VENUE THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS, LONDON DATE 13/11/2023
SUPPORT MAYA ONGAKU
While Coronation Street slugs it out with Panorama on terrestrial TV on this damp Monday night, something surprising is occurring in the endearingly down-at-heel Shacklewell Arms in London’s East End. Not only is the soldout crowd packed in, it’s also bucking the trend of incessant in-concert chitterchatter currently blighting venues across the land. This is what a mesmerised throng looks like, and with the ambient sweeps, insistent beats and pulses, and the six-string cosmic explorations emanating from the stage courtesy of opening Japanese ensemble Maya Ongaku, the reason is obvious: this delicate, hypnotic and beguiling music demands nothing less than total immersion and attention.
Indeed, such is the fragility of opener Nuska, the natural response is to admire the band’s chutzpah for not so much leaping out of the traps as floating out of them. But that wonder is soon rewarded with music that entices and seduces. Ryota Takano’s insistent bass pulses during Meiso lock in with subtle yet effective processed beats, while Shoei Ikeda alternately plays keys and a heavily echoed saxophone to coalesce with Tsutomu Sonoda’s expansive slide guitar-playing.
Guruguru Brain labelmates Mong Tong come at psychedelia from a completely different angle. If Maya Ongaku nod towards The Orb, then Mong Tong share a sensibility with Brian Eno and David Byrne’s pioneering My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, where localised samples and field recordings form the basis of their aesthetic. There’s a whole world of Taiwanese culture
