Her space-age motorik disco sparkled on a sold-out Saturday night as the musician took her Modern Kosmology album out on the road...
In a career that has spanned two decades, from being a member of Kill Laura and Misty Dixon, to the solo artist that stands before us backed by her four piece band, with this year’s Modern Kosmology, Jane Weaver has not only made the album of the year, but also the album of her varied and adventurous career so far.
Tonight, Weaver and her band lay down some heavy cosmic jams. With a set made of of the majority of Modern Kosmology, experiencing the album’s songs performed live opens them up and exposes their beating fleshy Kosmiche hearts. Weaver has eradicated the whispy psych-folk tendencies of some of her earlier solo output, has sharpened her sound and is now making music that sounds like a disco version of Neu!
Opening with the Modern Kosmology triplet of H>A>K, Did You See Butterflies?, and the album’s title track, the band instantly get in to a driving rhythm that’s all pulsating bass, percussive guitar and squelching synths. Jane Weaver stands at the front of the stage, her voice sounding crystalline as she leads her band through their throbbing teutonic funk.
About midway comes The Architect, the centre piece of Modern Kosmology. Weaver cooly delivering her meditative exploration of the artist Hilma af Klint and spiritualism over a pounding robotic rhythm and whooshing synths. The band can continue in this vein, mixing space age electronica, Krautrock’s motorik beat and classy pop delivery; Weaver is totally immersed in the sound, performing as if receiving transmissions for another galaxy. The main set closes with the the spacey whisper of I Need A Connection and the freak-pop of Don’t Take My Soul.
Former Can singer Malcolm Mooney contributed to a track on Modern Kosmology. It’s a symbolic baton passing between a Krautrock originator to a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer in sound. Tonight’s sold out show is testament that Jane Weaver’s free spirited approach to music is finally paying dividends, and long may it continue.
Jane Weaver was at The Bodega on Saturday 28 October 2017.
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