THE PLAYGROUND presents CRYSTAL FIGHTERS-dj/ GROUNDISLAVA/ LABYRINTH EAR/ BEATY HEART +

THE PLAYGROUND is pleased to announce their next warehouse event on Friday 14th November at Autumn Street studios with a special electronic dj performance from CRYSTAL FIGHTERS. support comes from Los Angeles artist GROUNDISLAVA who is flying in a for a one off performance this year in London. Currently main support to JUNGLE across the US and Europe are BEATY HEART along with further support from LABYRINTH EAR, SHINAMO MOKI and TENFIVESIXTY.

►CRYSTAL FIGHTERS- The group took their name Crystal Fighters from an unfinished Opera which Stockley’s grandfather had penned during his final months of insanity. Stockley came across the manuscript while clearing out the reclusive old man’s remote home in the Basque countryside. Describing their style as “fast, mesmeric and passionate”, the band play both electric and acoustic guitars, which adds lots of timbre, synths, drums, and incorporate traditional Basque instruments into their music. Many of their songs use a txalaparta, a wooden xylophone-like percussion instrument played by two people standing face-to-face. They also use the danbolin (a rope-tuned snare drum), and the txistu (a Basque pipe whistle).

A melting pot of cultural, musical and stylistic influences, Crystal Fighters use eclectic reference points to create their unique genre of music, stating “we consider ourselves to be a mixture of folk, electro, punk, techno and Spanish pop. We are kind of like the sound that would be created if The Velvet Underground and The Gipsy Kings were to travel back in time to the Pyrenees, 1980, and make a record with Skream, Madlib and Luciano on production.”

Mixmag proclaims them to have “the single most exciting show in dance music”Dazed & Confused stated that “there is nothing more alive or energetic than Crystal Fighters”.

►GROUNDISLAVA—Jasper Patterson, AKA Groundislava travels to London for his debut  UK show. An LA resident, he’s a member of the WeDidIt Collective and signed to label Friend Of Friends, also the home slow-mo maestro, Shlohmo. Continually collaborating on a number of works with Shlohmo, Groundislava stands apart because of an unusual penchant for fleshed-out songwriting. boogie, 8-bit buzz, Boards of Canada melodies and Sebastien Tellier-esque electro pop.

►LABYRINTH EAR- are a UK electronic duo made up of Emily and Tom. Coming from different sides of London, they were brought together by mutual tastes in music, while each bringing their own set of influences. Emily’s folk-like lyrics invoke colourful, visual stories, while bringing together a wide range of musical influences, ranging from Classic film scores, world music and vintage electronica. With songs that are both melancholic and euphoric, they combine samples with synths and psychedelic, Worldly sounds along with child-like vocals to create fantasia pop music with a foot in the past, present and future.

►BEATY HEART– Currently supporting JUNGLE on their US tour the London four-piece video-art and music collective have been called “London’s answer to Animal Collective”. Following on from the release of their acclaimed debut album ‘Mixed Blessings’ and a successful appearance at this years Glastonbury, South- London trio Beaty Heart have announced details of their next single – ‘ Banana Bread’ & ‘Lekka Freakout’. With a sound that remains as positive as it is progressive, Beaty Heart provide layered, cacophonous and glorious off-kilter, left-field alt-pop. Describing themselves as “psychedelic drum pop” their music is layered with lush synths, percussion echoes and loops. This is a live show not to be missed.

See also

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► SHINAMO MOKI– are an electronic trio with roots in the South East, further east in Brighton and further still in Kyoto; they combine their passion of 90’s Anime, Japanese contemporary art, nature and Eastern architecture with sparse synths and splintering, textural percussions to form a core to their sound.

► TENFIVESIXTY- Amongst the latest wave of plaintive pop torch-bearers produced and mixed by renowned producer Robert Harder (Brian Eno, Herbie Hancock, Whitey, Squarepusher). Formed by Jen Bailey and Rick Hornby a few years back, the group say it was a shared love of, “lost romanticism, soundtracks, 60’s girl groups, 80’s hooks, good footwear, attention to detail, and the darker side of classic British guitar pop” that brought them together, and such reference points are certainly audible in the material they’ve released so far.

With inspirations stemming from early cinema including the 1983 American drama ‘Rumble Fish’: “Alienation and teen angst summed up and beautifully shot”, and the epic Maysles brothers’ documentary on the Rolling Stones’ 1969 U.S tour ‘Gimme Shelter’: “The most intense gig in history… Life/death/music”, the duo focus their energies on the symbolism within their music. Their influences go deeper still, homing in on specific imagery within art and film: “The theme of escape in both film and art is always influential to us, the whole ‘to the big city’ idea: runaway destinations, cityscapes, skylines, New York/Paris/London.” This is overtly evident in their sense of distance and exploration.