The enigma of Black Midi
Black Midi are the talk all over London right now, and yet they are also quite the enigma in that they do not have much a digital footprint or many great photos and you get the impression they are one of these acts that want the music to speak for itself – without the real need to put much out there in the way of visuals.
Even in their live performances audience interaction is kept to a minimum while the group seem much more at ease communicating simply with each other. It’s all part of their musical chemistry, and their live shows feel like the product of a highly intuitive hive mind where individuality is not important. The focus is on each member’s contribution to perfectly executing the group’s bastard musical hybrid of clanging math-rock, visceral noise and frantic post-punk in the best way possible. At times it has a real sense of humour. At others it’s exhilarating. Sometimes it’s just bloody good fun. But Black Midi are deadly serious about their art and Greep constantly refers to the idea of ‘progression’.
Black Midi met at Brit School, a performing arts institution in Croydon that seems at odds with their music, on account of its celebrated mainstream alumni, which you probably know includes Jessie J, Adele, Amy Winehouse and bands like The Kooks. Greep and lead guitarist Matt Kelvin first dabbled in the idea of a band mid-way through their music course, when they were joined by drummer Morgan Simpson and bassist Cameron Picton. Diverse in musical influences and tastes, bonding over a passion for Talking Heads, Deerhoof and Danny Brown.
Be that as it may, CRACK is full of love for the band:
“Fast forward to 2019, and the group are on every hype-chaser’s hitlist. Under the name Black Midi, they’ve been talked about in not-so-hushed tones as one of the country’s most exciting new bands. An indefinable group, pushing guitar music into strange, hypnotic territory. Not that the four of them care much for the hyperbole – today they’re far more concerned about my bowling skills.
It almost seems incongruous that this ragtag, calamitous bunch (completed by guitarist Matt Kelvin) could be producing some of the UK’s most cerebral new music. Their sound calls to mind everything from Battles, to Anna Meredith and This Heat. As it turns out, though, Black Midi’s music might not be as meticulously constructed as it may sound. “It’s weird,” says Geordie. “It’s not like we were like, ‘Ooh, we all like this crazy music’. It’s just that we were friends, innit,” he shrugs, as if any group of schoolkids would come up with these sounds on a whim. “We didn’t set out to make this music; it’s just the music that came out,” agrees Cameron”.
While their music is as enigmatic as their digital shyness belies, a recent review in The Guardian sheds some light on their just released debut album “schlagenheim “:
“At their least appealing, there’s no doubt that Black Midi can sound pretty pleased with themselves. Bmbmbm features a one-note bass riff interspersed with propulsive explosions of noise, over which Greep offers variations on the phrase “She moves with a purpose” in a succession of different voices, from drawl to gibber. It’s the kind of idea that Damo Suzuki-era Can might have fruitfully explored – indeed, the band have backed him in concert – and bears a certain resemblance to the early Butthole Surfers track Something, although you struggle to locate any of Can’s warmth, wit, funk or soul here, or the Butthole Surfers’ lysergically enhanced sense of fear and loathing. Or, indeed, what the track is supposed to be communicating. Without any of that, it’s hard to avoid a sensation of po-faced seriousness, of music that exists largely in order to make its authors and fans feel superior to the hoi-polloi with their risible dependence on melodies and lyrics.
Indeed, black midi (their stylized lower-case spelling) are on the move and ones to watch. Check our their performance on KEXP:
