The latest in news from the cultural universe
Just For Culture
  • Home
  • Art & Literature
  • Music
  • Day & Nightlife
  • Film & TV
  • About Us & Contact

Live Review: Leftfield - Electric Fields Festival, 1 September 2018

6/9/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
It would easy to pretend that I was already well familiar with Leftfield and their weighty influence on the world of electronic dance music long before the line up for Electric Fields was announced; to say that I owned a cupboard of camouflage gear, an army of bucket hats and had various tales to regale about the glory days of electronic dance music, the birth of the house scene and rotating chewing gum for days on end while living in the same warehouse rave for a full week or two in the 90s.   

Alas, this was not the case. Despite a fervent passion for electronic music - yet evidently, not fervent enough - I had never had the pleasure. For those who find themselves in a similar boat, the London duo are one of the biggest electronic bands of the 90’s, and have even been described as "the single most influential production team working in British dance music" by the trusty lot over at MixMag.

As I say, it would have been easy to pretend that I knew all that long before the gig, but then this review would’ve just been another internet site saying good things about a band because, well that’s what you’re meant to do. This way, it’s a bit more interesting. Because the thing about band’s with lasting legacies is that often their actual music has become less and less accessible or relevant as time has gone on. For Leftfield, this is not the case. So this way, we get to say good things about the music because the music deserves it, and because to be able to draw in new customers 16 years after first ending the group (Leftfield initially ran from 1989 - 2002 before reforming in 2010), speaks volumes in itself.

I quickly went from completely ignorant to completely hooked on Leftfield’s hard-hitting electronic sound in the run up to Electric Fields. Perhaps it’s how blatant and apparent the influence of their music is to what followed and the modern day, even on first listen, that makes them so accessible. The term “progressive house”, used as a genre these days, was actually first coined to define Leftfield’s fusion of house with dub and reggae.
Picture
Their opening on the Electric Fields main stage on Saturday night is the perfect example of their sound - Release the Pressure, a single from their debut album Leftism from 1995 features reggae vocals on top of translucent, space-age keys so commonly heard in house through the 00s and 10s, before mixing into dub.

Afro Left features a pulsing bassline while MC Djum Djum walks to and fro the Electric Fields stage rapping what I had learned a few days before the gig was actually just gibberish, or “Djum Djum talk”, as the group called it, after the African vocalist and musician (aka Neil Cole), who came up with the rap (which was presumed to be an unspecified African language on the songs release in ‘95).

Open Up a euphoric journey always building to more and Phat Planet is, put simply, just an absolute banger of a house-meets-techno track. It starts up and goes up even further.

My only disappointment comes in the lack of inclusion of some of the deeper cuts I discovered in my Leftfield hole that don’t end up in the setlist - namely the hard-from-the-start, appropriately-named Snake Blood - but it’s a set that has the audience hooked from start to finish.

Leftfield are a group you need to dance to, and they are a group you will want to dance to.

This is electronic dance music that is not only accessible but addictive. It draws you in and leaves you wanting more. Leftfield are one of those groups where, it seems, no matter how late you arrive to the party, once you’ve heard the music, you’re not surprised by the legacy.
4/5

Stuart Kenny

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Music

    Bringing you the latest music news, features and opinions from the JFC mind

    Archives

    May 2021
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    2013
    2014
    2015
    Abandon Ship
    Aberdeen
    Album
    Alex Metric
    Alternative
    Austin Carlile
    Band
    Becky Hill
    Beyonce
    Biffy
    Biffy Clyro
    Blackened Sky
    Blog
    Bono
    Broken Social Scene
    Calvin Harris
    Camden
    Charlie Simpson
    Chart
    Chris Martin
    CHVRCHES
    Clyro
    Coldplay
    Dance
    Dangermouse
    D&B
    Deadmau5
    Decade
    Drum And Bass
    Dublin
    EDM
    Ella Eyre
    Exclusive
    Festival
    Full Crate
    Gecko
    Genre
    Ghost Stories
    Giorgio Moroder
    Girl Friend
    Glasgow
    God Level
    Gorgon City
    Gwyneth Paltrow
    Handguns
    Heart To Heart
    Hit The Lights
    House
    Hudson Mohawke
    If I Go
    Indie
    Infinity Land
    Innovative
    Interview
    In The Lonely Hour
    Ireland
    ITunes
    Jesse Glynne
    Jess Glynne
    JproD
    Jurassic 5
    Kanye-west
    Kilmainham
    Kings
    King-tuts
    King-tuts020c7650de
    Knife Party
    Latest
    Liquid Room
    Little Matador
    Little Mix
    Live
    Live Review
    Living Without You
    London
    McBusted
    Mentirosa
    Metric
    MK
    Monarchy
    Money On My Mind
    Motion
    Music
    Myspace
    Neck Deep
    New
    New Music
    News
    New Wave
    Of Mice & Men
    Oliver $
    Oliver Heldens
    Online
    Only Revelations
    OPM
    Opposites
    Overdrive
    Paloma Faith
    Paul Epworth
    PAWS
    Pendulum
    Pop
    Pop Punk
    Pop-Punk
    Punk-Rock
    Puzzle
    Rating
    Reasons
    Remi
    Remix
    Review
    Ric Ocasek
    Rivers Cuomo
    Rob Swire
    Rock
    Royal Hospital
    Rudimental
    Ryan Tedder
    Sam Smith
    Scotland
    Scottish
    Simon Neil
    Single
    Singles
    Slam Dunk
    Sleep Deprived
    Social Network
    Songs Of Innocence
    Soul
    Synthpop
    Technology
    The 1975
    The Pierces
    The Story So Far
    The Xcerts
    Tour
    Twin Atlantic
    U2
    Video
    Wah Wah Hut
    We Are The In Crowd
    Website
    Weezer
    Xcerts
    Yeezus
    Youth Culture Forever

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.