Matthew Levinson

Finns go crazy in Shanghai

Published on 16/09/05
by matt

It was clear noone knew quite what to expect from the Finnish electro showcase last night at the VIP rooms. Obviously Absolut Vodka’s local marketing manager – the event’s sponsor – didn’t, she spent half Ovali Virta’s show asking me whether it was a ‘successful’ performance. Well the answer is a resounding yes and a quiet no.

Cleaning Women were first up. Three guys as angry girls, complete with Doc Marten boots, short shrill pigtails and black stockings on homemade instruments: an electrified clothes drying rack, a guitar made out of an Illy coffee tin, drums built from stainless steel colanders, pots and rubbish bins. On paper it sounds like a wasted hour, but the clattering, harsh rhythms add up to something like early ‘80s industrial group Einsturzende Neubauten.

They get an amazing sound out of the homemade guitars, and when vocals somewhere between Tim Buckley, Ian Curtis and Souxsie Souix glide over a seductive metal samba it all adds up to something newer, a fascinating punk jazz with a crazed, almost hymnal feeling.

It was strange though, to watch this uncompromising group in such an elitist venue. Owned by one of China’s most famous actors, the VIP Rooms are pitched somewhere between elite lounge bar and super club glam. A winding maze of paneled rooms and alcoves lead to increasingly exclusive rooms each level, up to the coveted fifth floor. The drinks are frightfully expensive, even for Shanghai, and the advertising around the room seems more important than the music.

Ovali Virta took the stage in matching black jeans, white shirts and black cravats to the theme song from Dallas. Looking like a bunch of drunken college boys, they crowded in (and clowned) around a laptop. It’s obvious they’re not as comfortable on a stage as Cleaning Women, but their music is undeniably more accessible. Big club-friendly electro beats, heavy rock riffs and infectious vocals. Like Joy Division on electro duties, with a touch of Har Mar Superstar or Spod. It’s cool, though not particularly original.

One of them does Gang of Four via Paul Smith dance steps, but it all seems like the moves of a band who’ve been told: ‘you can make great music, but you’ve gotta put on a good performance.’ I would prefer to see them authentically playing their laptops rather than faking it.

If anyone was there to see a particular performance, it was definitely Jori Hulkkonen. He is Finland’s best-known DJ and one of its longest running electronic producers. But it’s fair to say that few if any punters noticed him come on, he slid onto the decks in a cloud of smoke at the end of Ovali Virta’s set. Fortunately the crowd stuck with him and again it’s fair to say I can’t imagine the club’s seen a better DJ in a long time. He played a lush set of deep garage that touched on acid, electro, techno, heavy EBM, bottomless bass and always the spectre of Chicago and Detroit house. The crowd danced enthusiastically, though the confused looks made it clear that everyone was waiting for the headliner. The headliner who was already playing. Industrial tracks melt seamlessly into Depeche Mode in a blink of an eye, then it’s onto Cajmere. It’s perfectly mixed, though you can always tell when a new track is coming into the mix. None of that monotony created by DJs who might as well be playing the same track for an hour.

It ends for us with heavy Nu Groove acid house. We could so easily be at Marrickville Bowling Club listening to this at a Mad Racket. ‘All I need is the acid to be free / Acid in my head!’ It’s so hilarious to hear a track like this in a country where drug use is so heavily criminalized. Acid In My Head!

I love this concept of Consulates and Embassies promoting artists internationally, more of this I say!

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