- Much has been made recently of the pop aspirations of a number of underground electronic artists, in particular those from the UK bass music world. Whatever your take, it's surely a healthy thing for mainstream music if talented bedroom artists are allowed to pitch on a level playing field with those raised in a plastic mould. On a recent wet Thursday night at the lavish burlesque Koko in London, two fine examples of meeting point between accessible and underground sounds shared the bill.
Swedish band Little Dragon have gone from being an interesting leftfield act to an international headliner in just under three years. An interesting selection of remixers has ensured they have retained interest with their label (Peacefrog) and its more club-oriented fans, while their original and accessible drifting Scando-disco sounds have lulled an ever-increasing pop following. It was little surprise, then, to find Koko filled to the rafters with a diverse group of followers. Warming up for Little Dragon was one of those acclaimed remixers, SBTRKT.
The masked producer may have been better known as a broken beat and garage artist under a different guise some years ago, but now his deep, driving and catchy harmonies are attracting the attention of a new and wider audience. He was joined by Sampha on this night and their set was engrossing, innocent and moving. No matter how hard they went (grime, tribal and dark garage all featured), the sound wasn't aggressively piercing. Indeed, it only primed the crowd until the obvious set highlight, SBTRKT's emotional remix of Modeselektor "Art & Cash."
With the room absolutely filled to the point where it was difficult to even find a viewing spot on the floor, Little Dragon took to the stage. They struggled to reach the high points achieved by SBTRKT's set, but steadily worked through numbers such as "Twice" and "Forever." Little Dragon are not a band to rave to, yet they took to weaving a trippy fairy tale disco atmosphere with aplomb, leaving the crowd—by set's end—yearning for more.