'Butter Sessions & Research Record Label Showcase Review'
An eclectic line-up of live performances takes those at the Forum in Naarm on a sonic journey of experimentation, a review of Butter Sessions & Research Record Label Showcase.
Arriving at the area surrounding the Forum in Naarm I could see the city bustling with activity. This was to be the second of three events I had planned to go to that evening, and the one I had the most anticipation for.
So when I entered through the large antiquated frame of the building, I felt relaxed to see people in groups small and large, gathered, calmly chatting as a vibrant-ambiance echoed off the walls and crept through to the hall, excited to see what was ahead of them.
The lighting had change from the interlude, whilst the room was previously quite dark, it was now comparatively well lit. Despite the change in luminance, party goers attention was still firmly drawn toward the stage where YL HOOI calmy stood either side. The first few tracks had a bright, earthy feel to them, a tone which was occasionally punctuated by a high, surreal pitch. This invited a peaceful, yet energetic mood into the room, with people now sat side by side at the front of the floor, drifting away. Their final track was an apt summary of the mood for their entire set, it began softly, carrying on the tone from before. The complexity grew as the song carried forward; the working of musical instruments new an old brought into cooperative harmony by the artists.
The contrast in the music was matched by the lighting which shifted upwards and down, the cold tones projecting and inherent warmth whilst warm tones had a rich coolness. All of this accurately scored artists whose creation was a juxtaposition of the analogue meeting the digital, of the natural meeting with the future.
YL HOOI concluded and Interstitial x Emelyne made their way back to the stage. Attendees sunk further into relaxation until suddenly a rhythmical melody began tapping its way through the hall. For the first time since arriving at the event I heard the sultry tones of music meant to be danced to, and a lone man seemed to get the hint. He stepped his way past those still sat on the ground, and then, standing front and centre, he began moving his body to the music. Perfect timing really, as whilst this was happening, the fourth act of the night, Glass Beams, were making themselves at home on stage. A large drum kit sat toward the back whilst peddles were place at the bottom of microphones either side and three people made their way out on stage.
Their faces were obscured by thick, woven masks, the jewels covering it glittering in the stage lights. In their hands they carried guitars and drumsticks, and on their bodies were silk robes with patterns emulating the skin of animals. They took their places, and slowly, they began taking over the forum. Glass Pillars delivered a beautifully crafted set with each song a natural progression of the last, their energy on stage was contained yet fierce; much like their music.
The set included tracks from their 2021 EP Mirage. When the self-titled track began to play its slow, hypnotic thrum eased its way through the crowd. The base guitar produced notes which hovered above and within the whole space while treble from the lead guitar and synths would periodically pierce through its pliable barrier. One had the feeling of both floating and flying. Then suddenly, Taurus began, the crowd was abruptly brought back to earth by its tight rhythmical structure. The effect was no less hypnotic than before, but where people were once adrift, now they became possessed. Their bodies were not their own, but yet more instruments of Glass Beams, instruments of dance. T
he crowd journeyed on through their transient state as Rattlesnake began to play. It had much the same unrelenting funk as Taurus before it but was accompanied by a shifting hues of red and orange, shades and amber and fire red bathed the forum in an atmosphere of casual intensity. The music flowed over the hapless dancers, and, like lava, it sucked them still further into the earth.
Glass Beams directed their crowd, they leered over their instruments, and deftly swayed to the back of the stage, drifting forward again. Yellows strobes would break through the dense red haze and strike the artists silhouettes, casting them against the screen in sickly sweet tones of yellow and green. No one could but follow them down their toxically alluring rabbit hole.
I would take some time to have what felt like a post-coital joint around the corner after the Glass Beams ordeal. But didn’t want to delay too long as their outstanding performance had heightened my anticipation for more. I could feel a dramatic shift in energy amongst the crowd. People were no longer at ease as they were before; much like myself they had been animated into a restless bustle by anticipatory excitement. I made my way to the very front of the venue this time and took a seat behind the barrier. Polito were making their way on stage. Stood side by side, they prepared. At their hands lay modest looking mixing equipment, something which belied what was to come. All of a sudden and at once music and lights blazed on. The blinding white of the screen obscured the artists profiles, or perhaps I was abducted, as before me stood two ethereal figures. The form was long and lean, their music, otherworldly. Like elastic pulled too tight, it would forcefully undulate and propel its way through the forum.
Amidst the blinding light and inescapable sound, a stark red curtain appeared, easily capturing the attention of everyone. As it billowed back and forth a curious being appeared from behind it. The person danced with an almost robotic energy. They jumped upward and down, threw their arms forward and back, their head side to side. They danced complete of themselves, they did not notice of the crowd, or of the artists, nor even of themselves projected on the screen behind. Watching this, I thought to myself, “it is an experiment!”, these interstellar artist had come to show human kind how one truly brings the funk.
In much the same vein as Glass Beams before them, Polito had the crowd transfixed. Though they were not dancing with the same verve as before, each and every attendee had their attention squarely fixed on Politos test subject, who continued their poetically robotic dance. Lights would continue to flash with bright whites striking through shades of black and cyan blue until eventually the music began to recede. Perhaps they had decided that a respite would be needed, or maybe their experiment was not having the desired effect. Either way, the room grew darker and quieter, and slowly people could be heard talking amongst themselves again, a common question between them being “what was that?!”.
I made my way from the floor and back up toward the booths between the staircases. As I knelt down, looking out atop the heads of butter sessions enthusiasts the music began to grow louder again, light blue and white started flooding the venue and the experiment was back underway.
A new approach was being taken by Polito, this time the music was even faster, and their test subject resumed their mechanical dancing. But this was not what they wanted, maybe they should cater to the natural tastes of their subjects. Lyrics began floating from the speakers and the dancer stop abruptly in their tracks. As their head tilted toward the roof a look on their face struck one as nostalgia, an old favourite perhaps. Their body followed and as they stretched it outward and upward they seemingly awoke from their fugue state. To this movement the crowd would join, all were brought to life by the slick reverberations emitting from the speakers; Polito had confirmed their hypothesis. The change in tune continued as drum & base began to play and the lights, which were once draped in blue and white, were now illuminating in a bright scarlet re light - the same colour as that of the curtain which continued to bellow.
As it did so, the specimen made their way toward it and brought it to the ground, Polito were approaching the end of their set and the music began to reflect this. Where there were once fast, elastic beats spliced with drum & base now more melodic music began to play. The creature draped themselves in the newly acquired red cloth and they became wings. As the set drew to a close, the crowd still enamoured, red light permeating everything, the being took flight with the new wings. Polito had created life through dance and music, life imbued with scarlet red hue and possessed of unlimited energy for creative expression.
Following Polito were Big Yawn. This well-establish Naarm quartet have aptly demonstrated the affinity for cross-genre experimentation with previous releases. Their performance at the forum as the penultimate act of the evening cemented this impression. Watching Big Yawn take their places on stage I was struck by their age relative to the other acts so far. This group seemed like seasoned professionals of live performance, at ease with themselves and their craft. Their were no fancy costumes or avant-garde dancing accompanying the music, just an amalgam of lush, well-rehearsed, and well-executed bangers. The crowd was immense, the bright lights from the screen behind the artists creating hundreds of edge highlights against the crowns of spectators heads.
Relative to the continuity between tracks delivered by Glass Beams and Polito, Big Yawn brought something different to the table each time. One track would effortlessly mix krautrock and ambient jazz whilst another would pitch break beats against drums and drones. Amidst it all there was the continuous pummelling of basslines and kinetic dub.
The final act of the evening was a back to back performance by the founders of Butter Sessions, Sleep D, and Reelize. The interstitial sets prolonged as a construction job took place on stage: showing a graduation of cubes, each row high than the last which met at a zenith facing the crowd. In this were several large, chrome-plated spheres. The structure seemed like something out of a H.G. Wells novel, like a piece of debris had fallen from a stray UFO and landed in the centre of the forum.
As lights about the installation began to flash music began to play, the beginning of this closing act seemingly taking inspiration from the tone of Sleep D’s most recent release Flashed Glass. The ensemble sent forth a horizon of synths, soaked as they were in reverb and interlaced with woody percussion. This tone could easily belay what the artists had in store, for as the act progressed dance rhythms found their way into the crowd. Though I had to leave shortly, I had the privilege to catch the midpoint of this tonal transition. As tracks reminiscent of Rebel Force began to play bolts of lightning flashed across the screen behind. They would briefly illuminate the whole space and conjured scenes of rain dancing from the crowd. The relationship between those on stage and those on the floor was mutually beneficial, Sleep D x Reelize tampered with the forces of nature and sonic ecology whilst the crowd beg them for still more.
Throughout the night the music was impeccable from each artist I had the pleasure to see. But more than that, all the music was effortlessly matched by visuals which in each instance elevated the performance to a new level. Rhys Newlings choice of lighting patterns, colours, and intensity were nothing short of inspired. He expertly conveyed a duality during YL HOOI, had me fully convinced Polito were extra-terrestrial being’s, took everyone on a sickly sweat acid trip during Glass Beams, and captured the ordered chaos of Big Yawn. This evening was nothing short of an absolute privilege to attend, it platformed and showcased an eclectic line-up of local talent, introducing me to acts I had not heard before but now sign the praises of.
Despite its high production value, it didn’t feel commercial or disconnected from its crowd or community. A truly special evening.
Written by Josh Pickup
Photos by Monya Xu and Josh Pickup
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