CLUBS

In business since 2008, open-eared Bristol label Drawn is about to host its first proper club night. Rank Aldy reckons it was well worth the wait.

Subtitled ‘Deep, dark and destined for the dancefloor', it's probably not worth going to Drawn Recordings' inaugural club night if you're a hands-in-the-air type clubber. But if you want to hear a stellar selection of bass, dubstep, house and garage, the Bristol-based arts collective – who (unsurprisingly but not exclusively) draw and record things – have all basses covered.

Bona fide Bristol-boy Kähn will be getting the babysitters in for his Sureskank family and going solo. His sound is unique and commands your full attention. Either heartbreakingly emotive or so brutal you get an ASBO just for listening, Kähn is eclectic to say the least. “I make so many different styles of music that my direction can change day to day,” he explains. “That said, I'm sitting on a lot of relatively unheard material that I'd like to put out into the world. My plan is simply to carry on writing music.”

Indeed, his varied taste makes it hard to accurately describe his sound. “I make so much different music that it's a fairly impossible question to answer,” he admits. “Buy my record and you decide.” (Double A-side ‘Like We Used To’/‘Helter Skelter’ is released imminently on Punch Drunk – nice plug, Mr Kähn.) Support for his work is growing and it’s inspiring to learn that he takes as much from Bristol as he gives. “I've lived in Bristol basically my whole life. I can't describe the affection I hold for Bristol and its music. It's a part of me and will forever influence me creatively.”

Elsewhere on the bill, Bristol dubstep duo Kloudbreak perform live: expect such stunning contrast between light and dark, with liquid amber vocals and guttural bass, that you’ll hope you are never subjected to anything in between ever again. And Mothboy, whose first release on Drawn, the ‘Yield’ EP, is being launched at this night, also plays a live set. Having previously produced tripped-out downtempo-ish beats that were so relaxed they were pretty much under a feather duvet with a nightcap on, he is, at the moment, picking up the slack, producing sharp and highly respectable two-step and garage.

Drawn aren’t just about music, though, and will bind together an array of creativity, including a live illustration showcase by David Bain, and work from Simon Mills, who shares a similarly surreal way of depicting life. Prepare to be enlightened by the dark.

DRAWN WAS AT CRASH MANSION, BRISTOL ON FRI 11 FEB. FFI: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/DRAWNRECORDINGS
 

Copyright Rank Aldy 2011

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