Hard Shoulder and Bocman

Last tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending a Hard Shoulder performance at The Grapes, Sheffield. I was a little late because of a delayed train, and arrived about halfway through the performance by Bocman. This was a wonderful, cinematic and engrossing set of sounds and visuals, which thematically addressed movement, stasis, isolation, and the inhabited non-places of travel. Much of the visual material was of beaches, open expanses of empty space which dissolved into each other slowly and precisely, instilling a sense of dislocation and distance. I was lucky enough to be given a copy of Bocman's limited edition CD of the audio material from the performance, entitled Motion Static, for review.

Hard Shoulder were peculiar and astonishing in equal measure. A slightly shorter than expected set included improvised visceral visuals that are still haunting my nightmares, coupled with a nice line in retro-ish electronic minimalism. The first track sounded like a deconstructed distillation of every electronica track produced between 1980 and 1982, with abstracted visuals that alluded to Top Of The Pops split-screen technology from the same era. The middle section was a more contemporary sounding amalgam of industrial and electronic rhythm, while the final piece was accompanied by an extremely accomplished tongue performance for camera. A delighted Richard raised his hands in the air and bellowed 'I LIKE IT' as the set concluded.

I have no idea what the opening act was like due to my lateness, although reports suggest I was lucky to have missed it.