Slowdive and ISAN at Huxleys / Tuesday, 03.10.2017

A fantastic double bill at Huxleys this unity day with two of our favorite UK groups: shoegaze/postrock band Slowdive and electronica duo ISAN both of whom we are pleased to see return for their 2nd Berlin show of the year.

Long-term school-friends Neil Halstead & Rachel Goswell formed Slowdive in October 1989, the name, Slowdive, coming from a dream Neil Halstead once had. According to an interview in Alternative Press, he dreamt of two words, Slowdive and Slowburn. At first they were a highly derivative My Bloody Valentine / Sonic Youth clone, but even their first demo reveals a better understanding of controlled noise than most of their contemporaries.

In their defence the ‘demo’ was really just them recording for fun, and it wasn’t until early in 1990 that the band became Slowdive proper with their own ideas. The major change was the addition of third guitarist, Christian Savill, previously of local act Eternal. “We advertised for a female guitarist, but only Christian replied. He writes a sweet letter though, he said he’d wear a dress if neccesary”. The songs on the second demo show a leap forward, while previously they headed towards a climax of noise, ‘Avalyn’ was a gentle steady flow of nearly white noise. It’s this demo, passed on by another Reading act, Swervedriver, that brought Slowdive onto Creation Records and became the first single, as attempts to recreate the atmosphere in a more expensive studio failed.

Slowdive are an English rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Simon Scott on drums, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Christian Savill on guitar. Several other drummers also briefly played with the band, including Adrian Sell, Neil Carter and Ian McCutcheon. Halstead is the band’s primary songwriter. Goswell and Halstead had known each other since early childhood in Reading, Berkshire. Scott left in 1994 and when Savill and Chaplin left the band soon after the release of Pygmalion, the remaining members renamed the band Mojave 3. Slowdive reunited in 2014.[1] Their sound has been described as dream pop, shoegazing,indie rock and ambient.

On their first album in six years, ISAN once more weave together electronic soundscapes, delicate rhythms and the occasional odd sound into a pulsating, ever-morphing whole. Glass Bird Movement is Antony Ryan and Robin Saville’s eighth studio album since they have started the project two decades ago. Exchanging ideas between England and Denmark, where Ryan currently resides, ISAN have crafted an album which is reminiscent of heyday Boards Of Canada productions, the friendlier ventures of Aphex Twin or the most focused moments of Ulrich Schnauss, if you will.

From minimalism to melody and back again, Isan have been navigating the aural Autobahn since a chance meeting brought together Robin Saville and Antony Ryan in 1996. With Robin based in England and Antony residing in Denmark, they creatively communicate via email, telephone and postcard. Notes are compared and directions assimilated or abandoned, they prefer to allow their sound to develop on its own. Continually progressing their passion for sound, Isan are not afraid of giving their analogue tone poems space to breathe, placing as much importance on void and silence as on sounds – sometimes vibrant and scratchy, sometimes hymnal and opulent.