The dimly-lit, subterranean central London venue of Electrowerkz became the host for 2 highly-appraised British indie-electronic acts currently on the market. For the supporting role, Bristol-based DJ Kai Whiston promised to serve many a given track from his well-received debut LP, Kai Whiston Bitch, amusingly incorporating tropes of classic early-2000s pop hits and more recent hip-hop burners. For the main role, London-based Clarence Clarity promised to showcase an array of funk-tinged, indie-pop hits laden with his uniquely delicate voice yielding throughout. This dichotomy would prove not to work out for the best.
Having received positive reviews from many underground electronic critics for his latest debut LP, my enthusiasm to see Whiston certainly outweighed my anticipation for the main course of tonight’s delectable music tastings. And boy, I was not let down. In fact, my expectations of Whiston were exceeded with his unanticipated sampling between The Black Eyed Peas’ ‘My Lumps’ and JPEGMAFIA’s ‘Puff Daddy’, to reference one scenario of the set. It is of no doubt that one of the main assets of this particular genre is the effortless and nonchalant nature in which DJs can intricately incorporate an array samples from various different genres across decades of music.
With this in mind, Whiston continued to do so oscillating through decades of music - never seeming trite or dull but inventive for the extensive 30-minute slot. Rather than reverting to incessantly buzzing bass-drops around each corner of every song, Whiston exuded great structure and flow between each track’s samplings giving a unique freshness to the trajectory of his overall set. In spite of the shortened support slot time, Whiston imparted an extraordinary and enthralling impression exemplified by his dexterity in incorporating such hypnotic sampling encased within his repertoire.
Forging the headline act, Clarence Clarity burst into the Electrowerkz with the glitz-and-glam of his latest LP''s ‘Adam & Evil’ track, which soon transcended into such funk-ridden guitar riffs infecting the crowd’s groove. Reminiscent to that of Tame Impala, the soul-stricken Clarity exuded his powerfully fragile voice exclaiming, “I’ll sleep forever, on the hands that were given to me”, whilst simultaneously swimming in the influences of alternative-R&B and electropop. The following tracks of ‘We Change’ and ‘Vapid Feels Ain’t Vapid’, continued this lineage of soulful facades and sustainable tempos which was duly reciprocated by the entirety of the sold-out crowd - mostly in the form of the post-modern Western interpretation of ‘grinding’.
However, as Clarity’s set evolved, neither did the set of tracks which invariably followed suit of their funky bassline hooks and blaring synths - eventually resulting in an all-too-familiar and trite sound. Harking back to contemporary indie-electronic acts such as MGMT and M83, Clarity seemed like a dime-a-dozen act within this field of music, unfortunately unable to match the glitz and glamour from the inception of his set. Over Clarity’s past 2 album cycles, tracks such as ‘Bloodbarf’, ‘Fold Em’, and ‘Buck-Toothed Particle Smashers’ all seemed to carry themselves well within their recorded format, however, in their live format they paled in comparison to Whiston’s enticing and allusive electronic sampling.
Inevitably, though, Clarity culminated the evening’s servings with his highest-streamed track on Spotify, ‘Those Who Can’t, Cheat’, exuding a powerhouse of swirling basslines, sumptuously high-pitched electronics tinges, and evolving into yet another funky hook to see it through. The crowd ‘boogied’ and ‘grinded/ground’ for one last opportunity as they felt the pulsating groove-driven bass riff rip through the 200-cap venue, further whetting their appetite for the weekend break.
Whilst the majority of the crowd may have reciprocated Clarence Clarity’s groovy and funkadelic discography, my personal affection for the act wavered on this Thursday night in central London, as I longed to see more of the indelible Kai Whiston. Between the battle of funky bass lines with emotional singing against the humorous yet enthralling electronic sampling, Whiston emerged as the ultimate victor with a highly-promising career laid out before him - and there’s no doubt I’ll be going for seconds at The Pickle Factory this April.
6.5/10
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