Memorials + Yama Warashi | Les Ateliers Claus | Brussels, Belgium | 11 November, 2023
We have been eagerly awaiting seeing Memorials live since we first heard that Matthew Simms (Wire, It Hugs Back, Better Corners) and Verity Susman (Electrelane) were working together on the soundtracks for two separate films. Tonight is the night that has finely arrived! Les Ateliers Claus is hosting the event this evening in the Saint Gilles commune of Brussels.
Opening the evening is 4-piece Yama Warashi – founded by Japanese artist Yoshino Shigihara (Zun Zun Egui) who, after many years spent in Bristol, is now based in London. They present a wide array of celestial pop selections – inspired by free jazz, African folk, and traditional Japanese dance music marked by saturated psychedelia, their subject matter runs the gamut from struggling to keep up with the breakneck pace of London pedestrianism to psychedelic moonscapes. Projected behind are images at once fanciful and perhaps even Theosophical with their geometric patterns and shapes. Grateful to have arrived early, their set was the ideal introduction to music we will be following long after the concert is over.
Simms and Susman set up their equipment on stage. Simms explains to me after the gig that the cassette machine he has set up beside his drum kit filters in Susman’s vocals via the method of live taping. What results is a truly fascinating live performance where the multi-instrumentalists provide sounds filtered through a digital and analog process.
The lights dim, and flickering imagery appears casting light over the pair on stage. Susman holds up two small bells, clinging them together as if setting the stage for an incantation. In ‘Peacemaker’ driving, propulsive dark psych creeps along bringing to mind the likes of The Black Angels. Susman has always had a spectacular talent for creating engrossing, cinematic musical landscapes and it is obvious through the partnership with brilliant, fellow sound engineer Simms has resulted in a transfixing experience to be hand – especially in the intimate space of Les Ateliers Claus.
Watching the pair operate on stage is just as mesmerizing as the music itself. The multi-instrumentalists have been working together for roughly fifteen years, and it is obvious that they have developed a sharply intertwined musical partnership as they create space age sound together in real time. There is something of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to be found in ‘Kind Of Beyond’, which features Susman’s voice winding through it all in an airy nod to mid 60s futurism reminiscent of Broadcast. Delia Derbyshire would be proud.
‘Dark Green’ from the soundtrack for Women Against The Bomb is especially poignant considering the ongoing genocide happening in Gaza and other parts of the world. Susman’s understated, haunting vocals are delivered straightforward with a weary edge of softness that gives way to the warmth of hope. Following up with ‘We Live Here’ off of the Tramps soundtrack is a stellar decision.
‘Boudicaa’ is a pure psych rocker delivered with a post punk sensibility. This ode to dyke warriors is an absolute banger to witness live, bringing me back to the live intensity of Susman’s Electrelane days. The combination of their musical prowess and delivery is superb. The packed house is left riveted, continuing to move along with ‘Tramps!’ in all its 80s dance churned through a short circuiting synth and driving percussive goodness.
The crowd is left satisfied and smiling. It’s obvious a fair amount of us are fans of Simms’ and Susman’s previous work and are not disappointed in the least with their current output. Everyone is left wanting more, as well as anticipating excitedly about more to come in the future. It also appears there is a fair amount of others not necessarily as familiar, but just as invested after this excellent evening. We leave the venue feeling buzzed from the set, anticipating seeing them once more at the Pompidou Centre in Paris the following week. However, due to a strike on behalf of the staff – whose jobs are left in a precarious position ahead of the five years closure the museum faces for renovation – the concert is annulled. Despite this inconvenience, we support the workers in their plight and count our blessings that we were able to attend this delightful gig, that is made even the more special. This is the first Memorials show we have seen, and it won’t be the last Memorials show we will enjoy.
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