstairs for some liquid refreshment. It was exciting to see Becky Becky in action! Hopefully they were as excited as the punters at the end of their set and will consider playing some more gigs really soon!
Becky Becky:
Peter J D Mason – drumpads, keys, electronics
Gemma L Williams – vocals
Becky Becky setlist:
‘Round The Twist’ (Tamsin West cover)
‘Fire And Wings’ (from 2015 ‘Good Morning, Midnight’ album)
‘Maraca’ (from 2021 ‘Maraca’ album)
‘Black Tongue’ (from 2024 ‘Human/Animal’ album)
‘Ride The Bronco!’ (from 2021 ‘Maraca’ album)
‘PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)’ (Pikotaro cover)
‘Learning Being Loved’ (from 2024 ‘Human/Animal’ album)
‘Chemicals’ (from 2024 ‘Human/Animal’ album)
‘House Of The Black Madonna’ (from 2015 ‘Good Morning, Midnight’ album)
‘Symmetry’ (from 2021 ‘Maraca’ album)
Further information visit becky-becky.com
Tonight is a special night for Tom Chadd aka Neumatic as this evening’s event is also doubling up as his debut single release party as well. The song in question is a fresh, hyperpop influenced take of Astra King’s ‘Make Me Cry’ which draws from a wide array of inspirations. The track dropped two days ago via the Midnight Salad imprint. Check out the video HERE.
Under his Neumatic guise Tom describes the sound as “Music for Hoovers to dance to”, and during live performances Tom’s identity is hidden as he sports a Henry vacuum cleaner over his head. Well I guess we had Jimmy The Hoover in 1983 with their hit ‘Tantalise (Wo Wo Ee Yeh Yeh)’, so I guess it’s time to get the appliance back into the public eye. The Neumatic sound takes cues from some music of the same 80s and 90s era with subtle nods to rave culture and a love for vocoder and autotune effects. Having recently covered artists such as Pet Shop Boys, Magnetic Fields, Bloc Party, and Shakira, this new track further showcases Neumatic’s genre-bending style.
This evening at The Rossi Bar we are served a half dozen slices of dance beats which are performed via the use of Yamaha CK61 61-Key Stage Keyboard, Akai Professional APC40 MKII Ableton Live Performance Controller, a laptop, and an effects unit which is attached to a strap and worn over the shoulder. Clearly Tom knows what he’s doing here, the lads certainly not a Luddite!
He kicks off with his vastly different interpretation of the Pet Shop Boys ‘I Want A Dog’ which sees the use of live tweaked Donald Duck style vocals as he holds a small microphone through the opening in the vacuum cleaner. The song still has its dance beat and clubby vibe and this track segues straight into his remix of Two Shell’s ‘Everybody Worldwide’ and then into his remix of Martha Rose’s ‘Same Feeling’. This is like a hybrid dance mix DJ set to be honest and the funky dance tunes are sitting very nicely with the punters, as when the change in beat is noted, the relevant applause is rewarded. A reworking of 2007’s Radiohead ‘Videotape’ is the next selection and is bettered by that cover of Astra King’s ‘Make Me Cry’ with its pre-recorded female vocal sections and faster skippy beat atop.
I was rather partial to the electronic robotic human style vocals in the set at this point that said “I want you all the time” and clearly come from the same programme as Jontekink’s epic ‘People In A Exhibition’ single. The set concluded with a clever mashup of 2004’s ‘Dry Your Eyes’ by The Streets and 2003’s ‘Millionaire’ by Kelis ft Andre 3000, which ended with a rapturous applause from the sweaty punters and at 10:53pm that was our lot.
Tom is also a founder of local outfit Seadog who we last reviewed at The Prince Albert on 6th June – Read our account of that evening HERE. You can next catch Seadog performing live at The Piper in St. Leonards-on-Sea on Sunday 3rd November, where they will be supporting former House of Love members Terry Bickers, Pete Evans and Matt Jury as Terry Bickers & The Inner Spiral – Grab your tickets HERE.
Neumatic:
Tom Chadd – vocals, keys, electronics
Neumatic setlist:
‘I Want A Dog’ (cover of Pet Shop Boys)
‘Everybody Worldwide’ (remix of Two Shell)
‘Same Feeling’ (remix of Martha Rose)
‘Videotape’ (cover of Radiohead)
‘Make Me Cry’ (cover of Astra King)
‘Dry Your Eyes Millionaire’ (mashup of The Streets vs Kelis)
The details on the Bandcamp page of Rashamon reads as thus: “Formed in 2002 with a deliberate misspelling of the Kurosawa film, Rashamon favours skewed melodic, glitched pop with hip hop and post rock leanings. Has been an on/off act at Spirit of Gravity in Brighton, once got played on Radio 1, had a nice review in the wire and has some proper releases on iTunes”. Well now this Lewes based artist (Lee Hume) can add this review to his portfolio.
It appears that the musical career of Lee under the Rashamon banner has had two lives! Stage one was the formation and then the release of the 10 track ‘Frightened By The Familiar’ album in 2005; and then from 2022, where the releases have come fast and furious: In 2022 there was ‘Apical Reverie’ EP, the 10 track ‘A Return To Form’ album, ‘Sudden Moves’ EP, ‘Remain As Now’ EP. 2023 saw the release of the 21 track ‘A Form To Return’ album, the ‘Cringe’ EP and the ‘Gleam’ EP. This year has thus far witnessed the ‘Sovereign’ EP and the 12 track ‘You Can Solve Everything’ album.
This evening Lee was to give us four newish tracks across a set that lasted 27 minutes, from 8:45pm to 9:12pm, beginning with the melodic keys of ‘Stampede Fiction’ from the new ‘You Can Solve Everything’ album. It’s fair to say that he seriously made an effort with his attire this evening, whether this was solely for tonight’s Halloween bash or whether this is what he wears when performing live, I’m not sure, but it certainly was very effective! His face was totally hidden behind a black linen mask and he was wearing white lights on his eyebrows which looked like he was wearing them over his eyes. This reminded me of a mixture of Star Wars meets Orbital. His head was covered with a hood and on top sat a gold crown with protruding trees. He was also sporting a black gown with a golden cape on top of that. I could spy a t-shirt beneath this which was sporting an impressive keyboard.
The equipment being used was an Akai MPK Mini MK3 Controller Keyboard, an ipad with a running programme of the songs, there were some knobs to twiddle on another unit, as well as a laptop, and a cordless mouse.
Song two was ‘Monsters Are Here Forever’ which is found on this year’s ‘Sovereign’ EP and this has more of a dance beat than the opening number. There were vocal samples used during the performance but no actual real live vocals. We were standing at the front and were absorbed in what he was doing and wondering how all the technology works, as well as being amused as to how the hell Lee can see to play anything!
The choice cut of the set for me was tune three, ‘Hefty’, from 2023’s ‘Gleam’ EP which began with some promising keys and Jean-Michel Jarre style beats with recorded female vocals atop. He signed off with ‘Never Late Than Better’ from the ‘You Can Solve Everything’ album and this is a more bleepy tune which changes beats and it had an almost New Order sounding electronic drumbeat. It was a decent first encounter! More please Lee….
Rashamon:
Lee Hume – electronics
Rashamon setlist:
‘Stampede Fiction’ (from 2024 ‘You Can Solve Everything’ album)
‘Monsters Are Here Forever’ (from 2024 ‘Sovereign’ EP)
‘Hefty’ (from 2023 ‘Gleam’ EP)
‘Never Late Than Better’ (from 2024 ‘You Can Solve Everything’ album)
Rashamon can be found on Spotify.
