Live Review: Gold Panda, Oscar Key Sung

Formerly of Oscar + Martin fame, a rather animated Oscar Key Sung is doing the solo thing these days. It's a springboard for a kind of avant-r'n'b sound that favours soft and sexy slow jams that attempt to assume a position of intimacy with the few hundred punters gathered here tonight. Key Sung layers his distinctive falsetto over the minimal backing track, which toys with the conventions of r'n'b and breaks them down to deliver something more experimental. Tunes such as All I Could Do and Holograms make for dreamy, late night listening and it takes time for this pumped-up crowd, who are looking for instant gratification, to warm to Key Sung's chilled grooves. Prolific as all hell, Key Sung has plenty of tunes on SoundCloud worth checking out.
With just a couple of albums under his belt, Gold Panda has very quickly established himself as an exciting new voice in dance music. The influence of the last 20-or-so years of dance music echoes in his tracks, but he moved beyond imitating the past to create something that is distinctly his own. At times he approximates the stomp of techno – or the rubbery bump of house and the stutter of electro – but never quite conforms to the dictates of those rulebooks. Predictably, the set revolves around the ubiquitous laptop with an illuminated piece of fruit on the back of it connected to a number of controllers, which means that he's able to manipulate sequences and play virtual instruments without needing to stare into a computer screen. While beats propel the show forward, the Panda also works with layers of sound to create sprawling, immersive psychedelic soundscapes that add depth and dimension to the mix. His knowledge of world music sees him dropping Indian classical music and Asian folk music samples, at times to exotic effect and at others to create a tribal vibe. In complete control of his sequences, Gold Panda plays with elements of his tracks before putting it all together to give punters the thumping dancefloor kicks they are after. Vanilla Minus generates a whole lot of excitement in the room and is a highlight that unleashes the dance party. The ecstatic Quitters Raga leaves fans on a high demanding more.