Simple Things 2013

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  • Hitting its third year with confidence, Simple Things has quickly established itself as one of the more ambitious urban festivals in the West Country, with an impressive scope for quality artists and a knack for choosing memorable locations. This year's key hubs were Colston Hall, one of Bristol's most prestigious concert spaces, and The Island, a network of disused firestations, police cells, courtrooms and more. Colston Hall hosted main stage spectacles like Nicolas Jaar, Pantha Du Prince and Modeselektor, but reports of nightmare queues kept this reviewer firmly planted in The Island's more rave-friendly spread of acts and spaces. Before the heat of the party took hold there was more eclectic fare to choose from, such as local boy Typesun's soul-infused live act, which captivated a sizable crowd that got to the Firestation early. Jazzy Jeff had more obvious appeal, throwing down house party hip-hop with plenty of cuts, scratches and old favourites. Out in the Shapes courtyard, Appleblim presided over two hours of bumpy house and bass hybrids that reflected the direction his own music is moving in. In the courtroom, which was curated by Crazy Legs, DjRUM brought a pressure that batted not an eyelid to the hour of the day. Positioned on the judge's plinth, he threw down deep, driving techno and 2-step draped in icy textures. By this hour the crowds at The Island were thinning as the peak time hysteria swelled around Colston Hall, and logistical difficulties led to The Kelly Twins propping up the main Firestation space with an extended downtempo set, while Craig Richards served up his own brand of steadfast house and techno in the courtyard. After some delays, King Midas Sound started up their inimitable brand of soul-crushing, noise-baiting dub in the Firestation, with Kevin Martin hammering out a brilliant cacophony while Kiki Hitomi and Roger Robinson pierced the chaos with their bi-polar vocal tones. Credit where credit is due: the organisers did well to keep capacities in each space comfortable as one-in-one-out queues started to form. Evian Christ met his growing audience with an erratic cocktail of trap-led beats, all cocksure swagger and modern sheen, but he was no match for the energetic pulse of Ital's purposeful, densely layered 4/4 thump. By that point, though, the focus of the night was on Jon Hopkins, whose emotive synth strokes and rolling percussive intricacies met a rapturous response. In Studio 89's courtroom space, Maurice Fulton was delivering his trademark blend of acid house, disco and funk, all played with the flair of a mastermind selector. The house party setting was very welcome amidst 15 hours of mostly contemplative electronic music. Dopplereffekt brought us back into left-field with their spellbinding set of live-electro-meets-performance-art, the interplay between Gerald Donald and Michaela To-Nhan Bertel perfectly matching the austere, synth-rich soundtrack. In the closing stages, Marcel Dettmann took the reins in the Firestation with the expected bout of techno, while in the underground police cells Ital Tek represented Planet Mu with a chopped-up blend of juke, jungle and electronica that perfectly suited the grimy conditions. Whirling around the many venues of The Island after such a long blast of electronic music, the striking nature of the venue really took hold. Still, I did have a pang of regret at having missed the action in Colston Hall, which no doubt had the potential to be equally jaw-dropping. Those who spent the day there reported equally positive experiences—high quality production and top shelf music in an unforgettable setting—and as such Simple Things wound up being two distinct events under the same banner, and those who tried to catch a bit of both may have been left out in the cold. Be that as it may, the ambition of Simple Things cannot be faulted, and in managing once again to bring such a fantastic array of artists to Bristol for one day the organisers can only be commended. Quite how to solve the capacity issue is anyone's guess. Let's see how they handle it next year.
RA