Spring Heel Jack will be playing the Queen Elizabeth hall on Thursday January 23rd.
Spring heel jack made quite an impression on the Drum and Bass scene a few years back, although viewed as outsiders by many within the scene they expanded it’s horizons and bought a welcome breath of fresh air. Their tunes were always strongly Jazz influenced, so to see them appear at the QEH amongst such company should be really exciting.
SHJ conspirators John Coxon and Ashley Wales are joined on stage by an international all star line up of contemporary Jazz musicians, Matthew Shipp, Evan Parker, J.Spaceman, William Parker and Han Bennik.
This gig promises to be a unique fusion, full of talent and imagination, of traditional instruments and technology, and of traditional styles with the avant guard.

Royksopp have breezed into the somewhat stifling atmosphere of British House music like a breath of fresh air. Their album, Melody AM was one of the standout platters of the year, and it came from nowhere (well, Norway actually..) Royksopp conjure a delightful blend of recognisable influences, but with their own unique, and it has to be said, unparalled mastery of computers and technology.

Royksopp have toured relentlessly this year, but the end of year gigs had a special promise, particularly the Brixton Academy gig, which, for anybody who doesn’t know, is usually the last date of the tour and gets an extension, in this case until 3 am, with the addition of special guest Miss.Kittin. The show was a combination of Dj’s and live performances. FC Kahuna were the first live band and they transferred their studio based sound very well onto the live stage. Their singer entertained and their sound was full and engaging. The DJ sound of Cosmos linked the earlier parts of the evening, Tom Middleton unusually low key, off to stage left and sticking mainly to bootlegs and party tunes.

The main attraction was of course, Royksopp, who played most of the favourites, and a couple of them such as Remind me and Eple more than once. They payed more than a nodding glance to their eighties and pop sensibilities in the middle of their set. Joined by a live bassist they rocked out a couple of psychedelic classics. Toward the end of their set, a change was noticed, and they dropped into Felix da Housecats’
“What does it feel like?”, whilst Miss. Kitten sureptiously joined the band on stage belting out Royksopps’ remix of this fierce House monster.

The band played a couple of encores driving the packed Academy crowd into a frenzy. The stage show was fairly minimalistic but bright and futuristic and perfectly in keeping with the crisp infectious beats. Finally, Royksopp dropped one more beautiful version of Eple before clearing out to a rapturous ovation.

The last hour and a half were capably steered by Miss.Kittin on the decks who blended thumping beats seamlessly although the crowd began to disperse after the climax of Royksopp’s night out.