Aired Broadcast

Two posts coming at you like Cleopatru (pardon my accent), today.  Here's the first, of local acts nobody's heard of, but they're wroth bending an ear towards.

IN-FLIGHT MOVIE/ JUNIPER NIGHTS/ TIGER MENDOZA, Oxfordshire Music Scene, Port Mahon, 3/6/23 

Ian De Quadros has his finger in so many pies Environmental Health probably keep a dossier on him. He’s worked with such a roster of people, as collaborator or remixer, that no two Tiger Mendoza gigs are the same, in terms of either line-up or style. Tonight, Ian is joined in person by Dan Clear on guitar - chunky chords, delicate picking, or righteous shredding, as required - and virtually by the fantastic vocals of Emma Hunter and Mike from The Deadbeat Apostles (whose chunk-hop soul-revue guest spot ‘Easy Tiger’ is equal parts Propellerheads, Gomez, and Blues Brothers). ‘Green Machine’ gets a more organic reading than usual with hints of Mike Oldfield, as well as reminding this old Oxford electronica head of The Evenings’ version of the Channel 4 News theme. You truly never know what you’ll get from a Tiger Mendoza gig...unless you count quality. 

Juniper Nights also raise eyebrows slightly, their latest incarnation having ditched most of the Radiohead moves for a blurry psych-indie sound that threatens to go stratospheric but never quite does, which we christen faux-gaze. This is not a criticism, though, and their way with a fuzzy groove is pleasing. ‘Stop Motion’ is the set highlight, a bonsai Foals tune anchored by bass which is somehow elastic and staccato at the same time. 

Pairing synths with live drums works so well, it’s a wonder it doesn’t happen more often. In-Flight Movie are an object lesson, melding the propulsive neon sheen of 80s Tangerine Deam to the long-fuse explosions of 65 Days Of Static. They have a track about the flight patterns of red kites, which is about the most perfect concept for Oxfordshire post-rock anyone could ever dream up. Immersive yet often slyly funky, this set is excellent. Perhaps the slow and overly reverbed vocals could be improved, their dour goth tempo often pulling against the John Carpenter purity of the sparse passages and the hyperactive percussive climaxes, but this is a minor quibble. In-Flight Movie are such a strong addition to Oxford’s scene that it’s surely only a matter of time before someone suggests they work with Tiger Mendoza. Oh, we just did.