Live Review: Lucy Cliche, Sleep D, Nicky Crane

In their 40th year, local legends Triple R are celebrating their annual April Amnesty this year with a series of late-night, live-to-air shows from their performance space, appropriately titled April After Dark. Tonight, it's oddball electronica's night with radio show Leisure Link in the driver's seat. After a lovely humble intro from the show's host - the ever-charming and enigmatic Didvid S, Nicky Crane opens the night with a set of wonk-flavoured sounds and beats that feel like a more laid-back version of Iglooghost with slithers from the Brainfeeder catalogue. It might be the odd hour and the fact that it's a Tuesday night, but the crowd take a hesitant approach to affairs and, in the post-show interview, the main man describes his set as "bullshit". Harsh self-loathing aside, the results are far from it.

Following a rather quick turnaround, Sleep D take the stage and one can't help but get lost in the amount of gear they have set up with leads spaghetti-ing all over the shop. The duo seems to get lost in the sounds they make, as do the crowd, and the mix itself has a rather freeform feel to it. It is constantly deep and pulsating while retaining a classic, new-wave tinge. A feel of constant evolution nestles in nicely to this short, half-hour set time even though the guys look like they could have kept at it 'til dawn.

Rounding out the night, Lucy Cliche does what she does best and blasts out a set of dark, brooding electro that, for some reason, is always accessible. Perhaps it's the beers starting to kick in or the comedic undertones of the broadcast lightening the air, but the atmosphere is now looser and closer to a Saturday night vibe come Cliche and the crowd groove away, inhibition free. Everything seems to be methodically executed, the range of sounds is innovative and experimental, and it all works so well together. Another notch in the success bedpost for Cliche.