Scottish wielders of the doof Clouds are playing Bloc’s mammoth three-dayer next year, taking place from March 13 to 15 at Butlin’s Minehead. Ahead of that, they’ve done the promoters ‘Up North’, a supremely wide-ranging mix to whet appetites. We’re only just getting our ears round it, but by way of introduction, they say it’s "sort of inspired by The KLF’s Chill Out [take a look at the artwork] and ‘What Time Is Love?’, but not to any huge extent". Listen and download above.
In an accompanying interview, the duo discuss their debut album, last year’s Ghost Systems Rave ("’rascal rave’ might not be the best term for it, nor just ‘rave’ […] Sentimental rave might be another slightly odd term that comes to mind"), their I Care Because You Don’t compilation of Scottish "hooligan techno" and their developing, improvisatory live approach, saying of the latter: "There’s some audio on YouTube of [Talk Talk’s] Mark Hollis talking about improvisation, and the idea that the first time something is played it’s at its finest; I think that applies in a way to what we’re doing on stage, you’re in the moment and you can respond directly to the crowd’s energy, more than a DJ set or a live laptop set, where you have everything pre-loaded. It’s also a huge amount of fun, and a bit scary too." Read the full interview here, where you can click through for details on the festival.
