Boiler Room: Thundercat + Kutmah

Dalston Boys Club, London | July 8th

Whether it’s thanks to laziness or YouTube, originality’s gotten rarer and it seems to stand as one of the last proper acid tests of uniqueness. Tonight’s show proved to be diverse and intense in equal measures, boasting experimental explorations from both Kutmah and Thundercat in an intimate and eccentric setting.

The location had been changed last minute, likely due to the spatial demands of Thundercat’s live band. The new venue was awash with psychedelic relics, its treasures lifted straight from a Syd Barrett acid trip. One half of the high ceilinged room sat cluttered with antique looking furniture, begging to be sprawled across and used as a vantage point to the splattering of live instruments and DJ equipment occupying the opposite end of the hall. Moog synthesizers, a drum kit and a custom made Ibanez bass guitar lay idle in front of a huge dining table complete with cushioned throne, on which Kutmah was tweaking an atmospheric remix of Erykah Badu’s The Healer.

Breezing through an exploratory set of hip-hop, funk and disco tunes as the remaining seats and floor space became saturated with people, Kutmah brought together some much appreciated stoner vibes to signal the end of the summer sunshine and the beginning of the next act.

The hydraulic bass playing chops of Stephen ‘Thundercat’ Bruner combined with super tight and intuitive musicianship between the other two band members immediately shook the audience up. Genre shredding and cosmic jazz fury transported the already trippy surroundings to an unscripted corner of the Star Wars universe, where jazz, soul, prog rock and DMT have contaminated its water supply and the Brainfeeder collective are more popular than The Beatles.

Heartbreaks + Setbacks stood as the pinnacle of recognisable genius, but the rest was best observed as a free-form performance, flicking between improvisations and leading the audience in chaotic directions. The usual claustrophobia of Boiler Room HQ is perfect for the measured flare of a DJ, or the contained mayhem of an electronic live set. This show tonight had the same captivating exploitation of environment except in a completely different way, with its high ceilings and windows constantly rattling from the thunder of bass.

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Words: Charlie Wood