- Following the EU referendum and one of the most chaotic weeks in memory, an escape from the shitshow of British politics was sorely needed. So the sight of two dozen people in Union Jack straw boaters milling around Hackney's Moth Club seemed like the bleakest irony imaginable. Yet the overlap between old members of this former working men's club, here to remember the battle of the Somme, and a broad coalition of Erol Alkan fans from across the past 15 years, here to celebrate the release of Alkan and Richard Norris' first full album as Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, somehow worked. It added to the charm of a unique night.
Well, not even night—more early evening, with a kick off in faded daylight, and a strict 1 AM curfew. Perhaps because of the early start time, the atmosphere never hit full-throttle Friday mode. But thanks to the freewheeling music on display, there was a lightness and carefree abandon about the evening. It's something the new Wizards LP strives for, grappling toward a sweet spot between the poppy psychedelia of the '60s and soft shoegaze in the vein of Lush or Slowdive, much of which found its way onto Moth Club's slightly beat-up system.
Alkan's versatility and reputation as a man in search of dance floor moments stood him in good stead. In control of both the decks and lights for most of the night, and with a permanent grin on his face, you got the sense this was a gratifying breakaway from the peak-time sets he's known for nowadays. One standout was hearing "Subways," the effervescent new Avalanches single, deployed on the dance floor to wonderful effect. It felt prescient: a return to a time when 'plunderphonics' ruled the roost in the early 2000s, and to the more ramshackle nature of Trash and Durrr in the formative days of his career. Ditto a blend of "Music Sounds Better With You" atop a hyperactive Afrobeat rhythm. Under Moth Club's chintzy gold curtains, and with plenty of familiar faces in London's club scene bopping around alongside the Brexiteers, it felt like a proper indie disco—back at a time when it stood for openness, fun, and a newfound creativity to make alien sounds speak to one another.