foundry iron

I was out at the Foundry last night, for the last Rehab night there - Due to the new licensing laws the Foundry wont be having any live music or DJs from the 24th of this month, which really sucks.

The Foundry has to be one of the greatest venues in the world, due to its completely open attitude towards music, art, and performance. The venue itself is an old bank, and has a lower basement which was where the vaults were, huge thick and oppresive dark rooms which are perfect for the installations they hold theree. Anyone can, or could before these licensing changes, hold an exhibition or put on a music night. They have a large sign as you walk in, a mission statement of sorts, headed 'I Could Fucking Do Better Than That' which tells you if you want to do something just speak to the bar staff and they'll give you whichever date is open in the diary. They dont have to see it or hear it, its just a completely open policy. That could in theory be a really bad idea, but the crowd that the Foundry brings in are so crazed and eccentric, that it almost always turns out to be something really interesting and worthwhile.

Anyhoo, the installation at the moment is genius, its the bestest, most immersive sound installation i have ever felt. Its called National Grid, and consists of two of these lower vaults in complete darkness, with a set of massive subwoofers amplifying electrical currents from different sources. Its just this loud booming bass, very rhythmic and pulsating. To go into one of the rooms and just sit down in the darkness allowing your eyes to adjust or in fact just closing them, just feeling this massive energy surge in your chest, its a completely physical sensation of raw force. Hmm, wish i was back there now!

The Rehab night itself was really good as well, with some excellent music being spun, lots of Modeselektor dropped in the mix. randomNumber played a live set with loads of tracks from the upcoming album getting aired to really good response. The Foundry, being a bar, always has a high volume of people chatting during shows, yet randomNumber's expertly crafted beats and melodies easily penetrated the noise and caught peoples attention. Ace set!

Afterwards i headed up to the Wrong Music/Adaadat/ Little Big event at Electrowerk, but i was lame, and faded pretty early, slinking off quietly about 2am with a bad dose of hiccups which were annoying the hell out of me.

Saturday afternoons...

Really good Village Orchestra review over at The Milk Factory ..
http://www.themilkfactory.co.uk/reviews/tvo_arcadia.htm