Live Review: Cibo Matto, Batterie

Sydney-based electro producer and composer Batterie, Jared Underwood, certainly makes his sonic mark quickly. Seated behind a drum kit while simultaneously operating a keyboard and a handful of samplers, he’s able to craft glitch-driven soundscapes live on the fly.

What could easily turn into very academic and dry music never forgets its purpose in the hands of Underwood, with Battles and Holy Fuck-reminiscent grooves finding their way into every song. Backed by a suitably glitch-inspired black and white projection, the entire set, as varied as it was, managed to stand together as a very cohesive statement. If we’re lucky, we’ll see a damn fine instrumental hip hop album from Batterie in the future.

Despite having been around on-and-off since the mid-‘90s, Cibo Matto had never made it out to Australia before.

Sauntering on stage in dark glasses and wide-brimmed trucker caps though, one could be forgiven for thinking it was still 1995. The band has always walked that impossibly fine line between too dorky and crazily too cool to exist. The bass-heavy artificial beats, the twee keyboard grooves, the bizarre food-driven lyrics – Cibo serve as this wonderfully unique artefact of futurist trip hop transposed to a forgotten future. What separates the band from imitators though, is how confidently they deliver on the musical goods.

Mid-set hip hop grunge highlight MFN got the crow into a frenzy, yet slow groove 10th Floor Ghost Girl managed to be equally as intoxicating with its bizarre psycho-sexuality and sampled beats. It’s been a long time coming for the band to visit our shores, but it was somehow worth the wait and hopefully the first of many visits. Having this band recording and touring is a gift too wonderful to not have again.