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Concert Review | Meet Denmark’s home-grown Joy Division, Rangleklods
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March 13th, 2012
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This article is more than 11 years old.
**** (4 stars out of 6); March 9 at Lille Vega
If Friday's performance was anything to go by, it is more than safe to assume that Danish electro experimentalist Rangleklods (aka Esben Andersen) may well become something of a household name in the not too distant future. The Berlin-based musician fired things up at a crammed Lille Vega with snippets of his upcoming debut album Beekeeper – which is due to drop this week- combined with older material off the 2011 EP Home as well as other single releases.
Rangleklods stepped onto the scene to an anticipatory crowd who didn't fully let themselves go during the concert, but who seemed to enjoy themselves nonetheless. The light show and the acoustics were some of the best I have seen at Vega – complimenting the experimental, Joy Division- esque electronic sounds of the seemingly unstoppable Rangleklods, who performed behind a smoky haze of flashes and lightning-like shards that accentuated the hissing hi-hats and heavy bass lines of his music.
This time round, Andersen was accompanied by a guitarist who added a refreshingly innovative touch to his music, which was no more evident than during the 'Young And Dumb' tune, which features a hallucinatory, psychedelic electronic guitar sequence. At some points during the show, however, this mysterious guitarist seemed to be more of a spectator than part of the actual process – although when she did play, she played with enthusiasm and panache that glossed this over.
The new album is definitely a lot more rich in pop influences than their previous releases, which arguably makes it a more accessible work by virtue of it appealing to a broader audience. This notwithstanding Beekeeper does elicit a more musically mature sound that preserves the consistent organic sounds Andersen experiments with, whilst infusing more vocal renditions into the process. The heavy bass lines and pronounced synth stabs that constitute the rather distinct sound people have come to associated with the band with are consistent and prevalent throughout the album, and found room to roam on Friday thanks to live-setup that allowed Rangleklods to inject a great deal of spontaneity and improvisation to his studio productions.
And while musically the show definitely had a lot going for it, the show did get a tad monotonous at times and the audience didn't really well and truly let themselves go. This notwithstanding, Rangleklods music can only get better with time. He is definitely an artist to watch out for this year.
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