It's been a week of enormous change for obvious reasons but on a more local level Limerick got a taste of some futuristic sounds in the surrounds of Mickey Martins pub last Saturday night. Putting on a gig the Saturday after a Bank Holiday and the day after a massive Halloween party meant that Limerick city resembled a ghost town but the brave hung over and tired heads that ambled on down to Augustinian Lane were in for a treat and no tricks. Mike Slott is a beat maker whose star continues to burn bright and rise higher and higher and he provided the perfect soundtrack for the large appreciative crowd that turned out. This is what I love about Limerick, while obviously we don't have a city with a population to sustain doing gigs similar to what goes down in the likes of the Low End Theory in L.A. there is a group of people here who are receptive to hearing new sounds and not just the same generic music being played out week after week and Slott's music most definitely challenges the listener. The internet, Myspace and the sharing and swapping of music means that Mike comes armed with beats and pieces from all sides of the planet. It's at times like this that I wish I had a computer as I would have downloaded everything that Mike had on his. I recognise beats from Samiyan and Lotus interspersed with some of his own stuff, all seamlessly mixed using a computer and a small little pad. The bass is heavy and the crowd is slowly but surely won over. When I go to gigs and hear something that I like, I always make it my business to ask the dj the name of the track. I also try to have a look at the cover for a visual reference in the hope that I will recognise and remember it in case I come across it again on a digging trip. Times have changed though, one audience member tonight is so enlightened by some of the tracks that Mike has played that he ends going home with a couple of them on his USB stick! One of the highlights of the night for me though was watching an older man (probably in his fifties) who sat up in the corner on his own beside Mike. The rhythm is anything but 4/4 with sloppy beats being dropped in left right and centre. He can't quite figure out how to get in time. He keeps trying and eventually the head nodding and the toe tapping is in synch. The perceptive ear can always find the beat....
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P.S -I don't do digital and it takes about a week to get black and white photos developed in Limerick but we'll put them up when we get them.
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