Review: Ariwo, The Fleece

Amongst the vast healing effects of live music, perhaps the most visible impact comes from a heavy dose of drums and percussion, and this gig had it in buckets.

Locals Modulus III started from the fragile ground up, rising delicately with filtered synth arpeggios, keyboard textures and the relentlessly imaginative stick work of drummer Matt Brown. The trio carefully built their moody intro patterns into impressively cinematic tension, eventually exploding into forceful and dynamic groove monsters. In fact, each piece is something of a conjuring, eery cello and shadowy synths pulse and surge under the drums, themselves played by a classically trained poltergeist with underground nightclub tendencies.

Modulus III by Aubrey Simpson

I found out afterwards that every gig is improvised, which made the experience even more inspiring, highlighting the skill of this dynamic, bearded 3 piece. Resulting in a sound that is part-woodland rituals, part-unhinged club beats and a touch of vintage psychedelia.

This thrilling opening prepared our limbs for Ariwo, who in much the same way opened with foreboding atmospherics, but there is minimal tension and plenty of release with this band who were soon in full swing with hypnotic polyrhythms on percussion and kit, underpinned by weighty electronics.

Their reputation of connecting global sounds and challenging perceptions was obvious, but by halfway through the set anything of a mildly challenging nature had already happened, and those that hoped for twists in direction, sound palette or pace might’ve been a little underwhelmed. Although nicely held together by the dub-conducting style of Pouya Esaei, it’s not a particularly experimental show. Once you’ve heard the ring modulation/phaser FX on the hand drums, and a touch of reverb is the only obvious trickery, and is a constant feature. That said, the gifted players themselves, and what they did to the crowd through perpetual motion was their undeniable strength. There were moments where they have you by the puppet strings, no escape.

Ariwo

Mesmerising trumpet like an astral storyteller amongst dark canopies of drums and bass, gracefully described the ancient heartbeat of African and Latin music, as it was being driven into the bodies of the thrilled audience. Two or three times during the set, three of the male musicians sang and chanted together, which did somehow sound like it came from more voices, down in a forested valley somewhere, and after the first instance, the saxophonist Camilla George appeared on stage and told the first of her own stories through equally jazzy and expressive solos.
They held the stage, and the crowd, with talented musicianship and dance-floor electronics (complete with some frantic knob twiddling), in a well-crafted formula that inspired heartfelt movement. Just not in a particularly groundbreaking direction.

Having been so entertained by the first act’s more creative drumming style, Ariwo’s percussionists looked comfortable and slick, rather than earthy and raw. Either way, they totally achieve trance-inducing music, with no place for switch-ups and surprises. Like the techno that is woven into it, it’s all about momentum, a persisting workout that gives people the freedom to go wild (which they did) rather than dividing them with any over-complex orchestration or structure. So although some space or more radical differences between tracks might earn them another innovative or challenging badge, they flooded the place with body music, and with just enough dubbed jazz on the side to perceive the astral connection.

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